Nova/Venom MiniMates 2-pack

I read the first six issues of  the relaunched Marvel NOW! Nova title last year, which I enjoyed immensely, only stopping to sample some other titles while sticking to the monthly comics budget. While I wasn't into that type of cosmic comics as a child, I've grown to love them as an adult, my interest in the character growing due to his tie-in with the Guardians of the Galaxy, War of Kings, and Annihilation books published in the last few years. Venom, on the other hand, caught my attention as an older teen, through Amazing Spider-Man, around 1990.

This set came with a lot of extra accessories, some for Venom to be stripped down to his human form, Eddie Brock. The Venom head is fantastic on this, his trademark, gnarly teeth and giant tongue wagging out in front! He also came with a snaking arm to use in place of one of his huge hands. These larger MiniMates have somewhat clunky articulation due to their girth, but I do love them. Diamond released a Venom Through the Ages box set recently that includes a Venom much like this one, as well as an Agent Venom/Flash Thompson

Nova's helmet can be removed to reveal Sam Alexander's face, the latest member of the Nova Corps, son to a former Nova Centurion. Diamond did a nice job on Sam's hair sculpt, emulating the style of artist Ed McGuiness, of whose work I'm a big fan of. 

Sam also comes with two helmets, one an alternate gold- Fun! Diamond didn't have to do that, but I'm glad they did. He also came with a a translucent blue flight base, true to Sam's depiction in the Marvel NOW! Nova title. Another, more traditional Nova Centurion in blue was recently released with Baron Zemo in a 2-pack, but I sure do live the glossy black on Sam here...

Since I now have a Venom MiniMate, what a perfect opportunity to have my Superior Spider-Man do battle...!

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Tamashii Stage Act 5 Flight Stands

I've been looking for some flight stands for use in photographing and displaying my action figures, and after reading Jason's post on the subject at One Per Case, I settled on these Tamashii Stage Act 5 bases by Bandai.

There are three to a box, modular in construction, with two sizes of pincers included for each. The booms are jointed in the middle and their bases can be tabbed together. I got this set for twenty buck shipped on eBay. I felt they'd be especially good for displaying my 6" and 4" Iron Man figures, of which I have many! They are somewhat delicate, but can hold the figures pretty high off the shelf. Some of my heavier Legends Iron Men are somewhat of a strain on them, but the screws on the jointed boom arms can be tightened if necessary.

The Bandai stands are a little too slender for a heavy action figure like my Iron Monger, but can easily hold the lighter Iron Patriot. They will be especially useful with Marvel Universe figures. I am pleased with these so far and look forward to future photo sessions!

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Superior Spider-Man/Electro MimiMates 2-pack

Diamond Select released another Superior Spider-Man prior to this dressed in the first customized suit Otto Octavius wore after taking over Peter Parker's body after Amazing Spider-Man #700. He came with a Nova MiniMate, who has more recently been repackaged with Venom. I was thrilled to have discovered this more recent Superior Spider-Man however, packed with a translucent Electro! The premise of this arc sounds preposterous at first, but I was quickly hooked on the great story it's turned out to be. 

I'm a huge fan of transluscent action figures, so even though Electro isn't at the top of my list of favorite villains, I was happy to see him. I kinda like the goofy yellow & green outfit that Electro is classically known for, but this Marvel NOW! version does it for me. Diamond generously outfitted him with two electricity bolts, electric gauntlets, and a matching base.

Max Dillon made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #9 (1964), and will make his movie debut this year, played by actor Jamie Fox in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, opposite Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. Electro with my Iceman MiniMate from the X-Factor box set...

I really bought this set for Superior Spider-Man- I love this character in black & red- it just works well. I'm unsure of the way the webbing on his mask isn't centered between the eyes, but it doesn't kill it for me. He comes with the standard issue web line, but the mechanical armed back-pack could have made him a little more unique among the other Spidey MiniMates. Still, he's a great offering I was pleased to see- I've really enjoyed the title!

