pk13

That's true. Buying any of the discounted Vinmates that TRU is trying to divest themselves of would technically be supporting the line. Or buying any of the Kevin Smith Vinimates that are still sitting at Luke's for $2 each would also be supporting the line. But I've bought all of the Vinimates at full price so far, including the store exclusives, because that feels like actual support. 

Having to join an Awesome Gamerz GameStop club and spend an absurd amount of Thumbs Up Gold Star Bucks does seem a little ridiculous. I know the ready response is "don't buy it if it's such a hassle", but I've always felt like that's a bit of cop out. Slimed versions of Ghostbusters characters are cool. I would like to buy them, and yes, complete a set of those versions, without having to give GameStop a blood sample and an oath of fealty. I really don't think that's an outlandish request. I'm just looking for reasonable access to the product. 

And while these might be readily available on the secondary market, I don't feel like they are a true apples to apples comparison with the subscription box Vinimates. Subscription boxes are basically large blind bag/box purchases that rarely deliver products that are all desirable by the subscriber. With several items per box, there's bound to be things that people will get rid of because they don't like something or it doesn't fit in their collection in some way. But the GameStop exclusive is something that has to be specifically purchased using whatever their virtual currency is. I don't know what else is available because I'm not an initiated member of said club, but I can't imagine that many people will be using their Gamez Doubloons on something just to resell it. Especially if the cost conversion discussed above is accurate.

I get why store exclusives are good for DST, and I go out of my way to support that. I've bought the two GameStop exclusive Vinimates so far, paying full price plus shipping to do so. And to look at it from a bigger picture, I try to support Minimate exclusives the best that I can by buying those as well. I only ask for a reasonable chance to do so. I don't feel like having to sacrifice a goat on an altar made out of old NES power gloves so I can then be a part of the GameStop punch card cabal is a very reasonable process to go through to obtain a DST product. 

That's probably going to be it for me and Vinimates. So many hoops to jump through to try and support this line. 

37 minutes ago, DSTZach said:

Similarly, the specialty-exclusive Series 69 was an example of us taking character suggestions from the fans here -- a good idea, I think everyone here would agree. We chose to focus on Avengers requests because we'd done a lot of X-Men, but maybe we should have stuck with the X-theme, because I don't think the line did as well as prior waves. Maybe the theme was not as cohesive as series 60 or 68, maybe the characters were not current enough, maybe Enchantress's hair was just too damn short. But I think Series 72 did similar numbers for specialty, so who knows.

This kind of info is something I find very interesting. Zach, when a wave doesn't sell through as fast as hoped/projected, how much do you guys look at the reasons why? It seems like any given wave can have problems, but as a consumer and fan of waves like 60, 68, 69, & the upcoming awesomeness of 72, I guess I worry that the simple answer of "older Avengers isn't where it's at" or "MCU should get 80% of the releases" is the conclusion that might be jumped to. 

Does the performance of a wave like 69 hurt the chances of classic non X-themed characters being added to the line? 

I really liked this Toy Fair for DST. I can't wait to start adding the classic TMNT sets to my collection and the Kingdom Hearts announcement is nothing short of awesome. I never could get into the KH games, but I love the Final Fantasy series, (well, up to 12 at least, haven't played any since then). The thought of getting FF characters in Minimate form is just so cool. And the Disney stuff will be gravy. Pure Tron gravy.

The only problem I saw was the glaring lack of announcements or prototypes for a 10 wave assortment of Twin Peaks minimates. I'm just chalking that up to it being a busy show and those no good prototype painters not finishing up in time. 

Happy Days of Birth to you all!  

Looks good, love the Quasar!

That's an absurd price point for something that looks like hot garbage. I would pass on it at $75, much less $175. 

I really enjoy the lead up Toy Fair and the cons. The hope and excitement for what might be announced is always fun.

4 hours ago, MisterPL said:

I've also read that WB has a new CFO who's been a real challenge to deal with. He's pretty no-nonsense and has set a higher bar for sales. If pre-sales don't hit a certain threshold, they won't go into production, regardless of how many collectors (like myself) who generally don't pre-order product. I understand they're trying to maximize profit so in order to keep the line going, I may have to pre-order some SKUs from time to time. The days of waiting for Amazon to drop the price by 40% may be over.

