Monsters, Magic and More makes its way to this new Marvel box set. Under the title of Strange Tales, a comic series known for science fiction and pulp stories, we get a good assortment of Marvel characters which may not be as well-known but pack a powerful punch.

Packaging

The packaging is the tall window box with control art of Dr. Strange hovering above. The sides have control art of the four figures. On the back is a mini-bio of the characters history along with group picture of all figures in this box.
The Figures
Dr. Strange

It’s hard to improve on a near perfect figure and the
Defenders Dr. Strange was almost perfect. But with just that one release of that figure, the Sorcerer Supreme has been vastly underutilized and it’s great to see him released again.
He has an updated hairpiece and different facial expression and while they’re good pieces they’re not as spot on as the first version. His cape is different too. The red is darker and gold trim rather than yellow; also more trim detail on the back of the neck along with a flowing look to the entire cape. It looks really good! The only thing I would have kept the same was his amulet as the first version was more distinctive.
Dr. Strange’s torso has the same logo as before just with less detail. He also has a short waist cover for the extension of his shirt but the belt is not a separate sculpt attached and extended past the cover. Arms and legs are basically the same as before just with gold paint.
Now for the major improvements. Strange comes with a spare set of the hex power hands which are just plain awesome! Also included is a wonderful pink/purple magic base that sort of swirls around his ankles. These two pieces on their own are great for using for other figures or customs.
I think the perfect Dr. Strange would be a mix of the two figures: the spot on likeness and detail of the first version with the hex hands and magic base of this version. This version alone is almost perfect.
MMC Score – 8 out of 10
Blade (First Appearance)

Who’s the cat that won’t cop out
When there’s danger all about
Blade!
Right on
You see this cat Blade is a bad mother ..
Shut your mouth
But I’m talkin’ about Blade
Then we can dig it!
This is Blade as he first appeared in the comics (1973 Tomb of Dracula#10) however his third appearance in minimate form. His look is distinctive 70’s attire and he is one cool cat! I love his hairpiece; it’s a short afro with great little sculpted detail lines all over. He also has wonderful face details with oversized green shades.
Blade is wearing a new sculpted red leather jacket cover with attached bandolier holding three wooden stakes. The stakes come out and can be used as accessories. Underneath is his bare chest with torso detail and they’ve also included a spare set of dark skin tone arms so you can display him with either look. He also has some snazzy green pants with grey boots on his base legs/feet.
For accessories he comes with an additional wooden stake and let holster for it. He also has a hand piece with flying stake attached (really cool). All figures in this set come with a clear base stand. Blade makes for good custom fodder with extra arms and unique accessories.
This is definitely my favorite minimate version of Blade. He has a distinctive look and he is cooooool!

MMC Score – 9 out of 10
Werewolf by Night

Jack Russell has a very long and intricate
Marvel history. The long and short of it is he’s a werewolf that is able to control himself when he’s transformed and does his best to assist other superheroes and to look for better ways to cure/control his transformations. Honestly this is a werewolf figure done right. The Universal Monster’s
Wolf Man minimates were ok but they pale in comparison to this figure.
He has a full headpiece cover with his brown hair but the face part is cut out so you can see the base head underneath. Note how perfect his pointed ears look. Underneath is one outstanding face; the detail is amazing!
More outstanding detail on his torso (back hair!!!) and arms. Even the bright green torn pants stand out extremely well. His hands and feet are reuses from the Wolf Man and look great.
No extra accessories save for the clear base stand. Decent pieces for customizing.
I haven’t read much of Werewolf by Night in the comics but he is now my go-to werewolf for my Halloween displays. I wasn’t expecting much out of this figure but I’m totally blown away by how amazing he looks.
MMC Score – 9 out of 10
Morbius

Don’t the people in comics realize you can’t cure yourself with animal serums? Dr. Connors had to mess with the lizard serum and *poof* he turned into a lizard. And Dr. Michael Morbius had to mess with bat serum and *poof* he turns into a bat -er- living vampire. Moral of the story: don’t mess with animal serums!
I’m a little surprised it took us this long to see a Morbius minimate; he seems to be a popular character and at the very least near the top of Spidey’s B-team of friends/foes. Thankfully they did him justice with a well done figure and we can all be extremely thankful he’s not part of that
sparkle crowd.
Morbius has the standard slicked back black vampire hair (I guess if you can’t see yourself in the mirror a bowl cut is the best way to go {side question: Can Morbius see his reflection??}). His white face had outstanding facial details with red eyes and you can almost hear him hiss with that sneer. They did a good job with his collar; instead of one piece (ala
Deadman &
Star Sapphire) they went with a separate piece for the collar and then left the open collar detail on the main torso (soooooo much better!).
Nice paint apps all around as the dark blue works well with the black torso (front & back) and leg highlights. Morbius comes with bat-like cape wings attached to a loop that fits on his upper arms but still allows full arm movement.
For accessories he comes with a flight torso base; perfect for a hovering vampire.
In conclusion he was a long time coming but it was worth the wait for a top notch figure.
MMC Score – 9 out of 10
Review and pictures by Lurch77
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