Alpheon

Thanks very much, maxcarnage! Really appreciate that. And is the target in your link a joke, or a very weird accident...?

Okay, call me a n00b, but as some of you may have noticed, I've been WAY out of the Minimate loop for a while. Stopped by my LCS today and my good friend Nathan pulled out a buttload (Marvel series [forget which one] with Hydra agent, Terminator 2 single-packs, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine wave) of stuff for me. I've got tons of questions, but most of them have to do with other licenses--my T2 one is this: Do any of the single-packs overlap other releases (besides the Endoskeleton, obviously). I'm not one for packaging variants, and I'd hate to give my money for duplicates I'll "need" to buy later. Thanks, guys. EDIT: I swear, I spent about a half-hour on Minimate Database trying to figure this out. I don't know if this makes me look like even more of an idiot, but I just thought I'd assure you that an attempt was indeed made to find the information myself.

Yeah, add me to the list of casualties. Nothing at my LCS--though Phillip, my dealer, optimistically believes they'll show up in the next week or so. This probably means TBT!'s going to be begging, too, as he lives real close. EDIT: Noooooooooo!! Just called the "other" comic shop real close to me; THEY had them! When I called, his response was "yeah, we had some, but they went real fast." Damn. If only I'd gone sooner... *sob*

Thanks, guys. Really. Nice to know someone cares. And happy birthday to my fellow Aprils, as well! Blessings upon your festivities!

If I may chime in in regards to some of your points, it makes the most sense to me to simply use only the names given on the box. I think Ivan might agree that the Database needs to be most accessible to Minimate n00bs, not veterans like us. If little Joey buys his first Minimate (let's say the Punisher: War Zone pack) and, on the same day, finds Minimate Database, hoping to broaden his blooming collection, he might want to look up the figures he's already got. Well, Joey's never actually seen the film, and only knows Loony Bin Jim by what it says on his package: Mob Thug. You see what I'm saying? It's just more clear, and straightforward, to organize the Database as a simply a catalog of Minimates--not of characters. And, to the uninitiated, Ben Reilly, Spider-Carnage, and Spider-Man 2099 are variations of Spider-Man. US Agent, too, is a variation of Captain America. The term "variation," I think, is more helpful when organizing if it's not based on the character (that just gets way too involved and complicated) but rather, the parts used, and just a touch on the surface of character relations. I'd imagine it's safe to say that any character to use the Captain America cowl piece in the future can be called a "variation" of Captain America. But it's obviously a tough call, especially when we have the sheer amount of characters and character relations we do. I think Ivan's done a great job so far, and his Database is a fantastic resource for all of us. What a gift!

I guess so. I just cannot imagine being fond of these films. But I'll stop badmouthing them now.

Yes, you have a point--a good one, but one of the two things about the FF and Spider-Man films that made them horrible (in my opinion, of course) were the fact that they seemed to take themselves so seriously, despite their incredible silliness. Especially the Spider-Man movies. The first fight between Green Goblin and Spider-Man in the first film is a prime example of this. It was just...so...ridiculous. "We'll meet again, Spider-Man!!" Also, Sandman's origin scene in SM3. The other thing is the cinematography used. It may seem like a small thing, but really--it was the prime factor in making me supremely dislike the franchises in question. As I mentioned before, the FF:RotSS scene where Doom steps onto Silver Surfer's board. Ouch. It was really funny, and absurdly comedic, but at the same time the scene itself seemed to think it was really something serious. That's what made it just terrible, instead of "light-hearted" or "campy." And because of the reasons mentioned above, the really weak humor was even more diluted by the fact that the films themselves were utterly laughable, so any attempt at making the audience laugh intentionally seemed contrived and just awful. ...but that's just me.

Yeah, but look at what they did with The Incredible Hulk. Opening titles told us all we needed to know. Hopefully, they'll go that route. I, personally, cannot imagine liking the Fantastic Four films (or the Spider-Man ones for that matter )! They were just so juvenile and silly, so corny and B-movie-ish...the very fact that they actually kept his ridiculous name, Dr. Doom, was astonishing. The whole thing just seemed like an insult to comic fans everywhere, to me. Like I said, this is true of the Spider-Man films as well (except the second one. that was actually the tiniest bit enjoyable and epic). The scene in FF:RotSS where Doom steps onto the board for the first time? I could not stop laughing. The absolute best example of unintentional comedy in recent "blockbuster" film-making, in my opinion.

