comedian

Seriously? A week after they announced Storm, Black Panther, Moon Knight, Bullseye and Moonstone? Two days after they announced Scorpion and Electro? DST is incapable of giving us characters we've been whining for for years? Really? Quit your bitching, dude. Slagging on DST for making smart business decisions is getting a little tiresome. When the TRU heroes and villians wave came out, you know which ones sold out first at every store I visited? Spidey and Gobby. I know, it's sad that every wave can't be entirely comprised of winners like Unus the Untouchable and Nebulon. I know Spidey variants don't give us wood like they used to, but dollars to donuts, they still sell the line at mass market, and that's not DST's fault. Don't buy them if you don't like them, but it's a little self-obsessed to think that every Spidey mate that comes out is a personal slight against you. Wow. "Dude". Forget to douche today? Having that not so fresh feeling? DST's track record isn't perfect. Spidey sells, and I have no problem if at mass market they want to push the big characters. For instance, your point on the TRU wave FAILS to mention that they made the smart decision to put the two new figures in a pack by itself. Wondy and Union Jack are selling just fine too, your supposed anecdotal evidence not withstanding. At mass market the wave you use as an example does just fine and I am not complaining about it. However it's irrelevant to the point I made, and to these waves in particular. Wave 24 provides a better parallel. A new Spidey classic and black at least included masks to somewhat make up for the fact that we were buying them *yet* again. Throw Venom in there again too. Here we have a wave so far of half Spidey villians and half lame variants. It's far worse than wave 24. Or let's look at the Secret Wars fan vote. Great idea, but in it we get another lame Spidey variant. Folks would rather have a half symbiont half regular costume Spidey over any new character? OK. Seems pretty lame to me though, some what, 6 or 7 years into the line. These examples aren't mass market so spare me the your diatribe about that. They're specialty store. Thus, DST would do a better job marketing to that, ergo, the over 25 men who buy comic books. There is no reason to have one solid wave a year sold at comic stores that is entirely Spidey. If you want to do that at TRU, or Target, or wherever, different story. But these waves won't ship there. Kids are generally not walking into your LCS to buy these, unlike what may occur if they are stocked at TRU/Walmart/wherever. Have I beat the "Your Example Does Not Apply" horse to death yet? Now, AFX is delivering popular characters (and has) that people want, that aren't constant Spidey retreads. In that sense they are succeeding at the specialty market, in concert with, but ahead of DST. Thus, the Black Panther noted, my point is that more often than DST AFX delivers characters either on my list directly or new, never released characters that I'm interested in buying. You can disagree with that of course. Now, if DST included a two pack of Fizzle Sticks Spidey and Electro, as an example, along with 2 other two packs of other non spidey requested characters (or Spidey villains but say, no Spidey) that would have been fine by me. Having the tent pole characters always in the rotations is smart no matter where these are sold, but doing so in a smarter, smaller ratio fashion meets that need and allows for a better variety- and then everyone wins. Again, there is no need for an all Spidey, with lame variant, wave, save to cater to the likes of DST Matt or whomever it is that loves Spidey (I can't recall which one of em it is). *PARAGRAPH REMOVED BY MOD: IT WAS NOTHING BUT PERSONAL INSULTS AGAINST ANOTHER MEMBER*

Lame, lame lame wave. Nice to get some villains. Great for Spidey fanatics I suppose. Lame wave for anyone who likes variety. Good thing there is AFX to get us characters we want, since DST isn't capable of doing it on their own.

10. Electro 9. Immortus 8. Dazzler 7. Longshot 6. Captain Marvel/Photon 5. Wrecker 4. Kang 3. Sunfire 2. Black Panther 1. Banshee

I'd love to know what they planned. It would be interesting to see how close they might have come to completing one team or another, since initially the stated (IIRC) that was kind of an intent or possibility with Mates. Or maybe it was more that any character was possible. Anyway, I'd be curious. Sure it'd suck to know I never will get those mates, but at the same time nice to at least have one more very minor taste of a line that died way too early.

