Best Minimate versions of each character?

[Minimate]

I thought it would be interesting to discuss the definitive Minimate versions of each character, since there have been so many variations over the years for the staple heroes and villains.

Sorry in advance if this has been discussed before. 

I have a few to get started: 

Wave 28 Deadpool

Marvel vs Capcom Iron Man

Venom Unleashed

Classic Heroic Age Captain America

HAIL IVAN

 

I am especially curious which Spidey mate is the best as I haven't been able to decide. 

[BuffaloDelorean]

I know there's a lot of support for the original Deadpool 'mate, but I've never particularly liked it. I find the straps clunky-looking and the red too dark. I don't think the slipcover mask works for Deadpool, either. My favourite individual Deadpool is the alternate look for Hulkpool, but even that one's missing sculpted straps and the black stripes on his feet:

The Hulk from that set is pretty much perfect, too:

My pick for the best Spidey would be the Classic Heroic Age version because it's bright blue with full wrist webs and a painted mask, but it isn't perfect:

I think the Death of Jean DeWolff wave Daredevil has a really nice, comicbook-y look to it:

I don't think we have a single definitive Thor minimate yet, but you could probably put one together from all the versions we've had.

Edited December 2, 2017 by BuffaloDelorean

[Gillbob316]

On the topic of definitive Thor's... I thought I disagreed with you, because I remember some decent ones, but I went looking at the database, and maybe I do agree with you. I think my favorite is Best Of Thor, just because he's a relatively simple, clean, non-bulky version, with bright colors that pop. Though I do wish his cape was a bit billowier, like MvC3 Thor. So I guess I agree, the best Thor is  pieced together Thor...



Now on to a character more in my wheelhouse... I think my perfect Wolverine is also Best Of. Now, this mate is darn close to a couple other Wolverines, but I give this one the edge. I dislike 90s Wolverine, because he has a duller, greyer blue (not to mention lots of extra messy detail lines), and I dislike Giant-Size because he has a pastel-ier blue. This one has exactly the blue I want. This is also my favorite of Wolverine's many mask sculpts. I dislike some of the weirder shaped ones. Runner up to MvC3 Wolverine for when I prefer a modern look. Also very good. I have yet to get a brown-costume Wolverine I was 100% happy with. They all have things I'd change. 



Honestly, I tend to favor a lot of the Best Of Mates. I like that they all use bright solid matte colors and clean basic designs. Very comic booky, and lends itself to the simple design of minimates. Sometimes I don't like the more over-detailed minimates. And I agree with Buffalo in that, I've never preferred the original Deadpool. Too bulky looking, between all the straps and the slipcover mask. I think my favorite Deadpool is Deadpool Corps. Strikes a good balance between having a Deadpool-worthy assortment of accessories, while not looking too over-loaded and clunky...



And I want to do X-Men, but there are so many I barely know where to begin, but I thought it might be fun to pick my favorite lineup of the original roster...




This one needs a few caveats... I really like that Angel. Almost no complaints. I'm tempted to choose an Archangel, but I honestly don't love any of the minimate options. I prefer him in the costumes of the original 2 Archangel mates, but those both look dated these days. The Black and Silver X-Force one looks modern enough, but I dislike that costume. None of the X-Force costumes say "definitive" to me... they all just fit the black and silver niche of that particular team. Now Iceman... I generally prefer a bald bobby, but all the bald options look too out of date to me. This one strikes a good balance between classic and modern. And I suppose I could always pop the hair off, haha. Beast... Beast is hard. I don't love any of the Beasts we have. This one is no exception. But it's the closest we currently have to my favorite. I prefer it with the long arms removed though, which is why I chose that pic. Though I might keep the bulky chest and fuzzy feet on mine. I hate his giant hair. I'd love to see a "Best Of" style update to classic blue Beast. A simple, yet bright definitive version. I love that Jean... no complaints. That's my definitive Jean (I prefer the Phoenix costume). ... I was torn between this Cyclops and the more modern one in the A vs X boxed set. I ultimately went with this one because I prefer classic costumes, though I'm not nuts about his hair, and I kinda wish his visor was yellow. I dislike that they keep making his visors metallic. Again, I like simple bright matte colors.

