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DC Minimates are Dead


Jatta Pake

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Thanks for the scoop. Regarding their replacements, one word- LAME! While I may hate the idea, Hasbro's Super Hero Squad are extremely popular so I don't blame em for wanting to capitalize on the trend. DC Minimates ruled but business is business- I wish em luck.

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No big shocker. . .and unfortunately, news of the Alex Ross JSA means that there is no way for me to boycott DCDirect now :( (c'mon Alex Ross Titans!)

Edited by karamazov80
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You know this news really pisses me off. I've been collecting DC Direct products since their first figure release of Wonder Woman. I thought this would be a great line, was bummed at first because of the scale since nothing like that size was around at that time. Then came Marvel Legends and it was a great time. DC Direct and Marvel Legends. DCD finally started getting a little more articulate with their figures. Then the scale shift happened with Alex Ross' Justice series. I stopped getting DCD figures. They are not even compatible with themselves. Then they sucked me back in with the rebirth of DC minimates. Yet once again scale was an issue. Killer Croc vs. Hulk just looks silly since the size issues, but hey at least it was something right? With eight waves and an exclusive the line was very promising. Hell they gave Marvel a shot in the arm and I think that is why we have finally been getting the mates that we have from DST and Marvel. I'm very sorry to see this happen again to DCD mates, but I'm not surprised as this is the usual with DCD. I've half a mind to take my DCD products and leave them at the DCD booth at SDCC and tell them to stop with the half-assing. It is just annoying to get something promising and them have it stop. I still have never had my big 7 classic JLA from DCD. Hopefully mattel with do it.

Thanks DCD for 10 years of headaches.

Edited by Lantern Returns
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I have absolutely no problem with boycotting DCD. I collected all of the 5" action figures Marvel was making in the early nineties and when I found out that DCD was going to come out with action figures I was so happy. Then the figures arrived and they made damn sure that their figures were towering over the 5" figures like Lantern Returns said. Well, I didn't want my Batgirl towering over my Hulk so I passed. When Marvel Legends came out I just didn't have the time, energy, or SPACE, to start all over again. At first I thought the minimates were kinda silly...but on closer inspection their detail, articulation, and colorfulness grew on me. But the clencher was that minimates were one format that you could get in many liscenses (DC, Marvel, Star Trek, ect.). It reminded me of the good old Mego days when I was a little kid!

Oh well, it was nice when it lasted...but I have no urge to buy any more DCD stuff unless they make something compatible with my current collection of figures.

PS. SuperHero Squad sux @$$ :sick:

Edited by Chazwinski
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I had a deliciously evil thought. Perhaps a campaign should be started to get retailers NOT to carry the upcoming stupid DC Superhero Squad knock-off line. If fans are vocal enough about NOT wanting these knockoffs (which will suck don't kid yourself, they won't match Hasbro's line), perhaps the retailers need to know not to place any pre-orders for these.

Revenge of the DC Minimates!

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Truly sickening to finally see this in a some-what "official" statement. I despise the "party-pooper squad" stuff even more now (no offense to those who like them)! And to think that I very nearly sold my C3 Martian Manhunter in anticipation of his inevitable arrival in series 9 or 10. While we've all had several months to accept this news, I find my disappointment and desperation for more DC 'mates only growing. There was still a glimmer (mind you microscopic...but never-the-less) of hope that we might at least get a few more DC 'mates (while not on the regular basis that we were accustomed to) in the form of a few select boxsets (perhaps once or twice a year), but now with the news of the 2" Squad-types I fear that this dream is simply that...a dream.

On a positive note: "Good-news for DST!", as I will now be aggressively looking for (and buying) parts from their lines specifically to customize into unproduced characters of the DC Universe. Good-bye DC, we hardly knew ye (but I hope you choke on those Hero Squads!). :(

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I had a deliciously evil thought. Perhaps a campaign should be started to get retailers NOT to carry the upcoming stupid DC Superhero Squad knock-off line. If fans are vocal enough about NOT wanting these knockoffs (which will suck don't kid yourself, they won't match Hasbro's line), perhaps the retailers need to know not to place any pre-orders for these.

Revenge of the DC Minimates!

If I thought it would help, I'd be behind it. With any luck, as you stated about the knock-off quality of these (and if these are only available through specialty shops), then I'd suspect that these will fail on their own. However, one can never underestimate the numbers and buying power of tasteless morons; God I pray I'm wrong!! Oh well, "Viva la Revolucion"!!!

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Well, as I promised long ago, I'm done with DC Direct. Despite being a marvel zombie for the most part, I have spent alot of cash on DC Direct stuff. No longer. It's mates all the way. I liked the DC mates, but I can live without them. Oh well, more money in my pocket.

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I had a deliciously evil thought. Perhaps a campaign should be started to get retailers NOT to carry the upcoming stupid DC Superhero Squad knock-off line. If fans are vocal enough about NOT wanting these knockoffs (which will suck don't kid yourself, they won't match Hasbro's line), perhaps the retailers need to know not to place any pre-orders for these.

Revenge of the DC Minimates!

Oy, Alter-Ego comics, you're a retailer. What do you think, would it work? Are you in?

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I talked to Chuck @ WW Philly, he said if DC doesn't do minimates anymore, they could do them if DC gives appproval they're in charge of the license. But I wouldn't hold my breath, it could take months or years.

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I loved the DC range, as did many of us here ,but I guess the answer to why they were discontinued was due to lack of sales. A complete collection of DC 'Mates is,literally, just a 'few clicks of a mouse away' online. Everything DC is ,currently,easily available except for one or two items that are beginning to achieve rarity when sold as single 2 packs.

