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The Unofficial "I don't like the current direction of the Marvel Minimates line" Thread


fwoosheyman

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I'm just gona say 1 thing. Thunderstrike Bearded Thor. Agree with me or not, the fact that we're back to re-releasing variants now means we are so far off the beaten path I don't see a way back. It should never have come to this.

Psst. I fixed that for you ;)

Also, Gillbob is totally right on. Great post, sir!

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I 100% see your point. In older waves, the variant has seemed like a much more special thing, and I can totally see how it rubs people the wrong way to re-release that specific character variation. Add to that the fact that a variant slot is now going to a previously released iteration, and it's kind of like adding insult to injury. On the other hand, the newer bearded Thor looks better and fits in with more modern Minimate designs. Plus this isn't the first time a variant character has been redone. Spiderwoman and black suit Spiderman come to mind. And stealth Iron Man seems to get some redesign love too. At least bearded Thor is still the variant. There are two sides to the coin. Taking the middle road, I think if a variant must be revisited, keeping it as the variant is the way to do it.

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I may not be happy about it 100% of the time, but DST has my business until the Marvel line ends. If something should ever happen to the Marvel line, my other non-Marvel Minimate purchases may stop completely.

Honestly, I never thought Minimates would be around this long, and now the Marvel line is within sight of Wave 50! Wave 50 better be grand! It needs to be a 100% fan-driven wave with something done to commemorate this milestone. Make it happen, DST!

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We need a squirrel girl minimate already dammit. :verymad:

Been saying this for years, wee need the entire GLA.

Oh course, I have maybe 8 Minimates I haven't taken apart for customs, so as long as I get fodder I'm pretty happy with the current direction of Marvel Minimates.

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I may not be happy about it 100% of the time, but DST has my business until the Marvel line ends. If something should ever happen to the Marvel line, my other non-Marvel Minimate purchases may stop completely.

Honestly, I never thought Minimates would be around this long, and now the Marvel line is within sight of Wave 50! Wave 50 better be grand! It needs to be a 100% fan-driven wave with something done to commemorate this milestone. Make it happen, DST!

I'm the same way with minimates. If Marvel goes, that's it for me. I'd stick around to get whatever Universal Monsters are done, but the Ghostbusters and BTTF stuff could stop right now and I'd still have a couple of wants, but be okay with not getting 'em.

A 100% fan-driven Wave 50 sounds like the ticket! In fact, I'm gonna go ask DST right now about it! :)

Edited by Mystery Man
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I'm just gona say 1 thing. Thunderstrike. Agree with me or not, the fact that we're back to re-releasing variants now means we are so far off the beaten path I don't see a way back. It should never have come to this.

Off the beaten path? Are you suggesting that DST should never have made another Spider-Man in his black costume? Or that Stealth Iron Man, a Doom with a face instead of a mask, yellow Daredevil, etc, should be off the table? Given all the changes that have been made to minimates in the past few years, both design and distribution, I don't see why anyone would expect DST to be handcuffed by a policy from the very beginning of the line. If they think updating characters that were formerly variants can help the line, I'm 100% behind them.

Edited by stack32
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I'm 99.9% behind them rereleasing these charactersthat were once variants. As long as they are not the same exact figure with the same exact parts, and paint, etc... which I don't think has ever been the case. i apologize if I am wrong.

I believe that you are right in saying that DST have never re-released a Minimate that is identical to a previously released Minimate variant ,I also agree that I'm not too worried if they do as long as it is subtly different.

As an avid kubrick collector the recent re-release of totally identical, previously cherished/expensive chases I've been left with a bad taste in my mouth & I've subsequently backed off of buying ALL new kubrick releases. It should be noted that it is Diamond that is re-releasing these kubrick figures in the US & whether that is relevant is debatable but it is significant.

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I 100% see your point. In older waves, the variant has seemed like a much more special thing, and I can totally see how it rubs people the wrong way to re-release that specific character variation. Add to that the fact that a variant slot is now going to a previously released iteration, and it's kind of like adding insult to injury. On the other hand, the newer bearded Thor looks better and fits in with more modern Minimate designs. Plus this isn't the first time a variant character has been redone. Spiderwoman and black suit Spiderman come to mind. And stealth Iron Man seems to get some redesign love too. At least bearded Thor is still the variant. There are two sides to the coin. Taking the middle road, I think if a variant must be revisited, keeping it as the variant is the way to do it.