I thought about including Xavier, but I honestly think my favorite is the one coming in the brotherhood Boxed Set Soon, and Ivan didn't have a pic of it yet, so I didn't bother, haha.

I wanted to pick out an Iron Man, but I couldn't find one I was 100% happy with. My favorite paint job is again, Best Of, for all the same reasons I've mentioned. I love that he's a very bright clean red and yellow, not candy apple red and gold. That said, the design is a bit too retro to be ideal for me. Animated was the closest I could find to a Modern Iron Man I liked, but I wish his helmet was sculpted, like some of the movie Iron Men instead of a slipcover. Maybe a bit of sculpting on the boots too. I kinda like MvC3 Iron Man's shape... not overly bulky like a lot of Iron Men... but he does look a bit too "rounded" in the shoulders and face. My perfect Iron Man would be if all three of these had a baby... and maybe a different helmet, haha...

Suffice it to say, I'd love to see a modern movie-style Iron Man, with sculpted details, but in Best-of's non-metallic color scheme. Can we make that happen at some point Zach? Haha. We have enough Metallic versions for a lifetime.

Alright, this post is long enough.

Edited December 2, 2017 by Gillbob316

[Minimate]

Classic Heroic Age Thor is nice too.

 

Favorite Fantastic Four:

                                                                                                                                                                   

Marvel Villains Box Set Doom

                          

 

Silver Surfer

                 

 

Dark Magneto                                                                                Most comic accurate Erik face

    

Best of Wave Green Goblin

                         

 

Wave 68 Storm

      

 

Wave 47 Colossus

Excalibur Nightcrawler

 

Days of Future Past Box Set Mystique

Curse of the Mutants Box Set Blade

 

[buttheadsmate]

There are many 'mates above that are great choices & great minimates & I'd find it hard to even begin to argue . One Thing I must mention ......wouldn't Ben have just been bloody awesome if only he'd have been produced with a matching colour head & 'defined' lines on his body . I've seen what people have done to customise this 'mate with a colour-wash (whatever) & it transforms 'very nice/very near perfect' into 'fantastic'.....why on earth didn't he come 'finished'?

Another disaster in the evolution of minimates can be seen quite clearly in a few of the pics above......the new crotch T-piece that we got lumbered with for a period. Check out Storm & the Hulkpool Deadpool especially ....maybe it's just me but I just hated that 'improvement' in minimate design .  

 

[AFMcGill]

I'm mostly posting here just to say for Cap it's the Invaders boxset for me...i much prefer slip-on cover masks like this when the character's need eyes visible... i know most people hate those slip-on masks but i really think this is the best Cap i have (and i have a lot of Cap variants - and it kinda bothers me that i can't really display them together with cap because none of them have slip-on cover masks like the cap i like)

 

Edited December 2, 2017 by AFMcGill

[BuffaloDelorean]

@Gillbob316

Best Of Thor is one of the better versions of the character, but my "perfect" pieced together Thor would be the first appearance variant with the torso and head of the one from the Stormbreaker box set, and the helmet of Heroes Return Thor:

I definitely agree with Best Of Wolverine over the messy-looking 90's Wolverine. I'm curious as to what your issue is with this brown Wolverine, though:

The Deadpool Corps Deadpool is mostly good, but the lack of painted details on his legs looks off to me.

I tried to stay away from the X-Men because with a lot of them it's mostly down to which costume you prefer. We absolutely need a new classic Beast, though.

I really like the retro look of Best Of Iron Man, but he could really use some extra detail on his limbs. I've been thinking of tracking down the original Iron Man 'mate to try that.

I prefer the MvC Doom to the Villains box set version. It's overly bulky and has restricted movement, but at least it doesn't use the awful original Doom cloak:

The face of Dark Magneto is nice, but I don't really like the bulky bracers and metallic red, so IMO the best is the MvC version again:

While a lot of them aren't perfect, the MvC and Best Of versions of characters are usually my favourites.

Edited December 2, 2017 by BuffaloDelorean

[stack32]

I agree on Thor and I can't believe DST hasn't made an official one like you're describing.

