AdyCarter Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 The madness of TF and the early cons delayed this, but here it is. Kudos to the DST guys for this: Before we start, two things: 1 Apoglogies for the odd formatting, this is getting posted from my cell. 2 This is love, you unbelievers! 1. Hi, and many thanks for doing this. My question is, do you guys plan on having any other Marvel Minimate products on display at Febuary's Toy Fair besides the X3, Ghost Rider and Avengers lines, or are any waves beyond those too early in development to be shown? DSTChuck: Thanks for caring enough about these little guys to even have questions! We’ll have LOTS of new stuff on display in NY! 2. Is Abomination planned for any of the next couple of waves of Marvel minimates? DSTChuck: Digger ALWAYS wanted to do him but right now I don’t think he’s on the plans BUT we are just in the next few weeks going to set characters for Marvel waves shipping at the end of 07. 3. . I know there cannot be bigger minimates, but any chance of an even smaller Ant-Man? DSTChuck: In theory I suppose we could. 4. Why not try for some of the cool Spider-Man variations, such as Iron or Scarlet? DSTChuck: Funny ½ the time I read questions that say NO MORE Spidey and Wolvo and the other ½ I get suggestions for version we have not done yet! 5. With Thor and Loki (and more) Avengers announced for wave 16, is there a good chance of more Avengers waves? There's no way to fit every good Avenger in the one wave. DSTChuck: Avengers has always had a very much rotating list of members almost anyone can be called an Avenger if you mean “When is Hawkeye coming out?†– I don’t know… 6. How inventive will you get with Target repaints? Just modifications, new costumes, or even new characters? DSTChuck: We’ll have to see and deal with that as ideas and situations come up. 7. I hate to sound all fanboyish, but any thought of doing the new Ant-Man? He seems more "cool-looking", and may appeal to a greater market that the original. DSTChuck: I’ve honestly got to say we’ve got no plans to do some sort of ¼ Antman. 8. Thank you! You guys have been AMAZING to us! DSTChuck: We have??? 1. luke314pi 9. In upcoming Target 2-packs do you have any plans for unique figures like the Blue Professor X? DSTChuck: We’ve got some surprises planned as we ship new goods into Target, yes. 2. Amazing.JL 10.) With the eventual release of 24 TV Show minimates, do you have a projected line-up for a first wave? Any Ideas? DSTChuck: We’re pretty sure we want to do that Jack guy. By now you should know that each box set will focus on a different season and feature four characters. Exclusive two-packs with additional characters are also on the schedule. 3. 11.) With the eventual announcement of Star Trek TOS minimates, do you have a projected number of waves for this year? Will DST also be introducing Star Trek Characters from TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT? This year? DSTChuck: We’re currently thinking 3 waves of TOS should do it but you never know one way or another how sales will go. 4. 12.) With the release of Marvel wave 16 what are the plans thus far for wave 17? DSTChuck: Sorry you’ll have to wait a little while longer for that news. 5. Posted by: TM2 Dinobot Jan 10 2007, 07:35 PM 6. Thank you guys SO MUCH!!! DSTChuck: For??? 1) Stargate license? Check. Minimate production? Check. Stargate Minimates? Check? Also, any chance for Farscape Minimates? These might do really good in Australia. DSTChuck: We don’t have any license for Farscape and its not one we’re considering right now. Cool show though. 2) Any more Spiderman villains coming? Maybe in the *cough*Spiderman 3*cough* wave, or beyond? DSTChuck: Spidey 3?? What is that?? Will we do more Spidey bad guys – well YEA! My 100th version of Spidey is going to have to have someone to fight. 3) What about a fans choice poll? Pick 20 (Marvel?) characters and let the fans vote each one up or down, in the classic battle royale tournament, and the top 6 get made into a wave! Although you might not want Thor on there cause you know he's gona win. DSTChuck: Right now we don’t have plans for a poll. 4) How much inspiration do you guys take from Marvel legends? I know you don't want to seem to be parroting the line, but as they can pump toys and characters out faster then you, it can't be helped. Do you feel that they steal your thunder so to speak? DSTChuck: Marvel Legends is a real cool line with some real cool stuff in it but no, we don’t feel any sense of competition with them. 5) Any chance of Glow-in-the-Dark Minimates? DSTChuck: Believe it or not the idea HAS been tossed around. 