Ming Ge MG2001, MG2004, MG2005: Various Marvel Minifigures Review and Brand Overview (Different from MG Brand; aka Ming Grid Blocks)

MG2001 

Interesting.. I wonder what that K logo means.

MG2005

Still MG2005.

MG2004

Didn't build the Venom mech anymore.

Let's start with MG2001's War Machine Buster mech. Looks weird with the chicken legs in my opinion. I was hoping to find an improved War Machine buster mech through this set but I like it even less than TLG's or Lepin's War Machine Buster.

Minifig fits in nicely enough inside.

Wondering why War Machine looks like that? The set didn't come with a face plate. Probably an isolated case as I didn't really have similar issues with the 2 other sets I got!

Duo Le Pin - Ming Ge - POGO

So supposedly, Ming Ge or Ming Grid or MG is a sub-brand of, or at least related to, POGO. From the previews, I kinda believed that but after seeing them in person, I don't think I can fully believe it. First reason is that this Ming Ge brand actually has good quality! POGO has improved recently, but Ming Ge is definitely better than them even now. Second is that this same design still has enough differences from POGO's.

The shade of blue used on this Spider-Man is more similar to Duo Le Pin's rather than POGO's. I'll show more similarities with Duo Le Pin in the pictures below.

Alright I know I said this brand is good so far, but my Spider-Man PS4 does have a mark on his eye; an isolated issue I'm sure.

Even the legs are not similar to POGO's (far right).

Duo Le Pin (also Kopf) - Ming Ge - POGO
Can't remember if POGO has a Thor with the same design, but this one might be close enough just to show a brand comparison.

You can immediately see that the Stormbreaker of POGO is different from Ming Ge's. Usually, related brands will make use of the same molds similar to how Duo Le Pin has been using Sheng Yuan's Black Panther helmets, among others.

DLP's Stormbreaker is currently my favorite but WM is coming out with a more accurate Stormbreaker soon that I hope will still look good with a minifig and not too far off from the brick system.

Another reason to keep me from accepting Ming Ge as a POGO related brand is that the bigfig quality is also pretty good.

Removable head too!

(This mech actually comes from MG2005 and not this Spider-Man/Venom set.

A detailed spider mold for people who might want this.

The feet are a bit too big but maybe that's a feature..?

The boring figs. Scarlet Spider has a darker tone than the usual colors used in case you're interested in these variants.

The two more interesting figs of the set: Carnage and Mania. Mania is a first time minifig, yay! Carnage has a lot of variants already but this one is a different design from before and in a darker red that others might prefer.

Hate that my Mania has a scratch or smudge at the lower back of the torso considering I would've been okay skipping the set except her.

Another comparison. Left is Duo Le Pin while right is Ming Ge.

DLP has side prints.

DLP has back prints.

This is the reason, based on the previews, that made me accept that Ming Ge might truly be a POGO sub brand. This bigfig mold was made by POGO and has been reusing it for quite a while now. As such, seeing it with Ming Ge's products makes it seem like they really are a POGO brand. It doesn't hurt that the quality of this bigfig isn't so good too; not as bad as other POGO bigfigs though to be fair.

The head setup is also different from the other Ming Ge bigfig above and is similar to POGO's [wherein no technic pieces are used].

I don't think I posted a preview of this. I remember knowing about this set but don't remember if I posted about it..

Nonetheless, only Agent Anti-Venom was the notable minifig here.

Quality is good, thankfully!

Those guns that came with Agent Anti-Venom are from Sheng Yuan; or at least Sheng Yuan is known to use that mold.

Another comparison. On the right is POGO's Star-Lord. Highly similar designs, if not the same source design. Nonetheless, if Ming Ge really is related to POGO, why didn't POGO provide them with a gun mold?

I'm really liking this Hulk bigfig. I know it's just a variant but the bright purple shorts with rips make him really look like a potential minifig for your classic comics displays.

No Technic pieces involved with the head again..

Posted this guy over at our Instagram page, check us out!

As a summary, the quality of Ming Ge minifigures is really good. I had doubts after hearing that these minifigs are related to POGO, but I refuse to believe so. If they really are a POGO sub-brand or anything like that, then I hope POGO uses whatever factories Ming Ge is using. Other than that, I'm thinking that this brand could instead be related to Sheng Yuan or Duo Le Pin, given the "evidence" above. Though another potential situation is that this brand is a DLP clone brand, meaning it's not DLP but tries to copy it similar to the short-lived(?) P brand that we saw here.

At the end of the day, its relation to other brands only really matters because of the quality these brands give us. POGO hasn't been great and DLP has been good in terms of quality but meh in terms of design choices. As such, knowing what brand is giving us our products helps us with our expectations of the products that we're buying or are about to buy.

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