I'm just gona say 1 thing. Thunderstrike. Agree with me or not, the fact that we're back to re-releasing variants now means we are so far off the beaten path I don't see a way back. It should never have come to this.

Off the beaten path? Are you suggesting that DST should never have made another Spider-Man in his black costume? Or that Stealth Iron Man, a Doom with a face instead of a mask, yellow Daredevil, etc, should be off the table? Given all the changes that have been made to minimates in the past few years, both design and distribution, I don't see why anyone would expect DST to be handcuffed by a policy from the very beginning of the line. If they think updating characters that were formerly variants can help the line, I'm 100% behind them.

I'm 99.9% behind them rereleasing these charactersthat were once variants. As long as they are not the same exact figure with the same exact parts, and paint, etc... which I don't think has ever been the case. i apologize if I am wrong.

I agree with all three comments. Heck, I've never been a big fan of variants to begin with, especally when it was something like "Unmasked Doom" or "Visor-less Cyclops". At least now a days they're using the army builder as an "appology" (and an awesome "appology" at that) for forcing us to buy a dupe, and the vast majority have been different to the original version (i.e. AoA Mr Sinister vs 616 Mr Sinister).

Not everyone was around back when minimates started and if you want a Black suited Spidey you need to pay through the nose to get the Wave 2 version. And in all honesty, it's bland now a days. I appreciate some people like the charm of that but I much prefer the more detailed Back in Black Spidey, and the fact he has a slip on mask, one thing I'm dissapointed to see go away, made him even better. I also like the bulked up Thing/Hulk/Juggs etc. as while it may go away from the bare and basic minimates, I think it represents the character better. As long as they're the same height or there abouts or need to be bigger to properly represent the character (i.e. Bogieman) I'm happy. And as for re-releases I feel some minimates were poorly handled. I'm a HUGE Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man 2099 fan and while it's great I have minimates of them in my collection, both could have been handled with better. So I'm happy to see them get re-released as an "appology" for screwing them up the first time.

Personally I want to see more cosmic (especally after seeing Shamrock's AWESOME Ravagers custom (go read "The Thanos Imperative") and mystical characters (make an Incredible Hercules wave damnit!), both of which were some of my favourite comics. Frankly I think we're more likely to see Kang than a Herc/Cho two pack, and while I'd much rather see more minimates of one of my favourite heroes than a villian I personally couldn't care less for, all in all I am content.

Edited by pawcanada
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My biggest 'want' is to see more Villains and more Female characters.

I understand that as a toy-line that gets marketed heavily towards boys, girl-characters don't sell as well and therefore get side-lined a bit. and i don't hold too much of a grudge against AA/DST for playing to what will sell the best.

It's just a shame when characters like Songbird get passed over again and again in favor of another Spidey or IronMan variant.

But all in all, i have seen a LOT of the characters i wanted made. Including a damn fine selection from a certain alternate world that only ran for 4 issues back in the 90's.

I have faith that if the line keeps going strong, we'll eventually see Tigra, Songbird, the Brotherhood, Deathbird, etc

.

.

.

(and yes, maybe even Kang & the Wrecking Crew) etc

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What has started to frustrate me with the Marvel line is the overlap between LCS and TRU. It is even more of an issue now, with only 4 different 2-packs at TRU and the line-ups for the next few waves of mates.

When there were 5 different 2-packs, we got 6 "new" characters or pairings (in 3 different packs) and 50% of the TRU wave was repacks from the LCS.

Now we are getting 80% LCS repacks and only 4 "new" characters. We no longer are getting the different pairings.

With the army builder now being in the LCS waves, the packs that go to both LCSs and TRUs are peg-warming at both locations! This is a problem.

It would be better, in my opinion, if the Marvel waves were run a little more like the Real Ghostbuster line:

LCS gets:

Character/Army Builder (no RGB counterpart)

Variant/Army Builder (no RGB counterpart)

2-pack A (1/2 of RGB 4-pack)

2-pack B (other 1/2 of RGB 4-pack)

TRU gets

Exclusive 2-pack C (like ghosts)

Exclusive 2-pack D (see above)

2-pack A from LCS (see Egon and Ray)

Variant of 2-pack B from LCS (Janine and Slimer)

This way, by making one (or both DST!) of the shared packs different, even slightly, there is incentive to pick up the third set from TRU. We have kind of been getting this with the last few waves and the Wolverine variants (and better yet a new character), but I can see the new line-up being an issue.