6) Wolvy has new claws for the X3 wave. Can we expect this new claw/hand style to be the norm, or is this a once only thing? DSTChuck: No decision has been made either way but with X3 we wanted them to look more like the movie. 7. Posted by: Fujis Jan 10 2007, 08:59 PM 8. Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions! 1) Why are the BSG Mini-flyers only possible as of right now? I love the idea of the figure/ship combo. I can't even imagine how cool a fleet of Vipers and Raiders would be. DSTChuck: AA showed them to the buyers for a couple years and their was not a great deal of interest. 9. 2) Is there any chance that Ghost Rider, from Wave 15 or beyond, will come with a Motorcycle? And I know you've been asked this before but what are the specific licensing conflicts that prevent it (if you can talk about them of course)? DSTChuck: The DST license does not cover vehicles. 3) What happened in the process that Sentry made it to the shelves with a tampo error? DSTChuck: IT takes many hands, many steps and many months to make a Minimate. 4) Where did the 6' Spock Minimate end up? DSTChuck: Its in my office. I’ll tell him you said “hi†5) Any plans for vehicles and/or playsets for the Trek line? Or any other line for that matter? DSTChuck: Nope 6) Will there be exclusive figures in the Star Trek, 24, and Rocky lines? DSTChuck: That’s very possible. 10. Posted by: Aapje Jan 10 2007, 09:47 PM 11. how u guys doing? DSTChuck: A little tired and busy but I think most of us will pull through – THANKS for asking. thanks for the answers we appreciate it alot dudes DSTChuck: No problem it beats doing my taxes. do u guys maybe have some plans for a accesories pack or something for the mates? DSTChuck: Nope, sorry, no plans. are u maybe going to make bigger mates for marvel this year? DSTChuck: No as we’ve said the license we are lucky enough to have with Marvel will not allow it. 12. Posted by: drgnrbrn316 Jan 11 2007, 02:24 PM 13. How conscious are you guys of the major events that affect your lines, such as "universal" comic book events like Civil War, Planet Hulk, World War Hulk, etc? When lining up a potential wave or other release of figures, is current events in the media that you're trying to capture a deciding factor, or does it make little difference? DSTChuck: Many of us here read a large chunk of the comics that come out each week so we’re very aware. They can’t too closely affect MM because it takes SO much longer to make a Minimate then it does a comic. You said before that capturing real-life people in minimate design is a difficult process. What sort of steps are taken to insure that real-life lines, such as Rocky, BSG, Ghost Rider, 24, etc which are heavy with real-life characters, capture the same luster as the more fantastic lines like Marvel? I myself have never been a big fan of buying "plain-looking" characters, so I guess what I'm trying to ask is what you try to do with these "non-costumes" to make them appealing to someone like me? DSTChuck: Just because its more difficult doesn’t mean those folks at AA won’t nail it. As for why you should buy them – we’ll that’s up to you BUT we’re pretty sure when most people see them they will think they are pretty cool. Oh, and how do you guys come up with so many variations of Spider-Man and Wolverine? I can't speak much for Wolverine's many variations over the years, but I can tell you Spider-Man has gone through quite a few changes hasn't he? Any chance of seeing the black and red costume from back before the color blue was invented? How about when Spidey lost his mask and was forced to use trashbags, websacks, or even Black Cat's mask as a suitable replacement? I was particularly fond of some of the many civilian costumes he's used over the years, not to mention the light blue and pink "laundry mishap" variant he donned a time or two. Then there's Captain Universe, Spider-Armor, Iron Spidey, Electro-Proof Spidey, 6-Armed Spidey, Octo-Spidey, Spider-Hulk, Spider-Lizard, Spider-Phoenix, Man-Spider (two versions), the Slinger costumes, the list goes on and on. Between all the clones, cross-overs, time traveling tales, What If stories, transformation stories, etc, there's a whole host of Spidey costumes to keep the line moving. And don't get me started on artist-specific variations! DSTChuck: Sounds like we’ve got waves up until 20 figures out! How come you guys never release characters after I've made customs of them? I think only once have I customized a character that later got released as a real figure, but that doesn't really count since I made Ultimate Iceman to your regular and frosted Icemen. Do you have a whole team of people browsing