I think DCD isn't lying when they say that these just didn't make them enough money for them to warrant a continuation. Enough is the subjective part. They turned a profit. Just not as much as they can producing other lines. And for whatever reason, the folks running the show have always been a little scatter brained about what they were trying to do strategically. Kingdom Come, Superfriends, etc. There seems to be little if any long term thought on the lines survival since the big two became available for them to produce. The strategy near as I can tell is to get the big guns in as many formats as possible, surrounded by a few peripheral figures, wash, rinse, repeat. I guess that all means they just aren't interested in even pursuing a different format like boxsets. The intention was never to complete the JSA or JLA or Titans (since it never has been with any other line of 6, er 7 inch figures), so it's pretty easy for them to walk away and move on to the next line they won't finish, based upon the next big book. How many folks feel confident they;ll see more than 4 waves of the History of the DC Universe/Perez based series? Anyone feel like they'll get all the figures they want from that line? In terms of Mattel, they and DST could do it, but I imagine there is no interest based upon the clunkers they showed at Toy Fair/NYCC. Too bad really, because done right, these can succeed. I think they're poorly marketed. Even the Marvel line had a thin period, back during the X3 mates series and just prior, before the Avengers wave, and 4 packs and other re-inventions of the line. Prior to those, they got pretty stagnant, and at least around the Denver area, I was being told they were not selling so well. Now? They're pretty successful near as I can tell. Or more than they were at a minimum. Character selection and marketing make a huge difference, and I would have to believe between DST and Mattel they could figure out a way to make it happen on a larger scale with DC (Vehicles maybe? and not block based vehicles either). Too bad I doubt there is little interest with either party...

I am all for more comic accurate Mates. This set so far is awesome. Ghost Rider is not a big one on my list but it's still nice to get the 70's version of the character. I'm hoping the remaining two are Black Widow and Herc, for nothing more than it adds to the ranks of Avengers we have.

I'd be very happy with either a Champions or classic X-Men box set. I don't think we'd loose either way. The Champions, assuming it includes Herc and BW though might be nice since it would mean two more Avengers as well... A stretch guess would be a second Defenders box set, Angel, Gargoyle, Moondragon and Beast/Iceman??? Angel, Hellcat, Moondragon, Nighthawk? Nah. Champions or X-Men sound more likely.

There better be. DST better not go pulling a Brewer and canceling these before finishing the team.

These look frickin fantastic! I have virtually no criticisms. Can't think of anything.

These are hilarious...and not in the way the manufacturer intended. Hope the people who enjoy Bearbricks enjoy them, however.

Another one bites the dust it seems. The new list: 10. Hercules 9. Immortus 8. Dazzler 7. Longshot 6. Captain Marvel/Photon 5. Wrecker 4. Kang 3. Sunfire 2. Black Panther 1. Banshee

These are great! Granted, some repeats in there, but some very requested first timers as well. That's excellent news. I like the mix, and am excited for Gambit and Psylocke as well as the Iron Man and Cap stuff. Deadpool is going to make a lot of folks happy, and I guess another Wolverine is OK. A comic Sabertooth is cool by me. Not much for me to complain about here. I'd still like more Avengers (Black Panther, Herc) but it seems we're getting some nice mixes with each wave.

Ghostbusters would be great. I'd be down for Lethal Weapon too. How about Caddyshack, if for nothing more than a Carl Spackler mate?

I'm by no means the biggest fan of ST mates, but wave 4 rocked. I love that they are mixing eras so we don't have to wait to get a taste of each version of Trek. My picks would be TOS Romulan commander/ TOS Andorian STII Spock/ STII Bones TNG Worf/ TNG Data Variant TNG Worf/ Lore

Too many repeat characters.

Well, one more off the list (Wasp), so 10. Psylocke 9. Immortus 8. Dazzler 7. Longshot 6. Captain Marvel/Photon 5. Wrecker 4. Kang 3. Sunfire 2. Black Panther 1. Banshee

I can't get too excited until DCD actually solicits or confirms a release. I just don't trust Brewer and Co. But good news that they might not be dead after all.

