monkeycrumb

What really grinds my gears is that DST is using the SDCC pack as a gauge to how well Lost in Space sells, when really they need to use it as a gauge to how well Black & White sets sell! IF we're lucky (and I hope we are) we'll get a color set 2-pack. Now, will we get Dr Smith in color? likely not, as Chuck said he wanted to make "the boy". Okay, great, now the Dr Smith we have won't be compatible since he's b&w. If they remade Dr Smith instead, then it's one less character that gets made in his place. A HUGE part of the appeal of minimates is in having multiple universes in a compatible scale in a similar format. Making them black & white makes them incompatible and separate. A lot of people will pass on b&w in favor of color, and I'm sure there were plenty of casual buyers that would have bought a color set at SDCC. I just hate that a license gets blamed for an unappealing paint job. Look, I get it. DST didn't want to "limit themselves" by doing the signature pack as a con exclusive. But really, they could very well have rereleased the same robot later and nobody would complain about having 2 similar robots. They could have done the 2nd character as con exclusive. But if it were color, at least the series would remain compatible with itself. Instead, now it looks like we'll be lucky if we even get another 2-pack, and instead of having at least 3 compatible characters, we'll only ever have 2 which is disappointing. Dear DST: black & white sets are very niche, and not a good way to gauge any market!

See, here's the thing: I don't need a bunch of Enterprise variants. I buy them to show support, but having multiples isn't very useful. Shuttlecraft, on the other hand, are incredibly useful for having multiples. Why? Because they are relatively in-scale to the minimates and they can interact with them. They look more natural posed with them. And, they have a cheaper price-point, which is even handier if I have to buy multiples to get all of the figure variants! Plus, you only ever see one Enterprise at a time, whereas having multiple shuttlecrafts next to each other would still make for a believable diorama. Plus, that shuttlecraft they showed us years ago is one sweet looking toy! But it's easier to absorb multiple $12 vehicles than it is $30 ones.

You would need to Ask DST, I really don't know. OMG!!! Please tell me that's not just a joke paraphrase from ST: Generations!! It's not. We'll announce a new Trek Minimates product on Tuesday. Cool! I hope it's not another TOS Enterprise with Pike. I look forward to Tuesday nonetheless!

I know Zach & Chuck have said not to expect all of the bridge crews, but damn are we even going to get one new full crew at this point?? I would LOVE to get TNG - it's the one with 4 movies and the most popular, surely they can at least finish it off! DS9 - My favorite show. I would love to see it completed. At least the tough-to-customize ones like Quark! VOY - not counting on it, but I'd buy it. ENT - this is what I take them to be referring to when they say they won't finish them all. I bought extra Archers just so my customs will have matching base bodys. If I had to choose between Phlox & T'Pol and Garak and Weyoun, well, DS9 all the way, baby! But I'd still buy everything Trek that's made, even ENT. Zach, we've tempered our expectations not to get all of the crews. But can we at least get some news soon on Wave 2, at least if it's a go or no-go? I've bought at least 2-cases worth each of both LCS & TRU so far plus extras. I need more OMG!!! Please tell me that's not just a joke paraphrase from ST: Generations!!

Man, I'd love to hear this answered! For me, it's been a mixed bag. I've bought multiples of them all. I think I bought heaviest on the Jem Hadar. I would have bought even more Cardassians, but I still have a ton of the first release version. But I see 2 potential issues at play: 1) Both markets want The Captains, and 2) not all collectors want both market versions of The Captains. I'm getting flashbacks of the Universal Monsters line, where the shared stuff doesn't sell as well, but the TRU exclusives (The Mummy packs) completely sold out. I'm a huge fan, and even I was a bit burnt out on both rebuying what I already have AND rebuying the same characters in not different enough outfits at the same time from 2 different markets. I get what they intended with Space Seed Khan, but he will never be as popular as the older movie version of Khan, and 4/case *might* be a bit much. Even a Kirk & Spock 2-pack would have sold MUCH better, but no, DST has to hold Spock back for future sales! Honestly, I believe the amount of people who stumble across these is much smaller than the people who are aware of these before they are released. Toy buyers of most propertties are far more internet savvy than in the old days. I think the best thing now to help spur sales would be an announcement of Wave 2. It wouldn't surprise me if there are lurkers sitting on the fence waiting to see if this line is going to continue. The first line had the benefit of us knowing we were going to complete the TOS crew in 2 waves, so more people bought in.

I'd gladly trade both The Wolverine waves for that cancelled TRU Thor 2 wave. I know people have said kind things about the movie, but I'm just not interested enough to go watch it in the theater, I'll wait for the Blu Ray. (Of course I'm leaving in a few minutes to go catch Pacific Rim in IMAX one last time ) But yeah, people in civilain clothes versus Asgardian designs and completed teams - I can tell you which one is more appealing to me. I really hope these do well, but if they don't, I sincerely hope it doesn't effect the chances of DOFP mates. Also, the new design of the DOFP Sentinel leaves me cold. I'm just not feeling it. Hopefully I'll like it more when the movie comes out. But given it's size, I'd prefer a vinyl minimate-style rotocast bank instead of an undersized minimate.

Nicely done!!!

Zach, are we still getting a B-9 Robot minimate in Color?? I do see this line as a "bonus". I'm thrilled we have what we have. I would be just as thrilled to get a Forbidden Planet Robbie the Robot 2-pack some day as well. But the greedy part of me wants it all, and wants every main cast member and toyetic-design alien I can get. So while I'm always willing to pine for what "might have been", I am incredibly grateful for what we have as well. What really stings is the fact that Minimates are almost an afterthought to all the other product DST produces. I enjoy a lot of DST's stuff, but Minimates are the only ones I'm passionate about.