I just can't bring myself to pre-order anything. I understand the CFO's direction, I just disagree with it. I've been burned with pre-ordering in the past when the delivered product is different from what was solicited. Missing accessories, changed paint apps, major quality issues, etc... I just can't throw the money down until I know what I'm getting. I understand that companies want to feel like they have guaranteed sales, but it just isn't a customer friendly model. And that's not even going into the price aspect of it.

While I would love a JLU line in the same style as the Batman line we've received, I just wonder how big they could go with it if they aren't going to offer single carded figures. Although, they could probably sell at least one run of the A listers single carded. But then how do you market the rest of the box sets without one of the Trinity in it? (Speaking of which, I only recently noticed that they did a run of the Big 3 from JL: Gods and Monsters in this style. Picked them all up from a seller on Amzon for under $40 shipped for the set of three and I really like the figures). Anyway, After the first couple of sets that will no doubt knock out the A listers, would a deep dive into the JLU cast, even half as deep as the original line, work at this price point? Or would these high priced sets have to be released so far apart that the line would lose traction?

AC isn't anywhere on my list of properties that I'd be excited for. I've never played the games and the tv trailers for them left me tired of a series I never even played. But maybe the toys would look cool.

While there are several figures I'd like to see from BtAS, (probably a bigger list for TNAB), I really hope we get a Scarecrow and Alfred before all is said and done. Those are my two biggest wants as far as things we haven't seen. I don't feel like there is a huge amount of space left in the BtAS/TNAB line though. I mean, I would love to see a ton of stuff but I don't feel like we will see it at retail.

But I've seen the pre-orders for the Supes/Lois set and it makes me wonder if that's the next path for this line look or if there will just be a dipping of the toes into the Supes world. Which is just a long way to speculate about how wonderful it would be to see it all transition to JLU. What do you all think? Would you follow from Batman to JLU?

I don't play a ton of games, but I play the games I buy a ton. I like to play something like Skyrim or Fallout for a couple of years, which is made much easier by the games being so open and non-linear. How is RE7 along those lines? Is it really linear or is there the potential for a lot of replay/longer games? I played the first few RE games and loved the atmosphere of them, but they felt a lot like side scrolling box-checking games.

Happy Birthday!  I have no idea what this emoticon means, but I hope you enjoy it!

Hey Zach, are there any alternate Kane pieces under the title card? Trying to figure out how many of these sets I need.

I'm pretty happy with the figures in this set. And what a nice and unexpected but of Friday news! The price is pretty terrible, but all of these high priced sets see markdowns on the various toy store sites and Amazon eventually. I've always felt like big box sets like this have a high MSRP because they know that there are a decent number of collectors that will pay the high price up front. So they can bring in some extra money that way on the front end. Then, when the price gets lowered, I feel like that "reduced" price is much closer to what a reasonable MSRP should be.

I didn't pay anywhere near what the MSRP was for the Deluxe Batmobile. And I certainly won't for this set either, even though it has five figures that I'll be very happy to add to my collection. Especially the Bane. And the Montoya figure really looks like an old Kenner figure, which is cool.

Like many, 2016 was a year of dodging and counter-punching for me and most of my family and friends. But there were plenty of good times too, and I hope to see more of those in 2017. And I hope that you all have many good times in 2017 as well. This is my favorite forum by far and I hope to see its continued success, (as well as all of its members), in the new year!

As far as collecting goes, I'm inching ever closer to my vision of a "complete" Minimate collection. It's been an odd mix of feast or famine with tracking down old items that I'm looking for lately, but it's been a lot of fun doing so. The down times in Minimates releases has led me into other toy collecting areas. I've picked up several of the Funko Mystery Mini figures. That's been a very different experience as I feel no need to "have them all". And it's been fun to have some toy representation for some very cool licences that I just don't see on the Minimates radar like Fallout and some of the horror movies and Harry Potter, etc... I've also dipped my toes back into the 6" scale with the DCC Animated Batman figures. I've had an awesome time opening those while having BtAS playing in the background. After getting out of Marvel Legends and DCUC a few years ago, I kind of thought that I wouldn't get anything in that scale ever again. But the Batman line has sucked me right in. And the Batmobile from that line is one of my favorite toys ever. Here's hoping that after the Batman line has run dry that DCC starts up a Justice League/JLU line. Because I would buy the hell out of that.

