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Here we have a pack containing Gaijin Wolverine and Mariko, which was an exclusive to the US Summer Conventions San Diego Comic-Con and Wizard World Chicago.

Packaging

The packaging is the now-usual Marvel Minimates box as seen in waves 4 and 5. It features the Marvel Universe logo along the side of the box. The packaging also has the faces on the side of the boxes.



This exclusive pack also has a new back picture showing off all of the Marvel Minimates made for retail. Wave 6 does not have this picture, it'll be interesting to see if Wave 7 has it.



The figures are packed in a bubble tray, and have no twist-ties holding them in. Instead, a second 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.

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The Figures

Gaijin Wolverine

First up, we have yet another version of Wolverine. This one is based on his brown costume. There will be another brown-costumed Wolverine in wave 8, presumably with his mask.

Wolverine's expression is the usual snarl, however this version has a lot of drawn-on detail, maybe because he doesn't come with a mask. The hair is reused from the Civilian Logan Minimate from wave 5. This isn't much of a problem as it is a very good hairpiece, probably the best of all the different Wolverine hairpieces.

The paint apps on the costume are pretty good, especially with the chest, which again has a lot more detail than other Minimates, possibly to mimic the comic design it was from. This Wolverine also has identical boots to the Tiger Stripe Wolverine from the Giant-Size X-Men Boxset. However the feet inside them are the new C3 feet which are slightly smaller and leave a little gap.

Wolverine obviously has his claws, which are pretty straight, certainly better than earlier releases. However he comes with no other accessories. It would have been nice to have some spare hands included so that we could show Wolverine with sheathed claws.

Overall, this figure is a fairly good Wolverine, and maybe last year would have scored higher, but there have been better released in the line. If you're going to repeat characters then eventually people will start to tire of them.

MMC Score - 6 out of 10

More pictures

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Mariko

The second figure in the set is Wolverine's love interest, Mariko, daughter of a Japanese crime boss. The face has been done well, being a lot simpler and less overdone than recent Minimate women like Gwen Stacy. The hairpiece has been done in a traditional Japanese style, making it a good addition for any customisers.

The thing that lets this figure down isn't just the restrictiveness of the robe (Mariko arguably looks better without it) but the simply atrocious paint job. The paint detailing looks like it was slapped on with a trowel. The colours beleed into one another because it's simply huge blobs of paint. Check out the shoddy work on the front of the robe. One; there's a huge purple blob by the neck. Two; the white on the top of the robe is horribly uneven. Three; the darker detailing on the pink sash looks terribly wonky. This paint job just isn't good enough, especially for an exclusive.

Mariko comes with no accessories, but she does come with the smaller C3 feet and the hairpiece is removable.

Overall, this is one of the worst Minimates available. A not-very-popular character with a restrictive robe and very bad paint adds up to a very low score.

MMC Score - 3 out of 10

More pictures

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