I'm continually amazed (and appalled) to see people refer to Rorschach as things like "insane," "psychotic," and a "ranting, murderous maniac." ...are you serious? Really? Perhaps I'm reacting defensively, but I feel like you're maligning a long-dead (and exceptionally heroic) friend of mine. Rorschach was, in my mind, the only truly virtuous character in the whole story. The story Watchmen itself is anything but uplifting, and is really repellent in its subject matter, and Rorschach reflects that intrinsic darkness in the pages, but still--he was the only one who actually knew what was right, was sure of it, and acted upon his understanding. Everyone else was either wishy-washy or incredibly misguided, and as Rorschach pointed out: compromising. I don't want at all to turn this into some sort of personal/political/religious debate, I'm just talking about the character. Rorschach's journal entry at the opening defines the environment of the book, and is one of the most honest and on-the-mark expositions I've ever read from a character on his surroundings. Remember where he was? New York. At night. 1985. Everyone around him was wallowing in their filth of undisciplined, out-of-control and carnally-driven life, without any sort of clear guidelines as to what was right and what was wrong--what else would he write about in his journal? How nice the sky was? No. That's not Rorschach. Yes, he's extreme. Of course he is. He's a fictional character. In Watchmen. So of course he's extreme. I'm not saying murder is right--far from it--what I'm saying is that Rorschach, at the very least, truly believed what he wrote about in his journal. I'm also saying he was right, but that's beside the point. The ending, too, with Rorschach's journal *possibly* being published, is wonderfully analogous for the fact that truth is truth--Good can never be extinguished, and no matter how much you compromise yourself to try and destroy it in order to live peaceably in your own self-imposed limitation, Good will always return (because it cannot be killed), turning the false kingdom you've built out of blackened "morals" into rubble. I can't believe nobody's seen it that way before; there must be others like me out there. And no, Rorschach did not see things in "black and white." How can people say that? If he did, he wouldn't have killed murderers. He wouldn't have broken into Dan's house. He wouldn't have done the things that appear as hypocrisy if he saw things in black and white. Of course he understood there were areas of grey. But he also understood you should always aspire towards White--and when those around him compromised Right for the sake of living comfortable in Black, it disgusted him. "No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise." Rorschach believed that if Good is truly Good, how can it possibly be compromised, and still continue to be Good? The character himself was also mentally damaged from a horrific childhood and an unsupportive upbringing. So, though he was unwavering in his near-immaculate sense of righteousness, his appliance of that discipline was tinged and discolored with his surroundings and the darkness of his experiences. So, he killed the unrighteous. In the end, it's obviously not whether you win or lose, live or die. We all die. It's how you played the game. Rorschach understood this as fully as he was capable, and for that, I deeply admire him. [/rant] If I opened up any cans of worms with this post, I apologize, and I'll even edit my message if necessary. Remember, I'm not debating anything deeper than fans' perception of Rorschach as a character (and maybe as a symbol, too, if discussions are kept civil enough).

I completely 1,000% agree. I'm amazed at just how well you articulated and echoed my thoughts of the past couple weeks. That is the only thing I'd change. Why, Snyder? Why?? ...and while this post may seem rather trite, I was going to offer my own commentary--until I read the above megaposts. What more could be said?

Awesome, awesome stuff. Thanks for sharing. And, of course, congratulations. Does this mean Database and/or Factory will be put on hold for a while? Again, whole-hearted congratulations, sir.

Indeed, sirs/ma'ams. Warmest wishes to you and your company.

Nite Owl coffee. Not only is it Watchmen-flavored caffeine, but it's being sold on Amazon. Somehow, I don't remember Foldgers ever being available there. So who'll be the first to give this stuff a taste-test? Also, from the IGN review: EDIT: Now, wait a second--whose head was "cleaved" in the novel?

Well, thanks for the effort, it was a thoughtful reply--but actually, the revolver specifically goes with Assault Armor Punisher. It's actually included in his right-leg holster when you take him out of the package. So, that kind of eliminates that possibility. And I know, logistically, it doesn't matter at all--I was just hoping to chime into the group consensus as to "Who gets the silver pistols?"

Boy! I've been gone for a while, lurking about, but keeping pretty up to date with Minimate purchases. But I was wondering--how do you guys allocate the pistols included in this set? I've been trying to decide who gets the silver ones. Since they're duplicates, it makes sense that Assault Armor would get them, because he's got twin holsters. But every time I give them to him, the relatively bright silver against his otherwise monochrome outfit just doesn't look right. Any advice?