I'm very optimistic that this will be a great year for Minimates. As I mentioned earlier, I'm closing in on some of my Minimates Grails, and am looking to *finally* start work on my toy room and give my collection a proper display. I really hope to have that room completed by the end of the year. As far as the toys go, DST has already revealed Spiral, Mojo, & Silver Samurai, so I feel like I'm starting off the year with an ace in the hole. If I had a Marvel wishlist, then those would have been in the top 10. As for non-Marvel, I'm hoping for some out of left field goodness. I'd love to see some licences that I thought I would never see, (I will never stop hoping for Twin Peaks Minimates, dammit!), or to be pleasantly surprised by a new license that I didn't know I would like so much, like The Muppets has ended up being for me.

On 12/29/2016 at 9:49 AM, DSTZach said:

Because you were only supposed to get one. But to go back and run off a single fist from an old Thing tool takes time. If it doesn't matter which fist you get, running off both fists gets the number you need in half the time.

Has anyone received a left fist, (actual left, would be the right when looking at the figure straight on)? All of mine were right fists, and after asking a few people, it seems like that's what they received as well. I know Mattallica asked for a left, and I'm looking for a left as well after he has his. 

39 minutes ago, DSTZach said:

Aside from Fox and Mulder being the same person, this looks correct.

Edited, cause I played the Vinimate list making game a little too fast and loose and lost. 

I think I have them all, either in hand or on the way. Here's what I have for a list of what's been released so far, (I'll put any retailer exclusives in parenthesis). This doesn;t include any of the announced pieces or those up for pre-order.

 

*Alice Through the Looking Glass*

-Alice

-Mad Hatter

-Red Queen

-Time

 

*Aliens*

-Alien Warrior

-Alien Warrior (GitD Blood - Gamestop Exclusive)

-Ripley

 

*Ghostbusters*

-Egon 

-Peter 

-Ray

-Ray (Slimed - Nerd Block Subscription Box Exclusive)

-Winston

 

*Lost in Space*

-B9

-B9 (Antimatter Black & White - Local Comic Shop Day Exclusive)

 

*Nightmare Before Christmas*

-Jack

-Jack (GitD - Gamestop Exclusive)

-Mayor

-Oogie Boogie

-Sally

-(Hot Topic has a HT sticker on Jack, Sally, & Oogie, which might be considered a packaging variant)

 

*Predator*

-Dutch

-Predator 

-Predator (Masked - Nerd Block Subscription Box Exclusive)

 

*View Askew*

-Kevin Smith (2015 SDCC Exclusive)

-Kevin Smith & Jason Mewes 2 Pack

 

*X-Files*

-Classic Fox

-Classic Scully

-New Fox

-New Scully

Hey Zach, I noticed that the Hot Topic NBX Vinimates have a HT sticker on them. Is that just something they put on their allotment of boxes or are they exclusive in any way other than the packaging?

Thanks for mentioning the masked Predator exclusive. I hadn't seen that yet. 

1 hour ago, Mysterious Stranger said:

Okay, not to drag this off topic, but I gotta know - what did you leave for feedback? "Good communication, fast shipping, unexpected swarm of ants in the box, would buy from again"

I didn't leave any feedback or send a message. I was pretty amazed/angry about the whole thing, but it seemed like a bad idea to poke the ant-mailing bear. I mean, dude had my address. What happens if I leave negative feedback or ask "wtf is the deal with ants?". The next step could've been a box of spiders.

9 hours ago, Mystery Man said:

Very happy you liked them. In the info I got about your wants, it said "nothing with ants in the box"... so that should explain the box illustration. Wasbit you that got a box crawling with ants one year?

Haha, yeah, that was me. I opened a box containing an ebay auction that I won, quickly checked to make sure that it did in fact contain minimates, and was quickly overtaken by a swarm of toy-crazy ants. It's become much more funny with some passing of time. In the moment. it was an absolute horror show.

They're showing up as out for me as well. I just tried to add a case to my cart.

I received my Secret Santa gift last Friday and it was perfect. Here's what I scored:

I needed all of these figures, especially the Cthulhu and Glow Cthulhu chase. I went around all weekend putting the The Great Old One into song. "It's beginning to look a lot like Lovecraft" and "Oh, what a feeling! Cthulhu on the ceiling!", were just a couple fo the lines that I was singing, and receiving strangle looks for.

From the address, I'm going to guess Mystery Man as my Secret Santa. Right or wrong, I want to say thanks because the gift was awesome and a much needed addition to my collection!