toy showdown

If Thor's helmet comes out like that, I'm going to need to improve it. The shading on Drax's mid-torso doesn't work with the tattoos. It just makes it look like another tattoo. And the fangs are weird. His teeth angle toward the edges of his mouth, not in the middle. Gamora's outfit is off-model, but at least it resembles the basic shape of her outfit so far. I'm assuming Widow is from next year's season, but if she doesn't look like that in Ultron Revolution, I'm coming back to criticize it. This could be a really great line. Good character selection on Spidey and Avengers already, and GOTG is only on its fourth episode and already had classic-enough Foom and Grandmaster. But to keep people interested, there has to be the same attention to detail as every other Minimates line. Too much of a divide between what's on screen and what's in figure form isn't a good thing.

I think at this point I just want to know how Funko gets away with making random "Look! It's Stan Lee!" crap but DST can't even make an actual character from an actual television show that happens to use his approved likeness. It's like saying you can make all the Tara Strong merchandise you want but you can't make any of the characters she has voiced. And really, if you put your face on a Funko product you should pretty much waive your rights to pick and choose where it appears.

Permanent wish list: Anything with Grendel or Madman would be awesome. Also, Freak Force. Thinking broadly, there are over 3500 public domain heroes that are technically from indie titles. But would anything from Golden Age make its money back?

DST has to do at least a few movie Strange figures. Anything for a Minimate of Bedknobdrunk Camperbotch. But just copying Hasbro's SDCC ML Vishanti set would be great. The only reason I didn't buy it was because I knew I'd be ticking off somebody else who wanted it more. Back to Walgreen's, the only figure I feel got the short end of the stick was Groot. The movie version was ridiculously detailed, and without a single line on his back he looks a little bit incomplete. But everybody else is pretty great and I'm ready for 1.5. My wish list figure would be Armored Drax. It's a good look and the source of another great literal response. Cosmo is probably a long shot. Nebula could look better animated than in movie style.

Figures Hot Topic would take Minimates off their site just in time for a 20% off sale. But I'm subbing in the Kubrick glow Oogie and possibly the reindeer sled, so TRU should be all the figures I need out of the first assortment. But looking ahead... how hard to find is that NYCC set going to be? Because we all need it.

Selling six blind bags in one more expensive randomized "set" loses the impulse purchase model and also loses the completist collector buyer. I can see that being highly unpopular. Unpopular compared to what? It's not always about the best, you know. It's about maximizing options. Finding a middle ground between hunting all over the US for one figure and buying an entire case for one figure. And I may not even get a Kraang out of four of those cases. But you know what? Each of them added to my collection somehow. And it can't be that unpopular, because it's the method card games use. Sure, I can buy one pack for $3. I could buy a booster box for $100. Or I can buy a fat pack for $30, which I know contains certain things I want but also a few surprises. Never underestimate the middle ground. It's the point where beginners and the more experienced meet.

The best and worst thing about TMNT is that the Turtleverse allows every incarnation to co-exist. So it's cool to think that even the toys are their own separate realities that can cross over when you want them to. But you can't get rid of anything, either. The 2014 movie designs are all right, but the movie itself is so uneven a mountain goat would have a hard time walking through it.

I'm going off the "Your quantity exceeds stock on hand. The maximum quantity that can be added is 430" when I tried to add 431. So either a lot of unsold units, or your inventory control is off. And I think one of my friends recently said it best. "K-Mart always makes me feel like I’ve somehow had something go wrong in my life to have to go there." The biggest difficultly is that I couldn't just send out a message to all my friends to help me look for one in other cities and states. I'd have to hope they could find the strip first, then make sure there were 12 pieces on it, then count down six from the top and hope that nobody's messed with the order. Feel around. Is there a spiky accessory? Are you sure it's not Shredder? I'd never ask a friend to hunt blindly for me in a Kmart. Maybe a girlfriend I was about to break up with. But never a friend. I can already see the argument against a 4-pack of army builders, so my alternative would be a Battle Box mini-case. Two random character blind bags (any series) and four random army builder blind bags (any series). That way each case would be highly likely to contain at least one Turtle, which would make retailer happy. But there are four guaranteed army builders, which would make fans happy and more willing to buy more than one case.

I was still meh about AOU Black Widow's face, so I swapped it out for Mass Effect Jane Shepard's. I'm never going back.

I'd probably even eat that $11 UPS shipping if I were new to the line. It's just, you know, one army builder isn't that much fun. And Photoshop isn't the same as having a dozen evil robots in different poses sitting on your desk. That's a lot of unsold strips, though. Can we finally agree that it's a much better plan to send desirable exclusives to retailers that are fiscally solvent?

It's strange, because I was watching an episode of Numb3rs this morning while waiting at the doctor's office. S01E11 for future reference. One of the plot points was a company developing controversial software that boiled down to "you are where you live." And that's exactly what TRU's problem is. They think they can bump up prices in more affluent stores. They think certain stores shouldn't be eligible to receive product for whatever reasons. It really does boil down to TRU determining your value as a customer by where you live. Which sucks for all companies, because it takes away the discovery factor. Walking Dead Andrea is such a great set. Never had a chance to see it in stores. Valiant mates? Awesome. Never a chance at being stocked in my store. Aliens? Apparently my store isn't productive enough to merit a case. Distribution is tricky enough without companies artificially messing with it. TRU.com messing up is just an additional f-u to the people trying to rise above a policy that's basically, 'We'll serve you after you move to a store closer to a rich neighborhood.'