Looking at the suggestions people have posted I'm a little surprised how few minimates there are that everyone would agree are the "best" versions of the character. Outside of Daredevil, Venom, and probably Silver Surfer I can see there being a lot of disagreement or people feeling the need to swap parts with other 'mates to improve them.

My suggestions? Comic War Machine Mk I and II. As far as minimates have since then I don't think those could be improved. Also, Tendril Attack Carnage.

[Gillbob316]

Feedback on some of the things that have been said...

@BuffaloDelorean

I forgot that Wolverine existed because he's hidden under tactical Wolverine, and my Tactical Wolverine still looks Tactical. Haha. Good call though. That's the closest to a perfect Brown Wolverine we currently have. Maybe I should pick up another one of him while he's still warming pegs on clearance at Toys R Us to have both looks. HOWEVER... if I had to nitpick one small thing about him for the sake of nitpicking, it's that he has an X belt painted on instead of the big belt buckle that costume typically has (but I could always steal the belt off an older Wolverine)

I agree completely on preferring MvC3 Magneto over Dark Magneto. I kinda like that Dark Magneto has sculpted boots and gloves, but I hate Dark Magneto's Metallic Paintjob, so MvC3 wins for me.

I prefer the newer Giant-Size Wave 68 Colossus to Wave 47 by a WIDE Margin. I never liked Wave 47 Colossus. Way too bulky. Colossus' size has always been height, not girth (except when he was Juggernaut)... Frankly I even prefer the original Giant-Size Colossus to Wave 47... 



I'm not 100% happy with any of the Nightcrawlers we have. I hate the hair on the Excalibur one... too Jerry-Curl. I dislike the faces on Wave 68 Nightcrawler, don't like the detail lines. Seems like there's probably a hybrid solution there though... haha.

I think Storm is hard because there are actually TOO MANY great Storms, haha. With Storm, like you said, it comes down to costume preference. 90s Storm is great. Outback Storm is solid. Giant-Size is great for her original costume. Even Secret Wars Storm is decent if you prefer her Punk look (though it could use a sculpted jacket-vest). ULTIMATELY... I think my Go-to Storm is MvC3. It's the Modern Update to her Classic Original Costume... so I like that it can straddle eras between classic and modern. Because my X-Men teams usually do that, haha. I pluck costumes from all over the decades... THOUGH... like I said, many Storms are great, and I could swap my opinion to any of them on a whim...



A lot of X-Men are difficult because there honestly aren't enough options. Their roster is so wide that only the top members get a lot of do-overs. Many only have between 1 and 3 minimates, and among those 1-3 mates, there's often a clear winner.

I like this Cable, which is hidden under the one in the Capullo Boxed Set. I've always preferred his X-Men costume to his clunkier 90s looks. But Cable, like Storm, has some other solid options, if you prefer his other costumes...



To throw a fly in the Venom Unleashed ointment, I always liked this Venom. I've never felt like Venom needed to go full Powerhouse Minimate. I leave the Powerhouse look to HUGE characters like Juggernaut, Hulk, Apocalypse, Rhino... even Kingpin works... Now Venom... is tricky. Because some artists indeed do draw him HUGE with enormous Muscles. So I'm not saying Powerhouse doesn't capture that look well, it totally does. I just think I personally tend to prefer to think of him as more medium-big. Bigger than Spidey and Carnage, but not as big as Hulk. And I think this minimate captures that size well, with the bulked up chest and shoulders. Might be worth spicing it up with some of the extra pieces from Venom Unleashed though. I do like that sculpted head.



Loki's a fun one... because the fun thing about Loki is, he's more popular in the MCU than he is in the comics, so he has about twice as many MCU minimates as he does Comic Book Minimates... That said, my favorite Comic Loki is (surprise surprise) Best-Of. He's a standout mate in the Best-Of line for me, because many of the Best-of mates are re-creations or updates of existing mates (albeit with some changes that make them unique) wheras Loki was pretty much an entirely new design. This Loki Minimates never existed outside Best-Of. I think painting the MCU helmet yellow was a great idea on Diamond's part, and worked super well. Now as for an MCU Loki... I like the Dark-World Version. I don't like the bright green and gold on Avengers Loki, too garish. On the flipside, I don't like the dark green and gold on first-movie Loki, too dull. I think Dark World is a good middle-ground. Though I kinda wish he had a helmet. I dislike Ragnarok Loki in general, I don't like his long hair.



