DSTZach

5 plus parts to change Ben Reilly to Spider-Carnage. 

22 hours ago, THE_CRIPPLER said:

It has been about a month now. Any update on these Zach? I wish you could get these in to Target (are they completely against Minimates)? They would look great next to the G.I. Joe Classified figures.

A month since what? Nothing has changed. 

22 hours ago, THE_CRIPPLER said:

This set is amazing. I think the previous Spidey set is also. The only negative thing about that one is that it is a lot of re-hashes. Overall though those look great. Zach, will the next set of "greatest hits" be a mix of Marvel characters or a greatest hits of a certain comic like Avengers or X-Men?

A certain comic, but a mix of teams. 

On 4/19/2024 at 10:25 PM, Trekker 42 said:

Anyone else getting an unmasked head?

Warren or Kaine in particular. 

Not that I am aware of. 

Not sure about thwip hands. I'll check.

Glad everyone likes it. I think most sets will be like this. 84 was close. 87 is pretty close. The Spider-Verse set is not, but it will hopefully bring in some new collectors. 88 is a bit of a Greatest Hits, but I think it will be well received. 

I've never read this comic, but they look great!

Glad everyone likes them! They were not supposed to go up for pre-order today, so the listings may go away, but next Friday for sure. 

I do not have a release date, but I will see what I can find out.

Probably not for a while, this was an advance tease. 86 gets offered next Friday. 

I don't think I have ever read a Carrion issue. You learn something new every day!

I had no idea.

2 hours ago, AFMcGill said:

Well, I don't think I am the only person who has ever felt the need to change a Minimate to be more in-line with what they prefer or what they wanted?

Not at all. I just meant it is not the first thing most customers think of. 

2 hours ago, AFMcGill said:

I will apologise for any projection, I have felt incredibly outside and abandoned as a customer - I actually didn't even know DD was OUT (and I can't find any listing on Luke's?), I've been aimlessly searching eBay every week expecting the boxset to show up for sale somewhere. It's release, down to the figures included, seemed to be fluctuating and unsure - I had no idea it had actually been out for months (I think?). I'm someone who doesn't check things daily, at this point weekly or maybe even monthly. There's like 1 Marvel release per year! I knew it was coming out "some time in 2024" and have been keeping an eye out for it on eBay.

Sorry you feel abandoned, we have been trying to regularly pump out Marvel sets, but we are only now getting back up to speed. I'm hoping that with this next Spidey set being revealed this Friday and offered next Friday, that will be three Marvel sets we will be able to release in one calendar year (2024). It may not always work out like that, since DD came out in January, and the third may hit in December, but fingers crossed. 

2 hours ago, AFMcGill said:

I have now found out the reason for my obliviousness and apparently unavailability - a .. certain eBay seller that once had a menagerie... began blocking people from viewing their store on any eBay besides .com when they changed their name away from specifically Minimates. I think all my frustration, disappointment and anger should now be directed at them. And those big stupid idiots even gave the loose Puppet Master the Ultimate Nullifier accessory instead of the loose Reed Richards that one time!!

I didn't realize he had changed his name, but he doesn't sell internationally anymore, either? That is unfortunate. 

2 hours ago, AFMcGill said:

Buying from Luke's is inevitable now, I guess. I did definitely get X-Factor wave from him (with several Madri) and I think Dark Phoenix too. Always wanted to get some sticker sheets and loose parts just for fodder but it'd always come time and it's like "yeah, I can't justify the postage cost on small buys" which equated to me getting the entire Dark Phoenix wave when all I really wanted was Gladiator and maybe Dark Phoenix.

Postage is high across the board, it costs me $15-20 just to send an action figure part to the UK for customer service. But I know Luke offers out-of-package shipping and the like for international customers. 

Whatever route you choose, I wish you luck - I would subscribe to Luke's mailing list even if you don't order anything, so you can see what's out and what's coming up. You can also subscribe to the DST mailing list, but we don't have one just for Minimates, so you'll get a lot of toy news. But we also have regular sales, so that might be helpful. 

I tried to sneak my own pun in, but my tongue got tied and I gave up. What can I say, I'm a loafer. 

Just as a single customizer will not buy a five-pack to get one part, a retailer will not buy a case of 2-packs to sell one set. It is the new reality. 

