Marvel 'Best of ' wave

[itMFtis]

My understanding was that the 'Best of' waves were a perpetually produced series designed to always keep the A-List available to retailers, even when the current wave is a little light on the heavy hitters.

That's how I understand it too. And I think DST did a terrific job making wave 2 appeal to hardcore collectors even if it isn't aimed at them. Heck, we just got a Venom four-pack and there's still reason to buy the Venom from these sets. There's a good chance I'll buy all of them. But expecting Spider-Woman, army builders, etc in a potential wave 3 is setting yourself up for disappointment. Gray Hulk, Leader, Doc Ock, and black costume Spider-man? That sounds about right.

Do you think they're going to have multiple costumes of the same characters (IE Gray Hulk/Black Costume Spidey)? I don't.

Edited December 15, 2012 by itMFtis

[Nessex]

I don't think people understand the point of the "Best Of" releases.

I think i get what you're saying - but almost none of the 'Best Of' wave 2's are straight re-releases. Some of them have different paint aps. some have different accessories. Come are total mish-mashes of other figures (i'm looking at you, Loki).

My understanding was that the 'Best of' waves were a perpetually produced series designed to always keep the A-List available to retailers, even when the current wave is a little light on the heavy hitters.

[Valo487]

I agree completely Mystery Man, I don't really feel like we need a new Black Suit Spider-Man, but I've never felt like we got a definitive Doctor Octopus, and I don't think we'll get another one any other way. Plus he's one of the few big name villains I could potentially see getting made.

As for Leader I definitely think he seems a bit outdated now, and I always liked the brainy look better. Personally I'd prefer a new bulked up Abomination but I don't see DST putting two bulked up 'mates in one set. Plus Abomination seems ideal to be a variant one day, bulked up Abomination with variant A-Bomb....

[stack32]

My understanding was that the 'Best of' waves were a perpetually produced series designed to always keep the A-List available to retailers, even when the current wave is a little light on the heavy hitters.

That's how I understand it too. And I think DST did a terrific job making wave 2 appeal to hardcore collectors even if it isn't aimed at them. Heck, we just got a Venom four-pack and there's still reason to buy the Venom from these sets. There's a good chance I'll buy all of them. But expecting Spider-Woman, army builders, etc in a potential wave 3 is setting yourself up for disappointment. Gray Hulk, Leader, Doc Ock, and black costume Spider-man? That sounds about right.

Do you think they're going to have multiple costumes of the same characters (IE Gray Hulk/Black Costume Spidey)? I don't.

I think it's much more likely that they would do that than get more obscure with character selection, since that would defeat the purpose of a "Best of" wave. I suspect a third wave would look a lot more like wave one, even if those characters don't really need updates.

I'd be up for a new Ock, not so much because of the availability of the previous one but because of the overall quality of the whole Friends & Foes boxset. I'm sure a new version would be much better.

[emperorshotz]

Defining Spider-Woman as an "obscure" character while one of Marvel's top writers has been reintegrating her into the public eye for at least the past 10 years (including possibly including her in a sequel to the wildly visible and popular Avengers franchise) seems a bit out of touch. Especially while the company has been pushing to elevate the status of their female heroes to try and better match DC (Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl) and the character shares a mantle with arguably Marvel's most notable property.

I think once you start deviating a character in iterations too far left from the norm (Fang costume Wolverine, let's say) THAT defeats the purpose of the "Best of" wave.

[Politician]

Defining Spider-Woman as an "obscure" character while one of Marvel's top writers has been reintegrating her into the public eye for at least the past 10 years (including possibly including her in a sequel to the wildly visible and popular Avengers franchise) seems a bit out of touch. Especially while the company has been pushing to elevate the status of their female heroes to try and better match DC (Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl) and the character shares a mantle with arguably Marvel's most notable property.

I think once you start deviating a character in iterations too far left from the norm (Fang costume Wolverine, let's say) THAT defeats the purpose of the "Best of" wave.

Sounds like you're describing Black Widow, who I imagine would be up for release in the next 'Best Of' wave or Electra, certainly before Spider-Woman.

I always assumed these waves were catered to the impulse buyers and casual shoppers. I don't see Spider-Woman in the same light as Widow or others.

