More Minimates

A couple weeks ago I ordered some sort of hard to find Mini mates online from BBTS.com(or BigBadToyStore.com). On Monday I got my mates that I had ordered and was actually sorta shocked at how good they looked. Take a look below to see what I mean.

First up is the Original X-Men boxed set:

The set includes Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast and Iceman.

Cyclops is in the Yellow and Black of his first appearance and honestly its still ugly just like 1st appearance Angels costume. He's got flared gloves and boots with the tops folded down, nothing really special about that. What really got me was that under his cowl and visor when you take it off he has his ruby quartz sunglasses painted on his face so you can actually put his hair on him and not have him running around with red eye looking like he needs Visine. Because this is the first appearance of Scott Summers/Cyclops the glasses he wears look black with just a little rimming of red, I can forgive them for that because they actually gave him glasses.

Jean Grey is the same color scheme as Cyclops but

with a more feminine appeal, in other words her costume looks like it should have boobs on it. She has the same flared gloves and boots as Cyclops. Two problems on this character are that her left glove continuously falls off her had, sorta frustrating, also her mask with hair attachment is not as tight as her hair with out the mask. Jean also comes with red hair to put on her head when you take off her mask, this hair is very tight on her and looks pretty good.

Beast is one bulky son of a bitch. He has huge feet like he is supposed to have and his hands are much longer/bigger than normal Mini's, the hands were used in the Ultimate Hulk figure and work well for Hank. He came with another set of feet and hands but they are just to make him taller and have normal Minimate hands, honestly I like the way he looks with the big feet and hands. His mask is also removable and in place of the mask you can put hair on his head to have a human(ish) looking Hank.

Iceman is essentially naked other than his boots. I have been looking for a good Iceman for a while, I never got the first one released, could never find it. This is just after Bobby discovered that he didn't have to just cover himself in snow and look like Frosty the Snow Man this was his first appearance of the cased in ice form. Bobby is cast in semi translucent plastic to give him that icy looking sheen to him. There are no facial features on this guy because in his first ice form he didn't have a face. He comes with a blast like thing that is supposed to be his ice powers, I think it looks silly so not gonna use it on him.

Next up is X-Factor the first Appearance of them.

You know them as the original X-Men but I don't know why they became X-Factor but it was a decent enough story line.

Cyclops has the standard Minimate body no flared gloves or boots just basic body. He is blue and yellow, the yellow on his chest makes an 'X' just like it did in the comic, yay for detail. Speaking of detail Scott has much more definition on him than his first appearance counterpart. Again just like with the first appearance Cyclops he has his Ruby Quartz glasses under his cowl but this time you can actually see that his glasses are red.

Jean Grey same story as Cyclops with the basic Minimate body but her detailing actually gives her boobs, she's not exactly centered either, she leans to the right so her boobs are off center. This Jean did not come with another set of hair to take off her mask but that's okay because her green mask is painted on her face. Her costume colors are green and yellow and it looks good on her.

Beast is dark blue and red. This is about the time he started to experiment on himself and loose

his intelligence for a little while, its not when he started going all blue and furry. This Hank is buffer than this 1st appearance counterpart but still holds the same hands and feet, he also comes with with a hair piece that you can put on his head to have a human looking Hank again.

Iceman is completely naked this time save for the belt he wore when Loki made his powers run out of control. He is cast in the same semi translucent plastic as his 1st appearance counterpart but he now has more definition on him and also has facial features. He is smiling with his happy go lucky look on him, it is very fitting for Bobby.

Secret War boxed set. This set was a fans choice that Diamond Select offered the fans to create their own packs. I voted but none of the characters I voted for were in the final 4 other than the Beyonder.