PS. I just went out and ordered $100 worth of Minimates I don't have on Amazon, because this friggin' thread has me combing through the database going, "Huh... I wish I owned that." lol... hooray for free same or two day shipping with Amazon Prime...

[Minimate]

Great suggestions! Feel free to offer any more alternatives to my choices. I am always open to switching up my collection in favor of superior versions. 

The Classic Iron Man from Wave 25 goes well with the Classic Heroic Cap and Wave 23 War Machine

Infinity Box Set Thanos

Wave 36 Mandarin

The ideal Spider-Man is a difficult choice to make.

My favorite face design is the slip-on mask from Wave 30 Spider-Girl. Hopefully the upcoming TRU wave will bring the best Spidey yet.  

Champions Box Set Ghost Rider 

 

The Storm and Cable you mentioned are great. I'd prefer that Colossus to the Wave 47 version if he were more shiny. 

 

 

 

 

[hellpop]

I actually started a series of posts on Luke's blog on this topic, which got exactly one post in before I became to lazy busy to write any more. So you can look there to find my thoughts on the best and worst Iron Men.

For the most part, I think it's pretty hard to say which is the best for most major characters, since each has strengths and weaknesses and honestly the best is usually a combination of parts. But there is one figure for one character that I think stands out:

This Captain America (from the Disney Store box set and Wave 44) is just about perfect. First off, THIS IS CAPTAIN AMERICA'S COSTUME, and every other design is inferior. The blue is just right (not too dark, not too bright), the red is nice and vibrant, and the tampo design is really sharp. I love the shading on the mask, and the face design is good and solid. Add in the fact that he includes the best version of his shield wrist attachment, the harness accessory, and a nice shiny version of his shield, and I don't think this one can be beat.

Okay, one more, for my favorite character:

This one may be topped one day, but that day hasn't come yet.

[bigvis497]

Gotta say I prefer the Villains box set Magneto. I never liked the way the AOA helmet looked outside of AOA Magneto. Villains has a nice, old school look.

[BuffaloDelorean]

Wave 68 Colossus is my preferred version too, although I did modify him to be a bit taller.

I don't think Venom should be Hulk-sized, either. I got a really good deal on an incomplete Venom Unleashed, but that other Brock-Venom is closer to the size I think he should be.

Wave 25 Iron Man is great. If that version had the flat red and yellow paint it'd be perfect, IMO.

I like the colours of the Best Of Captain America and Hawkeye better, but the Heroes Return versions are good too.

The original Magneto helmet is closer to the Cockrum/Byrne aesthetic I prefer, but the sculpt of it is too soft to look right to me.

[AFMcGill]

Classic Heroic Age Iron Man:

I've had to settle for that Wave 25 version though

Edited December 2, 2017 by AFMcGill

[RedTiger95]

One Spider-Man I'm fond of is the Torment Spider-Man. I always been a fan of that McFarlane style Spider-Man so it's nice they made one. I really appreciate it and wouldn't mind a new version of it.

[stack32]

I'm surprised that one hasn't been updated. For all of the red and blue Spider-Man minimates that have been made there hasn't been as much variety as you might expect.

[TheMinimateKing30]

For me, the best versions of most of the major characters are as follows;

MISC. HEROES

- Spider-Man - Wave 24 Classic Spidey

- Daredevil - Wave 43 Daredevil

- Luke Cage - Best Of Wave 3 Power Man Luke Cage

- Iron Fist - Best Of Wave 3 Dragon Attack Iron Fist

AVENGERS

- Captain America - Through the Ages Box Set Cap Reborn

- Iron Man - either Wave 32 Extremis Iron Man (for a modern look) or T.R.U. Wave 26 Holographic Iron Man (for a classic look)

- Thor - either Wave 33 Thor Reborn (for a modern look) or Classic Heroic Age Box Set Thor (for a classic look)

