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When they were still in business and an important piece of the Minimates puzzle, Toys R Us’ exclusive sets were, more often then not, used to augment other sets.  This was the case with 2013’s Alpha Flight theme.  The two con exclusive sets gave us the founding line-up, and TRU came in and gave us two more prominent team members, Vidicator and Box!

The Packaging

Wave 14 used the same basic styling of packaging as the waves that preceded it, but swapping out the red base color for green.  As always, its an eye-catching design, and highlights the figures inside very nicely.  Despite all four sets in this wave being exclusive to TRU, this set is one of only two to actually get the TRU-exclusive sticker.  For pictures of these two in box, head on over to their Minimate Database entry!

The Figures

Vindicator

Heather Hudson appeared at the same time as the whole Alpha Flight concept, but was at the time not a costumed super hero.  It wasn’t until later, after the death of her husband James, that she modified one of his old suits and took up the name “Vindicator” as well as his position as leader of Alpha Flight.  This figure replicates that look.

Vindicator makes use of one sculpted add-on piece for her mask.  It’s a new piece, and fits a little snuggly in the head, but not bad enough to get stuck.  There are two versions of this mask included, with two different colored visors: blue and red.  Of the two, the blue is preferable, due to the red plastic of the red visor bleeding through the white paint of the mask.

The paintwork on Vindicator is otherwise decent, matching up nicely with the Guardian figure from the boxed set.  There’s a little bit of slop on the edges of the gloves, but is otherwise clean.

Heather  includes an alternate hair-piece so that she can be displayed unmasked and a stand to simulate her flying.

Heather’s an important piece of any Alpha Flight set-up, and thereby an essential piece of the collection.  The bleed-through on the red visor is frustrating, but since she’s got two other options for display, it doesn’t hold her back too badly.

MMC Score — 7 out of 10

Box

There have been two different Alpha Flight members by the name of “Box.”  This is the second version, Madison Jefferies.  Jefferies was part of the series for quite a while before actually getting his heroic identity, but of the two to use the name, seems to have been the character with more staying power, as well as the one with the more logical connection to Heather.

Box has quite a selection of sculpted parts, used for his helmet, chestplate, gloves, belt and boots. All of these pieces were new to this figure, and they work quit well with the basic body, recreating the armored Box quite nicely.  A number of these pieces have subsequently seen re-use, providing a decent investment on DST’s part.

The paint on Box is nicely done, with little slop and no issues with bleed through.  The metallic coloring works very well for the character and does a good job of contrasting from the otherwise similarly colored Vindicator.  Under his helmet (which is quite difficult to remove), there is a ghostly face of Jefferies, as he appears while operating the armor using his powers.

Box  includes an alternate gun hand, a blast off stand and an alternate hair piece to accent the unmasked face under the helmet.

Box is the more obscure inclusion in this set, but I’d also say he’s the slightly more exciting one.  All those new pieces he got really go the distance, and make him one of the coolest figures in the Alpha Flight sub-set!

MMC Score — 9 out of 10

Agree? Disagree? Why not vote for yourself below, or comment further over at the Minimate Multiverse MMC Review Forum.

Review and pictures by Glantern.