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Really bummed to hear these were cancelled. Was about the only thing Minimates I was looking forward to. I'm not a huge Marvel guy, just pick up odds and ends here and there. I'm not used to this "if you want it you better pre-order" thing with MM. I guess in the future I'll stick to that formula, but kinda sad state of affairs.

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We're moving into an era of crowdfunded collectibles.

I really wanted a Sail Barge so I backed it last year by pre-ordering one for $500 plus $30 shipping. Even though it only needed 5,000 orders it managed to get 8,810. Many of those orders came from retailers but most came from collectors and speculators. Regardless, this is not an item you're going to find on the shelves of Target or Walmart anytime soon.

The toy industry has been a volatile business since before Marvel dumped Toy Biz. The market has changed, as has the retail landscape. The way manufacturers get their product to end consumers has to change as well.

Diamond is fortunate to have its own distribution network, one that has essentially allowed for crowdfunding long before the term was coined. If they can't get enough orders from their network of existing retailers, they should take full advantage of their online store and offer pre-orders there as well, complete with a goal for a minimum number of orders. 

But the bottom line is to put your money where your mouth is up front instead of waiting until you see the product collecting dust on a peg.

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13 minutes ago, MisterPL said:

We're moving into an era of crowdfunded collectibles.

I really wanted a Sail Barge so I backed it last year by pre-ordering one for $500 plus $30 shipping. Even though it only needed 5,000 orders it managed to get 8,810. Many of those orders came from retailers but most came from collectors and speculators. Regardless, this is not an item you're going to find on the shelves of Target or Walmart anytime soon.

The toy industry has been a volatile business since before Marvel dumped Toy Biz. The market has changed, as has the retail landscape. The way manufacturers get their product to end consumers has to change as well.

Diamond is fortunate to have its own distribution network, one that has essentially allowed for crowdfunding long before the term was coined. If they can't get enough orders from their network of existing retailers, they should take full advantage of their online store and offer pre-orders there as well, complete with a goal for a minimum number of orders. 

But the bottom line is to put your money where your mouth is up front instead of waiting until you see the product collecting dust on a peg.

i crowdfunded agent 88 just for the minimates.......big fucking mistake.  i just wanted all those exclusives and they never happened.  i was really hoping DST would make it up to the backers but nope.  i don't blame them but i find it a little insulting that they let digger claim he'd make them and then have him back out.    they should have laid out the terms with him before letting him use their name.  i know he's the man behind the original line but according to him the line was stolen out from under him.

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I have nothing nice to say about that fraud. 

Any one of us could do something similar. Think a 4-pack of the Wrecking Crew would sell? Start a GoFundMe and see if people pony up enough cash to make it happen. But you'd better factor in licensor approvals and distribution. The latter is why it'd be best if an established retailer or manufacturer/distributor handled such a project, not a wannabe movie star with a grudge against the company.

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Crowdfunding is an interesting idea. It's not all that different from, say, soliciting an item, see what kind of preorders you get from retailers and if they don't meet your threshold cancelling the product. I'm not sure how it would work to make a product for a licensee from a big company like Marvel; you might not be able to offer a Wrecking Crew box set through that means. But could you make, say, cowboys? Or public domain horror characters? Or small-press comics characters? Sure. 

I don't think anyone should extrapolate the experience with Agent 88 to what a larger crownfunded campaign from Diamond would be like. Digger clearly was only interested in getting his movie made and exploited his ties to DST and Minimates to get it done. But Diamond is in the toy business, and I'm sure they will deliver what is promised.

Diamond has always seemed resistant of doing things in new ways, and as an arm of a big company I suppose they have never really had to. But clearly the markets have changed, and all sorts of niche collectibles have thrived by this method. I'd love to see Diamond give it a try.

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and if we are all going to support a crowd funding, I think it would have to start with a set with more than one new character like Star Trek or random Marvel characters.

Hey great news, we're gonna start a Go Fund Me to make a Wolverine 4 Pack.

