New Q&A stuff from AA's site

[battlecat]

Voting appears to be over, like four days ago

And yeah, Crawford's never seemed that bothered about Minimates, but his reviews of other toys are great. He does have the Stay Puft bank in there too, which I consider a mate accessory...

[minimadman]

This was in the DST Q&A today.

Andy Teal

Hello! I’ve been perusing the Q&A’s, and I noticed a few recent references to Jubilee! I’d like very much to throw my support in with the “please make a Marvel Select version” camp. She was a stalwart member of the team (What’s this about it being debatable? Pshaw, I say! She hitched a lift in from the Outback years and was most assuredly a fully-fledged member for years, real-world time, before Generation X came along). She was around long before the advent of Jim Lee, and it is true that she’s never been represented in her iconic costume in any plastic form at any point. I think it’s long past time everyone’s favorite little firecracker got her day in the sun! I believe you might be surprised at the fan response you’d get on this one… Ooh, second question, while I’m writing… I’m thrilled to see the upcoming X-Factor Cyclops… is there any chance of completing that X-Factor line-up in the future? Thanks for your time!

DSTChuck: I think its more likely that she gets a MM then a Marvel Select figure. I have to be honest a MS figure is pretty much a no go. For X-factor it was more a chance to do a variant Cyclops then to start building the old X-Force team.

Edited February 1, 2010 by minimadman

[karamazov80]

Well they must release anywhere from 8-20 or so Minimates per Marvel Select figure, so it isn't surprising to me that we are more likely to see Jubi-mate prior to the Marvel Select version.

Edited February 1, 2010 by karamazov80

[Mystery Man]

Hadn't seen that Q & A. Phooey on no Kang.

[Dio]

I'd welcome a Jubilation Lee mate I've actually seen her on a cover at my LCS recently too.

[NorthRaider]

I love that in the same Q&A Chuck mentions that Minimates are basically DST's own version of cross-universe 3.75" common-scale action figures.

Of course, things would be even better if we could actually get some of those other licenses in Minimate form. The problem with the 3.75" scale analogy is that scale actually has the advantage of being put out by a number of different toy companies and that all they had to worry about was making all their characters roughly the same height. (Screw minor trifles like articulation, paint apps and sculpting! ) Right now Diamond Select Toys is the only toy company that specializes in Minimates that I currently know of, and seeing as us mate collectors are pretty much at the mercy of whichever license DST is actually able to put out without warming pegs, it's hard to stay optimistic about the "vast crossover toy universe" dream.

Heck, I would be happy if we got one, repeat, just one good, diverse, well-known, collector-friendly non-Marvel license that doesn't fizzle out after a couple of waves. At this rate I might as well be asking for frogs to start falling from the sky.

[buttheadsmate]

Heck, I would be happy if we got one, repeat, just one good, diverse, well-known, collector-friendly non-Marvel license that doesn't fizzle out after a couple of waves. At this rate I might as well be asking for frogs to start falling from the sky.

It's a double edged sword because without Marvel there wouldn't be Minimates. I know & you know the 2 licenses that would run & run..... Star Wars & DC.

[Trekker 42]

Heck, I would be happy if we got one, repeat, just one good, diverse, well-known, collector-friendly non-Marvel license that doesn't fizzle out after a couple of waves. At this rate I might as well be asking for frogs to start falling from the sky.

It's a double edged sword because without Marvel there wouldn't be Minimates. I know & you know the 2 licenses that would run & run..... Star Wars & DC.

Those two and a resrugence of Trek would do well if they do it right (IE focus off TOS and GROUP WAVES BY TV SERIES)

Harry Potter WOULD have kicked ass, but with Deathly Hallows coming VERY soon to theaters, I have to say, like LOTR, they missed the prime market. I still want Harry Potter minimates, but it's looking like it's just... not happening ever.

But yeah, do Star Wa.rs right and it'll never end. By right I mean Original Trilogy. Sprinkle in waves of Prequels here and there. And forget Clone Wars exists until the moment of last resort. In other words abandon kid recognition for what the FANBASE wants.

[NorthRaider]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that DST should do away with Marvel Minimates altogether. I'm just saying that for once I would like to see a Minimate line/concept that could actually do as well or last as long as Marvel, especially in the event that (God forbid) something really messed-up would happen to the Marvel license.

