User blog:Berrybrick/Pick the Hero - Rest in Piece

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Sometimes perfectly good things don't receive the celebration which they should because they lost in a contest. Here at Brickipedia, we know that minifigures have feelings too, so here is a celebration featuring some Marvel minifigures entered in the contest which might not win (or even make it out of the first round) but ought to be recognized. In the wake of our Pick the Hero contest (vote now!), it seems a good time to feature some of these figures which may go unappreciated.

Drax[edit source]

Drax.jpg

How Drax lost to Hulk, honestly, kind of baffles me. The new Hulk is decent as far as big figures go, but I find that messy design on his legs a huge detractor, and really, there isn't much about him that jumps out as great. Drax, on the other hand, has some really intricate printing which no other minifigure, as far as I know, really matches. We do have tattoos on other figures, but nothing nearly so detailed, and those skulls are quite cool. His skin color is questionable, but I think that the detailing more than makes up for it.


Phoenix[edit source]

Phoenix2012.jpg

Phoenix is a perfectly good minifigure who, even if the hairpiece is overused at this point, has it in an exclusive color (sans printed versions) and it wasn't all that bad back in the day she was released. As one of the four X-Men we have, Phoenix's biggest detractor (aside from Spider-Man's popularity as a character, minifigure design aside) is that she was exclusive to only a few hundred people who attended San Diego Comic Con in 2012. Still, the figure is designed well, and it is really unfortunate that the Marvel Entertainment/20th Century Fox rivalry has put any future X-Men figures on hold. All of them (except for Cyclops, v-neck Magneto, and the Sentinel, if you count that...(wait, that's half of them)) have been really great additions to the line.


Black Widow[edit source]

Aside from Iron-Man and maybe Hulk, lot of the older Avengers minifigures haven't really aged well, and the most improved award goes to Black Widow, who wasn't even too great back then. The hairpiece might be a bit overdone, but it is a nice style and, currently, exclusive. She also has printing which is crisper and more detailed and, probably best of all, a head which doesn't make her look elderly.


MODOK[edit source]

MODOK 2014.png

It's MODOK, guys, probably the most campy silver age stupid villain we have gotten. Aside from the special head which sure looks like MODOK, there might not be anything extraordinary about him (and the chair isn't built too well), but you know what? It's MODOK. Now all we need is a Carol Danvers figure to go with him....


Ant-Man (Hank Pym)[edit source]

You know, I'm a bit apprehensive about about the Ant-Man movie, and maybe Ant-Man as a character, though, honestly, I know so little (heh, get it?) about him that a certain famous moment (and confusion with the Ultimate version) may have warped my thoughts on him. He was one of my favorite characters on Earth's Mightiest Heroes though, at least once the show moved along from his nonsensical character premise and turned him into Yellow Jacket...uh, not sure why I'm rambling about this. I guess I'm just still upset that that storyline didn't get resolved. Anyway, I love this minifigure. The Gandalf head that he supposedly has is disappointing, and I don't think that the gunmetal helmet works well with the rest of the figure, but the set also includes one in silver, and the mold is great, having transparent lenses built in. I really like the torso because of the metallic piping and it does not rely on the general muscle template like many other characters. A better image could really help get this one across, I think....


Carnage[edit source]

Nytf-76036-carnage.jpg

Deadpool is good. If Deadpool gets knocked out, he'll have an obituary, but...Carnage is a better figure, in my opinion. Like Drax, he has a really unique printed pattern of symbiotic muscle and I don't even know what, but it is deliciously gross. He's got a nice face too, extremely accurate; it looks like it came right off of the comic page. I wonder how it looks under Batman's cowl; that's how Venom's head works best. Anyway, Gorgeously gory printing, red tendrils, and inclusion in a cheap set which includes two other cool figures makes Carnage amazing.


Ant-Man (Scott Lang)[edit source]

u ppl dnt kno art when u c it


Storm[edit source]

Storm-76022.png

Honestly, the skin tone what might be the biggest draw for this figure, but the way that it contrasts with the (ridiculously skimpy) black costume and white hair is gorgeous. That exclusive cape is magnificent, too, and she has really great printing. This is one of the only female faces where the cheekbones add to the figure and don't irrevocably ruin it (see also: Lois Lane, original Black Widow). Also, again, she's got the x-factor, being one of only a handful of X-Men characters we may ever see. Aside from Ant-Man, Storm is probably my favorite figure in this line.


Green Goblin[edit source]

Does this obituary seem devoid of villains to you? That's because most of them really aren't good. Along with favorites like Carnage and Deadpool though, Green Goblin almost makes me forget that. I'm not talking about that awful big figure abomination from last year, but the Goblin from the upcoming Juniors set. Though I am sometimes apprehensive about campy costumes in modern day, the cartoony designs do look pretty wonderful as minifigures most of the time.


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BerrybrickLegendary Brickipedian

118 months ago
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Honorable mention: Miles Morales. I almost wrote a section for him, but something about the figure looks off. I think it is the web hole in the center of his face, how the webbing on his torso jives with the muscles (which is clever, but might not work), and the eyes...for something that is in some ways superior to the lackluster Spider-Man minifigure we have been getting, he also accentuates some of the flaws.
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NovaHawkLegendary Brickipedian

118 months ago
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Storm would probably be my second favorite Marvel figure. But Iron Man's my favorite, especially the Mk45 suit, so that was like a grand final vote for me :P
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AwesomeknightBricktastic

118 months ago
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I agree with all of this.
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BerrybrickLegendary Brickipedian

118 months ago
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Thanks. :*
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CJCBricktastic

118 months ago
Score 2++
I voted for all except Hank Pym, because the picture in the votey thing looked like a guy in a poorly fitting helmet :P
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NovaHawkLegendary Brickipedian

118 months ago
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ewwwww, I don't think I'll ever be able to look at Ms. Marvel the same way ever again, thanks for that :P


And I agree, the shots we have of Hank Pym aren't great, but I still think that black and red Spider-Man which beat him is pretty awesome. And I'm not a huge fan of the black helmet, I think the grey helmet that Scott Lang has looks much better (not LEGO's fault, the suits are obviously based on the colours of the movie, and Marvel obviously wanted the main Ant-Man suit to look better and more modern than the original one).
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CJCBricktastic

118 months ago
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Berry doesn't talk about Ms Marvel? :P
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NovaHawkLegendary Brickipedian

118 months ago
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Carol Danvers = Ms. Marvel :P
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CJCBricktastic

118 months ago
Score 2++
ew
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BerrybrickLegendary Brickipedian

118 months ago
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I like the Miles Morales Spider-Man too, and actually voted for him. I just wanted to recognize Ant-Man.

I wasn't sure whether to call her Ms. or Captain...I guess Ms. would have been correct for the scan.
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NovaHawkLegendary Brickipedian

118 months ago
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Great blog, looking forward to more :)