I would've loved a Bruce Lee set, but you guys can always make a decent custom with some ripped muscles and maybe a Agent Zero head. I made one years ago.

I really wanted to this to sell out crazy so maybe down the road we could get some Bruce Lee movie supporting characters like John Saxon in ETD or Kareem in Game of Death.

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11 hours ago, WookieFodder said:

and if we are all going to support a crowd funding, I think it would have to start with a set with more than one new character like Star Trek or random Marvel characters.

Hey great news, we're gonna start a Go Fund Me to make a Wolverine 4 Pack.

I would've loved a Bruce Lee set, but you guys can always make a decent custom with some ripped muscles and maybe a Agent Zero head. I made one years ago.

I really wanted to this to sell out crazy so maybe down the road we could get some Bruce Lee movie supporting characters like John Saxon in ETD or Kareem in Game of Death.

Honestly the closest model would be Luke’s Spidey Foes set I think. It’s a shame this was cancelled though as I wanted that peace sign hand. It would be great if there was a way to have this distribution online. 

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On 5/3/2019 at 9:34 AM, hellpop said:

Diamond has always seemed resistant of doing things in new ways, and as an arm of a big company I suppose they have never really had to. But clearly the markets have changed, and all sorts of niche collectibles have thrived by this method. I'd love to see Diamond give it a try.

Outside of Hasbro (who is probably desperate to keep 3.75" collectors in the fold) no major companies are doing this. Maybe setting up the infrastructure to do it isn't worth the money they'd make? Maybe they worry about the impact on existing retail? Or, in DST's case, maybe they're more interested in statues than minimates?

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Depending on how desperate DST is to keep the Minimates brand going, they'll have to start thinking outside the box.

I'm looking at places like dollar stores and Five Below as brick & mortar chains that might be interested in carrying Minimates, licensed or not.

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  • 2 weeks later...
3 hours ago, spidermatt said:

I know this is probably a no, but is there any way these Bruce Lee minimates could get made. Maybe later down the line? Maybe reissue them?

Maybe "ask DST", but would likely be speculation.  If the reason they were not made is lack of interest, I am not sure why they would try another route.  

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On 5/6/2019 at 1:02 PM, MisterPL said:

Depending on how desperate DST is to keep the Minimates brand going, they'll have to start thinking outside the box.

I'm looking at places like dollar stores and Five Below as brick & mortar chains that might be interested in carrying Minimates, licensed or not.

We have naturally had conversations with those places.

Edited by DSTZach
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The 80's TMNT line had me super excited about Minimates again.

The Bruce Lee set had me excited about Minimates again.

I didn't really buy a whole lot of Minimates for myself in 2018.  I've bought 0 so far in 2019 and it's looking like that might not change.  

Edited by MisterMiracle
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ah man, i'd love a 80's ninja turtle vs bruce lee set.

yeah, i'm shocked the 80's turtle line didn't get preorders needed.......... minimates are perfect for martial arts!!

the street fighter ones are still my favorites (capcom vs marvel included).  

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I know reserves and there's a whole number of reasons as to why these got scrapped, but...

It's super frustrating to see a set of Minimates get cancelled, but the Vinimates for the same license get solicited a few weeks afterwards. That'd be like Sonic getting no more support, and then DST making Shadow or Knuckles as Vinimates instead

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  • 6 months later...
On 12/9/2019 at 4:30 PM, spidermatt said:

Soooo, i just learned from BBTS that the Bruce Lee vinimates are canceled. Is this true? What happened? 

I have yet to meet anyone that actually collects the vinimates line. I know people pick up one here or there ( hell I think I have 5) but no one that actively seeks them out so this wouldn’t surprise me. 

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4 hours ago, thereasonsy said:

I have yet to meet anyone that actually collects the vinimates line. I know people pick up one here or there ( hell I think I have 5) but no one that actively seeks them out so this wouldn’t surprise me. 

You have yet to meet me :wink: 

If you are a vinimate completist then you can consider yourself one of a very small group of   idiots   people ......it is possible that there are less than 249 of these people.

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