I honestly believe Minimates as a toy line have loads of potential, it's just a shame DST is still restricted by hurdles like Hasbro or DC Direct or Underground Toys which is why their opportunities to expand the line are limited, and why fans like us won't get to see characters we really want.

This is why I would've supported DST branching out to the art toys market: while they may not get to release Minimates from popular properties they still have an outlet with which to experiment with the format without worrying about things like royalties or likenesses. If DST would take a cue from whatever's hot in urban vinyl today, hypothetically speaking we could've seen things like generic (albeit creatively-rendered) civilians (think Michael lau's hiphop-inspired thugs), kaiju-style monsters, tongue-in-cheek pop-cultural homages (something along the lines of Ron English's work), random anthropomorphised/super-deformed original characters and stuff like that. BUT since DST has already categorically said they haven't considered venturing into that particular market, this all becomes just wishful thinking on my end.

IMO perhaps the biggest things we can look forward to Minimates-wise are the big "video game license" announcement apparently coming up this year, Minimates M.A.X., and whatever it is DST plans to do with Battle Beasts. Of course if something else surprising would happen this year...

Edited February 2, 2010 by NorthRaider

[Mirymate]

It's a double edged sword because without Marvel there wouldn't be Minimates. I know & you know the 2 licenses that would run & run..... Star Wars & DC.

Those two and a resrugence of Trek would do well if they do it right (IE focus off TOS and GROUP WAVES BY TV SERIES)

Harry Potter WOULD have kicked ass, but with Deathly Hallows coming VERY soon to theaters, I have to say, like LOTR, they missed the prime market. I still want Harry Potter minimates, but it's looking like it's just... not happening ever.

But yeah, do Star Wa.rs right and it'll never end. By right I mean Original Trilogy. Sprinkle in waves of Prequels here and there. And forget Clone Wars exists until the moment of last resort. In other words abandon kid recognition for what the FANBASE wants.

Actually run with Clone Wars and ignore the actual prequels. So far that series has been much, much more interesting than what we got in episodes one and two. (One of the problems that the prequels hd was the story Lucas wanted to tell and the story the fanbase wanted to see were two completely different things.) YMMV. But really, yeah Stars Wars, Trek, and DC are the only modern mythologies deep enough and generally well known enough to match Marvel. Pick your reason, but Trek was tried and failed. Good luck prying Star Wars away from Hasbro, at least getting a deal less restrictive than the Marvel deal. And DC... someday we may get the real story of what happened there, but I don't see that "marriage" getting back together.

[drgnrbrn316]

I agree that it would be helpful for the brand to get even one more property that had staying power. You'd think the numbers on the Marvel line could be a selling point for potential licenses. ("We're closing in on the 40th series of Marvel Minimates (not counting box sets), so there's obviously a following here") Of course, we don't know anything about the sales numbers, which would also likely determine a deal.

I can agree that DC would be the obvious choice, since one long running comic franchise suggests that another could strike the same gold. But then, who here hasn't suggested that DC pulled the plug on their line too early. If they had followed the Marvel route of 6+variant with nothing over 2", costs would likely have dropped some, and maybe profits would have seemed larger to the Powers That Be.

But slightly more on topic, I'm all for Jubilee in Minimate form (but then again, I'm pretty much open to anything in Minimate form). I wouldn't take that comment from Chuck to mean she's coming any time soon though. I think he's just saying that the Marvel Select line is reserved for top tier characters, whereas the Minimate line is more open to the wider reaches of the Marvel Universe. That being said, "probably not going to happen" is still more likely than "never going to happen".

[Lobsterman]

Let's not lose sight of the fact that DST is still a very, very small company in the scheme of things, and Minimates, while gaining traction, are still a blip on the toy market screen. I really don't think lack of vision is what's holding them back. They've taken pretty big risks with some of their movie lines – some have been wild successes, some have been miserable failures. But none (other than Ghostbusters) have even begun to look like the kind of winner Marvel has been.

Minimates have never flown off the shelves on a mass scale. They're not universally collected like Marvel Legends or DCUC. There have been times when it seemed like even the bedrock Marvel license was foundering. As Chuck himself said, he's surprised that their factory is even able to produce the things at their price point.

The US toy market is pretty crowded, and dominated by traditional action figures from Hasbro and Mattel. It's no doubt a lot of work to keep the Minimates franchise breaking even, much less profitable and healthy.