through my website saying things like, "Crap, we can't do Goliath now" or "He's made all the Spider-Men we planned on releasing for the next seven years!?" Obviously, I'm joking this time, but it does make for some interesting coincidences. DSTChuck: We’ll you see we send secret all black Minimates out into the right and they check everone’s homes for us and come back and whatever they say everyone is writing in their diary that they want – we do the opposite. Finally, is it true that the prototypes to Wave 16 couldn't be kept in the same room together, because the sheer awesomeness of this wave was too much for mortal eyes to behold? DSTChuck: No the real reason they had to be in two rooms was they were not getting along with the New Avengers line. 14. Posted by: Shanester Jan 11 2007, 04:30 PM 15. drgnrbrn316, you might want to consider trimming that novel you just wrote down to a few one sentence questions. 16. Posted by: Xybot Jan 11 2007, 07:38 PM 1) The Target rolling stock figures are so great ... and the blue suit Professor X is one of the highlights. Do you have any plans for similar variants / repaints in the future? Maybe a non-phasing Kitty Pride, masked Astonishing Wolverine, green costume non-Dark Phoenix, X-Factor Cyclops or any other easy and desirable repaint? DSTChuck : See above. 2) One repaint that people have repeatedly asked for is US Agent. Now that Omega Flight is coming out, any chance we'll get to see him in 'mate form? Seems like a perfect 2-pack would be US Agent and Guardian ... since they're both on Omega Flight AND the whole US / Canada thing. DSTChuck: He’s been on our maybe list for quite sometime. 3) Some collectors are MISBers. Which is kind of funny with MiniMates because if you aren't there when they are being taken out of the case, how can you REALLY know what is inside? (Just a comment, not my question ...) Anyway, since people are so fond of the packaging, has DST ever considered doing blurbs or bio-stats on the characters? DSTChuck: The package is so small we struggle just to get a decent cross sell on there. 4) Were there ever any plans to either release Magnto in an unmasked form OR include a white hairpiece with him (a la Juggernaut)? DSTChuck: To be honest I don’t recall it ever even coming up. 5) Were there ever any plans to make a hover-chair for Professor X? DSTChuck: WE do not have the rights to vehicles and I think that might be a vehicle – your not buying that are you??? Real answer is would be too expensive. 6) I've seen control art for the Days of Future Past Colossus figure ... can you please still release this? DSTChuck: no plans right now but never say never. 7) Any plans to release more Ultimate figures? (Ultimate Fantastic Four, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Thor, Captain America and Iron Man specifically) DSTChuck: Nothing planned right now but that’s a good maybe. THANK YOU SO MUCH! 17. Posted by: XManRCJ Jan 12 2007, 05:32 AM 18. In looking at series recently, it looks like DST is going more for a unified theme for each series(Astonishing wave, New Avengers Wave, X3, GR Movie). Will future waves continue like this?(For example: "Rise/Fall Shi'ar" X-Men, "Planet Hulk", New F4, "Civil War" Thunderbolts.) DSTChuck: That whole unified thing is Robert at AA’s doing – Digger and I preferred the drunken shotgun plan of the early waves. Continuing with the Target exclusive repaints ala Blue Prof X, would you guys ever be able to do a totally new character with previous parts and a new paint job for Target? (Take Phoenix's hair, Dark Phoenix's body, and make Psylocke for example? DSTChuck: Sure it’s very possible. Screw Thor! Where's Archangel? And I've seen Hawkman and Hawkgirl, so the wings can't be the holdup.... DSTChuck: The stealth Minimates team strikes again. Stepford Cuckoos at all a possiblity? I'd love to have set of the Three-In-One. DSTChuck: Magic 8 ball says not looking too good. Is there anyone involved in Civil War other than Iron Spidey that you guys feel would be worth crafting into Minimate form? DSTChuck: Not really a whole lot of totally new costumes out of that the series aside from Spidey – and plus DST has that Spidey fetish as you know… 19. Posted by: Totalus_Kat Jan 12 2007, 02:16 PM 1) How long does it usually take for the designs of the Minimate to become reality? DSTChuck: From someone’s brain to your hands? – at least 9 months. 