thereasonsy

26 minutes ago, Smashmaster12 said:

Thank you!! I don’t talk a lot here but I certainly am passionate about stuff. 

Life and depression got in the way. Honestly I’ve been thinking about going back to it the past couple of months. Maybe I will, even if it’s not all Minimate stuff. Thanks 🙂

We can tell and thank you for the chart and your thoughts! Sorry that depression and life got in the way and I also look forward to the return of the channel.

As a long time collector, I’m annoyed but agree from the brand health perspective, we haven’t had a Spider-Man Wave since 2020 and this should do well for newer fans especially with the movie streaming etc. I just don’t see a need to buy multiples of this set which I typically do. 
 

They are pretty. I just don’t see this set as something for me. I wish we were getting Marvel mates every quarter.

11 hours ago, BuffaloDelorean said:

The GI Joe Super 7 retro figures make even less sense to me than the ones they do for modern properties, they're simpler than the actual vintage figures at the same scale.

The Super 7 figures confuse me to no end. I get the nostalgic aspect but I can’t imagine how they keep selling out. I also get insanely jealous at how deep the toyline has gone with the Joes and the army builder fun of it all. Maybe one day.

21 minutes ago, Gmonkey2k said:

Idk, Miguel looks pretty nice, especially with the arm-thorns.

Does he look 40 bucks nice?

I may order a set out of loyalty to Luke but candidly this wave screams skip. So many of these are repeats that I just don’t need or want but I’m happy for those that are happy. 

On 9/29/2023 at 9:04 AM, Padrino said:

but they could make Swift money if they made a Swift minimate. It's a paradox

There’s no reality where they can make Swift money….

5 hours ago, Padrino said:

Look, as long as we get a minimate of this character (https://www.mysmartprice.com/gear/rebel-moon-ott-release-date-netflix-to-release-december-22/), I'm all good

I guess my Sny filters are working because I’ve never heard of this. 

16 hours ago, WookieFodder said:

Dark Tower is actually a really cool story combining all King's books into the same universe.

If we're going to go mainstream, how about a Taylor Swift Minimate?

DST doesn’t have Swift money.

12 hours ago, nandoninny said:

Advertising in it was kinda where I was going.  

Or mail away offers in the book.  Something.  If I had to buy 4 issues to get a mailaway army builder i’d buy at least 20 issues.  Something like that.   Probably obvious i’m not a marketing guy and typically buzzed when I’m on the boards at this hour   

Have kirkman mention the toys in the letters column.  

Hi marketing guy that is also usually buzzed  when on here. Without reopening the door that leads to fights and blocks, I am not opposed to print media on principle but I would actually do a buy around digital that hyper focuses on fans of the property themselves. You are never going to convince me Wave 1 and 2 with that packaging and that price were going to be a kids toy and you sadly do need kids to buy toys.
 

Again not knowing the full map or budget because I’m not paid to I would think this is a collectors piece for fans of the show— not the movies. That on principle would mean a hyper targeted buy be aimed at men aged 40+ with an interest group of the 80s. 

Look, I’m for anything that makes this happen. I’d even do a proof of purchase old school mail in thing if I had to for an exclusive. 

I think the inventory issue of having to make 3k is the obstacle so it would have to be more than just the 20 of us committing to buying 4 each. That only gets 160 units sold. We would need at least 750 people committed to buying 4 packs at $38.99 for a total of $156 (rounding) plus tax and shipping. Could we do it? Probably. Especially if Luke’s was the only store that had them.
 

But it’s a huge ask and a huge lift for $117k gross. The Net is harder to calculate without knowing the licensing fees, etc. so the profit margin could potentially be slim.
 

We, as a community, really dropped the ball with the Deadly Foes set that took years to clear out so I’m not sure there is much room for begging without having the cash in hand. This is further exasperated because we can’t raise money without knowing what we are even talking about (I.e. the Hasbro terms that may actually prevent this or even character selection). Like if we had 4/5 different troopers per pack that bumps my order from 4 to 8.  But, what if we are restricted to only one trooper? That makes me only need 2 packs to get to my army builder Mecca of 7. These are things that we don’t know that DST can’t just publicly share. 

Moral of the story, we shall keep trying and crying. 
 

Good talk. 

At this point I’m ready to crowd fund and beg and plead to get Luke to just do the transaction so we can get an army builder pack lol. 

6 minutes ago, cylonchaney said:

Right around that time, every comic shop in town carried Minimates. It was often the case that one could buy the TRU line and get an exclusive plus all of the characters from the Comic Shop wave, disincentivizing Comic Shop sales . Very shortly after that, no comic stores in town carried Minimates anymore. I can only order online now. Thank goodness for Luke.

