{"id":21994,"date":"2016-03-26T00:00:51","date_gmt":"2016-03-26T04:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oafe.net\/blog\/?p=21994"},"modified":"2016-03-19T15:51:23","modified_gmt":"2016-03-19T19:51:23","slug":"minimate-mini-review-284-strike-force-banshee-gambit-pyro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.oafe.net\/blog\/2016\/03\/minimate-mini-review-284-strike-force-banshee-gambit-pyro\/","title":{"rendered":"Minimate Mini-Review #284 - Strike Force Banshee (Gambit) & Pyro"},"content":{"rendered":"

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#284 - Strike Force Banshee\/Pyro<\/h3>\n

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Sean Cassidy possesses a sonic scream that incapacitates and allows him to fly, and stands with the the X-Men whenever he is needed.<\/i><\/p>\n

Banshee got his blue-and-yellow costume sooner than the rest of the team, picking it up on Muir Island in Uncanny X-Men<\/i> #255 when the Reavers attacked. He and Forge<\/a> also kept this as their \"standard\" uniform long after most of the other X-Men moved on to other things. The Minimate gets his wings thanks to Monica Rambeau's<\/a> cape, and the stripes are painted excellently. His face is painted mid-scream, and he has an orange hair piece that would be perfect for Arcade, if AA wanted to make him. The set includes a two-footed flight stand, but what's really cool is the \"scream\" effect: it's the same basic mold as the whirlwind '80s Storm<\/a> had, but there's a ring to attach it to his neck post, allowing it to rest directly in front of his mouth<\/a>. You can literally look up the cone of sound and see his teeth and tongue. Seriously brilliant! No<\/b> toy of Banshee has ever done anything like that before!<\/p>\n

A pyrokinetic, Saint-John Allerdyce can control fire, but not create it, which is why he has a flame thrower on each arm. A member of the Brotherhood, he later served the government as part of Freedom Force.<\/i><\/p>\n

Yes he did! All of Mystique's Brotherhood did. What they didn't<\/b> do was ever interact with the X-Men while the heroes were wearing the blue and yellow costumes, meaning that this series doesn't represent any specific story, it's just an excuse to release a bunch of new characters (and we're all for it). All Pyro's pieces are new: new mask, with hair sticking out the top; new triangular chest cap with a diamond on the front and a pack on the back; new gloves, connected to the backpack by tubes and featuring flamethrowers on the wrists; and new flame pieces that he holds in his hands to look like they're coming out of the tubes. This is a really well done Minimate! They probably could have gotten away with just painting his mask on, since there's no hair to replace it if you take it off.<\/p>\n

Series 60 had a gimmick where most of the sets came with extra pieces to allow you to change one X-Man into another - in this case, bonus parts turn Banshee into the matter charging Cajun, Gambit.<\/p>\n

Gambit, unsurprisingly, uses many of the same pieces as the first Gambit Minimate<\/a> - namely, the hair and the card hands. How ridiculous is it that he wore his head-sock with the X-uniform? Sometimes he even wore his trenchcoat with it, but if you want to do that, you'll have to borrow it from a different Minimate. There's no bo staff, but he does have a brown satchel<\/a> to sling over his shoulder. Surprisingly, no stubble; nice of him to shave for his first meeting with Professor X.<\/p>\n

<i>And now, some more OAFEry:<\/i><\/H5>