Rustin’s Spoils of the Week #2

TRU Exclusives Minimates: Cannonball & Shatterstar

Two more welcome additions to pad out our SDCC '10 90s X-Force Minimates. Shatterstar star will always remind me of the early-mid 90s' ToyBiz X-Men toys. His swords are pretty cool, but the handles are, of course, too thick to easily fit in the hands, so expect lots of frustration. Cannonball comes with an all new "blast efffect" which can replace his lower torso, making the this the first Cannonball figure to (properly) duplicate the classic image. Despite the fiery effects near the top of the "blast," I could see this being reused as a neat ectoplasm base for a Ghostbusters ghost.

TRU Exclusives Minimates: Magik & Warlock

Much like the others, my sole knowledge of these characters comes from previous ToyBiz figures. Magik is some how surprisingly accurate to the character, or at least the earlier toy, of her and include a neat sword and a super-cool little boom-tube-y portal flash - just unplug her feet and plug the legs into the base. This is probably my favorite Minimate accessory since the introduction of the flight stands. Warlock is also surprisingly cool, and indeed comes with interchangeable hair, hands and feet to make a "human version" much like the previous figures in the New Mutants box set.

TRU Exclusives Minimates: Wolverine & Magneto

Aaaaaaaaaah FINALLY! Probably the only time I've been desperately awaiting a Wolverine figure. This is a much needed update of Brown Wolverine, crucial in that he essentially completes our Jim Lee X-Men. Plus his cowl is removable and he comes with a "mask down" attachment a la the Captain America Through the Ages boxset - super cool. I've fallen madly in love with Magneto over the last few years and just adore the crap out of this new version - new, more stylized helmet and alternate head with menacing all-black shadowy face - love it! The forearm gauntlets and boot extensions are a bit too clunky for me, honestly I think it would have been better painted on rather that sculpted, or if the painted equivalent were available underneath the sculpted pieces, but what are you going to do. And yes, I got two to have both head styles on display.

Star Wars: Wicket

Hasbro delivers a very-much-needed update to a beloved secondary character. As much articulation as they could fit and really solid paint apps. He comes with his ROTJ cowl, Animated cowl, a spear and a messenger bag (looks familiar but when did he have it? Animated Ewoks?). At $9 he's a tough pill to swallow and makes one really miss the days of Ewok two packs. At a more reasonable price point I would get a second one for the animated look (the figure is that cool/well executed) but as is... he's just for completists or that one Ewok fan.

Star Wars: Gamorrean Gaurd

My number one figural update in Star Wars is finally MINE!!! This has been the hardest figure to find of the ROTJ series so imagine my boy-ish squeals of delight when I found my requisite four (build dem battles!). $9 is a lot for a 3¾" figure but this guy is almost worth. THE GOOD - Super articulated, amazing sculpt, pretty solid paint, three accessories!!! THE BAD, the shoulder pads don't allow for any real use of the ball-and-hinge joints, soft goods. This is a near-perfect figure that is close to ruined by the ridiculous soft goods fun skirt. It's way too big and bulky, rendering the Gamorrean to looking more like one of those old koosh-ball animals that the characters from the movies. Soft goods ruin figures - cut it out. Overall, a hugely exciting addition and I love him!

Star Wars: Night Light Lightsaber

I saw this one Target's clearance aisle and was going to just shrug it off until I saw that it has 8 color modes. So, with 75% off I bought eight of these things with the intent of setting them up in a row in a rainbow pattern. They run off of 3 AAA batteries (plus another 2 for the remote) and have 10 settings, the 8 colors, a jukebox-esque constant fade through the 8 colors, and Off. I with they could run off of AC instead, but clearly this is a kids' toy. The light power and color quality is better than expected but not as good as I had hoped. Still should make a pretty cool display. The thing is at about half scale, so the saber is circa 6" long and the blade is about 18". Really cool for $5, not so much for anything more.

Share
This entry was posted in Rustin's Spoils of the Week and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to Rustin’s Spoils of the Week #2

  1. yo go re says:

    I just got the Magik/Warlock set today. Her stepping disc makes me more convinced than ever that they're going to make a Blink to fit in with the Age of Apocalypse Minimates...

  2. Rustin Parr says:

    They are - next series of TRU minimates.

  3. ferris says:

    Don't have a guard to try it on yet, but a couple of times I've found over-furry toys could be trimmed to look much better -- worked for me on Miss Piggy's feather boa years ago, and a Gizmo statue I got last year.

  4. PrfktTear says:

    Every time I walk by the Light Saber my TRU has on display the sensor activates and it scares the shit out of me. EVERY TIME.

    • yo go re says:

      My normal TRU doesn't have those. The one I go to second-most has them, but they don't work. It's only TRU #3 that has them and they're functional, but yeah, they're still annoying...

  5. Rustin Parr says:

    That f$%#ing thing... I've actually changed my "hunting route" in TRU to avoid walking past it... congratulations JarJar - you're no longer the most annoying thing about SW

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *