hulk197

No, but mine has plenty of Kraven/Black Spidey and Hulk/Abom packs. I'm actually surprised to hear that. None of the TRU that I hit regularly still have any of those left!

I was kidding and I didn't know Bob was "forum."

I want to hear more about "Sweat Christmas!" Is Santa involved? Perhaps a sexy elf? Rudolph? The mind races at the possibilities of a sweaty x-mas!!

Some more pics. Wonder Man is such a dumb ass character and an even dumb asser minimate!! Sorry, I know there are fans of him, but I just don't get a guy in red shades and a lame safari jacket. The gold bracelets are the best. I'm finding some minimate chick hair to put on him!! So dumb... The punisher vest looks like it's a glossier black compared to the one from the box set which looks flat to me. It may just be my particular figures, but there is a difference that I'm sure wouldn't show up in a picture. Dentist Jigsaw is the same...lame!! He should be all f'd up and crazy with that big metal collar from the first Punisher mini series!

It sounds so easy! Then I call these miserable, frustrated, and spiteful employees at the local TRU and get put on hold indefinitely, until another person realizes (15 minutes later) that someone is on hold, goes off to "look for the Minimates", and leaves me on hold for another indefinite period. I hate that damn place, and it is a 20 minute drive or so, so I can't just head on over to look whenever I feel like it. That sucks. I guess I was lucky with this particular store, they were very helpful, if not completely knowledgeable about their products. I also have to drive at least 30 minutes to any TRU, but I have about 4 within a 45 minute radius from either home or work. I have found the minimates at some of them, but not all.

Some tips if you're searching TRU for these, and any future minimates sets. I was just at one of the many TRU in my area. After 2 days of going there and calling with the item number, I finally found them. Today I talked to a manager after finding nothing on the pegs and she told me that their system is not 100% accurate. SHOCKER!!! She said that when I was told the previous day that the items were "on the truck," that employees should not be telling customers that even if the computer shows an item to be on the truck. She told me there are often 2 trucks with one shipment and the item could be on the second truck. I was told yesterday that they were showing 23 pieces on the floor and there was nothing but empty pegs today when I walked in. I gave her the sticker and she looked it up again. Behold!! There was a case in the back, but she did say that there should still be 11 on the floor "somewhere." She immediately got on her walkie talkie to the stock room and had the guy meet me in the aisle with the full case. My point in all of this is to CALL FIRST and have an employee physically walk back and find the item. They will hold an item for a day at customer service. I had two different employees walk back yesterday when I called twice, so I think they are used to it. Save yourself some time and aggravation and call them before you go. Again: item # 11-3214 is what they can look up.

You can call them and ask about item number 11-3214 "Marvel minimate 2 pack" is what is on the sticker on the pegs. They can tell how many units, theoretically, are on the floor; how many they got in; if it was even on their truck, etc.

I was going to watch UFC tonight, but I think I'll stay tuned to the BHM vs MOC: Brawl For It All right here on the multiverse. Ding, Ding.... next round!!

And look what came via Fed Ex today, a holiday when usps doesn't even deliver, of all days!! Almost exactly a month after I placed the order. No shipment notification, but I think I got an order confirmation right after I placed the order. I hadn't given up on them, I was just thinking the other day if they were ever going to arrive. Might be worth grabbing a few if you can. I paid with Paypal. One of the leg pegs comes out easily, but that's the one I opened anyway. He's great.

Drop the box on the corners a few times and rip it open, tearing the cardboard. Then take it to customer service and ask for a discount because of the condition. Say you're giving it as a gift. Especially if it's the last one, many times they'll give you some kind of deal. I've gotten up to 20% off by asking for this. I've never intentionally damaged a package, but it might work. If not, put it back on the shelf and hope it goes clearance. The system works for them! Make it work for you!!

FYI - Some of the Urban Outfitters have Mighty Muggs white blanks for $5.00 each. There are two in Philly and only the one on Walnut St. had the deal on the blanks.

Sigh... These are not intended to "replace" DC minimates. DC minimates didn't sell well enough for DC Direct to continue to produce them. No money made = no more product, that's just the way it works. These are competing with (as someone already noted) the Marvel Super Hero Squad figures which are immensely popular with both collectors and (GASP) little kids!! They are tied into a cartoon with iconic characters, with some fresh faces thrown in for variety. DC diehards will probably love these because they are also giving action figure versions of some characters that don't get many figures made. Personally, I like these. I like the style of the animation in the cartoon and these reflect that style very well. I won't buy them, but little kids will want them and parents will buy them because they will probably be priced around $6 or $7. Being much bigger than minimates and priced a little less makes them a much more attractive purchase to parents. We all know that DC mates were never really marketed to parents / kids (other than C3), but would they have bought them? Who knows?

I think this might be closer to what you wanted - Frank Castle with Emil Blonsky's night vision goggles and vest. I think the vest works well. And, of course, The Skrull With No Name.