The Peter Parker (possessed by Otto Octavius) head on this figure is spectacular, his hair really capturing the wild style of Superior Spider-Man artist Ryan Stegman. Love that guy's work! His hair piece features a blue-tooth communicator at the left ear- a nice touch for the multi-tasking Otto Octavius, determined to be the superiorly organized hero Peter Parker wasn't.

Superior Spider-Man with Ultimate Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man...

I love a variant costume on popular characters like Spider-Man, and am particularly happy to have these three alternate versions on ol' Webhead together in MiniMate form!

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Legends Marvel NOW! Capt. America

I was excited to see we'd be getting a new Captain America from Hasbro- yes, we were given an Ultimate Cap in the Hit Monkey Series recently, but he was missing the stars on his shoulders, and although the omission of wings on his head was correct, I was never comfortable with that aspect of the design. The Marvel NOW! Captain has a lot of similarities to Ultimate Cap and the movie Avengers Cap, as well as the classic Cap we all know and love. I sincerely loved the Marvel NOW! Captain America title this past year, wherein our star-spangled hero must fight his way through Dimension Z, protecting a child from Arnim Zola and the savage underlings of his world. Great stuff! The packaging on these new Marvel Legends is fantastic looking, and the figures can be easily removed and returned to their packaging, not bound by ties or rubber bands to the plastic insert tray. While I'll likely recycle this, it's a nice tough for collectors...

Inside the packaging is a nicely sculpted, well articulated, 6" action figure. Hasbro is hit or miss with their shading as far as paint apps go, more often the latter unfortunately, but they did paint the belt buckle. There are some quality control issues with the striped abdomen on these, this particular specimen suffering on his dorsal side. The first Cap I picked up was scuffed on the abdomen, so I returned it for this one, whose imperfections could not be detected until opened.

We get some excellent range in articulation throughout the figure, particularly in the ball-hinge neck and abdominal hinge. Cap has double jointed elbows and knees, swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, upper thighs, and boot tops, and a generous rocker joints on his hinged ankles. I love how smooth the ball hinge hips work- very nice. Mine has some seriously tight shoulder hinges, but more unfortunately, some very loose pins in the knees- luckily, the ratchet style joints keep him from slipping under his own weight for the most part. 

Marvel NOW! Cap came with a shield very similar to those we received with the some of the others, which can be pegged into the hole on his back, or clipped onto his wrist. I prefer this to the plastic straps like we got with the Avengers Cap.  He's a neat action figure that suffers from the same joint and paint app issues a lot of mass produced figures do- it's par for the course, so to speak, especially from Hasbro. He can still take Loki hand-to-hand...   :D

Marvel Legends NOW! Capt. America with Commander Steve Rogers (still my favorite), and Avengers Capt. America...

Marvel Legends NOW! Capt. America with First Appearance Spider-Man, Avengers Hulk, Mark 42 Iron Man, Hope Summers, and Modern Thor...

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DC and Marvel Mugs

Happy New Year!  Picked up a few coffee mugs at good prices over the holidays while shopping for family & friends. While I didn't really need any more coffee mugs, these DC character mugs were both exceptionally nice looking and only four bucks at Big Lots. The Superman mug's red inner wall added a lot of flair in my opinion, and the big, classic shield on blue looks attractive. The Batman mug had great illustration, and features Nightwing on the other side- a member of the Batman family we haven't usually seen on merchandise like this. I've been enjoying the new Batman: Black & White title lately, so I could not have found this at a better time.

With the weather turning cold, I've been taking a coffee with me on the go more often, and was bowled over by this flashy Amazing Spider-Man tumbler at Wal-Mart (also four bucks). There were also retro Batman and Wonder Woman tublers, but I've been reading so much Spider-Man this past year that this was definitely the one for me-  that classic Spidey illustration takes me back to the '70s!

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