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C3 Minimates Summer Conventions Exclusive - Stealth Batwing
My first-ever C3 review is of the summer conventions-exclusive Stealth Batwing, which is a variant of the normal Batwing cast out of translucent plastic. This was available at July's San Diego Comic-Con and August's Wizard World Chicago from the Art Asylum stall for $40. To further add to its exclusive status, it comes with a new version of Bruce Wayne and it's packaging is from the upcoming "The Batman" cartoon. As this is my first C3 review AND an exclusive, this review might get a bit choppy and might not flow very well, but hang in there as I have tried to take some good pictures of all aspects of this excellent set.
As this is a long and picture-intensive review, covering the packaging, the 2 figures and the C3 set itself, you can use the links below to jump to a section.
Packaging
The packaging is a big yellow box. Graphics and text are at a minimum except for the huge Bat-logo that graces the front of the box. This logo, whilst being very reminiscient of the old 1960's Bat-Symbol, is actually from the new Warner Bros cartoon "The Batman" which is scheduled to start this Autumn in the States. I have to admit, once I saw pictures of this packaging on the internet from SDCC reports, I knew this was a must-have item for me. Anyway, I think it looks really good. The downside to the packaging is that you can't see either the C3 pieces or the Minimates, but as an exclusive it catches the eye and looks great, and you can't really ask for more.
The C3 pieces are all bagged up in the main part of the box, and the Minimates are packaged in a tray on the right hand side.
As you can see, the figures are packed in a tray, and Bruce Wayne also has twist-ties holding him in. The Pilot Batman is not tied in, nor are the missiles or spare Batman parts. The clear tray piece fits over the top and then locks in, meaning that these figures are held in well and can be seen from each side.
The Figures
Pilot Batman (Stealth version)
The first figure in this set is Pilot Batman, in a flight suit. This exclusive version is different to the regular version in terms of colour. Whereas the normal version has blue trim, here Pilot Batman has yellow trim.
First off, the sculpted details on this figure are fantastic. The helmet, with its movable visor and breathing apparatus, is far more detailed than anything we have seen in the Marvel line. I prefer the visor up so that you can see Batman's steely blue eyes. The helmet is removable, revealing the superb expression on Batman's face, showing a grim determination befitting the Dark Knight.
The great sculpting and detailing doesn't end there. Pilot Batman comes with a removable cape, which adds a lot to the look of the figure, and the detailing on the legs and chest (with the bat-symbol highlighted in yellow) are excellent. The only slight problem with the paint is on the gloves, which are a little bit sloppy on the yellow highlights. If you remove the flight suit, you can see that the torso block itself also has a batsymbol on it, this time in black. Another great touch.
The Stealth Batwing set comes with other Batman items of clothing; a cowl, a torso/cape accessory, some spiked gloves, and 2 boot pieces. Although the colours of the pieces work a lot better with the Bruce Wayne figure, the normal Batwing also came with these extra pieces of costume, so they are designed to work with this figure also.
Overall, this is already one of my favourite Minimates ever. The attention to detail, the expression, the overall look all add up to something really special.
MMC Score - 10 out of 10
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Bruce Wayne (exclusive)
The second figure in the set is Bruce Wayne, millionaire Gothamite who fights crime as Batman. There is a version of Bruce Wayne available with the Batcave set, but this Bruce is taken from "The Batman" cartoon and therefore looks slightly different.
Bruce has a much simpler and less detailed expression on his face than the Pilot Batman, almost making him look like he has a smirk. Again, Bruce has these big blue eyes. The hair is reused from the Hulk Minimate, which I found slightly amusing (and hopefully explains some of the other pictures!).
The rest of Bruce's threads are well done. In the Marvel line it seemed like the civilian characters were a bit plain looking compared to the colourful heroes and villains, something which has been tackled here. Bruce has a blue shirt and black jacket on, meaning that he is somewhat colourful and definitely stylish. In a nice touch, the hand pieces have a little of the blue of the shirt poking out. The arm pieces themselves are a blue inner colour with black surrounding it.
As mentioned in the Pilot Batman review, the set also comes with extra clothing pieces so that you can create a "proper looking" Batman. Using these pieces with Bruce, who is already dressed primarily in black, gives a great looking Batman and proves that these extra pieces are worthwhile.
Overall, Bruce Wayne avoids the pitfalls of other civilian characters to be a recommended Minimate.
MMC Score - 7 out of 10
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The Construction Set
Stealth Batwing
The C3 construction set is the exclusive Stealth Batwing. It is a variant of the normal Batwing which has been cast in translucent light blue plastic. The set is comprised of 110 pieces, and most of them are the same colours. This makes it quite hard to tell some of the similar-looking blocks apart. The instructions are for the normal Batwing, and therefore show the pieces in their usual colours, which also adds slightly to the confusion.
As I was born in 1975, I grew up with Lego. First was Lego Town, then Lego Space (my favourite, with the red astronauts), then later came Knight sets, with figures on horseback and castles. Then I grew up, and didn't even think about Lego until a few years ago when the Star Wars Lego sets appeared. These showed how much Lego had evolved - lots of unique pieces that could be used in only one way. It didn't seem as fun as building Voltron-style combiner robots out of similar-looking blocks.
Historical ramblings aside, I had a lot of fun putting this set together. It all seemed to fit together OK, although some of the structural wing additions seemed to take a lot of coaxing into the right positions. There are some unique pieces like the missile launchers which could conceivably be placed in other positions or used on other sets entirely to create more firepower.
The Batwing is fairly large, although most of the size are the wings themselves. It is in a definite bat shape, which makes it look very cool. There are some movable pieces - there are flaps which open and close and the 3-part landing gear retracts. Finally the tailfins can be moved as they are on a hinge.
The cockpit opens so that you can place a Minimate in there - obviously this should be Pilot Batman but as all the 2" Minimates are the same proportions then pretty much anyone ought to be able to take the Batwing for a spin. There is a control panel in the cockpit with 2 joysticks, I found that with a little pushing and pulling you can get the pilot to hold these fine. The Batwing does look great with Pilot Batman sat in the seat, there's something about the whole look of it that really appeals to me. The cockpit seat also detaches from the main plane at the press of a button, creating a smaller winged vehicle for escape or more covert operations.
So, how successful is the C3 aspect? Based on this one set, I'd say it works really well. The Batwing seems in a good scale to the Minimates, and there's enough to do with it in a play aspect. This convention exclusive is obviously more expensive than the other sets, and I haven't got the normal Batwing to compare it to, but I am very pleased with the set overall.
MMC Score - 8 out of 10
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