Ah, Funko. They have every license in the world, and dang if they don’t use ’em! Mystery Minis are an offshoot of their PoP line – essentially, 3″ tall chibis (not bobbleheads) of pretty much everything, blind-packed. The blind boxes are surprsingly fair, either listing figure rarity or having them all evenly-packed. I personally can’t get enough of ’em, and I have the greatest luck, too.
Heroes of the Storm is Blizzard’s entry in the MOBA game genre, among such greats as League of Legends. Only this one is filled with nostalgia – characters from their various properties, such as Starcraft or Diablo or, of course, World of Warcraft all cross over, and from all accounts the game is awesome. NECA is working ona full action figure line for the game, but let’s be honest. A thing like this needs minis. MINIS!
Heroes of the Storm Vol. 1 contains twelve mystery minis split among nine characters – three per faction for Diablo, Starcraft, and World of Warcraft, plus three figure variants. The figures are split evenly – a case of twelve figures will always have all twelve. I own one of each figure plus one bonus variant. They are unarticulated and made of vinyl – solid enough to have a surprising amount of heft. They are also all in the extremely distinct Mystery Minis style, and cost something like $6 each, blind-boxed. Shall we look at them?
STARCRAFT
First up is Kerrigan, human traitor and Zerg leader. She looks a little annoyed, but I suppose that comes with being Kerrigan. The aside glance really sells the figure.
Jim Raynor is a SPACE MARINE!!!! He also has a paint variant, not pictured – it’s his armor done up in red, white, & Blue for full patriotic effect. He’s also got a great little shifty glance.
And finally, here is Nova, from vaporware Starcraft: Ghost, which I’m totally sure is gonna come out someday, guys. Even if it doesn’t, she’s made cameo appearances all over the place. This is her paint variant, using her clooaking device. Her normal appearance is kind of a muted-colors version of Zero Suit Samus Aran.
DIABLO
First up is Diablo himself! This is Diablo as he appeared in the second game – Godzilla with a gem in his forehead. It’s hilarious how they turned a hulking monster into such a cute li’l guy, but he’s actually kind of big even for a Mystery Mini.
Tyrael the Archangel has AWESOME WINGS – and the only fragile point I have seen on a Mystery Mini. They are liable to pop out of his back, though as long as the peg doesn’t snap it is easy to glue them back in. He does look really impressive, all told, and I have waited so many years for a Tyrael figure that this just ain’t funny.
And finally, we’ve got Nazeebo the Witch Doctor, one of the playable classes in Diablo III. This sculpt has a ton going on with it – love the troll head – and it manages to ake a wildly stereotypical voodoo witch doctor look, well, not stereotypical.
WORLD OF WARCRAFT
First up is Arthas, the Lich-King! Remember him from Warcraft III, or Frozen Throne? He’s a vital part of Warcraft lore, and looks hilarious like this. Awww, look, it’s a little kid in a Halloween costume!
E.T.C. (Elite Tauren Chieftan), Rock God, is a player character! This high-level Tauren… is a minotaur playing an electric guitar because that is AAAAAAWESOOOOOOOOME!
And finally, we have Stitches. Stitches is an infamous low-level WoW boss, and… well hey, look at Stitches! He’s kind of terrifying…
…Except I also own his variant, which demonstrates the value of culinary school. Now that Stitches has a paying skill, he can, uh… I dunno, ould you trust sausage he stuffed? Chef Stitches is really incredible, considering that the changes go so much further than mere paint.
And there you have it! I’m missing two variants, but it’s all right. Heroes of the Storm is one of my favorite Mystery Mini sets, an I really hope they manage to squeeze more heroes into a series 2 sometime soon!
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