.

You know the drill by now. Standard Marvel cardboard carton with it’s control art and viewing windows to the front. The side flaps display photos of the Minimates within. The rear of the box features bio boxes of the characters in the 2 pack and a large ensemble photo of the entire wave.

I confess to not being a reader of the latest volume of X-Force but from the rather subdued palette that Wolvie’s wearing I’m guessing it’s a black-ops team. 

The mask is a re-use of the wave 28 Wolverine mask. It makes perfect sense to re-use it, though I thought his dark duds had the same style of mask as his current yellow costume? The eyes on this mask are, once again, a tampo print, but due to them being dark red and set against black they’re barely noticeable. There is a small grey area around each eye which I assume is intended to highlight them, but if it is, it doesn’t really work. The expression on Wolverine’s face is a bit of a first for me. I think it’s possibly the first time we’ve seen a Wolvie ‘mate cracking a smile. Doesn’t really suit this particular version, but would probably look good if you swapped the head with another figure. An alternative hairpiece is included so X-Force Wolvie can be displayed sans mask. 

As previously mentioned X-Force Wolverine’s costume is a fairly sober affair. No bright yellow spandex here, just black and grey and really nothing to write home about. It’s not a bad looking figure, but there’s nothing about it that really ‘pops’. The wristbands are new and while I’ve no idea why they’re there I do think they look quite cool. As with every single other Wolverine figure his hands have claws emerging from them. The claws are so well done these days. They’re straight and evenly spaced, a far cry from how they were at the dawn of the Marvel Minimates line. There’s also a pair of regular hands included which can give X-Force Wolverine an alternate look. Wolvie’s boots are different to the ones he usually wears and are supposed to be strapped. DST have done a good job of representing these by adding two squared bands to each leg above the standard Minimate foot. I have to say, this isn’t a bad looking ‘mate. It’s well built, everything works, but I’m slightly underwhelmed by it. It’s not down to Wolverine overload, we passed that milestone years ago. I think it’s just not suited to being a Minimate.

X-Force Wolverine has no accessories.

In conclusion: No fun.

MMC Score – 6 out of 10

Hydra’s great. It’s yet another shady criminal organisation that populates the Marvel Universe and is generally overseen by a cackling megalomaniac while being staffed by incompetent buffoons. Hail Hydra! 

What we have here is the regular Hydra agent. Their livery is a green suit with a yellow H on it. On this ‘mate the H is made up from a combination of the uniform (lower tunic) and equipment pouches (chest piece) The face as presented is highly detailed; a heavily furrowed brow, red eyepieces set among a large area of black, high cheekbones and a fairly tough looking expression. This is actually a slip over head piece. Remove the slip-mask and you’ll find a simpler version of the Hydra mask with a slightly softer, though no less serious, expression. 

The chest piece is new, although it does appear similar to a lot of recent army themed chestpieces. It’s not a bad looking piece but the only really interesting part is the armoured section on the back. Remove the chest piece and underneath is (again) a simpler version of the Hydra uniform. I find this version more aesthetically pleasing. Your mileage may vary. It’s very good that DST are opting to vary these army builders in this fashion, it adds more variety to the line.

There is a holster on the upper left leg. I know we’ve seen holster a gazillion times before but I’m not really a fan as they tend to give Minimates a bit of a lopsided appearance and interfere with the articulation. Standard feet complete the Minimate. The Hydra agent is accessorised with a pistol and machine gun. The machine gun is one of those nasty ‘claw killer’ jobs and has really stretched the hand of the figure that holds it. Such a let-down. There’s also a pair of night vision goggles. Again, nice to get a variety of weapons/accessories to have plenty of options for display. 

In conclusion: Another solid army-builder from DST. The choice of 2 different looks works well and adds value to its army-builder nature.

MMC Score – 7 out of 10

Review and pictures by Rad Kerrigan

[starratingmulti id=”1″]

[starratingmulti id=”2″]