One of the most popular, and most basic, are Mini-Mates by Art Asylum. I've discussed them here before when they first started last summer with the Marvel Super Heroes line, but they've continued to crank out the cool characters since then. Mini-Mates will also be used with the LORD OF THE RINGS license later this year.

Since Mini-Mates are small, cheap, easy to swap parts, and simple in design, they are absolutely perfect for doing small run exclusives. Today's review covers one of those exclusives - a two-pack of Magneto and Professor X. I'm not sure why they picked a pair of heavy hitters like this for an exclusive, but I suspect we'll see both these characters again in some fashion. This exclusive two-pack comes to us through Action Figure Express, where you can pick it up for $10.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can always reach me at mwc@mwctoys.com. If you enjoy this review, take a minute to check out my other site at Michael's Review of the Week, and let me know what you think. Now on to the review!

"Magneto and Professor X Mini-Mates"

The run on this pair is 5000, but I suspect we'll see them both offered in another pack eventually, perhaps with different accessories. Of course the two pack makes perfect sense, since these two are like the Ben and Jerry of the Marvel Universe. Jerry is the maniacal, insane one.

A big advantage to these figures is that you can do a lot of characters. In the Marvel Universe, we already have several Spideys, Venom, Green Goblin, Mary Jane, various Hulks, Kingpin, Daredevil, Elektra, Rhino, Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and even Thunderbird. There's far more than that, but you get the idea. Start collecting them and there will be plenty to pick up. There are plans to produce many more in 2004 as well. However, they aren't expensive, often only costing a few dollars each at most, and they take up almost no room, so the problems many collectors face with money and space are greatly reduced. If you're looking for a cheap, fun way to get into toy collecting, these could be it.

Packaging - **1/2

The packaging is fairly basic and plain. While past releases came carded or in boxes with windows, the new releases now come in sealed boxes with pictures of the figures on the outside. They are probably making this move for two reasons - first, it's cheaper, and second, to include 'secret' figures in future releases. Unfortunately though, the packaging is far less appealing.

Sculpting - **1/2
There isn't much, since that's the point of the basic design. In this set there's a little though around Magento's helmet and Xavier's Cerebro helmet, but it's minimal at best. This isn't a technical failure though, so if you love the basic block style, with simple lines and no sculpting, you aren't going to have a problem here.

I do have to add my own caveat here, though. Another series of mini-figures that I buy quite often is Mezco's Mez-itz, and the sculpting on these has grown on me considerably, to the point where they are my personal favorites of the genre. I still love the Mini-Mates, but the design is a little too simple for me to put them at the top.

There is one slightly weird aspect to Magneto, at least for me. I'm not used to him being bald. You see, normally the hair on these figures is sculpted, but since Magneto has his helmet, he couldn't have hair too. Okay, he could have - that would have made a perfect accessory - but he doesn't. And it's not painted on, since they don't paint the hair on ever. If you take off both helmets, you have a couple of old cue balls sharing shaving tips.

Paint - ***1/2
With such a simple design, the paint is crucial. It gives the figure character and personality, and poorly done would ruin the entire effect. Thankfully, both of these figures look terrific. Perhaps painting hair on Magneto might have been an idea, but you'll probably keep his helmet on most of the time. The work on both faces is perfect, and the stern yet non-constipated expressions work nicely. The uniforms are painted on the body with a minimum of detail, following the overall style of the rest of the line.

Articulation - ****
Here's another category in which mini-mates excel. For such an itsy-bitsy figure - less than 3" tall - they have tons of articulation. There's neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles. I know 12" figures that can't boast as good. The of the parts can also be easily removed (but not too easily), allowing you to swap hands, heads, feet, legs arms, torsos, hair, cowls, capes - the possibilities are endless once you pick up a handful of figures.

Needless to say, this great articulation makes it very easy for Professor X to sit in his chair properly, and both figures stand fine on their own in tons of poses.

Accessories - ***
Technically there are three accessories with this pair, although all three are for the good Professor. He has his Cerebro Helmet, his wheelchair, and his blanky to keep his legs warm. I'm not counting Magneto's helmet as an accessory because he wouldn't even be Magneto without it, now would he? It's a crucial part of his costume, not like the Cerebro helmet for Professor X. I suppose you could make that same argument about his wheelchair...

Said wheelchair is great, with rolling wheels and a nice solid design. Xavier sits in it perfectly, and the scale is on target. The white blanket fits over his legs, but I'm not all that thrilled with it for two reasons. First, when did he turn into FDR? Seems to me that it's been about 30 years since the look was popular, and I don't recall seeing X with a blanket like this recently. More than that, because it's hard plastic, it looks less like a blanket and more like an enclosure. I keep picturing Captain Pike scooting around and blinking his light.

The Cerebro helmet looks fairly good, but suffers a little from this style. It's a nice accessory, but it's not one I'd display the figure with regularly.

Fun Factor - ****
I've been adding this category lately to the reviews at my site when it's appropriate, since there are plenty of people that actually "play" with their toys, or want to know if their kids would enjoy them.

That's a big, definite "yes" with these. With the great articulation yet simple designs, these are great toys, and not only would kids have fun battling it out between Professor X and Magneto, they could have a lot of fun collecting the whole line. At the low price and wide selection, it's tailored made for a child who's really into the Marvel comics.

Value - **
I'm accostumed to paying around five bucks a pair for these, maybe $4 a figure tops like in the recent box of X-men based on the Giant-Sized comic. At $5 each, this set is a tad steep. The two factors driving up the price are the wheelchair and the exclusivity of course, but $7 - $8 would have been far more palatable when comparing against similar items.

Overall - ***
This isn't my favorite of the Marvel Mini-mates released so far, but it's still a decent set. It's great for all the reasons mini-mates are great in general - articulation and play value. It's weak due to specific issues around the set, like the higher cost. Your X-men set simply won't be complete without two characters as crucial as this pair. If you're a big Marvel fan, you really want to check out the overall line, because you may find these little buggers are a lot more addictive than you think!

Where to Buy -
Right now your options are pretty straight forward - go visit Action Figure Express. Once you're there though, you have a couple options. Buy one set, and it's $10, but buy 2 and it's just $15. Buy 12 and it's just $70, or less than $6 a pair. If you have a group looking to get them, that's certainly the way to go. They also have a special deal with these where you can get a pair free - yes, I said free - with another $20 purchase at the site.