Beyonder for an all powerful being he sure has lousy tastes in clothes. He is wearing a white jump suit with a open 'V' front. I guess it was the 70's that this character first came into being and I guess jumpsuits were popular but ugh this thing is ugly. The character is amazing looking and done in great details. He has white eyes and high cheekbones that give him a more 'pretty' look. He has tussled hair that looks like he has been throwing a lot of power around. Under his jacked there is a bare chest with good detail on it, hell they gave him nipples for gods sake. Beyonder has yellow power bursts that fit over his hands so it looks like he is charging up his powers.

Photon is Monica Ramsey a light/electromagnetic power type Avenger. I don't know why she was voted into this set, I have never liked her except when she was in NEXT Wave. Photon has the basic minimate body with flared boots, she has her wings behind her and a fucking afro of all things, even Zombie Cage didn't get a 'fro.

Spider-Man is in mid transformation with the Symboite that would soon become his infamous black costume. Pretty much all of the left side is covered in the Symboite while the right side is his classic red and blue costume just with more 'scars/battle damage. An accessory that came with Spidey was a full on head piece of the Symboite mask that goes over his head, I don't like it as it makes him look dumb.

Dr.Doom is in his Beyonder power stealing armor. The only reused parts on this Doom are the arms and legs, everything else is different. He has a new mask, new head piece things around his wrists, ankles and something on his thigh like a holster but not, he also has a bit of a bulkier chest which is sculpted with circuitry and electronic parts for him to keep track of his powers.

Ghostbusters 4 pack series 2

Ray Stanz is in his Ghostbusters 1 costume. This actually sort of looks like Dan Aykroyd in a small way. Ray comes with the usual Ghostbusters photon pack with the photon trail, Ray also comes with the Trap to place ghosts roaming around the world and these weird goggle things that are not much of a use if you want to see his face.

Winston Zeddmore is the only black guy on the Ghostbusters team. He didn't come with anything special or defining, just the photon pack and the photon trail. I think that they needed a token black guy on the team to keep people from bitching and Winston fit the bill, I really don't know.

Gozer Demon is pretty god damn ugly. She has a Wolverine style hair due, white body that is kinda scaled and red blazing eyes. Again like Winston there is nothing special about her other than she is from the first movie and completes the set with Sigourney Weaver's character and Rick Moranis's character to have the demon dogs and Peter Venkman's love interest.

Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is one of my tallest mini's I have he stands at about 3 inches instead of the normal 2 that the others are. Now Stay has rolls and has his classic look to him. He actually looks really good, nice detail on all his parts. Stay's extra chest part that also is is upper legs hinders almost all his leg movement.

Slimer/Ray Stanz two pack

Ray is not much different from the GB4PS2 other than the coloring of his uniform which is that of Ghostbusters 2 a much darker grey than the original. His facial expression is different too in that it is a scared look instead of the placid look on his counterparts face.

Slimer is the glow-in-the-dark make of him instead of the translucent that the first one I picked up is. This is actually a really ugly decision for Slimer other than the fact that he glows a nice neat green. The base of Slimer flying is the energy output of the trap that Ray carries with him. This is a neat looking feature for Slimer and it works well.

These last few pictures are of the extra hands and feet for Beast and sort of the details on the photon packs, since they are all the same mold for the packs.

I promise in the next blog it will not be so long. Next will cover Slimer, slimmed Peter, Egon, Peter, Gozer dog and Dana of Ghostbusters the movie. Look for it in the next couple days.

Comic Book Wednesday was good to me today

I thought now I would start to use my blog for originally created it for: Action Figure reviews from my perspective. As most of you know a big, yet small, portion of my collection is my Mini-Mates collection, as of today I have 285 of them proudly displayed in my room. Just today I purchased 16 new one. I'm going to focus on those because 285 to go back through would be a pain in the ass. One thing I should point out about Mini-Mates is that they are 2" in height and have 14-points of articulation, that is an exceptional amount for such a small toy and they have great detail too.