I’m sure someone will argue some counterpoint to this, but I had the exact same experience as Cylon in two different states. I’m nyc based and the stores here stopped when TRU took off. When I went back to visit friends in FL I hit up my old stomping grounds and they said the same thing. 

2 hours ago, Trekker 42 said:

Paint the Movie Mandarin perhaps? 
http://minimatedatabase.com/figure.php?i=1625&n=Mandarin
Hail Ivan

Hail Ivan.

would this work? http://www.minimatedatabase.com/figure.php?i=1887&n=O-Ren+Ishii

22 hours ago, NerdyTrev said:

TL;DR ~ I want more international terrorists and less military stooges.

Post of the thread.

17 hours ago, buttheadsmate said:

Thank you , I may well go back & have another look at them  

As an adult (fairly adult most of the time) toy-collector with tunnel-vision , I rarely stray from Minimates these days. I'm staggered by the fact that Minimates generally have never taken off commercially in the way I hoped that they would .  I see licences come along (like GI Joe) & I see the enthusiasm from those that are left of us on this forum only to see hopes dashed time & time again . I can't put my finger on exactly why this is but I'm an old guy who rarely knows when he's beat but maybe even I am beginning to see very little light at the end of a very long tunnel .  

 

 

I think there’s something to the underdog appeal of the line that when you get it, you GET it. I wish I had the same excitement I had for this line as I did prior to 2020 but those sweet sweet 3.75 figures are just calling my name. I do love the vast amount of product we got this year though. D&D, Transformers, Young Avengers, Power Rangers, AEW, GiJoe and TMNT has been stellar and everyone involved should feel proud of the work. It just hits different now. 

12 hours ago, nandoninny said:

for me the appeal of the Joe line is all about the potential.

the ones that have come out so far have been fine by me and i wouldn't change a thing (other than maybe give snake eyes his uzi).  but there were so many characters in the ARAH cartoon and toy line that will look so good as minimates.  plus similar to minimates, joes were easy to take apart and put back together in a mix and match fashion.  i used to customize so many of them.  but i was born in the late 70's and these were the first action figures i remember having.  i collected them for only about 7 years but in that time i had a ton of them and it was pretty much all of elementary school for me.  i think i quit joes when toy biz started putting out marvel figures which prior to toy biz i think i had only seen them as secret wars which i only had spider man.

when the 25th anniversary line came out i bought everything and had money to army build and it only increased the love.  when the minimates got announced i sold all of those in preperation for the minimates........which i'm still kinda waiting for.

but one of the things i'm most fond of was the tiger force which was where they took old figures and repainted them as a special unit.  simple idea these days but back then it was new to me.  then they did night force, python patrol, slaughter's marauders, and i'm sure i'm forgetting others. 

anyways, the appeal is a mix of nostalagia and potential.  the appeal of minimates combined with the appeal of my favorite toy line as a kid and to be able to collect a big line again and have easy access army builders sounded like a lot of fun and i hope we can still get at least some of that.  all of us excited all have our wish list based on our favorite characters and it probably covers a wide range of the line and not everyone was going to get thier favorite but they'd likely get at least one or two off thier bucket list (firefly for me).

 

Nandon you are singing my song! I also grew up in the 80s but on military bases so Joes have always held a special part of the chamber where my heart is supposed to be. I even store my Joe minimates in an old Joe footlocker.  I appreciate a deviation in strategy of having all heroes and all villains sets but I think you need the mix to make it more fun. Otherwise what are you going to do? I don’t think this was a kids line as presented in minimates form (price, packaging, etc) so I can see how it was a stumbling block for some. I’m also a huge fan of Tiger Force and was hoping that would one day be an exclusive for a con but then again I don’t need a Tiger print Roadblock or Duke so close to the other ones. With such a vast inventory of characters I was hoping we’d get back to the standard packaging of boxes like Transformers or even the VHS box with a mix of Cobra and Joes. Who knows maybe one day. 

On 9/6/2023 at 6:06 PM, luke314pi said:

That was New York Toy Fair Reveals - hopefully Series 85!

Ta! 

5 hours ago, buttheadsmate said:

As difficult as it is to say but are the GI Joe Minimates that good ? I know little of GI Joe . There have been several licences over the years that I wouldn't have had a clue WTF the licence was about yet I could decide for myself whether the minimates were to my 'taste'  or not . A classic example would be Mass Effect , I still don't have a clue about the franchise but the minimates were IMHO some of the finest production minimates ever made . Another example was Plants & Zombies , off the wall or what ?  Invincibles ,superb.  I love them & bought into them & I am really pleased I did.

I'm not trying to rile you guys but I'm not sure that these Joe 'mates are that special .  I bought them like I always do but ....?

If I have riled anyone then tell me what there is to love about the Minimates themselves not your love for GI Joe.