To give an example of what would have been better:

TRU 11:

Grey Hulk with Gold FA Iron man

TRU 11:

Commander Rogers with a Modern (or Red Skull inhabited) Zola

Otherwise I am okay with character selections, but would like to see, it seems, an extra 2-pack to round out each wave. ;)

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See, that's the thing. I don't LIKE the new figures. I don't like all the detail, accessories or designs. We have 2 Bishops. I like the first one. He's cute, not "ARG! Bishop Smash!"

I just feel that the closer we get to 50 waves, it's like a freight train, and we're picking up speed. But at this speed, if the wheels come off, we won't be able to stop for a mile and a half.

I wish the newer characters matched the old ones, not re-release the old ones to match the new ones.

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See, that's the thing. I don't LIKE the new figures. I don't like all the detail, accessories or designs. We have 2 Bishops. I like the first one. He's cute, not "ARG! Bishop Smash!"

I don't see how a belt, and some sleeve additions make him as big as the Hulk. And you can even take off the sleeve parts if you don't like them.

If you don't like the new figures, then why do you buy them? Make your collection one that ends at a certain year then or just have the first 100.

I buy a lot of different figures from a lot of different companies, and they all change from when they first came out to how they look now. Transformers, GI Joe, Star Wars, Marvel Legends, none of them look the same from beginning to end. I'd much rather a bunch of figures that change through the years so they keep making them than a small group of figures that aren't made anymore because they didn't update old characters.

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See, that's the thing. I don't LIKE the new figures. I don't like all the detail, accessories or designs. We have 2 Bishops. I like the first one. He's cute, not "ARG! Bishop Smash!"

I just feel that the closer we get to 50 waves, it's like a freight train, and we're picking up speed. But at this speed, if the wheels come off, we won't be able to stop for a mile and a half.

I wish the newer characters matched the old ones, not re-release the old ones to match the new ones.

I can definitely understand the frustration. I certainly can't display the new and old minimates together, or at least very few of them. With figures like Juggernaut and the new Hulk I think we're on Minimates 2.0, which I personally am a big fan of. But if you loved the original style then it's no fun and you're probably out of luck, I don't think it's very likely DST is going to return to it.

Edited by stack32
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When you guys are my age & Minimates are an underground ,passe, neuvo-geek ,classic toy ......just remember that I predicted that the first three waves of Minimates will be the most collectable .

Better start buying all of those cheap sets off Ebay then!

I'm actually enjoying the new 2.0 Minimate style. The Hulkbuster is just pure awesomeness, and I never cared for the classic Rhino or Thing, Hulk, etc because they look so anemic compared to Spidey, Reed Richards, etc.

My only complaints about the direction of minimates are:

1) The reluctance to make Kang, and other characters who are now prominantly used in Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes - This should be a golden opportunity to get more characters out that kids now have a familiarity with. I've seen kids in TRU buying minimates with their parents many times, which is a great thing to keep the lines going. But even the 3 3/4inch Marvel Universe line is making a lot of characters that also appear on A:EMH and it's sad to see DST not following suit and capitalizing on the synergy.

2) The over-abundance of Video Game lines. I prefer seeing movie properties, and it seems like those have been put on the back-burner for NEW (to DST) properties. Hopefully when BTTF and Ghostbusters are "done", they will use their licensing budget to focus on other older lines with good multi-wave potential (Aliens, etc). That being said, I will gladly tolerate MvC since we'll be getting Dormammu AND MODOK out of it!

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I have enjoyed the evolution of Marvel Minimates & I learned to live with the 2" limitation that produced the anemic Thing & Hulk which you mention. As we get characters that appear to have overcome this limitation I obviously embrace them .......especially the anemic Sentinels from Wave 33 .

Regards the cheap sets on ebay I would have to agree that Wave 3 struggles but finding a Kingpin,Carnage & Symbiote set is a tad harder to find whilst the recently released 'replacement' (W38) DD/Elektra set can be bought for less than $5 .

Edited by buttheadsmate
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