Fisher-Price has a pretty cool Imaginext Power Rangers line going now, so other licensees could be possible. And the Imaginext vehicles and Megazord figure/playset could be used for Minimates.

This is why "buyers" and "sellers" can't really be friends. On a better note, I was thinking of passing up the Mystic variants because they were just from one episode. But Mystic Raph is definitely coming back toward the end of season 3. Unfortunately, the certain something with three horns he encounters is about ten feet tall and five feet wide, so that's another figure you'll have to borrow from the Playmates line. Steranko's my most anticipated now. I want to explore what he and Zeck did while they were stuck in NYC during the Kraang invasion. And it would be cool to eventually see the whole translucent blue Kraang droid. That hasn't been done in any toy line yet.

If they want to be suspicious, they should go apply to be loss prevention at Kmart. Never feel badly when a company screws up. It's their job to correct errors. Is there a variant on the Casey pack? The two I saw in store has extra gray paint apps on his right side of the masked face.

"Convention products will be live on HasbroToyShop.com on July 28, 2015." Which probably means any five or six minutes of the 28th that I can't be on my computer or phone. I know I'm not getting that Doctor Strange ML set because I'll go to wash my face and it will go live and sell out in 30 seconds. So I gladly welcome any convention exclusive that isn't over-produced but doesn't become a fan vs. fan competition.

But you'd have more room in your pants pockets for Minimates. Seems like a lifestyle choice to me.

But they could all be sized like Showa Ghidorah, with one figure slot being used for the base figure and a second slot for his wings and necks/heads. So he's just take up two slots in a 4-pack. So, throwing around some ideas... Showa Ghidorah with Showa Godzilla (repaint) and Showa Rodan Variant exclusive black and white set with bonus Mothra larva. Heisei Mecha Ghidorah with Heisei MechaGodzilla and Garuda Godzilla Island Hyper Mecha with Neo Hedorah (repaint) and Medical Jet Jaguar (repaint)

The one bonus about Ghidorah is that they can do him three times to maximize tooling. Standard, Mecha King Ghidorah, and then Hyper Mecha King Ghidorah, which would be the robot body/necks/heads, standard wings with metal paint apps, and Heisei MechaGodzilla legs. Hyper mecha bonus points if Hyper Mecha King Ghidorah's packaging looks like the Monster Vending Machine it came out of. Japan, man. Japan.

You can buy/reserve for in-store pickup on the website. Probably the fastest way to find it.

Biollante would probably be easy enough. Design-wise, it would look a lot like a large, green TMNT Kraang brain with an extra neck/head piece on top. Battra and MOGERA are probably the best bets out of Heisei for the four-pack treatment, followed by MechaGodzilla and SpaceGodzilla. Destoroyah is even bulkier than Ghidorah, though. I might just wind up using the Bandai Chibi figures for now.

It's strange seeing Showa and Heisei figures mixed together. Heisei as a whole just seems like a nightmare to cost out. But I think one reason I like Fire Rodan so much here is because he's as oversized as his Trendmasters toy. Rodan in the movie just seemed too small. Showa Rodan was the same size as Showa Godzilla and it worked. Hoping for King Caesar and Anguirus next year to finish off vs. MechaGodzilla.

Or you can just apply the Zachsplanation for the Kraang droid to every blind bag assortment. "But the reason there are fewer of him than of other characters at Kmart is because we thought the other characters would be more pleasing to a casual buyer or child than a Kraang, and we wanted first-time buyers -- a high likelihood at Kmart -- to get someone they wanted right off the bat. We weren't going to put more Kraangs in than Shredder or the Turtles just because there are more of him in the show." Some of DST's choices won't make sense, and that's their gamble. I know I'm not paying $30-40 apiece for an intentionally-scarce army builder. And even though the AOU case isn't terrible per unit cost, an even 4 each on the Legion and Sub-Ultrons would have gone farther to make everyone (casual customers, movie fans, retailers) happy. But whatever. When I'm looking to cut back on spending, the brands who act like they're allergic to negative feedback are the ones that get cut out of my budget first.

If they couldn't do Tony wearing a Minimate-styled Bruce Lee DJ shirt - which would be awesome - Party Thor should have been next in line. Party Thor feels seriously snubbed. Like he got all dressed up for nothing. Then again, the tie and vest is what Tony was wearing when Thor choked him, so maybe there's a bonus 'choking Tony head with Thor hand attached' in there somewhere. One can hope.

For me, Kevin Smith falls into the same "don't see the appeal" bucket as Duck Dynasty and Honey Boo-Boo. Sure, they have fans. But I'll never be one of them. But I'd be down for large vinyl Pathfinder monsters. I wouldn't even mind the pre-posing or even a slightly smaller size to cost them out. And who loves giants? Loki, that's who. And Ostog, of course. Ostog would look awesome going up against a giant. Pathfinder Chronicles: Heart of the Jungle Pathfinder: Giant Hunter's Handbook

To be fair, there's not that much more to talk about.