DC Minimates did sell. They did not sit and no retailers are not stuck with them. Look how many retailers have wave 1 or 2 in stock. You can find them, but not at many shops. They aren't abundant. DCD/Georg Brewer admitted these are selling, though not to the level DCD would like. That's the real key. What DCD expects saleswise in order to get behind a line is vague at best, but this situation makes me wonder if they were ever really behind minimates. DCD has a history of starting and stopping lines with little notice or fanfare, and definitely little input from the collector community they are supposed to be catering to. As has been noted to death, they rarely if ever finish lines, so most of us should not be surprised by them not finishing a single team in minimate form. I can't tell you what they are thinking, but I think this is a mistake. A line of Super Hero Squad DC figures sounds to me like a failure waiting to happen. Of course, I happen to not like SHS at all, but for those who do, you have to be asking yourself at this point "Will I be getting a complete JLA, JSA, Titans etc, or will this be another series DCD doesn't finish?". Or will you get the usual suspects before DCD moves on to a different style of figures because some other company is having success with them. Minimates were not a failure on any level. They were not released at too quick a pace. Essentially they were on a quarterly schedule which with four two-packs a wave equals 32 figures a year. At $8 a pack avergae, that's $128 a year. I can afford that. They also, regardless of the massive debate on this, were not hampered due to character selection. Compared to many other lines, in 8 waves they got about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way to completing a bunch of teams (satellite JLA, modern JSA, JLI, Teen Titans, core Green Lanterns, Bat Family, not to mention the villains). Compare that to say Marvel Legends at wave 8 (granted less figures per wave) and they only had a decent selection of Avengers. By the final Toy Biz wave (wave 15, so almost double the number of waves) they were equal to the minimates. DC Mates may not have gotten everyones favorites in, but the character selection was not a detriment in terms of sales (or collector dedication to the line). At least in the Denver area, they sold well. Most shops here do not have past waves earlier than say wave 7. The amount ordered for each series was sold and usually sold almost immediately upon arrival. The one store I used to frequent said that until DC mates were announced, they only ordered mates on demand, but were going to order DC mates for the store to stock as they knew they would sell. The retailer response has been pretty positive around these. The bottom line is that DCD made a conscious choice to go in a different direction, based solely upon opinion and not any fact that has come to light. That's their right as a company, but I hope it backfires. I personally won't be buying any more DC product, but doubt that DCD cares how many of us stop buying. They don't seem to care about the fans at all frankly.

I don't see a TMNT custom, I see, with a sculpted head piece, SWAMP THING! Not a great set by any stretch. Just kind of blah, but then I'm not a fan of and have not bought ANY of the movie mates. I like the comic book mates. But on the bright side these *could* be worse.

I guess It's been awhile since I updated. New Top 10: 10. Immortus 9. Dazzler 8. Longshot 7. Captain Marvel/Photon 6. Wrecker 5. Kang 4. Sunfire 3. Black Panther 2. Banshee 1.Wasp Yay! One more off the list 10. Tigra 9. Immortus 8. Dazzler 7. Longshot 6. Captain Marvel/Photon 5. Wrecker 4. Kang 3. Sunfire 2. Black Panther 1. Banshee

Call it.....

Strangely enough, haven't they always done this? Take Kingdom Come for example. Sales, if I recall, were not as strong as they hoped, and people had to beg for the last few waves. Maybe I am not remembering it accurately. As MisterPL mentioned in the thread on the DC Direct boards, don't they already have a venue, you know, their own friggin website and forum with which to interact and announce things? Perhaps Georg is a technophobe, or the DCD offices have been playing an elaborate prank on him, insisting they don't have a website? Take Hasbro for instance. With the Star Wars brand, they do what, 3 questions each month (or is it week) with like a dozen web sites. Now, maybe DCD does not have the PR arm that Hasbro does. But considering they have their own DCD site it seems laughable that they claim to be perplexed by finding a method and venue for communicating to their fans in such a way as to keep them informed. With even a part time web guy, periodic (monthly) updates would be fairly simple. This all strikes me as more proof the line is dead, and that frankly, the power players have/had no intention of EVER even re-considering. But hey, good luck with the 6.75" inch, all in scale line. You've done a knock down bang up job of scale before and I am SURE this line won't suffer from ANY of those problems.

I guess It's been awhile since I updated. New Top 10: 10. Immortus 9. Dazzler 8. Longshot 7. Captain Marvel/Photon 6. Wrecker 5. Kang 4. Sunfire 3. Black Panther 2. Banshee 1.Wasp

I could live without the chase figures as in general they haven't been versions that I have been interested in. The three that come to mind are the Secret Wars era Spider-Woman, the variant Archangel and Vision 2.0. I like these. But overall I usually don't care to go after them. Once I started pre-ordering either through my LCS or via the web, it has become a lot easier to get my hands on a variant though, which is nice. I'd prefer a brand new character than a variant, as others have mentioned, but it seems that won't happen since every DST line (Battlestar, Trek, Marvel) does variants. I will say in defense of the Marvel line, I like their variants on the whole much more than those other two.

I suppose I'd have to see em first. I could be won over if I knew that the line was going to last awhile and cover a great multitude of characters. Price point might mean something (IE too high and I wouldn't be interested I guess). But in all honesty I'm not sure that I could get enough assurances that the above could be satisfied, and so I probablywould pass on them, unless they looked really, really good. All things being equal, I'd prefer they just stick with the Mates, if possible.