[buttheadsmate]

The Wave 1 characters consisted of refined/simplified/sanitised/streamlined (I'm not sure of which adjective is apt) versions of previously released Minimates. The only character that IMO is totally unique is the Goblin whilst Classic Heroic Cap & Spidey,Stormbreaker Thor,Wave 28 Sabretooth & Wolverine ,Wave 37 Thing bear striking resemblances/similarities to their 'Best of' counterparts . Iron Man is a complete oddity because he is obviously based on the Wave 25 version although his colouring would initially make you think "wave 6" ....bizarre yet it works so well.

Wave 1 worked for me & I thought it was a pretty special wave ,there were enough differences & variations for completists whilst its intended market...newcomers....were probably ecstatic. Unfortunately I was not ecstatic about the Thing whose recent Minimate character releases suffer from a complete lack of colour uniformity which is such a pity & worse....a waste of time & expectation.

It's the only Marvel Wave that has no variant yet it sold well,well enough for a re-run . Who needs variants?

I watch with growing interest to see which earlier versions inspired this second wave. They look great !

Edited December 15, 2012 by buttheadsmate

[stack32]

Defining Spider-Woman as an "obscure" character while one of Marvel's top writers has been reintegrating her into the public eye for at least the past 10 years (including possibly including her in a sequel to the wildly visible and popular Avengers franchise) seems a bit out of touch. Especially while the company has been pushing to elevate the status of their female heroes to try and better match DC (Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl) and the character shares a mantle with arguably Marvel's most notable property.

I think once you start deviating a character in iterations too far left from the norm (Fang costume Wolverine, let's say) THAT defeats the purpose of the "Best of" wave.

Obscure to comic fans? Probably not. Obscure from a marketing or sales perspective? Definitely. That isn't a knock against the character since most of Marvel falls into that category. Based on what we've seen from DST and others, the A-list is very short: Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and Wolverine. The B-list is probably something like the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Deadpool (right now anyway), Punisher (maybe), Dr. Doom (maybe), Venom, Green Goblin, Magneto, and, after all the movie exposure, Loki. You could argue about adding or subtracting a character or two, but I think that pretty well covers the characters that anyone running a Marvel line feels confident will sell. Which is probably why we have three or more minimate versions of each of those characters.

[emperorshotz]

Defining Spider-Woman as an "obscure" character while one of Marvel's top writers has been reintegrating her into the public eye for at least the past 10 years (including possibly including her in a sequel to the wildly visible and popular Avengers franchise) seems a bit out of touch. Especially while the company has been pushing to elevate the status of their female heroes to try and better match DC (Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl) and the character shares a mantle with arguably Marvel's most notable property.

I think once you start deviating a character in iterations too far left from the norm (Fang costume Wolverine, let's say) THAT defeats the purpose of the "Best of" wave.

Obscure to comic fans? Probably not. Obscure from a marketing or sales perspective? Definitely. That isn't a knock against the character since most of Marvel falls into that category. Based on what we've seen from DST and others, the A-list is very short: Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and Wolverine. The B-list is probably something like the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Deadpool (right now anyway), Punisher (maybe), Dr. Doom (maybe), Venom, Green Goblin, Magneto, and, after all the movie exposure, Loki. You could argue about adding or subtracting a character or two, but I think that pretty well covers the characters that anyone running a Marvel line feels confident will sell. Which is probably why we have three or more minimate versions of each of those characters.

You ABSOLUTELY have a point with the "comic fan" angle-- of course, while having to know their customer base, the goal of marketing these products from both Marvel and AFX/DST/etc's standpoint is appealing to the widest breadth of an audience as possible for maximum profit, hence the point of the "Best Of" line.

While it may not be very likely, female characters (IMO) are pushed a big part in hoping to appeal to the niche FEMALE fans (also, ideally and a bit more difficultly, drawing in new younger female fans/kids/customers) in Marvel NOW! we see new titles such as Captain Marvel, Red She-Hulk, the Fearless Defenders, female heavy Uncanny X-Force, several new female Avengers being introduced in upcoming storylines where they take center stage (Captain Universe, Smasher) etc. In popular media? the Avengers: EMH cartoon (Wasp), Ultimate Spider-Man (White Tiger), the upcoming Hulk cartoon (She-Hulk)... So Spider-Woman being included in a set like this? Like I said, she's rumored to be in consideration for an Avengers movie appearance (along with Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel), but yes, maybe she would be the comic-centric figure.

