Ask DST Q&A #1

[AdyCarter]

Come one, come all and ask your questions for DST!

The plan is to do these roughly every two weeks going forwards, they will work as thus:

You post your questions here for DST, two weeks from now I'll close this thread and send it into DST. Once I recieve the answers I shall post them and open up the next Q&A.

These Q&As will cover all DST related Minimate products (so not C3, DC, Speed Racer or LOTR), please be polite with your questions.

Many thanks to DST for doing this!

[Alpheon]

Thanks Diamond Select Toys! Much appreciated!

My questions:

1) Is the 3-inch body officially dead? That is, no longer in production, not being used for any upcoming projects?

2) Are you planning on having a hand in the production of any Blank Series coming soon? By series, I mean a run of promotional blanks.

3) Why the choice to make the GSXM Wolverine/Iceman packs fill entire cases?

Thanks Again!

[luke314pi]

If the X3 wave is very successful, would you consider making a second X3 wave?

Thanks!

[Shanester]

Is there going to be any Summer 2007 Con exclusives?

[Amazing.JL]

Thanks DST!!!

1.) Are we getting any new minimate licenses for 2007?

2.) How is SFII Series 2 looking?

3.) How about Star Trek mates?

4.) Anticipated release for Rocky minimates? (My suggestion, don't wait too long!)

5.) Apparently there are 4 cylon elf models. One leader (Chrome-Dowloaded Cylon), One Bloody, One battle damage, and One regular one. Can you confirm or provide the exact line-up? Is there a regular model with guns? How many of each were produced?

6.) What was the criteria for distributing the Cylon elves? It seems even retailers that buy a ton of minimates did not receive one. Is it all up to Diamond Distributors?

7.) How are the sales of Battlestar Gallactica minimates going? Modern Cylon Assortment, Classic Cylon Assortment, Series 1?

8.) According to the press release, DST stated that there will be 500 cases of each Cylon Assortment (Classic/Modern). How come on the bottom of the cases, its says you have XXX out of 450? Were there not enough orders placed?

[TBT!]

Hey DST,

Good to have you on board with the Q&A and contests etc.

ok onto the Questions...

1) Are we going to see a return to comic characters as opposed to Movie Marvel some time soon after Xmen and Ghost rider? I love all minimates but I prefer the comic to movie ones

2) Are you going to be at all the usual shows next year? - yes we are going to stalk you and make you repeat the same answers over and over

3) Are we going to get news on who's in BSG wave 2 soon or are you waiting to see if they are successful before going ahead with wave 2?

4) Will there be more limited run single packed 'army builder' type figures? - from what I'm hearing on preorders the Cylons are selling fast.

5) What is the single best part of making minimates? do you get the biggest buzz from seeing the designs, picking the characters, seeing the finished product etc.

6) What's the one question that you always hope we ask but never do?

7) Same as above in reverse what te one question people always ask that you'e sick of hearing?

Thanks for your time

T.

[Deadpool]

1. Why not do a whole "let the fans vote on who is in a Marvel Minimate wave" thing?

2. Are the BSG ships stip going to be released?

3. If Street Fighter gets a Wave 2, and it does well, could we see even more?

[TM2 Dinobot]

*Kisses DST's feet* I love you guys!

1) Long shot here, but how about branching out into Japan (and here) by picking up the license for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya?

2) Build-a-figures? Yes? No? Maybe so?

3) Exactly how heavy is the fan interaction and input with the Minimates lines? Do yall actually listen to us?

4) THANK YOU for the Marvel line. It got me into Minimates. There's so many things you can do with it. Please don't let it die.

5) Convention exclusive blanks. Where have they gone to?

6) Any chance of a Minimate Multiverse exclusive? (you guys knew some one had to ask it)

7) Will Minimates now be pumped out faster and cheaper than before? Will we the consumers see any kick back from any said change?

8) Any chance of any more IndyMates? I would truly love to see more IndyMates, with new figures. (Arwen from Sojorn, Mermin from Cavewoman and Jane from Painkiller Jane are names that jump to mind) Also, what was the deal with this last set? Witchblade, one of the most anticipated figures was a total cop-out. The molded parts were nice, but her paint applications were shoddy at best and her physical issues of joint structures were horrible. They extended not only to her but to the rest of the figures as well. The prototype images indicated something quite different then what we got. Magdalena showed full removable swords. The parts used are wonderful, and I'd desperately love to see a Witchblade repaint done right. Mayhaps in a Witchblade meets Wolverine crossover 2 pack?

9) Can you guys reuse parts from the LOTR, DC and Cereal mate lines, even though you guys don't own them?

10) The actual DVD that came with Darktide was awesome. Any chance of a longer Minimate movie? Also, what's with the package variation with big chested Juggernaut?

11) How about some 80's lines? GI Joe, He-Man, Thundercats, Star Wars and Transformer Minimates? Enough said.

12) There have been a LOT of quality control issues lately. Parts that don't move, snap off, ect. In the past, I'm sure a major concern has been shoplifting. But now you guys are having serious problems with the actual figures themselves. I'm wondering what steps yall are taking to correct/prevent this?

13) Seeing as how many people have reported legitimate breakage of their minimates straight from the box, I'm wondering if yall are going to do a replacement campaign? Perhaps if there are any broken minimates from was 12 & 13 (some one correct me if I'm wrong, this is the latest and when problems started right? --TM2) and up, people can send them in and you can replace them? I don't know if that's doable or not. It's something to seriously think about.

14) I have an idea for a Marvel Minimate. What aout a Stan Lee signature edition Minimate? Marvel's most famous writer, idolized in minimate form, with a random amount of them autographed. It's something to think about.