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I think part of the issue with sales might have been that so many waves were released is so short a time. Too much saturation. If they had spaced them out a bit, I think people could have bought more.

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Isn't it natural to assume that not all of a toy line is going to sell well, though? I mean...they had to KNOW that Stargirl and Stripe would sell less than Batman and Flash. When they decided to give minimates another try, I'm sure that DCD already knew around how many Marvel minimates were being bought...and from the looks of it just as many of us were buying the DC minimates too. Nope, I'm just convinced that they saw how well Super Hero Squad was doing (they're cheaper, and no small chokeable parts!) and then decided to go that route. It's less about poor minimate sales and more about "If we only give them these superheroe squad knock-offs they'll still buy it."

Edited by Chazwinski
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It's less about poor minimate sales and more about "If we only give them these superheroe squad knock-offs they'll still buy it."

If DCD Minimates were making money for the company there'd be no reason to stop producing them. As for jumping on the "Heroes" bandwagon, it seems like a natural choice, they're everywhere. If DCD Minimates were available at mass-market retailers instead of just specialty shops we might not be seeing the end of them.

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Who knows, maybe this is a way for DC to bring us Q-Blox, the Hong Kong company that is doing the Dark Knight knock-off mates. Somehow it wouldn't surprise to me to see them cancel the license in favor of a more profitable one with the thought that they can make more money off of the popularity to their characters.

Then again, remember their first wave of pocket heroes? I seem to recall that they weren't anything to write home about.....

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This whole thing is kind of strange and I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this as a Superhero Squad type line seems to be something that Mattel should be doing. It seems that a totally kid orientated figure line is going to be a tough sell if it is sold only in comic book stores.

I'm a bit dismayed that DCD seems to be constantly searching for the sales bump that comes with starting a new line as they will stop and start lines at the drop of a hat. As most companies try as hard as they can to keep a line going, DCD seems to grow bored as a series continues.

I'm having trouble being excited with DCD anymore as they've killed off two of my favorite lines before the final series of the lines even came out. The final McG Super/Bats line was #1 in sales the month it came out but DCD had already made the decision months before that the line would end. Justice, one of DCD's longest running lines ended with only a handfull of figures left to make...what's up with that?

I find it odd that a company that makes collectables for collectors constantly refuses to continue any of their lines.

Edited by hypno
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hmmmmmmm. I Wonder. If the minimate lines were so good then why did they cancel them. My guess is that dcd just made them and didnt liek them. My conclusion is that they just made htem to shut fanboys up about dc mates. Look where that got them

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DC Minimates did sell. They did not sit and no retailers are not stuck with them. Look how many retailers have wave 1 or 2 in stock. You can find them, but not at many shops. They aren't abundant.

DCD/Georg Brewer admitted these are selling, though not to the level DCD would like. That's the real key. What DCD expects saleswise in order to get behind a line is vague at best, but this situation makes me wonder if they were ever really behind minimates.

DCD has a history of starting and stopping lines with little notice or fanfare, and definitely little input from the collector community they are supposed to be catering to. As has been noted to death, they rarely if ever finish lines, so most of us should not be surprised by them not finishing a single team in minimate form.

I can't tell you what they are thinking, but I think this is a mistake. A line of Super Hero Squad DC figures sounds to me like a failure waiting to happen. Of course, I happen to not like SHS at all, but for those who do, you have to be asking yourself at this point "Will I be getting a complete JLA, JSA, Titans etc, or will this be another series DCD doesn't finish?". Or will you get the usual suspects before DCD moves on to a different style of figures because some other company is having success with them.

Minimates were not a failure on any level. They were not released at too quick a pace. Essentially they were on a quarterly schedule which with four two-packs a wave equals 32 figures a year. At $8 a pack avergae, that's $128 a year. I can afford that.

They also, regardless of the massive debate on this, were not hampered due to character selection. Compared to many other lines, in 8 waves they got about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way to completing a bunch of teams (satellite JLA, modern JSA, JLI, Teen Titans, core Green Lanterns, Bat Family, not to mention the villains). Compare that to say Marvel Legends at wave 8 (granted less figures per wave) and they only had a decent selection of Avengers. By the final Toy Biz wave (wave 15, so almost double the number of waves) they were equal to the minimates. DC Mates may not have gotten everyones favorites in, but the character selection was not a detriment in terms of sales (or collector dedication to the line).

At least in the Denver area, they sold well. Most shops here do not have past waves earlier than say wave 7. The amount ordered for each series was sold and usually sold almost immediately upon arrival. The one store I used to frequent said that until DC mates were announced, they only ordered mates on demand, but were going to order DC mates for the store to stock as they knew they would sell. The retailer response has been pretty positive around these.

The bottom line is that DCD made a conscious choice to go in a different direction, based solely upon opinion and not any fact that has come to light. That's their right as a company, but I hope it backfires. I personally won't be buying any more DC product, but doubt that DCD cares how many of us stop buying. They don't seem to care about the fans at all frankly.

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I admit DC Minimates was the only line I bought from DCD. I have not paid any attention in the past to their business practices, but it seems to me from what I've read that the gimmick for DCD is to keep reselling the same ten characters over and over in different styles as it suits them. I'm a huge fan of Galactic/Adventure/Superhero/Combat Heroes and after this with the Minimates, I seriously doubt I'll give DCD's versions a shot.

I think at this point we should give DCD the finger and focus on trying to get DST to pick up the DC liscense in the future, if possible.

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How bad do you think it would be at the next DST Q&A we ask about the possiblity of DC'mates from DST? I'm serious about getting the ball on this rolling. Even if I have to do some serious talking at SDCC. I will do what I can as a fan to make sure we can at least believe in this hope or just once again focus on moving forward.

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