- Hulk - T.R.U. Wave 22 Savage Hulk

- Hawkeye - Best Of Wave 3 Classic Hawkeye

- Scarlet Witch - Avengers vs. X-Men Box Set #2 version

- Quicksilver - X-Men vs. Brotherhood Box Set Quicksilver

X-MEN

- Wolverine - Wave 28 Wolverine

- Beast - Wave 34 '90s Beast

- Cyclops - either Avengers vs. X-Men Box Set normal Cyclops or Wave 34 '90s Cyclops

- Jean Grey - either X-Men vs. Brotherhood Box Set Marvel Girl or Wave 34 '90s Jean Grey

- Storm - either Wave 34 '90s Storm or Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Wave 2 Storm

- Angel - Wave 31 Angel

- Gambit - Wave 28 Gambit

- Rogue - Wave 34 '90s Rogue

FANTASTIC FOUR

- Mister Fantastic - either T.R.U. Wave 8 Mr. Fantastic or Wave 48 Stretch-Punch Mr. Fantastic

- Invisible Woman - either T.R.U. Wave 8 Sue Storm or Wave 48 Force Field Invisible Woman

- Thing - either Best Of Wave 1 Thing or T.R.U. Wave 15 Transforming Thing

- Human Torch - either T.R.U. Wave 8 Human Torch or Wave 48 Flame-On Human Torch

MISC. VILLAINS

- Doctor Doom - either Marvel Villains Box Set version or Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Wave 3 Doctor Doom

- Thanos - Infinity Gauntlet Box Set version

- Kingpin - T.R.U. Wave 12 Kingpin

- Loki - Best Of Wave 2 Loki

SPIDER-MAN VILLAINS

- Green Goblin - either Marvel Villains Box Set version or Wave 41 Green Goblin

- Venom - Through the Ages Venom Unleashed

- Carnage - Deadly Foes of Spider-Man Box Set Tendril Attack Carnage 

- Sandman - Deadly Foes of Spider-Man Box Set Shape-Shifter Sandman

- Doctor Octopus - Deadly Foes of Spider-Man Box Set Arm Attack Doctor Octopus

- Lizard - Deadly Foes of Spider-Man Box Set Transforming Lizard

- Hydro-Man - Wave 77 Hydro-Man

- Mysterio - T.R.U. Wave 19 Mysterio

- Kraven the Hunter - Wave 77 Kraven the Hunter

- Prowler - Wave 77 Marvel's Prowler

- Vulture - Wave 77 Marvel's Vulture

- Hobgoblin - Wave 62 Heroic Hobgoblin

- Electro - Wave 30 Electro

X-MEN VILLAINS

- Magneto - either Marvel Villains Box Set version or T.R.U. Wave 9 Dark Magneto

- Mystique - Days of Future Past Box Set version

- Juggernaut - Excalibur Box Set version

- Sabretooth - Wave 28 normal Sabretooth

- Apocalypse - Wave 62 Axis Apocalypse

Edited November 14, 2021 by TheMinimateKing30

[TheMinimateKing30]

On 12/2/2017 at 7:00 PM, RedTiger95 said:

One Spider-Man I'm fond of is the Torment Spider-Man. I always been a fan of that McFarlane style Spider-Man so it's nice they made one. I really appreciate it and wouldn't mind a new version of it.http://www.minimatedatabase.com/img/fig/fig0399flg.jpg

Yes. I wholeheartedly agree.

[minifigvig]

so i really like wave 76 venom, but the walgreens maximum venom is now my favorite to display w spidey because he’s just so big and scary

Edited December 22, 2021 by minifigvig

[MisterPL]

I never cared for Venom in comics but DST has done some fun stuff with him. The fact that there are so many Minimates of him works well with such a morphtastic character.

[Heinous]

On 12/22/2021 at 7:33 AM, MisterPL said:

I never cared for Venom in comics but DST has done some fun stuff with him. The fact that there are so many Minimates of him works well with such a morphtastic character.

Same here, I couldn't care less about but find myself using him more often than I ever thought I would only bc of his options 

[Trekker 42]

Venom’s honestly been way cooler as a character in his own right vaguely sauntering toward being a Cosmic Marvel character than he ever was as Spider-Man’s villain. 
He may not have been all that great before but he is now. Give the Cates run a look.