 

 

Fair question. I think separation of nostalgia and the actual product is a valid conversation piece. IMHO, feelings aside the Cobra pack is the superior of the three and that is mainly due to the accessories and amount of sculpting that happened between Baronesses’ hair, Coco’s helmet and all of Destro. Destro looks and feels like money. Tons of good accessories that enhanced playability. The packaging concept wasn’t innovative to the industry but it was to the line. Imho better suited for the convention space. A carded toy set in a box that leaned into nostalgia isn’t that new. Look at the world’s smallest line as a cousin. The bunker concept itself leaned into nostalgia and could have dramatically eaten into profit margins as its an irregular shape and weight. Lastly, the unexpected and consistent delays, for whatever justified reason, married with the figure selection diminished my personal experience. And no, I don’t want to rehash the whole debate on delays and characters. The assignment is without nostalgia or years of Joe Knowledge, are these minimates the best. 

All said, I %<*% love these Joes. They are some of my favourite Minimates of all time because I am the sweet spot for Joe Nostalgia. I don’t know how one could separate the nostalgia aspect of it. The very reason why you loved the plants vs zombies is why I didn’t buy them. I only bought Mass Effects and Halo for Joedom. I hope we get more ARAH but in case we don’t I’m proud of what we got. 

23 minutes ago, nandoninny said:

wishful thinking, i think.

now that i think about it i remember you saying something about no exclusives until next year's sdcc but i could be making that up.

Luke’s calendar post called out NYCC Minimates Reveals? On 9/30 so was hoping he had the inside track on something. Guess not, carry on.

On 9/2/2023 at 5:01 AM, buttheadsmate said:

Me too.

I try very hard.

Same.

On 9/1/2023 at 11:32 PM, thereasonsy said:

I have not taken it to that extreme, but I do typically buy 7 of every Army Builder we get so perhaps I’m on my way! Adding to the chorus of Army Builder requests. A BAT, a Crimson Guard, a TeleViper and and anormal solider, a few different heads like the crazy 88 Boxset and wham. Maybe a battle damaged BAT head for fun. The possibilities are endless. It makes me believe there’s a contractual or other reason that we aren’t getting this since it’s a pretty obvious thing to do if you liked money.

IMHO It has to be something with the contract or the licensor because it’s too obvious and they are managing to do army builders with the TMNT. Not in a crazy 88 way but still.

As much as I want more Marvel, I’m hoping for ARAH Joes of some sort. If it’s the requested army builder set I’d lose it.

Sounds like we might be getting some exclusives! Any guesses?

5 hours ago, Navaan said:

"I have good guys; I need bad guys for them to fight!"
"I have bad guys; I need good guys for them to fight!"
"This bad guy is cool; oh, there are good guys for him to fight!"

I know of Joe fans who have collections of literally 500 of different enemy troop builders. Hell, there is a guy who gets a dozen or so of every version of the BAT, at *least*. 

Seriously, make these, market these, and they will sell.

I myself will buy 4, minimum, plus probably 2-3 more for parts.

I have not taken it to that extreme, but I do typically buy 7 of every Army Builder we get so perhaps I’m on my way! Adding to the chorus of Army Builder requests. A BAT, a Crimson Guard, a TeleViper and and anormal solider, a few different heads like the crazy 88 Boxset and wham. Maybe a battle damaged BAT head for fun. The possibilities are endless. It makes me believe there’s a contractual or other reason that we aren’t getting this since it’s a pretty obvious thing to do if you liked money.

On 8/23/2023 at 12:29 PM, blogzilly said:

sometimes I wish I hadn’t stopped on Minimates. Now I realize how there’s just no way I could ever jump back in. There’s so many. That’s a good thing for them though.

Um. It’s never too late and there are a ton of  cheap options to jump back into the arena! Luke’s loose Fridays are a great way to test the waters. Also, collect them al is a suggestion not a command. Join us!

On 8/18/2023 at 2:47 PM, cylonchaney said:

You could reach out to Ivan. He still has an account here and checks messages from time to time if you don't mind maybe waiting a bit.

I could create this model easily enough when my project queue thins out a bit. The only problem I have with uploading to Shapeways is that I'd have to order at least one myself and make sure it actually fits with Minimate parts. And if it doesn't then you gotta update and order another one. Not very convenient for me to help you out this way.

I'd prototype on my own FDM printers. If that quality is good enough for you, we can probably work something out.

But maybe try Ivan first. I've got lots of projects on the go and his is already done if you can get him to share or put on Shapeways.

Great suggestion and thank you!

On 8/14/2023 at 1:22 AM, cylonchaney said:

Ivan was successful. Look a bit down this page.

http://www.minimatelabs.com/default.php

Or is there a more recent effort you're thinking of?

Exactly what I am thinking about! Man I wish it was on shapeways 

Did that person who was printing out new hips to get Minimates to cross their legs ever succeed?