Monday, March 7, 2016

Batman: Arkham Series - MYSTERY MINIS!

Arkham Series Mystery Minis - Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy & Catwoman - Funko 2016

Funko's Mystery Minis blind-box collectibles seem to have a bit of an identity crisis in the design department. Back in 2013, I was excited by the concept of the first few waves of DC and Marvel figures. But when I actually got my hands on them I was underwhelmed. Something about their design just seemed lacking. In the following few years the mystery minis have evolved into the (in my opinion) fantastic styling we see in this Arkham Series. There is more detail, the bodies are in a more consistent and less cartoony proportion, and most importantly the eyes are big and pupil-less. I think they eyes are what really make these figures pop now. Unfortunately though, the new Suicide Squad Mystery Minis shown at Toy Fair suddenly have large black pupils like the Disney and Game of Thrones figures. It's unfortunate that this Arkham style couldn't have stayed a while longer for the other DC-themed assortments. At least we got these gorgeous ladies. Let's check out the Gotham City Sirens below!

















































Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!



Here is Harley with her two Mystery Mini predecessors (Regular and Hot Topic Exclusive).  I think the eyes look too simple on the older figures. Plus the sculpted eyes and mouth on the new Harley instantly make her look like a higher-quality product in comparison to the stamped-on features from before.




This purple Catwoman is from the first series of DC Mystery Minis. In my opinion, the face is too simple and the head-to-body proportions are a tad too exaggerated. The Arkham version seems very balanced in comparison.








Cheers!




7 comments:

  1. Gah! I want these! But I'm not willing to pay the going eBay rate at present...

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  2. These are pretty nice. I definitely wouldn't mind having the Gotham City Sirens chilling out on my shelf but, like Elizabetha said, the price on picking these up loose tends to be a bit too high. Gah! I hate blind bags!

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  3. Agree with previous comments- these are cute but blind boxes are LAME and I am not paying double or more for these on eBay. Sigh.

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    1. My experience when buying a whole box was that I actually ended up with one of every character that way.

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  4. I understand everyone's comments. Blind boxes are too frustrating and overpriced. And the secondary market can be ridiculous. I approach these blind box assortments in two ways. First of all, I find which store has the best assortment for my wants. For instance, the Gamestop and Hot Topic assortments don't have all three girls (swapping them out for an exclusive Mister Freeze, etc). So I decided that Toys R Us was my best bet. Then I started researching case layouts online. While they aren't as guaranteed and specific number codes on the packages, these Mystery Minis usually ARE laid out in a certain order within each box. Then the challenge is getting to the store early to find a fresh unspoiled box so you can cherrypick your most wanted. It usually works for me. One interesting thing about this Arkham set is that all the characters are evenly distributed. No 1/144 garbage. Granted, like I mentioned above, certain stores have exclusive assortments, but those different unique characters aren't a chase within that assortment and are actually "commons" (if that makes sense).

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  5. All I ever find at TRU are opened boxes and bags - with no figures. It's pitiful (and criminal). Your life has just gone from sad to worse when you steal 3" blind box figures.

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    1. I see that all the time too. I don't understand people. I actually saw a guy in TRU a couple weeks ago opening Transformers blindbags and the employees didn't seem to care. My biggest pet peeve are the people who return toys with other figures repackaged in. There must be a handful of people in my area who do that because I see it often.

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