I was trying to come up with the most popular/"limelighted" female characters I could think of (Elektra with her own movie/media appearances as heinous as they might have been, Black Widow to please collectors who find her hard to reach and due to her massive exposure this past year, Invisible Woman and Storm seem givens in their own respective comic universes and their own cartoon/movie/exposure experience, etc.) There's so many angles and cross-sections of customers to consider, it seems, when marketing these. The likelihood of an all-female "Best of" wave? Who knows. IMO, not very likely, just a pipe dream of mine... but there have been a lot of moves out of left field in Minimates that pleased both long time collectors, newly exposed fans, comic book readers, etc. Impossible or obscure? I just don't know about that. Especially given that not ONE female character has been introduced after two waves? There's a lot of components as to why it might be a profitable run. We also have how many Jean Grey's vs. Punisher's, for example? Some female characters would absolutely sell better than some male.

[itMFtis]

Don't forget Ghost Rider in that B-list I fully expect to see him in the next Best Of wave, as well as a Sue Storm that matches Reed/Thing from wave 1 and 2.

[Nessex]

I think Black Widow, Invisible Woman, Storm, Pheonix would all be suitable candidates for best of wave. They have all had a lot of mainstream, non-comic attention. Each of them has existed in cartoon form as well as major motion pictures.

Slightly less likely, but also potentially popular enough would be SpiderWoman, Elektra, & maybe Mystique and White Queen.

I'm not saying that Spider-Woman would be a lock - just that i feel she's relevant enough in the comics world to be an A-List female & that her mate is one that i'd quite like to see get a re-vamp (in the event that we had to have a re-do rather than a new character).

[bigvis497]

I generally think movie characters when I define a-list. I'm very surprised we only got one 616 Black Widow, which is extremely hard to find now. I think she would be perfect for this line. I also think of ccharacters who have held their own titles for long periods of time. Guys like Ghost Rider, Dr Strange and Silver Surfer come to mind. A non-metallic Surfer is something I can see DST doing. Juggernaut is someone I really wanna see in this line, with a cartoony bright color scheme and a skull cap underneath, no hair piece. I would say package him with a classic wheelchair Xavier, but the wheelchair would probably need to be a new piece and generally these waves reuse parts. It would also probably be too much for one pack since Jugs is so big, maybe you could package him with another XMan? PERFECT chance to get an updated classic John Byrne Cyclops!

Just throwing suggestions out there

[DSTZach]

This is like when they announced the cast of Expendables 2 and everyone started casting Expendables 3.

We'll see if there is demand for another series with slightly lower-tier characters. I think there are still fairly well-known characters from films and even popular comics to include, but they are obviously not as recognizable among casual Marvel fans as the ones we've made.

[Nessex]

I generally think movie characters when I define a-list. I'm very surprised we only got one 616 Black Widow, which is extremely hard to find now. I think she would be perfect for this line. I also think of ccharacters who have held their own titles for long periods of time. Guys like Ghost Rider, Dr Strange and Silver Surfer come to mind. A non-metallic Surfer is something I can see DST doing. Juggernaut is someone I really wanna see in this line, with a cartoony bright color scheme and a skull cap underneath, no hair piece. I would say package him with a classic wheelchair Xavier, but the wheelchair would probably need to be a new piece and generally these waves reuse parts. It would also probably be too much for one pack since Jugs is so big, maybe you could package him with another XMan? PERFECT chance to get an updated classic John Byrne Cyclops!

Just throwing suggestions out there

I could very easily see Cyclops being included in a Best Of type assortment. He could be paired with Magento, who is arguably just as popular/recognisable... if not even more so.

This is like when they announced the cast of Expendables 2 and everyone started casting Expendables 3.

We'll see if there is demand for another series with slightly lower-tier characters. I think there are still fairly well-known characters from films and even popular comics to include, but they are obviously not as recognizable among casual Marvel fans as the ones we've made.

LOL - Wishlisting: it's not just for toy-collectors

[Onyx_6]

If we do get Electra or Jessica Drew SpiderWoman, I hope they come with alternate Skrull pieces.

If we get a new Black Widow, I hope she comes with an alternate Yolena head/hair piece too.

These possibilities, to me, make them more likely candidates for a "best of" wave where we get multiple "iconic" looks in one pack. Black Widow could just as easily be a variant in an upcoming wave, but the other two have probably passed their primes for the Skrull option.

And if we get a new Sue, I hope she comes with a phased/invisible torso too. That way you could match her with any of the other recent versions to have a fully invisible Invisible Woman again.

