MisterPL

The only reason I bothered giving Minimates a try was because of the articulation. As far as I know it's still superior to every other block figure available (especially LEGO), which is an admittedly low bar, but Minimates leaps over that bar with ease. Is there room for improvement? Sure. Would it help attract more consumers than it would it would lose? Hard to tell. I've often wondered if simply changing the size of the peg hole in the foot would be a benefit since the brand would no longer compete in the construction set category. Personally, I'd welcome a bicep swivel so long as gravity didn't make the forearm fall off. But is it worth the development costs?

I'm glad Marvel let DST run with this mistake. It could have been much costlier, I know. What a great surprise. I do have to wonder whose contractual toes got stepped on this time, though.

PLEASE tell me this Build-a-Sable "mistake" is a legal loophole! Get my hopes up!

It feels like we've waited quite a while. Then again, these 'mates were revealed almost a year and a half ago. ? Someone remind me; Are there alternate looks for these?

Yeah, but it’s June 9th. Wait... what month is it? [checks calendar] (Damn pandemic.) YES! ??

That's what gets me. It was my understanding that Minimates enjoy a much quicker turnaround time from concept through licensor approval to production. I distinctly recall a representative bragging about the relatively rapid turnaround for these block figures. And let's not underestimate the window of opportunity with collectibles aimed at geeks. Some of us waited years to finally get the main bad guy from that space movie a few decades back. If Shang-Chi becomes the next Black Panther, DST might want to consider taking a chance and letting the market decide what they want.

I'm not sure whether to laugh or roll my eyes when I read "the timing did not work out." I can't recall when timing has ever been DST's strong suit. This is the company that tried to debut John Wick 2 Minimates instead of John Wick when John Wick 3 is hitting theaters. This is the company that struggles to get out anniversary product within the correct calendar year. Shang-Chi doesn't hit until September. There's merchandise on the shelves right now, WAY ahead of time, after only one trailer. Seems like there's time to throw out a solicitation and let the consumers decide if they want at least a 4-pack from this flick.

Bettany will be back. The MCU is basically a photo-realistically animated franchise now. They can get anyone to fill the mo-cap suit and get Bettany to do the voiceover while wearing the face-capture rig. As for an assortment based on WandaVision, "Never say never!™"

There was a time when some movies warranted more than one assortment. Now we can't even get a 2-pack that includes the titular character. If anything warranted concern it was when Chuck, a self-professed Spider-Fan, passed on Far From Home AND Into the Spider-verse. At least Ghost Rider got prototypes. Is DST offering any Shang-Chi product or are they just passing on Minimates?

No Shang-Chi Minimates, according to Chuck. I'm a little shocked they're not even soliciting a 4-pack. No concept art. Nothing. Just a solid pass on Marvel's first film with an Asian lead.

As someone with 25 years of dealing with Marvel Licensing under his belt, I can't disagree. But I'd definitely start with talking to Luke (as your distributor) and then Marvel. Get them on board and I'm sure DST will listen.

I'm the same way with xenomorphs from Aliens. I also managed to find a purpose for all those Iron Legion 'mates I got stuck with when I bought the AoU counter display. (Turns out Tony had some designed for special missions, not just crowd control! ? )

I tend to agree. I want a multitude of generic bad guys for my named heroes to battle! Then again, I'm not a Joe fan. This is just the play pattern I've lived with for over half a century now.

? Literally everything is comparable. [/pet peeve] DST's offering 4-packs. I'm just trying to be realistic. Luke's was (successfully!) able to offer army-builders in the same packaging as what was offered through specialty because it was cost effective. Likewise, it's not hard to imagine a Joe 4-pack with three named characters and a troop that could be easily turned into a 4-pack of the same troop to be sold as an exclusive available online for preorder. Seems like a win-win-win to me.

Except that's how Luke was able to offer Multiple Man sets. Personally, I'd prefer 4-packs of troops but if DST doesn't have confidence that such a 4-pack would sell to retail (not to collectors, to retail) then the next best thing is to offer a troop in a set with characters that will sell and let Luke offer that figure as an army-builder.

At the risk of making anyone feel like a 12-year-old, let's remember that there's another significant player in a BHM/DST Marvel Minimates exclusive. That would be Marvel. Chef Duff didn't have to worry about licensor approval since he was the licensor. As for AIM Agents, there's this show coming out soon that is just screaming for AIM Minimates.

Because Chef Duff owns his intellectual property?

It seems like an in-demand army-builder would warrant the expense of a new tooling. This isn't a one-off like Man-Thing and his two-piece combination torso/head. Collectors would want more than one of these yellow palookas.

Now let's speculate the other four figures that would make up that Logan set. ?

I imagine that would depend on how much your villains would cost. Are we talking lots of new tooling or just printing?

Yes, popular characters should be readily available for folks just jumping on the bandwagon. The Avengers certainly qualify. A Hell's Kitchen set (The Defenders plus Punisher and Hellcat) might. I wouldn't mind seeing a Sinister Six offered like this.

Have a great day, Mr. Oat! ? ?

It's resting.

Just tell your wife you misread it. "I bought it with you in mind! I thought it said 'Daily BULGE!' Dang this dyslexia!" ?