gledzee Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 now this may sound like a bit of a noob question but how many mates are actually made for each wave as in how many standard and how many variants,just wondered as im shopping online i dont see many variants and wondered how rare they actually are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karamazov80 Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 (edited) now this may sound like a bit of a noob question but how many mates are actually made for each wave as in how many standard and how many variants,just wondered as im shopping online i dont see many variants and wondered how rare they actually are For the marvel waves, you typically get 3 two-packs per wave, for 6 regular figures, and 1 variant. In every case, you get 12 two-packs. You get 3 of each two-pack that doesn't have a variation. For the single two-pack that has a variant (so, Vision/Hawkeye, or Archangel/Apocalypse), one of those 3 two-packs will be the variant pack (or one variant pack per case of 12). You only get 2 of the "regular" versions of those two-packs per case. So, regular Thor is actually rarer than Quicksilver, for instance. Edited June 18, 2008 by karamazov80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadpool Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 now this may sound like a bit of a noob question but how many mates are actually made for each wave as in how many standard and how many variants,just wondered as im shopping online i dont see many variants and wondered how rare they actually are For the marvel waves, you typically get 3 two-packs per wave, for 6 regular figures, and 1 variant. In every case, you get 12 two-packs. You get 3 of each two-pack that doesn't have a variation. For the single two-pack that has a variant (so, Vision/Hawkeye, or Archangel/Apocalypse), one of those 3 two-packs will be the variant pack (or one variant pack per case of 12). You only get 2 of the "regular" versions of those two-packs per case. So, regular Thor is actually rarer than Quicksilver, for instance. You get four two packs, with the variant pack being one of the four for its respective pack. That's what I thought, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Karamazov laid it out I however will come from a different angle. There is one variant figure in each case of 24 Minimates. This variant will never be available again ...... ever,ever,ever!* *....or until it's re-released :biggrin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gledzee Posted June 18, 2008 Author Share Posted June 18, 2008 cheers guys that exlpains the silly price of stealth iron man and put a smile on my face as i just bought the whole archangel wave on the US ebay including variant for $33 works out to be about £17 including delivery any idea any idea of how many thousand of each are made (ie civil war afx set was 5000 if im correct ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 cheers guys that exlpains the silly price of stealth iron man and put a smile on my face as i just bought the whole archangel wave on the US ebay including variant for $33 works out to be about £17 including delivery any idea any idea of how many thousand of each are made (ie civil war afx set was 5000 if im correct ) Now that's a question that I would dearly love to be answered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BannersID Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 any idea any idea of how many thousand of each are made (ie civil war afx set was 5000 if im correct ) isnt that info printed on the sides of the cases? i.e. 816 of 2000 is printed on the side of a dcd case I have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gledzee Posted June 19, 2008 Author Share Posted June 19, 2008 i emailed dst and they just said they dont release production number on their minimates & action figures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 i emailed dst and they just said they dont release production number on their minimates & action figures I emailed DST after reading this & the only thing that they could confirm about 'rarity of Minimates' is that the 'rarest 'mate of all 'is the 'Free Comic Book Day' white blank . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCDX97 Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Does anybody else hate the variants like I do? I loved how the DC line had none, and you could get all the figures you want. This chase figure mentality sucks, and is something I wish they would do away with. I have a few variants, but I wish you could just buy what you want. At least they aren't blind packaged I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Avenger Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I have to agree, variants suck. I understand that the variant sets garner extra interest, and therefore sell really well, but when the company charges the same price for them, and stores sell them for twice or more retail price, that doesn't help the company, and because they are made in more limited numbers, the overall profit numbers can't be all that much different. DST's variants make me especially mad, because when you shell out for a variant set, you don't get your money's worth, because if you are a completionist, you end up with duplicates that most people don't have any use for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stack32 Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I'm not a fan of variants either. Look at Thor, for instance. He's one of top Avengers and a high profile character, but the minimate is relatively hard to get a hold of because there was a variant. Also, per DST's policy, they can't use that particular variant to put a heavy hitter in another wave. I'm not sure how the company actually benefits from this, and it sure doesn't help collectors in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karamazov80 Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 (edited) I think of it this way--with the variants, you are getting an extra figure that you otherwise wouldn't have. Though we did get 8 different figures with every DC wave versus 7 for Marvel, if the alternative was to only have 6, would you rather just do without the 7th? And honestly, they aren't hard to find. You can go to various online outlets, and pre-order or, when they are first released, order an entire set of 4 including the variant for 25 bucks or less. That is less than $7 per 2-pack. Their numbers aren't really limited in any significant sense, unless you wait until after retailers run out of their stock, of course. The issue with Thor is not one of supply, but demand, in my opinion. He is probably the most desired, unreleased Marvel Minimate over the last couple of years. Thus, he is harder to find, but this would be the case even if he didn't have the variant. You do have fewer of him around, but again, if you would have tried to buy a complete set with variant in the month or two after it came out, you probably wouldn't have had much trouble (and if you watch eBay for a while, one of those packs will probably pop up for 10 bucks or less). Be thankful it isn't like the Kubricks, where you might have a 1/96 figure chase, that is in a blind box. The only way to ensure that you get one of those is to buy several cases worth of figures, and to