First up is the Kree soldier

Yellow Jacket pack:

now this was the variant of the series so I got the troop builder with it. Yellow Jacket is one of Hank Pyms alter egos, jesus the guy has a bunch of them. His helmet/mask is removable and it looks like he has that 'I want to punch my wife in the face look' like he did in the comic. Due to the collar that has is huge shoulder pads that help him fly in the comic his neck is only limited to turning not looking up and down like most other mates.The Kree soldier is your basic shock trooper for the Kree race, really nothing special about this guy other than his holster for his gun is huge and his gun is so tiny.

Goliath and Kree Soldier:

Goliath is another name for Pyms identities but this time he does not fly around like he did as Yellow Jacked nor does he communicate with ants like he did as Ant-Man. Nope the only thing unique about Goliath is that he is tall, this was when Pym went sort of insane and kept making new identities. Goliath is blue with a yellow 'Y' going down his chest, and yellow boots, gloves waist and stripes going down his arms. He also came with another set of normal mate feet but the triangular ones he came with make him look taller by about a fraction of an inch compared to other mates.

Captain Marvel and Black Bolt:

Captain Marvel

is a Kree Warrior possessing the Nega-bands and pale skin of a human, his skin alone makes him an outcast among the Kree people whose skin is either blue or pink. He came to earth and was welcomed as a hero. I don't know much more about Marvel other than he died from what the Kree called the Black Lung, lung cancer. The toy is blue and red with gold for the Nega-bands and blonde hair.

Blackbolt is the king of the Inhumans and can destroy anything with his voice. Bolt never talks unless he has to and if he does it is barely a whisper. In all the years he has been around his costume has never changed at all. It is black with silver ribs in it, he also has silver wings that are attached to his upper arms.

Multiple Man and 1st appearance Angel and X-Men Angel.

Multiple Man is Jamie Madrox a man who can create multiple versions of himself just by physical force whether that includes snapping his fingers or being punched, no matter what there is always many different ones of him around. This version of Madrox is from the X-Factor comic(the current one) where he has the ankle length duster, jeans, stubble on his jaw and his multiple man shirt.This is actually a very well done version of Madrox he looks very good.

1st Appearance Angel is in his very first costume when he joined Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The uniform is black and yellow and rather ugly but it was the early 60's when this character was created so go figure. Now what makes this character and X-Men Angel unique is that they have feathered wings, these wings on the characters look very well, they are greatly detailed with grooves in the wings to show where the feathers are supposed to be. very nice feature for these characters. 1st Appearance Angel has a cocky look on his face with a grin to accompany it.

X-Men Angel is from I am guessing the modern era for X-Men, I dunno you be the judge, all I do know is that the colors and the halo in the center of his chest is very nice looking. The face on this Angel looks like he is pissed off. As with 1st Appearance Angel due to the mechanism used to hold the wings in place they cannot move their heads up and down, but it is a small price to pay for such greatly detailed characters.

Kitty Pride and Captain Britain:

Kitty Pride is probably the ugliest mate I own and I own a lot of them. The costume she is wearing is from her Sprite days and damn does this costume have some manly shoulder pads. Her coloring is light blue for the pants gloves and sash around her waist, then her boots, waist and coat are dark blue, now normally I have no problem with blue color combos but jesus this character looks fugly. Her only redeeming quality is that she comes with Lockheed, he is god damn detailed for a character that is only 1/2" in height.

Captain Britain is in his second costume and probably his most recognizable one of all he has had. Cap has the British flag on him like he always has, blue, white and red are his primary colors and for this character it looks good.

Extremis Armor Iron Man and Titanium Man:

I have to say Titanium Man is a pretty lame character. It looks like he has a smiley face on his helmet done up in yellow against the dark green. Not really the best color combo but much better than Kitty Pride. He is your typical Iron Man villain with armor and a removable helmet. Under the armor and helmet is a bearded face the torso is the same they used for Ares and and Ultimate Thor, now here's what I don't understand about this character, why in a suit of armor would you go shirtless? Wouldn't that cause chaffing?