15) What are the chances of a deluxe box set? Something like an army building set or screen capture sets? A great one I can think of would be the Sinister Six, with nice packaging with 6 of Spiderman's villains attacking him. Exclusive accessories could be included such as the Goblin Glider or Carnage's tentacles. You could even go so far as a repaint, such as the Hobgoblin. While a bit more expensive, the window would hearken back to allowing collectors who like to keep their collection MISB to still be able to display it. If you threw in a accessories or even a repaint or 2, it would be a way to reuse old molds and make more money.

16) When is there going to be an "Ask DST" panel at a convention? Will you be doing more of these "Ask DST" threads? (please! ^_^ )

Once more, THANK YOU

[MisterPL]

How about Star Trek mates?

Ditto.

And how about completing the Minimate Mego homage and offering Planet of the Apes 'mates?

[Lurch77]

Big thanks to DST!!

* How did the Mass Market 4-Packs do (SFII, Marvel)? Will we see more?

* How's the rolling stock of 2-Packs doing at Target? Will we see more?

* Since DST has license for Spider-Man 3 stuff, any plans for movie related minimates?

* Any plans to package minimates with DVD's again? A Ghost Rider mini packaged with the movie on DVD would be a good idea to help promote the line (imagine the sales if you got one packaged with the Spider-Man movie)

[antacost]

Thanks DST.

My question:

What was the thinking in the Galactica Series 1 Line-up? Why no Adama in series 1? I'm sure lots of people would rather see the old man instead of Caine. I'm sure that you're trying to save some of the major characters for the later waves, but Series 1 is just kind of "ho-hum", line-up wise.

Don't worry, I've ordered these no matter what, just wanted to see what the thinking was.

[CRISIS Survivor]

thanks DST

1. what are the chances of an all villain wave some time soon

2. did dark tide sell as well as you had hoped

3. whats the one license that you would love to put in minimate form

thanks again you guys

[CrazyCylon9]

1) Any chances of a Raptor for the new BSG 'mates to go along with the Vipers and Raiders? BSG is what's gotten me into Minimates.

2) What are the chances of having a Serenity/ Firefly liscense and series?

[The Thing]

Any chance of Thundercats in mini form?

[TM2 Dinobot]

Any chance of Thundercats in mini form?

I said that already.

[Amazing.JL]

Have these been sent out yet? Just wondering because I keep making changes.

[Lobsterman]

Who does the design for Minimates packaging? I think it could work a lot harder to sell the product, especially considering the stiff competition. Hasbro has made some very aggressive moves in the last couple years toward innovative packaging design that gets attention and showcases the product. Frankly, I think Minimates packaging just gets buried when set next to the competition.

I work for a design firm and I'm serious about this. Is there someone I can speak to about pitching the account?

[Xybot]

Thank you so much for taking the time for us DST!

1) What is the full story about the Resin Display Stand? Is it 100% cancelled or are there other plans for it? From what I've been told, it is cancelled with no plans to resolicit and no plans to make it.

2) I understand that it might be difficult to get Hasbro to let you produce plastic toys of their characters. You must know that folks would love Joe and TF MiniMates. Is this 100% undoable or is it still a possibility?

3) I also know that Palisades did Buffy Palz. BUT they are no longer a company ... so can we please have Buffy MiniMates?

4) What about your other licenses like Stargate, Serenity and Office Space? Stargate and Serenity seem like PERFECT matches, and Office Space just SCREAMS for a one-off playset.

5) Just watch: Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness is going to be a HUGE book ... why not think outside the box and do an AOD / Marvel Zombies wave or set? You have the licenses to both and obviously the 2 companies want to cross promote. You'd really knock a lot of people's socks off with an item like that.

6) PLEASE get funky with the summer con exclusives ... we need some good 'mates over the summer. (see #5)

I might think of more later ... I'll just add them in.

THANK YOU!

Xy

[AdyCarter]

Last call, I'll be sending this in tomorrow.

[Seanus]

Seanus :

Ever thought of making a rare / special minimate which you make from parts in all the other packs.

E.g - A Bigger Hulk - so head, arms, torso, legs and accessories come in the packs, so you have to buy all of them to create/build this minimate. Just like the Marvel Legends build a figure - sentinel, mojo etc...

and a parts selling service? - that would be cool.

Runaways and Young Avengers sets would be cool too!

Just a thought.

Seanus

seanjnash@hotmail.com

P.S - thanks for a cool year of minimates!

[BannersID]

In the past weeks I've seen alot of talk about BAF mates packs after alot of thought I have to admit the pprospect of this makes me shudder. any thoughts on a mail away premium fig (buy a wave and send in the UPC's) just curious as to which might be more likely to happen if any

[TM2 Dinobot]

just letting you know that mine has updates.

[handsomedevil]

12) There have been a LOT of quality control issues lately. Parts that don't move, snap off, ect. In the past, I'm sure a major concern has been shoplifting. But now you guys are having serious problems with the actual figures themselves. I'm wondering what steps yall are taking to correct/prevent this?

Along these same lines:

-In addition to the lowered quality, a lot of the characters' costume details no longer wrap around the whole body. How do you justify lower quality and less detail with a higher price tag?

[TM2 Dinobot]

12) There have been a LOT of quality control issues lately. Parts that don't move, snap off, ect. In the past, I'm sure a major concern has been shoplifting. But now you guys are having serious problems with the actual figures themselves. I'm wondering what steps yall are taking to correct/prevent this?

Along these same lines:

-In addition to the lowered quality, a lot of the characters' costume details no longer wrap around the whole body. How do you justify lower quality and less detail with a higher price tag?

Oh that's good!

[AdyCarter]

Sent!