JIrish780

Okay, what I said last time about all bets being off? With Elseworlds in the mix, that goes double. This time I'm only going to do one list... Black Adam/Isis Captain Cold/Mirror Master Huntress/Black Canary Green Lantern (Alan)/Solomon Grundy If I'm lucky, at least one of these characters is right.

Okay, I am uber-thrilled that we're getting Raven. Easily my favorite all-time Titans member. Cyborg's the icing on the cake in that pack. Sinestro is also very welcome, as is any character who brings us closer to the infamous Legion of Doom. Salaak is... odd, but then he's kind of odd in the comics, too. I'd have done the head a little differently myself, he looks more like Sauron the Ptalking Pterodactyl than the Lantern's Internal Affairs officer. Renee and Batwoman... kinda cool. I'll get 'em. Can't say the same for Red Son Supes and WW, though. I mean, I might still grab them, but I'm not nearly as excited for them as I'd be for, say, Flash Rogues, Alan Scott, a Jim Lee-style Riddler, or a modern Blue Beetle. Still, they might grow on me in a years time.

GOOD-GOD-A-MIGHTY!!! My favorite Avenger, Hawkeye, finally here! My most-wanted Spider-Foe, Mysterio, finally here! Plus three other additional villains! And so many other crucial characters coming along with them, to boot. If only the licensing issues with minis over 2 inches could be resolved, but that's a tale for another time. All I need now is a few more characters here and there... a classic Black Panther... Pyro... a blue-mask costume Shadowcat... Wolfsbane (not much chance, I know, but still)... some more random villains... and most importantly, a Gambit to finally go along with my Rogue. Then I'll be nearly all set, and can be reasonably content with the Marvel portion of my collection. I'm very excited for these next two waves.

Well, all this time later, seven waves either out or known, and only three from my list made it in. Not bad at all, really. My replacement picks are... Raven Blue Beetle (Jaime) Scarecrow

Wow. Any time a new Marvel villain comes down the pike, even if it's essentially a repaint, it's cause for celebration. Taskmaster is a wonderful choice, and I don't mind getting US Agent, either. Great pack.

By this point, I've given up on any remotely accurate guesses. Still... Alan Scott GL/Solomon Grundy Blue Beetle (Jaime)/The Question Mr Miracle/Big Barda Riddler (Jim Lee version)/Oracle Or... Black Canary/Count Vertigo Raven/Dr. Light Modern Dr Mid-Nite/Modern Mr Terrific Trickster/Captain Cold Or... for the 52 fans... Supernova/Buisness Suit Lex Luthor The Question/Renee Montoya Adam Strange/Animal Man Black Adam/Isis I could go on for hours, almost literally.

Being one who missed out on ALL of C3, I am so relieved to get Flash and Nightwing. Flash, though... I'm not fond of that face very much. Maybe I'll like it better in person, but I dunno. Nightwing, however, looks just how I want him to look. He'll fit in perfectly with the other Bat Family minis in my collection. The real story here, though, has to be Clayface and Grodd. Wow. Just... wow. And I thought Brainiac 13 and Ares broke the mold of what Minimates could look like. These two are absolutely amazing pieces. If only we could get a Juggernaut from Marvel in that kind of style.

Count me in amongst those disappointed we aren't getting traditional versions of these guys first, especially in the case of Black Panther! Ah, well, all in time I suppose. ... but if we get a Zombie Hawkeye before a classic one... of course you know, that would mean WAR!!!

Man, an all-villain wave would make my day more than the Avengers wave will. Here's my list: Pyro/Avalanche Mysterio/Purple Man Baron Zemo/Titania Varient: Zemo as Citizen V

Scarlet Witch, hands down. Thor's cool and all, but Wanda's my all-time favorite Avenger. 2nd place would be that massive new Sandman from the movie waves.

