UA-100768763-1 Jump to content

Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name...


Recommended Posts

but what's puzzling you, is the nature, of my game...& as you can no doubt gather, I do love the Stone's riff (pun intended) that is this forum's name.

Puzzle yourselves no more though as here I am introducing myself. I'm an Australian bloke in his mid 20's, should anyone reading be a Thunder Down Under themselves, I'm born, raised and reside in the Sunshine State, where fun times await. From what I gather, that's also what Florida is known by to its friends, but I digress. But yes, tl;dr: I'm a 90's kid of the Pineapple State, Australia.

 

Now, were I doing this AFK, IRL if you will, I'd be carefully navigating the introductions while tamping down social anxiety, and burying my Minimate collecting (and similarly less 'hip' hobbies) deep in my 'closet', if you will. But this here is a safe space and ooo-eee I'm incredibly glad I found it. So I might do something I've never really done, and discuss my history with Minimates. 

Now, as y'all may be aware, minimates (as with many forms of more 'niche' figures, and seemingly, with the obvious exception of LEGO, mini figures at large) are rarely available domestically in Australia, at least in my experience. It's perhaps important to note I grew up and came of age living on a farm in rural Queensland, further compounding the issue.

So, let us begin, over a decade ago. A childhood friend of my mother, both of them big fans of glam rock, brings her back some knick knacks from the US of A, including one Mr Ace Frehley of KISS in Minimate form. On later visits back to Australia from my mother's friend, I was blessed with further 3inchers, minimates of my own. I definitely had AA's Kirk, Spock and McCoy, possibly Gorn also, and I also had some of the Bruce Lee range (an early custom, well, kitbash, I made was using shirtless Bruce Lee as the chassis for an Iggy Pop) and remember pining for Alice & Ozzy. So, as with most addictive things, my first hit was free.

 

Later, I'm on that inter web, it's some time just post-2005. My parents have made sure to make/receive the evening's phone calls on the landline, as it's dial up internet allowing my family's battered IBM to ride on the information super highway and, as I hope you know, unless you had a second phone line dial up made using the internet and taking phone calls an either/or decision. Of course mobile phones, and wifi, and so on changed all that. Anyway, I'm deep in it, and on either OAFE.net, MillionairePlayboy or the (sadly defunct) AllNerdReview.com I notice these new fangled Marvel Minimates. I'm enamoured at the smaller size, the range of characters comic book licences would allow them (this is all pre MCU, remember those times! think how well rounded AA/DST had their Marvel roster before much of the public had even CONSIDERED the universe beyond Raimi Spideys and Lee Hulks again I digress) and indeed, for my sins, I was beyond charmed at the use of 3", 2.5, and 2" scales in the Lord Of The Rings line. Times were good.

 

Times were also good with my first TRUE love, and I realise this may be a tad blasphemous: Palisades Palz. The blindboxed second series, which I managed to find around age 8 in a boutique toy shop during a holiday to the Sunshine Coast. I pulled out trench coat Mulder, Tooms, Newborn Alien, Skinner, X... and was already ankle deep in the X-FIles at that point, having rented all 3 VHS specials from our local video store many a time. You can imagine how ecstatic I was, and tbh I consider that moment, of finding my own minifigures IRL, my true 'start of darkness' in terms of mini figure collecting. 

Maybe we can petition for another 4 pack, if not a wave, of X-files mates ?  It wasn't long at all before I was diligently saving my pocket money (my allowance, for you Yanks) and fastidiously researching all year, then begging my mother to take my stack of small bills and put it into her bank account and call a number of toy store I'd heavily researched that STILL HAD an entire case of Die Hard Palz and importantly, shipped to regional areas as remote as where I grew up. & you bet your butt we got em, and that I soon kit bashed a Byers and Langly to be prepared for when I (hopefully some day) get my hands on Melvin Frohike himself. Once again, I digress, but...if you're into Palz and reading this, don't be a stranger :) :) 

 

But this isn't Palisades Palz Plutocracy, it's the marvellous Minimates Multiverse, so I'll get back on track. Once I got my first real job, and perhaps more crucially once I got my first debit card, I could expand my (as you can imagine, already somewhat sizeable) mini figure collection in earnest. That's where the ever exquisite Luke's Toy Store enters my life. For too long, I'd see amazing, eclectic four packs from such a variety of properties in ToyFare (long live print media!) or online, and despite my best efforts I couldn't find anyone to stock it in Aus, or anyone who'd ship such small items internationally without taking the piss (which is to say, lightly ripping me off/overcharging). Needless to say, very few of the minimates in my collection would be there without the fine service Luke provides, and so I feel it's important I give a resounding thank you to the man himself right off the bat. Long Live Loose Shipping!

 

Anyway, sorry for the essay, if you've read this far thank you kindly. If you're looking for a tl;dr, the guts of my intro is in the first para proper but I'm a 26 yr old Pineapple Statesman, which for those in the know means I live in Australia, in what's supposedly the Sunniest State. Looking forward to talking to y'all, and thank you kindly for having me x

 

peace, 

A

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Palisades tempted me as well. So much great product came out of that company. Such a sad ending.

Glad to see you got hooked on the original 3" Minimates as well. Same here! I never had any interest in block figures until then. Been hooked ever since.

Enjoy your stay and welcome aboard!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

it's been a little while between innings gang, but I'm very to be back, and so welcome :) thank you for the warm welcome buttheadsmate, MisterPL, Zach, Luke, Shanester and of course thereasonsy, hang in there my fellow Aussie, I'm glad to be here :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

A very, very belated welcome to you.
Ah - the tragedy of loving minimates, but residing outside of the U.S.
Very luckily, the community here are extremely generous and do an amazing job of helping folks out. I owe my collection to a combination of the lurkers on this forum. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
On 9/4/2021 at 11:55 PM, Nessex said:

A very, very belated welcome to you.
Ah - the tragedy of loving minimates, but residing outside of the U.S.
Very luckily, the community here are extremely generous and do an amazing job of helping folks out. I owe my collection to a combination of the lurkers on this forum. 

 

Thank you kindly for the welcome Nessex, and fantastic and funny location name. I remember being exposed to the happenings of the Oswald State Correctional facility on the back end of a VHS tape left to record late on SBS when I was young, and my young mind had some difficulty reconciling that with the yellow brick road place. Needless to say both a fear of prison and love of adult drama were etched into my mind. 

Glad to hear all of these positive feelings for the community here, I'd lurked for a time and I'm glad I finally took the plunge to registered member :) it's cool to see not one but two fellow Aussies here, and I'm glad to hear of your collection down under Nessex, and also to note your gloriously technicolour signature Wishlist, your aforementioned location tag and of course your elegantly hilarious avatar.

Also, wherever you might be in Oz, I hope you (and any other fellow Aussies reading) are doing okay in these crazy times we're having. Feel free to reach out if you need, and look after yourselves mates

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the kind words! 
The avatar is from a review of the figures over on https://minimatescentral.com/

I'm currently in the capital, but looking to move south as soon as I can find work in Melbourne. Hope you're surviving and thriving, despite our extended lockdowns too, friend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...