Walgreens' Minimates figures have, thus far, been limited to Marvel's animated series. But with the pending release of Thor: Ragnarok, they finally get to expand beyond that. Like Toys Я Us, they're getting a mix of widely available and exclusive figures.
#345 - Skurge/Grandmaster
The first figure in this set is perfect for "Horror Month" - the name alone strikes fear in those who hear it! This is Skurge the Executioner, an Asgaardian who was in love with the Enchantress and served as her muscle (he's half storm giant). Together they were part of Baron Zemo's first incarnation of the Masters of Evil.
Skurge is played in the film by Judge Dredd himself, Karl Urban. The movie is sticking very close to the comic designs for the character, giving blue and purple armor (definitely more Roman than Norse, it must be said) and a bald head with black stripes on the scalp. The painted face has dark circles around the eyes, a goatee, and exposed teeth, and it definitely looks like Urban. His chest cap and gloves are new, and his chest and boots are painted with details. Sadly, he has no weapons: not his magical axe, and not any machine guns (yes, the trailers make it look like Ragnarok is doing the bridge at Gjallarbrú, though we wonder if it will have the same impact it did in the comics since Skurge isn't already an established character). This definitely isn't the first Walgreens exclusive to forego weapons, so again we're left to assume this was something they requested.
The set's second figure is En Dwi Gast, better known as The Grandmaster, better known again as Jeff Goldblum. Jeff Goldblum Minimate! What a time to be alive! One of the oldest living beings in the universe, the Grandmaster loves games in all their forms. [Actually, it's about ethics in Infinity Gem collecting --ed.] In the comics, he has blue skin and white hair, but the movie version is pink with silver - the only nods to the original look are the blue markings around his eyes and below his lip. The reason the filmmakers didn't stick closer to the usual design? Jeff Goldblum already played a blue alien in 1988's Earth Girls Are Easy, alongside Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans.
Goldblum's Grandmaster is a hedonist, living for sensual joy and fun, and his face is painted with a perfect expression of smug pleasure and surprise. He wears sandals and a golden robe with red trim, like he's lounging around at poolside. The comics' robe is yellow with red, so this is very close. The lining of the robe is the same blue as his shirt, so he's still got all the colors from the comics. His left arm has a big golden sleeve, necessitating a new mold for the upper arm; unfortunately, that limits the elbow slightly.
Strange that Skurge doesn't get guns or an axe, considering Thor gets swords, Hulk gets a hammer and an axe, and Valkyrie gets her swords and daggers, I believe. Seems like maybe DST didn't get a weapons description before they started making the 'mates. Still, this two pack shows why Minimates will always be my favorite collectible. Barring Funko's increasingly irritating blind boxes, the character depth of Minimates (both for movies and comics) remains unmatched by essentially all other companies, though ML has increased in its outlandish choices lately (mostly due to a lack of new tooling, in my opinion).
True, but none of those other sets are Walgreens exclusives - they have this one and Thor/Civilian Loki (though that set does include Mjolnir, at least)...
Yeahhh, but Drax had knives, Taskmaster had a sword, Scarlet Spider had those knife hand...things. So idk what the cause is.
Walgreens Coulson even had a gun. There doesn't seem to really be any reasoning behind it.