open up each box that might have a potential chase. Even for the Japanese, this wouldn't be cheap. For the rest of us, you have to be a truly dedicated and slightly crazed person to go to the cost and effort to get all of the variants. You should check out some of the Star Wars fans that have done this. Crazy. Edited June 21, 2008 by karamazov80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modefan Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Not sure what the big deal is with variants, lately they have been really easy to get. If you preorder online you can typically get the set with variant for around $25, thats allot less than when it used to cost $35 to get the set with variant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gledzee Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 (edited) Be thankful it isn't like the Kubricks, where you might have a 1/96 figure chase, that is in a blind box. The only way to ensure that you get one of those is to buy several cases worth of figures, and to open up each box that might have a potential chase. Even for the Japanese, this wouldn't be cheap. For the rest of us, you have to be a truly dedicated and slightly crazed person to go to the cost and effort to get all of the variants. You should check out some of the Star Wars fans that have done this. Crazy. i absolutely agree i have a friend who collects various urban vynal and was bought two rather expensive figures for christmas both blind packed ......they were both the same,as for variant im a fan particualarly when its as good as the archangel figures ,i used to buy the odd two pack here and there but after realising the saving when buying in bulk i try to buy a whole wave at once now (im now officially hooked on plastice crack) Edited June 21, 2008 by gledzee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stack32 Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Despite my complaining, I'll admit variants aren't that big of a deal when you can order the entire set for about $32 shipped. That's pretty reasonable, though I don't think anyone wants to get stuck with two Spymasters. I'm still not convinced they're an overall benefit though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battlecat Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 If we didn't have variants, I don't think many of the cool variants we have gotten would have made it into any regular wave release -- okay Black Spidey would have, sure, but probably not Stealth Iron Man, Frosted Iceman, Diamond Emma Frost or Black Electra. I like those Mates because they're cool, not because they were a bitch to find. Even if DST released 8 per wave like DC, we likely wouldn't be getting a lot of the cool alternate versions we have, like Blondy Archangel... we'd get two completely different characters instead (which I'm sure would appeal to some, but I think we already get plenty of Mates these days, when you add in all the box sets and exclusives etc). Plus half the time the variant doesn't interest me (like, say, slapping a beard on Thor) and I get to save a few bucks. So I'm all for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Be thankful it isn't like the Kubricks, where you might have a 1/96 figure chase, that is in a blind box. The only way to ensure that you get one of those is to buy several cases worth of figures, and to open up each box that might have a potential chase. Even for the Japanese, this wouldn't be cheap. For the rest of us, you have to be a truly dedicated and slightly crazed person to go to the cost and effort to get all of the variants. You should check out some of the Star Wars fans that have done this. Crazy. Crazy=me. Beware the assumption that if you buy unopened,single blind-boxed Kubricks that you will perhaps possibly/probably find a chase/secret. The Star Wars Kubricks chase figures( for example) will be placed in certain (very)specific 'normal' figure boxes at random. A canny seller will know this & your chances of getting chases are zero. I'm sorry about the cynicism but I've learnt the hard way & I am only telling it like it is . Buy 'sealed' cases ,accumulate your set & sell off the surplus. It is Multi-level marketing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karamazov80 Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 (edited) Crazy=me. Beware the assumption that if you buy unopened,single blind-boxed Kubricks that you will perhaps possibly/probably find a chase/secret. The Star Wars Kubricks chase figures( for example) will be placed in certain (very)specific 'normal' figure boxes at random. A canny seller will know this & your chances of getting chases are zero. I'm sorry about the cynicism but I've learnt the hard way & I am only telling it like it is . Buy 'sealed' cases ,accumulate your set & sell off the surplus. It is Multi-level marketing. I read something very frightening on the Star Wars boards today, that if you have a very precise postal scale, then you can weigh actual cases (not just boxes) and systematically determine where the variants are by their relative lightness/heaviness. Given that, I am fearful about even ordering sealed cases. When the Ghostbusters come available, I'm really going to do my homework and try to maximize the probabilities of my getting that variant when I buy a case or two. Though this might belong in the Kubricks section, where do you buy your cases from BHM? Do you use a specific online retailer, or eBay? (and note that I only said crazy in that it is crazy expensive for those little fellas, but who amongst us here isn't a little off of his/her rocker with our affection for Minimates? Obviously, I'm just as crazy as I have every intention of buying at least one case of Ghostbusters Kubricks, and I'm trying to budget myself at this very moment so that I can afford a case of Alien figures--it is much easier/cheaper to get an Alien horde this way ) Edited June 22, 2008 by karamazov80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 (edited) I bought a case each of the latest MGS & SM3 Kubricks from ebay & secured a chase figure in each. I was disappointed with the 'spread ' of the common figures & alarmed by the scarcity of one particular SM3 figure. The Sandman figure appeared once in my case which I took to be an anomaly with my case. Not so! I trawl US ebay every day (every day!) & I have never seen an individual Sandman for sale , never Sandman is not supposed to be rare but it is. My cynicism towards the way these things are marketed increases all the time & I'll say it again,if you are a completist these f*"king things will bankrupt you,beware. I'm serious Edited June 22, 2008 by buttheadsmate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karamazov80 Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 My cynicism towards the way these things are marketed increases all the time & I'll say it again,if you are a completist these f*"king things will bankrupt you,beware. I'm serious As a testimonial, I nearly drained my Paypal account yesterday buying Star Wars Kubricks (and I came very, very close to dipping into my lowly checking account buying some more). . .now I'm constantly putting my stuff on eBay for sale to try and keep pace with my spending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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