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Stormbreaker and MvC3 SDCC exclusives


The Geohound

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Today I am overjoyed because AFX shipped me my SDCC minimates and didn't tell me, so a surprise awaited me when I came home.

I don't generally do reviews of things, but I feel I have to talk about these for the good of us all.

We'll start with the MvC3 set. Mind you this is only one set of the two MvC sets from SDCC but I don't particularlly care about a Blue Zero or Stealth Iron Man, so I don't have those. No, this is about Dante, Arthur, Phoenix and Deadpool.

Let's begin with Dante.

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He's unremarkable. His blue hair and bare chested nipple strap arenothing short of just irrelavant. I don't care about Devil May Cry. Never have, never will. That being said his white coat with its high flared collar is beautiful and I can easily see using it for just about anything else. He comes with 2 standard pistols. Nothing special about them. Both the same color and retreaded models but more pistols is more pistols. The real key to Dante is his compensator... Err, his really big sword. This thing is completely new so far as I know and it's flawless. It's taller than Dante, for one thing. The blade isn't bulk or super awkward and the hilt is a handle with the skull and ribcage molded into it. Of all the larger swords I have, this one is the best... Well, maybe second to Planet Hulk's but that personal opinion. It bears mentioning that Dante has no holsters for his guns or a sheath for his sword, so he can't be fully equipped ever.

Now, let's move on to Arthur.

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He's actually quite impressive. Despite the lack of a second body that's just him in his underwear, he's still very well done. His helmet is old school knight armor and it is perfect. I would be even more impressed with it if the visor could go up and down but that's nitpicking. His armor otherwise is just as good. Clean understated lines and a gorgeous gold finish. He also has custom molded shouldeer pieces, not little slipped on things that can slide up and down and hinder arm movement. All in all, very solid figure. It's the accessories that push him over. First off the Lance is just as long as Dante's sword, but infinitely more awesome. It's solid the whole length of it, not hollowed out and I can press down on the end with a bit of force before it even starts to bend. The handle isn't too wide and fits easily into his hand. Now, the axe is another thing. I can't actually get the blade to bend without trying excessively hard. The purple coloring with the gold adds a more regal look to it. the shield, however is what makes it. Also gold and purple, it is s large bowed out shield coming to a rather sharp point at the end. It has a segmented cliplike piece molded to it to slide onto Arthur's arm instead of a braclet with a peg that we all know is just going to constantly fall off and get lost. Arthur could easily run someone through on this shield, so watch for decapitations.

Let's take it a little easy now and talk about Phoenix.

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I admit to having a tumultuous love/hate relationship with Phoenix. One the one hand, I've always loved Jean Grey, on the other, the Phoenix Force is just a wee bit stupid. But we're not here to talk on that. This is about a minimate, and let me tell you, she is nice. Very sinple. No accessories to speak of other than a reissue of the Rachel Summers Base from a while back (which I am super happy about since I never managed to get one of those) just white and yellow costume. Not white and shiny gold, but actual yellow. And I like it. It's perfectly clean and elegant. Plus the only Phoenix I had before now was a Dark Phoenix and let's face it, she's kind of a b***h.

Here it is. The moment I've been waiting for. X-Man Deadpool!

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Easily the winner of the box, his x-men costume is stunning in blu and yellow and clean with no giant add on accessory parts like legs pouches or holsters or anything. Just a simple Deadpool in a hilarious costume. He has two more of the exact same pistols as Dante (that makes four in this box, and I think that might be too much) and katanas. Oh does he have katanas. Not tiny flimsy little pieces of junk, but real, well crafted katanas. The hilts are sturdy but not so think he can't hold them and the blades are thin enough to be taken seriously, but wide enough that you can see them from over a foot a way. They're longer too. Slightly an arm and a half overall. Man, this is possibly my favorite Deadpool 'mate yet.

So that's the MvC3 box. All in all, well worth the price for accessories alone. Dante drags it down a bit for me, but still, it's pretty great.

Now what I really care about. The Stormbreaker set. This is the sole reason SDCC mattered for me this year. Let's begin.

Also to note is this box comes with a non-assigned wooshing takeoff flight base for whosoever is in fact worthy.

We start with Thor.

