Botcon Minerva (The Stunti-Con Job)

Prelude: Remember that Japanese G1 Masterforce series that most people outside Japan never heard of? There was this Japanese schoolgirl that became the head of a lifeless robot, but eventually the robot developed a life of its own and the schoolgirl was left behind while the robot went on to become a robot nurse? Well, that character is Minerva and she is now part of Animated. Well, only in the sense that she appeared in a script reading at a Botcon convention, but obscure Japanese characters can’t be picky, can they? Anway, here is Minerva, the fourth-most-famous Autobot medic. Let’s say go!

Robot Mode: Minerva uses the same mold as Animated Arcee and Botcon 2011 Dragstrip, so this review here will focus mostly on the differences. Minerva was available in the Botcon 2011 customization workshop, meaning she came as an unassembled and unpainted figure and it was up to the buyers themselves to put her together and paint her. This figure here has been painted by my buddy CakedUp and he did a pretty good job. The figure now sports Minerva’s classic red-and-white paint job with some grey and blue highlights. It’s a pretty close match to the paint job of the original Minerva figure, so no problems here.

The only structural difference between this figure and Arcee / Dragstrip is an additional piece that was inserted between the two halves of the head in order to give Minerva those big antennas she sports. This also causes the head to be a bigger in the depth than that of her mold mates, but you don’t really notice unless you look for it. The antenna look pretty good and differentiate Minerva subtly from her mold mates.

Apart from the colors and antennas, Minerva is the same excellent mold as Arcee and Dragstrip, nothing new to add here. So to sum it up: a very good robot mode, nicely invoking one of Transformers’ more obscure characters.

Alternate Mode: Naturally Minerva transforms into the same kind of futuristic winged car as her mold mates. The actual car does not really look different (except for the colors, of course), but there is something you need to pay attention to during transformation. For Arcee and Dragstrip, it wasn’t really important how to position her robot mode head in car mode. Due to her antennas, though, Minerva’s head needs to positioned so that the tips of the antennas peek out behind the car’s cockpit, otherwise it won’t fit. Be careful, too, as the antennas aren’t the most stable piece of plastic ever, you don’t want to snap them off during transformation.

Apart from that, nothing new here. Still a great-looking sci-if car. Thumbs up.

Remarks: Minerva was one of the main characters in the Japanese Masterforce series and is probably among the more famous Japanese-exclusive characters. Her appearance in the Botcon 2011 comic book “The Stunti-Con Job” was just her sitting in the crowd during the show, but the script reading at the convention somewhat expanded her role. Her tech spec describes her as a fan of Ratchet and that she was on Earth for a brief stint, where she befriended a human teenage girl from Quebec (read: the original Masterforce Minerva).

As a figure Minerva might well be the rarest of all Animated figures, simply due to her being only available at the customization workshop at the 2011 Botcon convention. She goes for hefty prices on the secondary market and I was fortunate enough to get her from my buddy CakedUp. Thanks again, pal. So bottom line: another version of a very nice mold. Probably a bit too expensive for the casual Animated fan, but if you’re an Animated completist like me, than she is a must.

Rating: A-