2) Of all your lines which ones are your favourite to make? DSTChuck I suppose Marvel but I like what we’ve done with the first three waves of BSG the most. 3) Has there been any thought into creating Minimate dioramas? As in the sense of Wolverine Minimate launching himself at Juggernaut? Or Spider-man webbing up Venom, all the statuettes of course in Minimate form. DSTChuck: That’s not something we can really create but its more something for fans to do for themselves… 4) The accessories for the Trek mates are fantastic, is this going to be a new feature of DST/AA to include new accessories? DSTChuck: Not sure what you mean, Marvel and BSG and Street Fighter had accessories. 20. Posted by: XManRCJ Jan 14 2007, 07:39 PM 21. I thought of more! DSTChuck: OH JOY! 1)In reguards to possible Target variants, would a Diamond Astonishing Emma be possible, or does Diamond White Queen kill that? You could package her with Masked Astonishing Wolverine DSTChuck: Anythings possible but we’re not going to get carried away with the changes in the Target shipments. 2)Does Thunderbird I negate us ever seeing Warpath? DSTChuck: No, the fact that he’s a cruddy character does – just kidding – but honestly, he’s not in the plans. 3)Any chances of another boxed set ala GSXM? Perhaps Age of Apocalypse? I'd love to see characters from that story, especially ones that have lasted, like X-Man, Dark Beast, Sunfire, etc. And remember, that's a version of Wolverine you haven't done yet DSTChuck: YES we’re going to do more box sets. 4)Moving on to MU, any thoughts on a T-Bolts set? And would you do a classic or post-Civil War? I'd think it be neat to do the Bolts in a set like Zemo/Citizen V, Screaming Mimi/Songbird.... DSTChuck: none of those have really been discussed. 5)Are there any Marvel Characters you think would make good exclusives vs being part of a mainstream wave? DSTChuck: Early on I think we had a good plan with characters like PowerMan and Iron fist being exclusives – I’d like to get back to a plan more like that. 22. Posted by: Energy-Man Jan 15 2007, 06:10 AM 23. well... 1) will there be a 2 wave Civil war line (secret avengers) (iron man avengers *ewwww*)? DSTChuck: Not sure. 2) A Hawkeye minimate (w/ accessories)? DSTChuck: We haven’t seen too many fan request for him yet so not sure. 24. Posted by: MINI_MYTE Jan 16 2007, 03:20 AM 25. In the last Q&A you said that there could be a possibility of more boxed sets down the road. Which kind? Repacked mass market type like the ones at TRU or original minimates and packaging like the Giant Sized X-men 6 pack? DSTChuck: More new stuff. 26. Posted by: Rad Jan 16 2007, 12:43 PM 1) Will DST/AA make a Captain Britain Minimate? DSTChuck : Never say never. But I wouldn’t hold my breath… 2) Oh and here's a total no-brainer that'll probably see me lynched. Scarlet Spider? Considering all the spidey variations we've had I'm amazed we've not seen Ben Reilly in his hoody. Go on Chuck, make a Scarlet Spider minimate. You know it makes sense! DSTChuck: Every version of Spider-Man has been and always will be considered at all times! 3) With regards to quality control, you stated in the last Q&A that people with quality issues should raise them with DST, and DST will do their best to resolve them. How does that stand with people outside the US? Is there anyone in say the UK or Europe that we can talk to? (My Sentry variants leg snapped at the T-piece. I wasn't impressed) DSTChuck: You can still email us, our store doesn’t ship worldwide but CS is worldwide!! Thanks dude. 27. Posted by: newaddict Jan 17 2007, 08:35 PM 28. Does the "boxed set" format allow for creation of characters which on their own might not make the traditional wave cut? For instance, as a big fan of the Runaways, would we be more likely to see them offered in a box set, or in the more traditional two pack style? Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to our questions and produce such a wonderfully addictive line. And PS, both Spiderman and Wolverine have been featured in the Runaways. I'm just saying. DSTChuck: Yes and no, we liked the boxed sets so we mix in an exclusive character so in that respect YES, BUT we also like the boxed sets for lines we think are more a casual one off purchase and are not condusive to chase them all collecting – like Back to the Future. 29. Posted by: Alpheon Jan 19 2007, 01:58 AM 30. Is there a "limit" of sorts for the number of Minimates in boxed sets? The Marvel TRU-Exclusive 10-Pack was a daring move, but since then there have pretty much just been 5-Packs, if those count as boxed sets. Speaking of the 10-Pack, how well did that sell? Speaking of boxed sets, what constitutes a "boxed-" or "box-set"? Thank you very much. You've been very generous with your time. DSTChuck: I don’t see us doing more 10 packs, the original one was a specific request from TRU for a need they had… We’d like to see 4 or at the tops 5 to keep the price as low as possible. 