Extremis Armor Iron Man is actually a nicely done figure, of course it has his gold and red color scheme but under the armor there is the gold body suit that is supposed to be the Extremis virus in his system making him able to interface with any technology. To do that we get an extra hair piece, hands and feet to have Stark in the Extemis body suit, I prefer him in the armor but that is just my choice.

Cable and X-Force X-23:

Cable is the old X-Force Cable with the BFG's, hand guns and knives, he also has massive shoulder pads. Looking at this figure I am astonished at the amount of detail that was put into him and how strongly he looks like Cable from the Leifeild days(sadly this is where the costume is from). An awesome add on to the figure is that his shoulder pads on the left shoulder has a little notch in it that you can put one of his guns in, just like you see in the picture. I promise you it looks better in person than it does in the picture. Cable also has his damaged eye and his cybernetic arm.

X-23 is in her X-Force costume and man does she look pissed off. Of course when isn't she pissed off? Her two claws on her had are out but you get an extra set of hands to make it look like they are retracted but I don't like the looks of it. There is also another head that comes with her with out her red eyed mask but it just looks dumb because the X-Force characters are the elite squad that do Cyclopes's dirty work.

Of both of these series I got today I have to say Cable/X-Force X-23 and Blackbolt/Captain Marvel are my favorites. They are the ones I was looking forward most to owning and am happy they came out today.

Maybe within the next few days I will take other pictures and show the alternate stuff, who knows.

The history of the name REVREN

Those of you that maybe wondering where the nick name REVREN came from I will tell you. It all began in the seventh grade where we had to take an elective chosen for us (some elective huh?). Well the elective was Law and it was pretty much fun. We got to do all sorts of rockin trials in history, and the one that I earned my nickname is the Salem Witch Trials were I was the Reverend Bishop, ya know the bastard that had say in whether the witches would live or die. Yeah that was me, but the twist to this class is that we could do the trial however we wanted and well cause I was so convincing I saved the witches. Pretty cooll huh? I thought so.

Now you might be thinking that's it, Nope that's not it by a long shot. This still takes place in the seventh grade also. This was the bad thing that happened to me. Square dancing had just started up (oh what fun) well it was going good up until we got to the middle of the course then shit really hit the fan. Three of the most unattractive girls at that time had accused me of feeling them up. I am sorry but at that time I wasn't into girls at that time. Well like all rumors in the world this one spread like wild fire and man did it really fucking hurt. Those three girls had turned almost everyone against me, the only people that didn't turn on me was my best friends. Some of the asses started making up songs 'Dean Dean with the tinted glasses/going around grabbing girlie asses', 'Revren Revren The preaching man that has an ass in one hand and a pussy in the other'. They made up songs about something that was just wrong, something that I would never do at all because I respect peoples bodies. The remainder of the year I was harassed, beat up, called names and made frequent trips to the office, all because of a small town needed someone that didn't fit in to feel bad. Wow let me say this I felt like shit until my senior year in high school when I earned my respect back. After 6 years of putting up with jocks and 'the cool' kids taking advantage of me I was fed up, one day I grabbed the alpha jock, you know the one that everyone looks up to, and slammed him into the lockers right behind us, I was polite in asking him to leave me alone and stop bothering me he just kept going so I cocked back my fist and drove it into the locker next to his head, I scared the guy shitless(literary I made him shit his pants) I did not get into trouble either for destroying school property the jock did. After that day I gained the respect of my peers, all whom I had a high loathing for since 7th grade. I realized that I didn't need to be all angry because of my class mates being dumbasses, I realized I was better than their rumor spreading, singling out stupidity. I became the person I am today.

I recently have been using the nickname REVREN a lot more, what I'm doing is reliving my past and making something that was so long ago associated with negatives and making it a positive. If you are friends with me on facebook you see my nick name thrown in there with my name. Now you know where REVREN came from and how strong of a meaning it has to me.