Background
Last year, MINDstyle released one of the most anticipated and talked about designer mini figure lines ever. Kathie Olivas’ Scavengers Mini Figure Series 1 featured seven different characters straight from the artist’s paintings and customs. For purposes of this review, we’re taking a look at the ultra-rare “not for sale” Red Hazel Scavenger.
Packaging
MINDstyle is well known for their intricate, complex and stylish packaging. The Scavengers line is all that. It features an outer slip box, with an interior box that features a magnetic flip up lid. The back of the box features the various characters included in the blind box line, while the various sides have the painted artwork that inspired the line.
The Figure
The Red Hazel mini figure stands approximately 3” tall and features one point of articulation at the neck. While this figure is a part of the Scavengers Mini Figure Series 1, this specific red colorway was a special “not for sale” version.
The regular line consists of seven different figures with various exclusive shop colorways. They are blind boxed, except for the shop exclusives and stores who opened them for collectors. And for the most part, these figures are each limited to under 2,000 pieces. However, some (such as the one we’re looking at) are extremely rare.
Our Opinion
This is the first MINDstyle product that we’ve actually held in our hands, and I must say that I’m impressed. They’ve done an excellent job bringing Kathie Olivas’ artwork to three-dimensional form. The sculpting, for such a small piece, is extremely detailed (wrinkles in the dress, bows in her hair, etc.). And with all of that intricate sculpt work, MINDstyle has stepped up with an equally well-painted figure…especially around the face.
The packaging is probably the best I’ve ever seen for a blind box or a mini figure line. It’s something you’d feel bad about throwing away. But this might tie into our lone complaint about the Scavengers Series 1 line.
The price. It’s a little too steep for a blind box line. Don’t get me wrong; these figures are worth the SRP of $11.95. But I don’t think a blind box figure should be sold for anything over $8. (And I think $8 is pushing it) If there’s a high probability that you’ll be getting a double, dropping $12 is a significant amount. And I think MINDstyle took this into consideration, which is why you can open the box without destroying it. It makes it easier for retailers to sell the individual characters to collectors looking for that one specific piece.
You can pick one up at the following:
Best of luck finding Series 1 - maybe ebay??
Scavengers - Red Hazel Grades:
Quality: 9/10
Paint: 8/10
Packaging: 10/10
Durability: 7/10
Hype: 10/10
Fun Factor: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Overall: 9.2/10
What do you rate this figure?