DCD's not about to answer any group's questions on even a quasi-regular basis, and I have a sneaking suspicion it's because they know what they'll get if they do. Namely, dozens upon dozens of people asking "why can't you keep your scales straight?!!"

The four I bought... Battle Damaged Superman: For a repaint mate, this is fairly nice. I'd have preferred the Yellow and Red "S", like most others would, but this'll do for the moment for sure, since the standard Superman is my display version anyway. The painted-on tears, except one on the lower left arm, are well done, and the expression says a lot. I give it an 8. Brainiac 13: The biggest knock on Brainiac in general is that there is no definitive version of Brainiac, like there is for, say, Ultron. Each version is a seperate entity, and though some motiffs last from incarnation to incarnation (green skin, or the three circles symbol on the forehead), no one Brainiac has lasted that long since the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline. That's why you can have effectively Superman's second most important enemy (when all Brainiacs are taken as a whole) and he can be called "forgetable" in this very thread. That having been said, the armor is exceptional, the tenticles were very well done, and the 2.5" size goes well to re-enforce the theme the pack has going with BD Supes. Another 8 for me. Booster Gold: Oh, now we're getting somewhere. The implementation of Skeets is ingenius. The colors are great, I prefer these to the metallic gold and black we've seen elsewhere because the bright colors really scream "Look at me! I'm someone you need to notice!" which is the heart of Booster's character for much of his history. The collars DCD's using still need some work, though. This one gets a 9. Blue Beetle: Best for last, I say. This Minimate is a dream come true for someone who loves the Blue Beetle legacy an awful lot. Ted Kord is done justice. I had to adjust the placement of the mask a little to get the eyes to properly match up with the goggles, but that's no big deal to me. His weapon's a nearly perfect rip from the books, though the holster's a little on the bulky side. I don't mind the face issues so much, since once I do get my Batman, he's not going to be taking off the mask very often. This one is a 10 out of 10, though I do have to say part of that is coming from my love of the character. Now bring on Jaime, DC! That's all of the wave I managed to get my hands on. My store only ordered one case, and it was gone in less than 2 hours. I asked them about re-ordering, and we'll see what happens there since they don't normally re-order Minimates. I need a Power Girl to match up against my Rogue!!

After Ma Hunkle in Wave 5, and now Sgt Rock/Blackhawk in Wave 6, I feel pretty secure in saying all freakin' bets are OFF! DCD must be taking huge delight in dropping these wild character choices on an unsuspecting Minimate buying populace. Either they have a dartboard with the likes of Dr. Cyclops, Black Mass and Alpha Centurian on it, or they believe they're going to be making these for years and years, so they want to stretch this out as long as they can. That said, here's the latest permutation of my dream list. Alan Scott/Solomon Grundy Raven/Dr. Light The Flash (Wally)/Mirror Master II Captain Cold/Trickster I Since a 2 villains pack beyond the obviously marketable Joker/Harley pack from Wave 1 is probably a no-go, a Question/Blue Beetle (Jaime) pack is my honorable mention.

I had the foresight to have my LCS reserve a Blue Beetle/Booster Gold 2-pack, and I'd then settle for whatever was left, which turned out to be the very last Superman/Brainiac pack. And this was only 2 hours after the store opened! I did inquire about them ordering more of both waves we've had to date (I only managed to get Hal/SS and Supes/Lex for cost reasons), so hopefully they'll come through. Anyhow, I'll have a nice review sometime Friday of the two packs I did get. For now, though... all I can do is keep admiring Ted Kord standing shoulder to shoulder with Clark Kent and Hal Jordan, against Marvel heavyweights Spider-Man, Sentry and Iron Man. It's a glorious thing, my friends. Simply glorious.

Holy freakin' Hannah!! Transformation Venom has to be one of the dang coolest things I've ever seen in Minimate form! I may just have to track that one down... oy, varient chasing is something I don't really like... but I was going to have to make an exception already just because of Mary Jane. Now I'm getting ready to break the proverbial bank!