[Twisted Two-Face]

I'm really surprised we haven't seen Yelena yet. Really, with her newfound popularity as Marvel's postergirl, Widow is ideal for a TTA set:

80s Grey bodysuit w/ Avengers jacket

Yelena Belova

Ultimate Widow (Nat or Monica)

Modern Widow

While we're talking Best Ofs, though, PLEASE give us a new Dark Phoenix. The old one is so dated now, it'd be great to have an updated figure and complete the 3 Phoenix costumes.

[Shamrock]

Ok, real talk? I haven't had interest in buying new Minimates for much more than customs in a long time.

These? I want ALL.

[Martin Blank]

I am a casual comic book fan and no longer actively read the comics. My introduction to the world of Minimates was through the purchase of the Movie Avengers. I immediately went online and saw that there had been 40+ lines and tons of characters, which was overwhelming.

The release of the "Best Of" series is perfect for someone like me because I would no longer need to search through previous releases to get characters that I want. I am primarily interested in picking up iconic Marvel characters and have Wave 1 en route to me and have already preordered Wave 2. I would be ecstatic to see a Wave 3 set. I hope to see the following figures, which I see as being well-known characters that would appeal to newer collectors like myself:

Wave 3:

Invisible Woman and Namor

Human Torch and Silver Surfer

Cyclops and Magneto

Nick Fury and Red Skull

And if it got to wave 4, I would like the following:

Wave 4:

Storm and Black Panther

Dr. Strange and Ghost Rider

Black Bolt and Thanos

Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix and Professor X

[buttheadsmate]

You should get on Facebook! It's a treasure trove.

It IS a treasure trove

[buttheadsmate]

I watch with growing interest to see which earlier versions inspired this second wave. They look great !

Now that I've digested the pictures ........everything I said about Wave 1 has little or no relevance to Wave 2 !

This is a superb wave & if I didn't have a fairly decent collection of Marvel minimates I would seriously be quite content in just having these.

I just get the feeling that there is a new 'driving force' behind these figures ,of late I've yawned at a couple or so neuvo-minimates that 'were improvements' & said my piece but I'm really looking forward to getting these.

Loki is outstanding in an outstanding wave.....spot on.

[Prowlar]

If there were to be a third release I'd guess it to end up being a combination of A and B listers wave. Something like:

Spider-Man (Black Suit) and Dr. Octopus

Spider-Man would have a couple of the new Venom tendrils and alternate "transformation" half black half flesh arms, legs, and head parts.

Wolverine (Brown Uniform) & Dark Phoenix Jean Grey

Phoenix would come with standard Jean and Angry Phoenix heads, two hair pieces regular and flaming with the new Air Walker flame wings

Invisible Woman (matching BoW 2 Mr Fantastic) & Namor

Namor would get a trench coat and beard parts

Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) & Red Hulk

Black Widow & Nick Fury (616)

Of course that is just guessing based on the first two waves. If I were wish listing it would be something more along the lines of

Cable (Blue and Yellow X-Men Uniform) & Dark Phoenix

Scarlet Spider & Vulture (parts for old/young versions)

Hercules & Valkyrie

Ghost Rider (Danny) & Black Widow

[buttheadsmate]

Forgive the multiple posts but real-life & the news has driven me into 'Minimates' today.

My wish list would be ....Vulture,Angel(FA?) ,Sandman,Silver Surfer,compatibly suited (to Bof W2 Reed)Sue & Johnny (powered off),AIM guy & Nick Fury (original not Samuel)

Edited December 16, 2012 by buttheadsmate

[TM2 Dinobot]

We do need a new Wasp. I'm still hoping for a EMH inspired version.

[Zak Katz]

I like your ideas Martin Blank. Not to bring in any negativity but no ones said anything about Dead Pool and DOOM being basically re-releases, there is probably no head hold for Dead Pool and Doom is a different color, I know a lot of series 1 were reprinted but these two seem stale to me.

Who cares...I want Mr. Fantastic and maybe Punisher enough to get the sets anyway

[DSTZach]

I like your ideas Martin Blank. Not to bring in any negativity but no ones said anything about Dead Pool and DOOM being basically re-releases, there is probably no head hold for Dead Pool and Doom is a different color, I know a lot of series 1 were reprinted but these two seem stale to me.

They're all re-releases. With minor paint /tampo changes and a few extra parts. Just grouped together for easy ordering. That's the point.

Welcome aboard, Martin! We made these for you.

Edited December 16, 2012 by Zach Oat