Diamond Select Reviews

In "Witch," the third episode of the first season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) decided to try and fit into her new school by attending cheerleading tryouts at Sunnydale High. When Amber Grove, one of the most talented girls trying out, catches on fire that should have been a sign that this was not a good idea. That is because Amy Madison is under a lot of pressure from her mom, Catharine, a former cheerleading champion for good old SHS, to make the team. When Amy ends up as third alternate, she can only make the team is something happens to the three girls ahead of her, and that is exactly what happens. Buffy is ahead of Amy on the list, so the point comes when she makes the squad and gets to put on the gold and maroon of the Razorbacks, and that is what we have here with the Cheerleader Buffy from Diamond Select Toys.

The sculpt of the face does look a bit like Gellar with her hair pulled back, and the costume is accurate (although I am not sure why cheerleaders would want long sleeved tops for games in the gym and why they need the megaphone insignia on it to indicate these are cheerleaders, but that is just me). The current generation of Buffy and Angel action figures come with bases that have a backing that serves as a wall. On this particular wall there are a pair of mini banners for Sunnydale High, and my biggest complaint with these has been that more often than not what is put on these walls is not glued on straight. So when you display them this way they can look a bit tacky. The figure comes with a pair of tinfoil pom-poms strapped to Buffy's hands by thin strips of plastic. But there is also a stake, even though this particular episode did not have any vampires in it, and the cheerleading statue that Catherine Madison won and in which her spirit is trapped for all time (or at least until Oz notices the eyes moving in the Season 2 episode "Phases").

The Cheerleader Buffy is part of Diamond Select Toys new release of Buffy and Dawn figures that finally add the younger Summers sibling to our action figure line up. For Buffy there are the Vampire Buffy from another first season episode "Nightmares", Primeval Buffy from the episode Primeval" (duh) in Season 4, and my favorite, the Buffybot from Season 5 (and the first episode of Season 6). For Dawn your choices are between Lessons Dawn from Season 7 and Once More With Feeling Dawn from Season 6. There is also a Summers Family Album that has different figures of Buffy and Dawn along with Joyce; unfortunately they are all the same size so that you never get a sense of proportionality when you have them all set up, even on your new Sunnydale High School Library Playset ("Are you ever going to stop getting these?" my wife just asked me. Obviously the answer is "No").

First off, be aware that these are the second (and third) Marvel Minimates versions of the Fantastic Four from Art Asylum and Diamont Select toys. Previously we had two-packs for Mr. Fantastic (with changeable elongated arms) and the "Flame on!" Human Torch, and the "Powerhouse" Thing and the Invisible Girl. There was also a "Battle-Scarred Thing" available with the "Gaijin" Wolverine II. Since there was a "Fantastic Four" movie in the summer of 2005 it is not surprising that a new set of Fantastic Four figures are now available, but only the Invisible Girl figure is a marked improvement over what is already out there.

That is because while Sue Storm still has her retro-1960s hairstyle, her lips are now closed (so she looks cuter) and her legs are now made of clear plastic, which gives the appearance that she is invisible down there. There is also a clear plastic shield to represent her force field power as well. Johnny Storm is just not as hot a figure when he is not covered in flames, so the chief attraction here is his smirk, for what that is worth. He still has a base that allows him to be "flying," but since he is not on fire, what is the point? This time around Reed Richards is wearing a lab coat, which certainly does not provide as much protection as his costume, but if you prefer Mr. Fantastic to look scholarly, here you go. You still get the attachable poseable elongated arms that are a lot of fun (and work much better than you would think). I have an inherent problem with the Thing, as I do with the Marvel Minimates Hulk figure, because his body shape is essentially the same as the others and, of course, he should be bigger. But they do a nice job on the "brick" detail and the bigger hands, so it is not too disappointing of a figure.

Consequently, if you have the other Fantastic Four figures from Series 8 and this new set you should be able to mix and match them to put together an optimal set. The articulation remains the same with these two-inch figures with a ball-joined neck, shoulders and hips, to go along with hinged elbows and knees, and swivel waists and ankles. So there are lots of posing options, but you have to keep in mind that except for Johnny Storm you still need these figures to stand up on their own. We are currently in a Renaissance for these faux-LEGO mini-figures and the Marvel Minimates series is proving to be one of the better collections. They are ideal for standing around your computer monitor (to defend it from attacks by Dr. Doom or computer viruses) and there are dozens of them available so you can rotate them, create tableaus, come up with your own Avengers line-up, or whatever else you want to do.

great blabling fun you can dribble over the amazing articulation and make your freinds greeen with envy at the site of the little creatures from the MOVIE THE FANTASTIC FOUR I showed my friends that i could all of the pieces too!
But the I had to go to the hospital and get my stomach pumped!