While I love the Godfather movies as much as anyone, I could give two farts about minimates for them. Man with no name, yes. Platoon, definitely. Rocky, meh (unless they actually make the Rocky III set). BTTF, ok, I guess. Even the Madonna set was neat and different. The figures that they have done of Brando for the Godfather are Godawful! The likenesses are terrible. I just don't see the point in making them for a film like the Godfather. I'm excited about Ghostbusters, but I think the Godfather mates are a waste of time, tooling, talent and cash. WORD!! BHM - I need a word for money that starts with 't' to complete my previous alliteration!

I got a job!! I'll be teaching math in a cyber school. I'll work with my students via webcam and the internet. It's pretty neat stuff. Thanks again to all for the words of encouragement and suggestions.

Yeah, I've heard this too. I've heard that maybe Tuesdays might be the day they eliminate. You do have to admit for the volume the usps does and the service they provide, the cost isn't too bad. I ship a lot of stuff all over the country and the world to my ebay buyers and it's rare (knock on wood) that there is a problem. That said, a recent purchase arrived to my mailbox crushed, opened with the contents missing but the bubble wrap and invoice still there. A warning: tape over the "easy pull tab" on those priority boxes!! Whoever did this knew the sender was shipping something decent and just ripped that sucker open and took my minimates!

Jack Kirby was into gods, mythology and all that stuff. Makarri (Mercury) was another character in The Eternals comics. I'm sure there are more that I can't think of right now as well.

"Now I've just gotta find some kind gentle soul who'll paint over the green on my Beast for me." I really don't think it would be that hard to do yourself. You can see that there isn't even that much to paint over when the hair piece is on his head. Get some colors, mix them up, practice on a different head. You'll have to ask others the best way to get the green off, if you decide to go that route. Or, you could just paint over the green altogether. Check out the custom threads for painting tips.

Done and done! You can see a tiny bit of green on his left side, but on the right it is very apparent. I'm not one to be bothered by it and I don't really give two shites about Beast anyway. I'll most likely just use the head as an extra skrull. I can see myself getting at least two more of these sets. I need more, I want a bag of 25 skrull heads!!

"Just like a hooker, it is always cheaper without extra head. " HA!! Zing! Obviously four heads make it more expensive. Here are Spider-Woman, Skrullektra and beast with the Astonishing hair. The skrull ladies work, but Beast with that hair does not. Totally the wrong color. I like these figures. I can see some of the points being made, but there will always be something to be improved upon and there will always be haters. I like the addition of Jewel and the Alias comic series was great. Those that are really bothered by the slight hint of green that you can see on the side of Beast's face can easily fix it with a paint touch-up. I would also love to see dual faces on future minimates. Angry / happy; battle damaged / normal, etc.

I would definitely buy this, maybe even multiple sets. Great idea! They really wouldn't have to create any new pieces either, with all of the BTTF western stuff and Man With No Name movie sets already out there, the guns, holsters and everything are already done. Now I'm excited, and it probably won't ever happen... sigh.

That sounds like some suspicious stuff right there. About someone knowing there were minimates inside. I'd watch that seller just in case. No, I've dealt with him before and he is not the problem. Although, something is fishy in the post office from there to here!

Wow. Those are great finds, way to go! And in other Black Spidey news... While this isn't directly related, it also doesn't warrant a new thread. I won a sealed two pack of the black SM and venom on ebay and when it arrived the priority box had been opened, crushed and there was only bubble wrap and the invoice inside. Totally sucks!! The seller was great though and has already refunded my money. A warning to anyone using those usps priority boxes with the easy open tear strip: TAPE OVER THEM! That's how someone easily opened my package and stole the minimates. It's almost like they knew there would be something good in it and then kept it going through the usps system. I won't buy another thing on ebay over 10 bucks without getting it insured either.

My avatar is, obviously, the price box from the cover of The Incredible Hulk 197. Why? I collect every issue of this comic I can find, within reason. There is a limit to what I'll spend on an issue of this comic. It's significant in that it's the Hulk vs Man Thing on the cover and the cover is drawn by Bernie Wrightson, who co-created the Swamp Thing for DC. It's a great cover and sort of hard to find in high grade. I have at current count 183 copies of this issue. It's something to look for at conventions and in my travels to various comic stores.

Also, getting these things in the stores before, or during, the time the movie is actually in theaters and all the hype is there would help. Spider Man 3, Hulk, Iron Man, all of these I'm sure have done ok, but if they actually had a presence in comic stores and other places like Target / TRU before the movies hit and while they are in theaters then I think DST would see the sales increase. All the movie related mates have been late. Let's see... Spirit? Punisher? Movies are here, where are the minimates? Have they shipped yet? We'll see what happens with the new Terminator movie and the minimates, if they even get made at this point. I don't hold out much hope.