The Evolution of a Collection

[Alpheon]

For me, it was

1. Cool! Marvel Minimates? I love Marvel!

2. There are more then the 5-Packs at Toys "R" Us? Gotta get more!

3. DC??? With "LEGO's"? Sweetness...!

4. MUST...BUY...ALL...

This is where I drowned in a sea of the stuff.

[ZArox]

I get any that I can get my hands on.

But if their is a bigger selection I go for my favorite characters.

[Kirby]

I started with Kubricks!

Seriously, I've been a block-head before there were minimates. I had just started collecting figures in 2000 with the Sonic Adventure and Street Fighter figures from ReSaurus. At some point I saw the Kubricks and fell in love the with genre as a whole. But importing Kubricks was/is a bear. (and sometimes a be@rbrick, ha!) When I heard about Art Asylum producing a domestic block-figure, I was giddy. I was all over them (albeit, I was kind of hiding under the alias "Guillermo Montoya" on the AA boards... It was me, Ivan, a few others and hundreds of Star Trek fans :o).

So my first Minimates were the Spencer's KISS four-pack and all the 3"ers.

I've been around ever since.

[Marquis de Carabas]

for me it was...

1.) walmart, november 2004: "a wee bullseye figure? awesome! I must have"

(LONG HIATUS)

2.) after seeing the batman lego sets released: "I should have my tiny lego batman fight my bullseye... where IS my bullseye?!?"

3.) while searching for a new bullseye at target: "they make blade and punisher ones?!?! I can't not get the punisher"

4.) while in search of bullseye at my LCS: "hey, this store carries the original TRU 10-packs, it's only $20, I'll get this... comes with a cool ghost rider"

5.) browsing a LCS on some random day: "hey, I don't have ANY of these *empties wallet*"

6.) while getting the new avengers pack at TRU: "hey, dimitri and morrigan, now I HAVE to have these... I mean, come on!

7.) while at minimates anonymous: "my name is charles, and I am a minimate-aholic"

[newaddict]

For me it started because of the clearances. My local Target had the Ultimate Cyclops/Wolverine pack for something like a $1.24 and I thought, why not? Oh the naive nature I displayed that day. I swear these retailers are no better than crack dealers offering a "free" first time . I went back the next day and bought up all the clearance they had left. Then I went online and found some clearance LOTR in Amazon, found some decently priced C3 on Ebay, as well as much more in the way of Marvel. I recently found lots of additional clearance on Amazon, such as the Street Fighter figures (which by the way I didn't even realized existed prior to that moment) and the C3 Batcave, which was thankfully only $10. Now I'm on a quest to round out my collection, however thus far I haven't crossed over into the 3" scale with the exception of the Dark Angel figure which I purchased without realizing its scale.

[wallbreaker2.0]

It all started for me when I ws reading a comic and saw an ad for wave 8. I hadn't started collecting toys yet and I didn't want to I just started collecting comics again that was bad enough but I coudn't get Mr.Fantastic/Human Torch out of my mind. I decided I would pick them up, well I might as well make it the whole F.F. Then I looked at the back of the box and it said "collect them all". What was I supposed to do? So I decided that I would "collect them all"not having realized that the mates on the back of the box were only 2 waves. By the time I found out that there were alot more it was to late to change my mind it was out of my hands I was hooked. I've got all the marvel mates save for santa Spidey and gold/silver. I've got a couple of c3's and I've got all the D.C. mates so far. I also have package variants of Marvel. Oh and just a side note I didn't find minimates central or mmmv until I was pretty far into it, but they have clearly become addiction enablers.

[maxcarnage]

I tried to have standards. Like I was not going street fighter or Rocky, or characters that I was not interested. But in the end I got all the street fighter and I just Order my rocky 2 pack. Ohh and those characters that I was interested well some of them I got and some I have still looking kicking my self for not getting them.

[blackwater_park]

Whilst I frequented my local comic shop, the only place in the UK that carried mates at the time, I pretty much ignored the first three waves and the only time I had a real study of the shop's meagre display they had a propensity of Ultimate X-Men from Wave 3 in the blister packaging.

At the time, I thought yeah they're cute but I was strictly a classic X-men kind of guy. My girlfriend liked them but they were passed over in favour of a Marvel Legend.