Whether we can promote it or not, the play feature of Minimates is certainly interchangeability, and that play feature still exists within a box set -- it arguably exists more in a box set than a two-pack. Customizing is a much smaller subset of that play feature. It thrives here, but I don't think the average customer is trying to mod existing Mates. And most do not have three out of the five characters. Most POTENTIAL customers will want all five. 

If more than one person is interested in box set singles, ESPECIALLY if they're an international customer, they may want to talk to Luke about breaking up any of his remaining box sets and selling them individually. I don't know if that makes sense for him, business-wise, but if he is getting sales he wouldn't get otherwise...

Cartoon colors.

It's a cool idea! The SDCC set is pretty cool, it has three new characters in it, plus a cartoon colors repaint (it's based on an episode).

No Skywarp yet but I hold out hope.

I think Inhumans is a tough sell right now. Maybe when the show came out there was a small window, but it was REAL small. 

And I think when we ultimately release the '90s X-Men sets, they will be companion sets like some have suggested. An apple that's worth the reach, as it were. 

We've been talking about it a lot in Marvel 85's thread, but Series 86 will be revealed on Friday, and will be 1990s Spidey-themed. 

One hero we've gotten before (not Peter Parker)

One anti-hero we've never gotten

One villain we've gotten 

One villain we've only gotten animated

One villain we've never gotten

Boy, "gotten" is a strange word. It feels German. Gotten himmel!

58 minutes ago, NerdyTrev said:

That's in reference to the Starlin Warlock suggestion right?

RIGHT??

Yes! Unlikely, and not a run I really am familiar with, but great idea!

3 hours ago, Scorpion said:

I think Spider-man should be in a Sinster Six box set. Just so we can get a unique costume. But I don't think we necessarily need an anchor character just so customers can recognize the characters. If Minimates were sold in retail stores like Walmart, Target, and Walgreens, I would get that. But aren't Minimates only sold at online toy websites or comic book stores now, where the customer probably is going to be more familiar with comics.

We still get casual buyers at comic shops and toy stores, and we still get parents shopping for kids in online stores. But they are certainly not impulse items at checkout anymore, which can affect these things. Either way, we want them to be more accessible, and putting a main character in a set makes it accessible. 

Crowdfunding is not off the table, it was discussed fairly recently. 

And I think BHM will like our next Spidey, it is very detailed.

10 hours ago, TheMinimateKing30 said:

I'm sorry, but HARD disagree. ESPECIALLY given how many Spider-Man Minimates we've gotten as of late. I imagine most people who collect Minimates have at least ONE figure of the classic Spider-Man suit.

Unless we're talking an Ultimate Six box set, I actually think a regular Sinister Six box set would BENEFIT from a lack of Spider-Man. Just have it be the villains.

The novelty of it being an instant collection of some of Spidey's most notable enemies ALONE, I guarantee, would be an AUTOMATIC lure for people.

See above post, casual collectors will want to make Spidey fight the Sinister Six. But since we are now doing five-packs, the point is moot, a six- OR seven-pack would need to be a (more) deluxe release. 

Luke did an all-villains box set, and I'm not sure it was a success for him. And that one had CARNAGE in it. If a box set of JUST B-level Villains was a sure thing, we would have done the Wrecking Crew ages ago. Ironically, with a five-pack, the Wrecking Crew now becomes feasible.

Full disclosure, we've planned a Spidey set for down the road that has Spidey (yes, that Spidey) and some Sinister Six members for him to fight. But just like a Spidey-less Sinister Six set would assume that the collector already has a Spidey, this set will assume that the collector already has other Sinister Six members. But even if they don't, they can still set up battles between the heroes and villains in the set.

GReat idea!

1 hour ago, TheMinimateKing30 said:

Nah. If we're talking teams only, I'd rather it just be the heroes. I agree we need a new classic Electro, tho. The original one is still a beautiful figure, IMO, but as I said above about Torment Spider-Man; you have a better chance of finding a solid gold brick on the goddamn Moon than you do getting that figure for a reasonable price nowadays.

So fucking bogus we're only getting 5 figures a set from now on. At least throw us a bone with a Sinister Six box set or something.

The trick with a Six set is you really need to include Spider-Man.

We've released some of the Sinister Six semi-recently, Kraven, Vulture and Mysterio were 2019.

Doc Ock and Sandman were 2014, but we'll see one of those again soon.

Electro I believe we will get in the near future. 

I pitched at least one of those!

Do you mean Minimates at Walgreens or the 90s Xmen Minimates we were originally going to release at Walgreens?

The former are no longer. The latter will be released, some sooner than others.