Take care of yourself. It's been a pleasure having you here. I'm sad to see you go, but it's understandable. Be well.

The fun thing is, both Karen Gillan and the new Doctor were both in the same episode as different characters. So now I can only imagine the remaining actors from that episode are just waiting to be recast into recurring characters!

Great news! Thanks for sharing. Got a link or pics? But IIRC, I thought it was always a full bridge and not half? The last one I owned I bought in the 25th anniversary year, and it's long since lost.

So, is that going to make this wave troublesome for TRU to stock / restock? The past two waves are still reasonable easy to find at retail.

Why do I get the impression it's House as The Doctor? Hope the new guy keeps that manic madman energy, instead of making him a curmudgeonly Timelord. I'm glad to be wrong about them keeping it young, though. Honestly, I'd rather they regenerate the writer(s), because this past season was really lacking.

I think the current legend surrounding R2's suckiness is that one of the other licensee's complained? And as a result, Hasbro downgraded the figure to be less "prop-like". (??Kotobukiya?? perhaps?) I've really been on the fence on these. A 6-inch SW line was a dream for years, but the crappy exclusiveness of the SDCC Carbonite Han really ruins this line for me. Then I saw the wave 2 & 3 stuff. Crap, that Han Solo looks fantastic! So, I have a new plan: I'm going to pass on paying scalper rates on Carbonite Han, and just eventually 3D print one! I have the 12-inch Sideshow one and more than a few 3 3/4-inch ones, so surely I can one day scan, resize and print a 6-inch scale one!

I doubt it. Doctor Who in the US became huge after they went young with Tennant & Smith. I expect them to aim for the same demographic. However, if I were allowed to cast it, I'd cast Brian Blessed!

I'm excited to see the return of Hope's jetpack base. I wanted a few more but didn't want to buy more $20 sets to get it.

So, any update on the release date? Are these still scheduled for tomorrow 7/31?

Expect everything to be close to back to Status Quo by the time the new movie releases. Marvel always gets things as close as possible to the movie cast for the influx of new readers. Expect stories to feature Peter, Rhino & Electro. Probably not Gwen.

This fan wants it ALL!

Wow. Crap. I totally missed this bit of news until today. TRU - passing on Thor 2, Battle Beasts, what's next? Hasbro is already doing a smaller assortment for Thor 2. TRU already knew how their sales were from the first Thor, so it's incredibly crappy of them to bail at the last minute like this! DST would have surely planned differently had they know they could only get one wave of 8 out. I'm even sadder now that the Warriors 2 2-pack never came out for Barnes & Noble a few years back, now they've been cancelled twice! Now do we need to worry about X-Men DOFP due to First Class clearance sales? One thing TRU fails to realize about Thor is that he's now more well-known due to Avengers than his first movie. Zach, any chance of salvaging these mates? NYCC exclusive or box set? There will be a Thor 3, so there's another shot at the last 2 Warriors, but what about Kurse? I'd assume he's exclusive to this movie. Damn, this is such a disappointment! Also, Zach, since TRU is skipping Thor 2, are they substituting another line in it's place? Or is there just one less release at TRU this year?

I missed this bit of news - when was this?

I was really surprised at how plentiful this set was on Sunday at SDCC. With only 3000 made, isn't that less than TRU's exclusives?

[clink] I agree it's not classic. But I still subscribe to the Stan Lee theory of comics - every comic is *somebody's* first comic. I like that this hobby keeps bringing in fresh blood. Whatever is good for sales is pretty much okay with me. Personally I'm tired of the constant A-lister refreshes, but I know it's what's best for the line overall. I'm sure there are some fans who really want them just as bad as I want things from my wishlist. But I wouldn't count the delay as lack of interest, we've seen such delays on plenty of other storylines. I think that's just part of the manufacturing process. And, as I said, there a ton of other sets I'd want first It's just the completionist in me that grumbles at any incomplete roster!

Perhaps the non-reuse of the bear sculpt was due to licensing issues? IIRC nothing sculpted for DC was allowed to be used outside of DC (for a certain time frame, as stuff has made it's way into use but it took a few years) As for BB surviving at LCBS instead of TRU, I'm reminded of all the Calico Jack that was shown but never produced. Also, wasn't it the LCBS market that highly discounted BB wave 1? I think TRU likes to hit a certain point before completely refreshing. Calico Jack was meant to cater to the Pirate market timed with the last Pirates of the Carribean movie, same with Trek and Into Darkness. Because you'll notice that TRU caters thematically to the big season blockbusters (biggest case in point are those generic 3 3/4" figures & playsets that take up one whole side of a TRU aisle which also did pirates that year, did western in time for Lone Ranger, Fantasy for Hobbit, and always have the police & military stuff). So I can see TRU feeling like they've done "enough" business with BB and moving on before it got stale for them. Not my favorite strategy but it seems to be what works for them. And Hellpop, as for MAX not having good luck, it seemed to sell through pretty well. I still see the occasional MAX jet, but I don't think DST lost any money at all on the MAX stuff. I suspect TRU just felt they'd hit their saturation point and chose to move on. I really hope that's the case because I'd love to see them revisit MAX every few years, it's still a viable line.

I thought that generally (but not always) royalties on merchandise are paid after a certain minimum sales figure? Perhaps it varies license by license? (Thank goodness not everyone can demand the percentages that Star Wars can, or we'd be missing out on a ton of niche properties!) And yes, BB is DST-owned, but there is a lot of new tooling which eats into profits. I'm sure they have some kind of "sweet-spot" figured out to maintain a good margin.