Maybe a couple of months later I returned to discover that the minimates had been repackaged into a super-cute and storeable wee box and heck... there's Bullseye! The package reminded me of a toy line called Action Jack from the late 70s and Bullseye looked such an angry wee dude!

When I got them home and realised how poseable these little critters were in comparison to Lego men or Kubricks with their fancy knee and elbow joints and as I studied the back to see the others in that wave, the bug still hadn't bit. Whilst I was impressed with the 'mates and my opinion of them had increased remarkably, I was never a huge Spidey fan and my battle-damaged Daredevil was enough for the time being...

Fast forward a couple of weeks and lo and behold, Waves 5 and 6 were in stock. Minimates buying wasn't the purpose of the visit so with the leftover cash I picked up Captain America / Absorbing Man and Stealth Iron Man / Ghost Rider. I remember thinking at the time "hmm.. variant enclosed. Think I'd prefer regular Iron Man, but hey... he's cool!" Little did I know!

It was Cap that sealed the deal. Pound for pound ( or millimetre for millimetre ) it was the best bit of plastic I'd ever bought. I just loved all the little details, his special gloves, the A on his great little mask, the shield and that enigmatic smile.... How can a bit of plastic be enigmatic? I don't know! He just looks dignified.

That was me addicted so I went back within a few days and completed the Wave 5 and 6 core lineups. I really liked the translucent Gamma Hulk I recall. The dreaded "hmm, think I'll hit eBay" thought hit and within a week, I'd scored all the Spider-man related minis from a seller on eBay - including Black Spider-man, in a job lot. Got Giant size X-men soon after and eventually tracked down those early figures and they arrived safe and well in Scotland from New York.

I bought C3 for the DC Minis and stayed abreast of all future Marvel waves and picked up the rare variants I had missed. Got a nice little display that's pictured somewhere on here but I have to admit that my interest began to wane a little due to the very poor Wave 12 and 13 after the highs of the preceding waves - both QC and character choice seemed to take a direct hit. The announcement of DC stoked the fire but the hold up dampened it and as I collected the SOTA street-fighter line, the cancelling of a miniature Ken wasn't received well either.

However, when I finally got my Green Lantern I was a happy chap and with Thor and some decent new Marvel characters getting a shot, the enthusiasm is right back for the little guys as you can tell by the length of this post. Love pretty much everything DCD are putting out and the surprises they keep pulling out for the minimate world. Blue Beetle is only a whisker behind Cap in my favourite list... A great minimate.

I'm a completist only for the DC and Marvel comic book characters and only pick up movie versions now and again but I would be very, very sad to see this line end - even after Hawkeye, Vision, Adam Strange or Swamp Thing have being immortalised in 2 inches!

[Dan]

I started saying, "Just Lord of the Rings 'Mates". Then found all the Marvel ones and said, "Just my favourite characters". That turned into as many as I could get my hands on. I then said no DCD mates, but now own about 4 packs. Alot of them have been in bundles on eBay and I said, "I'll sell or trade so and so", but I got attached and they stayed in the collection.

[Zombieboyfiend]

Funny ideas I had when I first started collecting: I thought the Giant Sized X-men set were 3" minimates (why else would it be called giant size?!?!)

Same here

I thought the box was going to be as big as the TRU 10 packs and bought mine of eBay boy was I suprised.

I started with the TRU 10 pack.

Moved on to the rest of the two packs. Still missing some.

Then to specials ie GS X-Men.

Then some promos.

Now the DC ones.

Who knows.

They are like Lays potato chips can't have just one, eh?

[Dio]

I was like "I'll just get Cable and Apocalypse!" then it went to X-Men, and now it's pretty much any mate I find to be a piece of art XD

[MINI_MYTE]

Geez! Never knew this thread existed. Anywho, here goes:

• Picked up a DD / Elektra @ Wa-Mart.
• Picked up the rest of wave one (sans exclusive) a week later.
• Found the wave 1 exclusive at my local CBS.
• Picked up sets of wave2 2 & 3 including exclusives @ another CBS.
• Started buying Marvel minis by the twosies (because of defective parts).
• Started buying them by the case due to defective pieces, bad paint jobs and guaranteed variant.
• Have bought a case of everything since or by threes (if a boxed set or PX exclusive).