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He's not really much to look at, is he? Classic look, helmet with flowing golden tresses. No sleeves, but also no bulky chest piece either, so that's a plus. And the kind of boots you could only find before I was ever born. His cape is a thin fitting piece that attaches around his neck but only limits his head movement a minor bit. Overall a non-bulked out clumsy Thor is alright by me, but possibly unnecessary if yu already have one. What really gets me is Mjolnir. Just a simple hammer, but in very tiny elegant letters on one side it does in fact read "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor" This might not be impressive if the movie 'mates have this too, but being that I have none of those, I find this a nice touch.

Now how about that Loki?

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Well, he's seriously old school. No accessories at all, no giant horns on his head, just a pure and simple smirking trickster out to wreak havoc and mayhem. The lines on his suit are clean and pronounced in yellow against the green. His helmet/hat/whatever does come off as a seperate little hat for cold nights in Jotunheim and he has a simple cape exactly like his brother Thor, save for Loki's is of course yellow. Not much else to say. At least he is a dude this time.

As for Lady Sif, well she's fairly simple as well.

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Red and white, no bulky extra clothing pieces save for her helmet/ hairpiece, which despite what ai thought in looking at pictures earlier, is not attached to her head nor is it a slip over face mask thing, so if you have a long black hairpiece, you can display her a bit more casually. Her one accessory is a sword, but it's a good sword. Anyone who, like myself, loves their Swordsman minimate will recognize it instantly, as they are the same. This, I am happy about as I always wanted Swordsman to have two swords. Not much else to Sif really.

This is it. This is what I wanted for so long. I'm not a very big fan of the Thor part of the Marvel universe at all, but there is one part I absolutely love above all else. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, step right up and bare witness to the one, the only weilder of the mighty hammer Stormbreaker, BETA RAY BILL!!

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In all honesty, Bill has been on my fantasy wishlist of minimates for as long as I've been collecting, and when I found out that would be coming true this year, I was overjoyed, but then terrified. What with all the bulking up of minimates and people who can turn or bend their legs or look up or hold their weapons, could Beta Ray Bill exist in a manner that would even remotely be awesome? Here's what I say to that.

F*** YES!!!!

Bill is everything I wanted and then some. He's bulked up in all the right ways. No movement is limited, no joint is unbendable and nothing is in the way of anything else. You know how I know this is true? Beta Ray Bill can look up. Not all the way, and part of it is due to the amazing sculpt for his head, but Bill can take off from the ground and instead of only looking forward because his helmet is in the way *cough* Nova *cough* he can indeed gaze skyward and greet any threat ahead of him. He has custom molded legs to add bulk, but not get in the way of articulation and the boots go up just enough to cover the flat parts of the legs, showing only detail and definition in his lower half. The chest piece is something else. It's beautiful in it's brilliance. Instead of having a buffed up chest and a cape on top of it, it's all molded into one piece giving for to muscles and a grand sweeping cape to the back of it. The cape flares up above his shoulders but the neckline of it is actually shaved inwards and lower to accomodate Bill's head and allow for magnificent movement. The length of it is perfect too, as it only just reaches to his knees, so his legs can bend forward or back for a range of poses that most capes frankly just do not allow. The gloves are simple white with red and black bands, never getting in the way and the actually part to hold the weapon we will soon discuss are plenty wide unlike quite a few I've had to deal with lately. For immediate reference, I call on Shatterstar. And Stormbreak itself is a magnificent sculpt. It's not massive like Ultimate Thor's hammer, but it's also not understated like the classic Mjolnir. The handle is sturdy and solid and fits easily into Bill's hand, while the actual striking part is large enough to be intimidating, but still small enough to not be in Bill's way. I have to say that, for my money, Beta Ray Bill is about as perfect a minimate representation as we've ever had, at least for a long time. I am pleased.

Ok, sorry that went on for so long, but there where all these things in my head and I felt this is the only place where I could put them out and they might be appreciated. This has taken me well over an hour to write out. Honestly, when I started this my whole plan was to say the sets are basically great and worth the money, but once I started, you know? Anyways, I will work on putting up some pictures later with my crappy little ipod camera, but if you really want to see these things in action gimme a few days and then check my deviantArt, as I think I will do a shot of each of these... Well, maybe not Dante. Anyways, I need to be done now. I hope thie review or rant or speech or sales pitch or whatever was helpful and/or entertaining to someone.

Have a nice day, Multiverse.

Also, I typed this whole monstrous thing out on my ipad, so please forgive spelling and grammer. This thing is kind of a pain to write on.

Edit: sorry about not getting pics up. I came down with a serious bout of becoming unconscious yesterday and just fell asleep til this morning. Pics is up now.

Edited by The Geohound
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