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TMNT Minimates - it's official!


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Not sure if anyone has posted this yet or not but this is the "packing order" of the case of specialty blind bag figures I got. Keep in mind the way these are packed in the shipping box. The display box is just a cardboard tray with no top to it like the Aliens dump boxes. So the tray is wrapped in a plastic bag that is pulled tight and taped at the bottom, to keep the blind bags from jostling around I imagine. Some of the bags were placed in the tray facing backwards as well, which could be by design but is more likely just random. But there could be some movement of the bags during shipping so take this list as a sample and not the rule of thumb.

Front to back...

Mutagen Raphael (though mine was on top at the front, not stuck down in the tray like he was placed in at the last minute)

Leonardo

Leonardo

Donatello

Donatello

Foot-bot

Foot-bot

Michaelangelo

Michaelangelo

Raphael

Raphael

Shredder

Shredder

April

April

Foot Ninja

Foot Ninja

Foot Ninja

All of my 'mates appear to be in good shape. I didn't play around with them too much yet, just tested the limbs to make sure there weren't any stuck joints and that there weren't any wrong limbs like the Aliens I got. The only QC issue I have worth mentioning is that one of my April's was missing her figure stand. Not a big deal as I have plenty. Everything else is as expected. Some minor warping of weapons due to the blind bag packaging but nothing that can't be fixed with a hot water bath. Paint applications appear to be good though I'll need some closer examination to be sure. Nothing stood out as wrong though.

One minor nit to pick with the arms. The elbows of the Turtles, with their sculpted elbow pads, rub at the back of the joint when you're bending the arm making it feel like you're forcing the arm to move in a direction it isn't supposed to. A fully rounded connection at the elbow or a little more room between the arm joint and the sculpted pad would fix this in future figures.

Overall I really like these. The Mutagen variants look great together (holding out hope for Donnie in a future assortment to complete the group) and there are plenty of Foot-bots/ninjas to create a nice little army. The wait for wave 2 is going to difficult but I'll have plenty of play time with this first wave to hold me over.

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Not sure if we'll be doing classic cartoon Turtles, but if we do I hope they look that great!

Mutagen Donatello will be in Series 2. Not at every retailer, but he will come out. We'll reveal the specialty line-up later this month.

never thought i'd say this but, fingers crossed that Mutagen Donnie is at TRU. the number of Mutagen Leo's ppl have found (2 myself) is encouraging and I really don't want to have to 'shell' out $20 on ebay for Donnie like I just did for Raph.

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Fortunately I've been able to track down the 'mates from this line I've wanted. Contrary to other reports, the paint apps on my TRU Raphael were superior to the blind-bagged version.

Given my passing interest in the show, if I get Casey Jones, I'll probably call it quits. Offer some comic- or movie-based figures and I'm right back on board.

One question about the April Minimate: Is her shirt missing an off-white pass on the tampo printing? Because the source material indicates off-white (or pale green) on her jersey but the 'mate appears nude.

tumblr_mbbxgkSZyp1qlpgkfo3_1280.png

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Those retro Turtles are great, Brobot!

My comic shop ordered me a full case before I found out they'd be available at TRU in 2-packs, and it was too late when I said "nevermind".

I'm not doing super awesome financially, so I can't really afford it, but they're kinda stuck with it (they ordered a second case for the store, and those aren't moving quickly enough to just put mine out, too).

Does anyone still want a sealed (in the shipping box even) case? Pretty sure I can get you 25-30% off retail. confused.gif

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I sincerely hope you move that TMNT case on TENIME_art . You & I are undoubtedly amongst a group of people that wouldn't have pre-ordered the LCS selection if they had been aware of the TRU selection & its 2-pack/non-blind-bag distribution ,how big that group is, is not for me to say but I'm certainly going to be a tad more careful with the proposed 2nd. Wave.

Regards this first TRU Wave what is the case breakdown of the sets ? I've been following the TMNT Minimate inventory on TRU.com & nothing much seems to be moving ....or has moved ...since the Mutagen packs were cleared out ?

The Kmart rarities are now looking just that ....rare on ebay . I wonder how many cases of those were distributed but my guess is far more than the LCS selection which I read had [perhaps] 1500 cases . Zach may have just plucked the figure of 100,000 when he was alluding to the amount of 'foil bags' that might need stickers * but if there were 1500 LCS cases of 18 packs ,that would equate to 27000 packs . That leaves 73000 packs for Kmart which would fill over 6080 cases of 12 ........I therefore doubt that Zach was being specific because personally I find that unlikely smile.png

*earlier post page #71

Edited by buttheadsmate
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From the Kmarts I was able to visit, I think each of the stores got two strips of 12 figures. That would be about 3000 stores nation wide? I have no idea how many Kmarts there are, but that seems a little high, but not crazy high....

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@BHM: I definitely cancelled any plans to preorder the blind bags once I knew that TRU would be getting 2-packs. The fact that they have identical figures at a much better price point sure made me glad I held off. Frankly, this wave was designed to succeed at TRU (though I'm sure that wasn't the plan). I doubt this made much of a difference at K-Mart, since they got the bags in well before the TRU sets, but is probably death at comic book stores. Back when Marvel figures were being regularly shared between TRU and specialty, my impression was that the sell-through at comic book shops dropped significantly from the pre-TRU days. And a lot of shop owners weren't aware that similar sets were now selling at a big national chain (including their website); they just noted that Minimate sales seemed to have peaked, and stopped ordering them. I can see a similar situation here, where retailers order a case, only to have them not sell through because the core collecting audience has already bought 'em. So the comic store owner will think "well, these didn't sell" and not order series 2. I hope I'm just overanalysing things; time will tell. I suspect that this line will do more than well enough at the big chains to thrive without comic book shops anyway.

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Back when Marvel figures were being regularly shared between TRU and specialty, my impression was that the sell-through at comic book shops dropped significantly from the pre-TRU days. And a lot of shop owners weren't aware that similar sets were now selling at a big national chain (including their website); they just noted that Minimate sales seemed to have peaked, and stopped ordering them.

My LCS stopped ordering The Walking Dead Minimates because of the TRU assortments, which is interesting because they're not identical assortments.

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