Edited February 19, 2009 by MINI_MYTE

[IndieMate]

Picked up the 3-inch Star Trek guys at my LCS (Thought they were Lego ripoffs)

Picked up wave 1 and 3 sans exclusive at the same LCS (Still thought they were ripoffs...)

Picked up TRU 10-pack and wave 2

Fell in love

[Captain Minimate]

At first, just "Get my favorite Marvel comic guys"

Then, "Maybe all the Marvel comic guys"

Next, "Hey, DC looks pretty cool!"

After that, "Holy crap, look at those MOVIEMATES!!!"

Now It's just, "All Marvel, some DC, and some Moviemates."

[Kraven]

well i saw the first green goblin along with others at the local comic shop, and i have been buying marvel mates and dc mates for some time now

[Lobsterman]

I was just coming out of a bad breakup.

Xevoz was the love of my life. We had so many happy days together, then Hasbro took it all away. I was doing crazy things. Paying $30 per for the unreleased wave four figures being spotted in Singapore (if you were there, you know what I'm talking about). Trying to get a quick fix from Marvel Legends. None of it helped.

I was in a stupor, I stumbled into a local comic store dive, looking for anything to take my mind off those sweet, sweet ball joints and interchangeable parts. I was thinking of ending it all – picking up a pack of Shockinis, and just letting my soul die.

Then I saw him.

Daredevil. Staring out at me from that gently curved bubble pack.

Oh, I had dabbled with block figures before. But Kubricks, with their stubby legs and awkwardly curved, lifeless arms always left me unsatisfied. But Daredevil was different. He moved in all the right places – more points of articulation than I had seen in a figure his size. His tampos were simple, elegant. He had accessories, a belt, mask and billy clubs, that could have easily been painted on, but instead were interchangeable with other Minimates. Interchangeable... just like... Xevoz.

We took it slow. He introduced me to some of his friends; the X-men, Hulk, and later Captain America and Iron Man. He was respectful of my need for time to move on, but I soon was swept up in his two-inch block figure world. I was bringing Lord of the Rings figures with their multiple scales into the relationship.

Then I was customizing. I had tried it before with other, larger figures, but it was never as easy or... satisfying. It was always the one barrier Xevoz and I had; I could repaint, or maybe even try to sculpt a new part here and there, but it always took so much time, and it was always the same werewolf or zombie or robot underneath. Minimates were a blank slate, and I could make them whatever I wanted.

That was all a long time ago. Sure, we've had our ups and downs. Frustration with a lack of new parts. A dry spell when I thought I would lose them forever. But shelves full of two-inch plastic superheroes and movie stars, and hundreds of dollars later, I know Minimates and I will always make it through.

[Bob Harris]

What a wonderful, touching story of pure 2" plastic love. I'm moved and you already got me at the bad breakup.

[buttheadsmate]

To be honest I got as far as the word 'breakup' .....couldn't stomach the rest

Was it too bad ? I might read the rest.

[hellpop]

For me, it was really the DC Minimates that pushed me over the top. I'd picked up a couple Marvel guys, and a couple C3 sets, But it was the DC 'mates that got me to commit hard core. And now I've got a whole raging collection, and guess what? No more DC Minimates....

[Rheul]

I was stuck in traffic and pulled into target to kill time. While in there I found the Cap/Rhino and Hulk/Thing two packs. They were cheap so I said wtf. Then about a year later I found the 10 pack at TRU on clearance, so I snapped that up. After that I had half of the Fantastic Four, so I had to find Sue and Johnny. The only problem there was I had the Silver Surfer and along came the Max Galactus so I had to get him. Then I said I'm just going to get Avengers. That didn't last because it was easier to get entire waves online then it was to find two packs at retail so I had to fill out teams I wouldn't normally go after, like the X-Men. Then came DC only the JLA I said... The whole damn line was JLA related LOL, then BSG, then Star Trek, then Silence of the Lambs... Now I get every Minimate line I'm interested in. These days I'm in dire need of a larger wall mounted display case(s). The ones I use were from Ikea and have been discontinued. I can only display about half of my collection. My Marvel Zombies, Spidey and X-Men related 'mates not to mention lots of second stringers and villains I'd love to have on display are not getting the attention they deserve. Man, I need help.