31. Posted by: skull buster Jan 20 2007, 11:48 PM 32. hi i just wanted to thank you for being incredibly helpful in the last Q&A. since you said that there was mostly likely going to be only one wave of X3 mates, could there by any chance be an convention exclusive 2-pack of iceman and pyro. DSTChuck: Honestly man its cool I like doing these if I don’t …. Sorry this one took so long with Toy Fair and NYCC. Just charged you guys care and love collecting the little guys. We’d like to do some more X3 but we’ll just have to see how sales on the first wave go. 33. Posted by: O.B Jan 21 2007, 01:12 AM 34. Hi, just like to say thanks for wave 16 DSTChuck: No problem and thanks for your patience. - Am a big Rocky fan, and I was just wondering if the first Rocky set was based on Rocky 1, and if any more sets are released will these be based on the other films, like set 2 would feature Apollo Creed, set 3 Clubber Lang, set 4 Ivan Drago etc... (I never got the 3 inch Mr.T, I much rather have a 2 inch version ) DSTChuck: Yes the 1st set will be based on the first movie and if sales are there we’d like nothing more then to cover all the movies and just keep going! 35. Posted by: boonimusprime Jan 21 2007, 06:35 PM 36. Hi DSTChuck: HI! Thank you for your time. Couple questions: 1. Is there a chance we could see the Giant Size X-Men two packs at retail again? The characters seem to be very popular, and they vanished in almost no time at all. Another release of Nightcrawler would be nice. DSTChuck: You never know what will happen or what timing might work out but right now we have no plans.. 2. Have you looked into the possibilty of taking on the Doctor Who license? That show has a passionate following, the series has had new life breathed into it much like Battlestar Galactica has, and I bet Who 'mates could sell very well. DSTChuck: Yes we’ve thought about it, for now we are passing, in the past Dr. Who product has had trouble finding a following in the US. 37. Posted by: Samwise Gamgee Jan 21 2007, 10:01 PM 38. Hello, Have you guys ever considered making both minimates in a variant pack variants? For example, the new movie X-Men wave could have seen Wolverine being disintegrated as well as clear Phoenix. (from the end of the film) I know in the past I have passed on most variant packs due to not wanting a duplicate figure. DSTChuck: That’s a tough one – I know collectors don’t like the double up and we’ve thought about making that figure more of an army builder and we’re worried if we made it two new figures that migth really not be fair to collectors that can’t find one. We try and keep the short pack to a variant outfit if we can not a variant character in case people can’t find it their area. 39. Also, I asked this back in November on the AA boards but never got a reply: Are the post-wave 1 Battlestar minimate faces 'set in stone' or can they be tweaked? (specifically Tyrol and Tigh- to be more like the promo art) Thanks DSTChuck: None of what’s been show is final production so changes will be ongoing. 40. Posted by: gerg Jan 23 2007, 08:37 PM 41. A question for my GCSE here: what do you think makes Minimates so popular? And, if you had to choose one deciding factor of their design (including things like price, etc.) as the reason for their popularity, what would it be? DSTChuck: playability – fun factor. Many thanks, Greg. 42. Posted by: groundhog7s Jan 24 2007, 07:40 PM 43. -How are most licenses attained? Does DST go after a license or are you guys ever approached by licensors? DSTChuck: At this point it’s a mix but I’d say most times we go after the license rather then they call us. -Any chance of Minimates being offered through other retailers or is what we've seen probably going to be what we get? DSTChuck: We’re always out there trying – if you want a retailer to carry MM best thing you can do is go to the store and tell them or write a letter or email. -Dst has announced a lot of Minimate info recently. Will there be any suprises at Toy Fair this year or do we know most of what's coming out? By the way, thanks for not making us wait for what you've shown so far. DSTChuck: You tell me – where you surprised?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanester Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Thanks Chuck!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reideen1313 Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 20. Posted by: XManRCJ Jan 14 2007, 07:39 PM 21. I thought of more! DSTChuck: OH JOY! I love Chuck... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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