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Marvel Wave 32 carries one real heavy hitter in Iron Man and a lot of fan favourites. Up for review are Yellowjacket and the wave's army builder, the Kree Soldier.

Packaging

Standard Marvel carton. No real surprises here. The usual windows and Minimate-styled art on the front. Group photo of the wave on the back, and each figure gets a photo on one of the side flaps.

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The Figures

Yellowjacket

Yet another Hank Pym superhero identity. This was his fourth, following Ant-Man, Giant-Man, and Goliath.

Hank's costume has a wasp theme to it. Not surprising really. He was dating Janet van Dyne AKA The Wasp, then lost his marbles, then lost the Wasp. The mask is a cut-out type and fits very well. The eyes line up perfectly. Well they would do... Unfortunately the vest thing that sits over the 'mates shoulders pushes the mask up slightly and wrecks the eyelines. Doesn't look too bad from a distance but up close it's obvious.

The mask has yellow antennae over the ears. The paint apps on these antennae aren't the best. There's a lot of bleed over which is a shame, though I'd imagine getting the app just right is nigh on impossible. Remove the mask and add the alternate hair piece and you have Hank Pym looking all stern and scientisty. There's something Kirbyesque about this version of Pym, maybe it's the mouth?

The previously mentioned 'vest' thing is the most distinctive part of Yellowjacket's costume, it forms stylised wings as it arches over the shoulders and has in the past become exaggerated by various artists. DST though have opted to keep the wings within sensible proportions. The piece looks ok but fails because it doesn't quite meet up with the belt, missing it by maybe two millimetres. This spoils the overall look of the figure and it's irritating the way the wings rattle about when the 'mate is handled. The grey paint on this piece is also badly applied. It looks like it was applied with a spoon!

The rest of the 'mate is standard fare. Black gauntlet gloves and some black paint to represent boots. Yellowjacket has no accessories.

In conclusion: Nice to see, but should have been better.

MMC Score - 6 out of 10

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Kree Soldier

The Kree are a technologically advanced alien race that rule a vast empire. This soldier appears to be part of the ruling cadre of blue-skinned Kree, though there are also Kree with pink skin (see Captain Marvel). The uniform of a Kree soldier has remained largely untouched since they were first introduced in the silver age. I believe this uniform is in fact Captain Marvel's original costume. Despite being created in the 1960's the costume has a very 1930's retro vibe. This outfit wouldn't look out of place in a Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers serial.

The finned helmet is the most distinctive part of this Minimate. It looks great, and the printed on eyes actually line up with those underneath which is refreshing! There's also some nice concentration lines painted around and between the eyes. Remove the helmet though and the face beneath, despite it's hue, is anything but distinctive. It doesn't appear that much thought has gone into the face, and it's a real shame that there's no alternative face on the back of the head. This is, after all, the army builder of the wave.

The costume is very true to (comic book) life though the white would have benefited from the translucent finish that 90's Storm had. Still, it's fine as it is. I just with DST had come up with a better belt and holster. This thing is seriously massive and totally unbalances the figure. It can't be posed with arms at rest because there's no room for the right arm at all. I'd have rather seen a molded holster that was unusable but looked right, than this honking great thing.

The rest of the Minimate is fairly standard, with paint apps at wrists and ankles to represent gloves and boots. I quite like the whited out areas on the boots, they're very effective but all in all this is not the greatest of Minimates and the lack of variation makes it a poor army builder.

The Kree Soldier is accessorised with a silver pistol.

In conclusion: Should have been much better.

MMC Score - 6 out of 10

More pictures



Review and pictures by Rad Kerrigan

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