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What do Minimates need to get to the "next level"?


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4 hours ago, MisterPL said:

DST has had enough trouble getting movie product out around a film release. 

I recall the trouble they had getting the All-New X-Men Bobby Drake costume right because the early concept art had changed. Fortunately we caught it and they were able to correct it but that’s an example of why offering product that coincides with an event isn’t always a good idea. 

I still feel movie assortments are better served being released during the home video promotion. Likewise, a comic event might be better off coinciding with the trade paperback. 

I agree with this in theory but it can be hard to do in execution. Sometimes it’s a license thing. Another and more real challenge is that home releases are challenging now thanks to all of the streaming platforms and aligning that. I’m probably wrong but wasn’t the Cap Marvel 4 pack released when the DVD went on sale? Did it make a buzz? I would be interested in seeing how DST is using their social listening to define intent to purchase. 

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15 hours ago, OvenproofBug6 said:

Don't get me started on the Phoenix 3 again...

I actually want to add that not finishing teams, to me, is a HUGE drawback of every toy line.

DST has an awesome opportunity to release 6-8 figures in a series with BAF. That is huge potential for full teams and possibly a villain or two.

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3 hours ago, Swarm198 said:

I actually want to add that not finishing teams, to me, is a HUGE drawback of every toy line.

DST has an awesome opportunity to release 6-8 figures in a series with BAF. That is huge potential for full teams and possibly a villain or two.

As a whole, I think the line has done a great job of finishing teams it’s just the few that aren’t finished are rather shocking or easily completed. To me it would be easy to have another x-wave to finish off Greg C X-force Warpath/Sunspot, Phoenix 5 Magik and Namor, Liefeld Rictor and Boomer with a Greg C Feral build a figure. I know there are several more Avengers that need to be taken care of but off the top of my head the X-fill in wave would be easy (but very niche). 

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Capullo X-Force, Kyle/Yost X-Force, Uncanny X-Force, Uncanny Avengers (two separate line-ups), Bendis Uncanny X-Men, ANAD X-Men, and Phoenix Five are all unfinished.

No Beast, Namor, Danger, Magik, Pixie, or Armor from newer X line-ups.

No Future Foundation Doom or any other of their members.

Avengers are missing modern costume updates for heavy hitters like Dr. Strange and Black Panther.

I know it seems like nitpicking, but think about how many of these characters are popular and how many of them have now been around for years with no other toy versions.

I think DST taking a chance on these characters might act as a gateway for new collectors who buy a favorite new character that isn’t available in other toy lines.

But like I said before, I know they’ve tried this before, so maybe it doesn’t work out how I think it would.

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The accessories that come with Minimates are often second to none. Maybe I'm misremembering, but I feel like we saw additional unclawed hands for Wolverine, Spinning Mjölnir, Phoenix Forces, alternate looks, etc... before non-deluxe waves like Marvel Legends made them more standard. 

I think that contemporary storylines are too hard to do. the turnaround time makes them a struggle, and it's hard to predict which storylines will do well. I remember the Fear Itself minimates clogging up pegs for ages ay my LCS.

I have no data on how they sell, but the themed waves with classic costumes always seem like a winner to me. Waves centred around older/classic stories like Maximum Carnage and Jean DeWolff were both great waves with a solid mix of characters that seemed to sell through. Team themes with well loved costumes like the 'X-Men Strike force' and 'Outback X-Men' waves appeared to do well. 
Classic costumes that play on nostalgia, with waves that fill out a team or story arc seem to be a bit of a winner.

I don't know if Minimates have a 'next level' to get to. Seems like they have a winning formula that could keep the line chugging along for a good while longer tho, and that'd make me pretty happy.

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Plus you can never know how one of those series will be received by the fanbase. A Secret Empire wave might have seemed like a good idea at the time, for example. The smartest thing to do, I think, is to use a crossover series as an umbrella for new characters and updates; the recent Infinity Wars book would let DST make lots of characters that haven't been done yet.

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On 7/15/2019 at 9:21 AM, hellpop said:

Plus you can never know how one of those series will be received by the fanbase. A Secret Empire wave might have seemed like a good idea at the time, for example. The smartest thing to do, I think, is to use a crossover series as an umbrella for new characters and updates; the recent Infinity Wars book would let DST make lots of characters that haven't been done yet.

Agreed. Comics just aren’t doing the numbers that they were back in the day. I do think that nostalgia mining makes sense. Look at Hasbro giving us more AOA and tapping into the X-Men animated series. Also Super 7 keeps making me angry with their licenses. It’s like they hit the gold mine. And yes, I am willing to die on the hill that CW Arrowverse, Young Justice, Buffy, and Star Trek TNG are easy licenses that would boost the portfolio. 

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i know ive said this before but I dont think Licenses are Minimates biggest problem at the moment,

its the lack of outlets selling minimates that is the real issue. Dst screwed over the comic stores and thus they dont carry them, Refuse, for some reason, to set up any kind of online sales entity, and cant get into walmart/target, and with TRU gone that leaves Walgreens and even if they could get their act together they couldnt support more lines by themselves

 

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50 minutes ago, BuffaloDelorean said:

DC CW and Young Justice are definitely not "easy licenses" for DST, at least not for minimates.

I meant easy in the sense of they are no brainers and they are already creating pieces for them therefore they have the relationships. Sadly, I really do feel that DST is not as focused on Minimates as they have been.

