Review: The Amazing Spider-Man Minimates!

I stumbled across these yesterday and thought they would be a good follow up to my earlier Avengers minimate review. The Amazing Spider-Man, with its single costumed hero, certainly doesn’t have anywhere near the impact of The Avengers line which had a bounty of great characters to choose from, but I do like the new Spider-Man re-design, complete with gold eyes and sneakers, and figured that at least the titular character is worth a closer look.

I picked up the Spider-Man/Peter Parker two-pack of minimates which I believe is the only way to get Spidey in his regular costume. To find out what I thought of these blocky, mini arachnid buggers... join me after the jump!

These are in short supply in Australia, only sold through specialty stores. Only two packs of these were left and I only bought one of them. A quick look at the rest of the line on the back of the package will quickly reveal why...

Yep, the other 2-pack I skipped was Uncle Ben and a Lizard trooper. Seriously, how hardcore a fan of this film do you have to be to want to pick up tubby, dentured Martin Sheen in block figure form? Or bedraggled Sally Field for that matter. Who looks like she’s been dragged through a field. If you look up “optimism” in a picture dictionary you will see an image of Minimate Sally Field.

Conspicuously absent from the shelves was the raging CGI Lizard that Spider-Man foolishly pisses off in the film. As disengaging as he is as a villain, I still would have probably picked up that pack had it been there, although the Spider-Man included in that one is battle-damaged. But enough about what I didn’t get! Let’s look at what I got...

Back in the sixties, Peter Parker was a smug, bespectacled, square-headed, unappealing nerd/turd. The mystery shouldn’t be: “How did he manage to invent super-strong web-shooters?”, but rather: “Did he somehow manage to invent a covert serum that made him sexually irresistible to top-drawer hotties like Gwen Stacy and Mary-Jane Watson, and did he at some point sell this serum to Archie?”

In 2012, Peter Parker is a tousled haired, bespectacled, quirky, emo, hipster introvert lusted after by Emma Stone. Despite being small, blocky, and distinctly lacking a nose, the figure adequately captures Andrew Garfield’s look. His jacket is removable and he has a backpack, presumably filled with ADHD medication...

They’ve included an entire extra head here, inexplicably also including a duplicate hairpiece, just so you can display him without his glasses. This is total overkill and I don’t know why they don’t just go the Lego route and print an alternate face on the back of his head, behind the hair, that you can swivel around. The only benefit I can see of doing it the way they have is that you can switch it with Spider-Man’s costumed head and simultaneously display a street-clothes Peter Parker and an unmasked Spider-Man. They should have included an alternate head where he’s bawling his eyes out which he does at least nine times in the movie.

Also included is his skateboard...

I’ve heard actual nerd angst about the skateboard scene in the film. Like: “OMG he discovered his powers while playing with his skateboard. Skateboards are stupid, you guys! OMG!” Umm... Let’s pick our battles, people.

Okay, on to the main event. Spider-Man...

Well.. I guess he’s a fine enough adaptation of the character, but he’s so simple! Unlike the Avengers figures which had a lot of extra sculpted pieces (Tony’s armour, Cap’s boots, Hulk’s chest, forearms and feet), poor ol’ poverty-stricken Spidey has nothing - not that there’s really anything they could add. What you see is what you get here. Although I do wish they’d added some paint apps to his feet to replicate his spider-sneakers. That’s one of the best parts!

So seeing as how there’s not a lot to see here let’s put him on a skateboard and let him do some gnarly ollies. Or something. I played Tony Hawk video games back in the day so I know things...

And that’s pretty much it! Certainly not a showstopper but I wanted to display him alongside my Avengers. Due to the movie rights being tied up with different studios it may be the only way he can be an honorary member of the team. But, almost needless to say, I won’t be tracking down any other figures from this series. Sorry, Sally Field!

And our friends at Big Bad Toy Store have the full set of eight figures available too! You can purchase them here.