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[Ridureyu]

You've gotta respect a PC game that can still be a best-seller after seven years on the market. Diablo II is, without a doubt, one of those games. If you want to get technical, Diablo II is the most current of the series, even though people keep rumoring about a DIII. The game that has had one measly expansion pack is still one of Blizzard's bestsellers. (note that the same thing can be applied to Starcraft).
Baal's Minions are some of the most fondly-remembered enemies from the expansion (By the way, Baal himself would make a great action figure. hint hint.). In the next-to-last room of the game, Baal taunts you from his throne by releasing wave after wave of minions - five to be exact, and themed to each act. You get a group of Act I monsters, followed by some Act II beasts, etc. When you reach Act V's group, however, Baal throws you for a loop by including some enemies that exist only in that room - his personal pets, the Minions of Destruction. Of course, any long-time DII player will just rush the first enemies he sees, smacking them down with a barrage of sword-slashes or whatever you do with that hammer. Right? Well, Baal's Minions are made for that. Besides the fact that they each have more HP than most uniques and do a ton of damage per hit, these monsters will also stun you and knock you back each time they land a blow. Now, consider the fact that there are about seven of them charging you at once. Can you guess what happens when they surround you? If you said IMMOLATED HERO, you're right! The only way to really fight these things is to run away and draw them out one-by-one or two-by-two. Of course, your mercenary is bound to attract the attention of at LEAST four, including the unique, Lister the Tormentor. Ain't life grand?
All that I want to know is, since they're Baal's personal pets, does this mean that he takes them out on walks and pets them and calls them "Snuggles," or something like that?


Sculpt: Baal's Minion of Destruction (I'll just call him Snuggles for now) is an absolutely excellent sculpt. Although some have complained that the thorny beasts fit better into Starcraft than Diablo, I happen to think that they work just fine. Snuggles is a big, bow-legged, alien beast with a thorned, plated hide, four arms, two legs, and more tusks than a herd of wild boars. Every inch of this creature screams of viciousness, and I like that in a monster. Snuggles' face is elongated like some kind of alligator, and he has more teeth than he can fit into his mouth - in fact, some of the tusks frame his mouth in such a way that they probably serve as a decent defense. He has two legs... and I could've SWORN that the monsters are supposed to have four. Four arms and four legs. However, after a closer look at the artwork and renderings, I found that yes, indeed, Snuggles is only supposed to have two. Optical illusions are fun, aren't they? Snuggles has a little tail which seems to be even spinier than anything from the Aliens series. I'd hate to be hit by that. Of course, every Minion of Destruction has four arms. The arms look very good, and are all unique enough that they look like the beast could be using them to claw at somebody. of course, there is a flaw in Snuggles' sculpt. The spikes on his back are made of a softer, more flexible PVC, and when I got my figure they were bent out of shape by the packaging. Although they're short, bladelike spikes, half of them are all pointing the wrong way. it actually looks alright, considering how chaotic the monster is, but this is a detail that you can't really check before buying the figure.

Paint Job: Snuggles' paint job is excellent. His armored hide is painted in muddy greens and browns, which is precisely what the figure needs. His horns, nails, spikes, teeth, and tusks are all yellowish - borderline orange. his little beady eyes are red, and the paint on them makes Snuggles look rather vicious and cruel. There is also a fair amount of blood on the figure - some stains on his midsection and waist, ot on the soles of his feet , the ends of his claws, and his teeth. The blood is a subtle detail - you have to look closely to realize that it's there, but it makes Snuggles look like he just finished off a Barbarian or two, probably by tearing them limb from limb and feasting on their entrails. Awwww, ain't he cute?

Articulation: Snuggles has 21 points of articulation, mainly due to his four arms. For some reason, his removeable tail is connected with a square peg, and thus doesn't move, but the rest of the figure is very well-articulated. His arms all have the same joints, but the two different sets have different emphases. This figure has a great stulpt, good paint job, and great articulation. GOOD.

Accessories: Zip. nada. Nothing. They could've at least packed him with one of those little midet demons from the rest of the game, right?

Pricing: I got Snuggles for $9.95 from Blizzard's site, but beware that he doesn't seem to be available at any stores - you've got to order this figure on-line, and pay shipping.

GotGM (1-10): 6.5. He's a big, horned demon with bloodstains on his claws. However, he's not as offnesive as, say, anything by McFarlane (That includes you, Elvis Presley)


Overall: 4.8. This is a very good action figure, despite the minor issues. Baal's Minions of Destruction were some awesome enemies, and i'm glad that they made a toy of one with such quality. I still think that the other major playrs in the game - Baal, Tyrael, Izual, etc. need some attention, but with this guy out, there are four monsters who have toys (Diablo, an unraveler, a Corrupted Rogue, and this guy).


Images:

The figure: http://www.blizzard..../baalminion.jpg

Concept Art: http://groups.msn.co...oto&PhotoID=189

In-game Rendering: http://groups.msn.co...oto&PhotoID=188