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20 minutes ago, Mattallica said:

i know ive said this before but I dont think Licenses are Minimates biggest problem at the moment,

its the lack of outlets selling minimates that is the real issue. Dst screwed over the comic stores and thus they dont carry them, Refuse, for some reason, to set up any kind of online sales entity, and cant get into walmart/target, and with TRU gone that leaves Walgreens and even if they could get their act together they couldnt support more lines by themselves

 

Distribution is a huge area of concern. Sure Walgreens is a larger retailer but that they haven’t done their own is just head scratching. I can’t imagine how in 2019 they still don’t have this sorted.

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  • 8 months later...

That's an interesting idea. "Manufacture-On-Demand Minimates" could work out. Similar to what Warner Bros. Video has done with their Hanna-Barbera DVD releases. 

I'd like for DST to bring back polling like they've done with the Galactus box set, Infinity box set and series 50. 

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2 hours ago, MisterPL said:

After seeing this, DST should really consider crowdfunding for certain SKUs. 

If end consumers are willing to put their money where their mouths are, DST's all out of excuses.

I love this idea and I know I would fund figures that I want versus figures I could care less about (sorry identical Spider-Man minimate number 5,945). 

I guess the issue really is licensing, right? McFarlane owns his characters while DST does not. 

Someone from with a marketing/legal background could weigh in on this far better than me. 

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The license agreement would have to allow for such marketing, I'd imagine. But if it was something wholly owned by DST (Minimates MAX, for example), they could just go for it.

I doubt Marvel would be a problem since DST seems to be restricted by product category rather than market. The fact that I can buy Marvel Select, Marvel Legends, Marvel LEGO, and Marvel Minimates in the same stores is enough proof of that. And there's no more direct market than crowd funding.

This may be the way the category has to go in order to survive let alone thrive.

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well, hate to burst your idea.....but anyone remember when Digger Mesch (?) did his kickstarter for Agent 88?

he is (one of?) the creator(s) of minimates.

he had a reward a bunch of different ones.  i went for the most expensive one...........and got jack shit.

i reached out to him and he promised me a sketch to make up for it but never delivered.

he also said the minimate fans were the worst complainers about not getting their rewards.

he seemed bitter.  claimed art asylum was stolen out from under him while he was in asia or something.

what sucks is i never even got to watch the damn show/movie/whatever it was.

 

when peter mayhew (chewbacca) died i felt really bad about not getting this minimate

 

anyways, the goal of this one was a movie, not toys.  but i just don't know if there would be enough support to warrant making a custom for kickstarter.

it'd have to be dst's own property (or something like battle beasts i imagine) and then how many folks would turn up for a new property?

now, i'm no expert.  i know that one company did really well with bucky o'hare and then another company did a line that had madman and savage dragon in it.

so ???  

that said, i'd support any minimate kickstarter.

give me a fucking motorcycle base or a tiger.

did 

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TBQH I was sitting here thinking much the same ....... I wasn't burnt quite as much as some but I was burnt & anytime I hear the word 'crowdfunding' my eyes glaze over. 

My 'bucket list' includes a wish to bankroll a Minimate or two (?) ..........call my bluff .

 

 

 

 

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I didn't participate in that particular crowd funding but I've done a lot of them for other products. If you think about it we "kinda" did it with Luke's Deadly Foes. I think it would be rough but depending on the property it could be pulled off. I agree though with the put up or shut up aspect. Rocketter, Buffy, hell maybe even the Max statues back.  

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I had this idea while dreaming about more Fantastic Four characters (Inhumans, mainly). What if, instead of BAF parts, each figure came with pieces that could be combined with other parts from within that wave to make new characters or different looks? That way multiple purchases would be more expected and more characters could be made up. 

Example (through the lens of an FF series):

Mr. Fantastic (with an extra head for Johnny Storm) / The Wizard
Doctor Doom / Invisible Girl (with an alternate chest block for Crystal's FF uniform)
Classic Medusa (Different hair pieces for effect) / Classic Crystal

By purchasing two of the entire assortment, you would get some most of the Fantastic Four team as well as two versions of Crystal. One to display Crystal in her royal Inhuman garb as well as her FF outfit. 

Another thought is, can past minimates be reissued? I know in the past figures have shown up in different series between specialty stores and TRU (:(), but what if figures made exactly the same as when they were originally released were put out again for consumers who may've missed out the first time? I'm thinking high end characters like the 90s X-Men, maybe Black Bolt and Lockjaw (sticking to the Inhumans theme). Just a couple quarantine thoughts for us to ruminate on together. 

Edited by NerdyTrev
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On 4/9/2020 at 8:11 PM, Mattallica said:

i swore off kickstarter after the whole deal with that asshole digger, i would really like one of those spawn figures too but i will not ever give kickstarter another dime as they dont hold the creators responsible for delivering on their promises.

not 100% positive but i think they've updated the policy a little.  that said, its always a risk  i still support kickstarters, just won't ever support digger ever again.  i should have known his was gonna go sour b/c it didn't meet the funding until the last second.  something tells me he put the money himself just to get over the line and be able to take everyone else's money.  i see him at sdcc every year but i haven't built the courage to confront him in person.  its not like he can magically pull the minimates out of his ass nor do i expect him to hand over the $130 or whatever it was.  plus he's always hanging out with friends of my boss so i don't want to upset that side of things either.  what's weird is i must have posted something he noticed b/c he was following me on instagram and would randomly like some of my posts.  

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I said it at the time & subsequently ...'D****r' :rolleyes: showed his true colours in a DST orientated (US- oriented ) podcast shortly before the Kickstarter debacle......it was embarrassing to see how completely out of touch with reality he actually was.   Regarding the 'confrontation' of 'him' in person, my advice would be to ignore ...er....who?

Agent 88? I have had better shits.

That said ........there are obviously passionate, trustworthy individuals who could actually come through with a KS project . Bring 'em on.

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