[groundhog7s]

I think that with Marvel, you have to factor in all of the newer collectors. Just look at how the size of this board has grown over the last year or so and I think it shows how collectors are starting to find interest in Minimates after all of these years. That's the kind of momentum that should work in DST's favor. But, I agree, the best thing for the future of Minimates would be another big, on-going line.

[Nessex]

I'd be very excited to see a Jubilee MiniMate. The first comic i ever bought myself starred Jubliee - the day she left for Gen X. I think it was Uncanny X-Men #317-ish? And despite her being seen as a bit of a rip-off/mix between Boomer & Shadowcat by older readers, i've always enjoyed her and have fond memories of the 90's animated series. Bring on the Mini-Jube!

[Mirymate]

I'd be very excited to see a Jubilee MiniMate. The first comic i ever bought myself starred Jubliee - the day she left for Gen X. I think it was Uncanny X-Men #317-ish?

Okay, now I feel old.

The first comic I bought myself was Avengers #162, back in '77 (yeah I had to look up the year)

[Nessex]

If it's any consolation - i didn't start collecting till i was in my teen years. . .

[groundhog7s]

No new Minimate Q&A, but Chuck had this to say in the Trek one:

'The first three waves did pretty well for us. Then we decided to move away from just TOS, the thinking being we had covered most of the core characters, and moved to a mixed release. Sales results we not very good and were bellow what was need to continue the line. So for now they are on hold. You will see a new Kirk with our Gallelo shuttle release in later 2010.'

For one, why did they show a BD Spock if it's Kirk with the shuttle. Second, the third wave sold pretty well for them? I'm just not sure it makes sense to me that bad sales on waves 4 & 5 were because they moved away from TOS. It seemed (to me at least) that it was over-saturation of TOS 9including those in 4 & 5) that killed interest.

[Cappy]

I've got to agree with you there. I think the TOS deadweight in those waves dragged down the Next Gen figures. Next Gen stuff should have been transitioned in earlier. Here's still hoping DST sees the true path.

[groundhog7s]

If wave 4 (or even 3) had been all TNG, I believe we'd still be seeing Trek minimates.

[karamazov80]

For one, why did they show a BD Spock if it's Kirk with the shuttle.

I anticipate that they will release 2 shuttles--one "clean" and one "battle damaged." And I agree with both of you guys. Even if sales were lowest for the last couple of waves, you can't analytically disentangle their releases from the previous waves that ended up boring people out of their minds. Folks probably picked up the first few waves, ultimately got tired with additional Spocks and Kirks, and left before the new series' characters were released. Momentum was already gone at that point.

Of course, this could all be wishful thinking. I want to assume that people wanted to buy the more diverse waves. But I did observe that the wave with Khan was the one that got clearanced out for around $10 on BBTS at one point, not the Picard wave.

[Turtle]

We no doubt would. I don't think they can really claim to have ever moved away from TOS. Series 4 and 5 each had a set from TOS, a set from the movies, and a set from other series. The problem wasn't that they moved away from TOS. It was that they didn't know where they were moving to. Another problem was that the main cast was perfectly completed by Series 2. Not a whole lot of incentive to keep going.

Wave 4 should have been a TNG wave. Picard/Borg, Ryker/Troi, LaForge/Data. Wave 5 should have been DS9. Sisko/Cardassian, Kira/Odo, Bashir/Dax. Then there could have been a sixth pick-up wave: Worf/Tasha Yar, O'Brien/Quark, Beverly Crusher/Romulan. I'da been way happier. I think DST really dropped the ball with the later Trek waves.

Edited February 23, 2010 by Turtle

[Mattallica]

No new Minimate Q&A, but Chuck had this to say in the Trek one:

'The first three waves did pretty well for us. Then we decided to move away from just TOS, the thinking being we had covered most of the core characters, and moved to a mixed release. Sales results we not very good and were bellow what was need to continue the line. So for now they are on hold. You will see a new Kirk with our Gallelo shuttle release in later 2010.'

For one, why did they show a BD Spock if it's Kirk with the shuttle. Second, the third wave sold pretty well for them? I'm just not sure it makes sense to me that bad sales on waves 4 & 5 were because they moved away from TOS. It seemed (to me at least) that it was over-saturation of TOS 9including those in 4 & 5) that killed interest.

Uh they actually showed both

http://toyfair10.asmzine.com/gallery/diamo...s/IMG_4536.html

http://toyfair10.asmzine.com/gallery/diamo...s/IMG_4537.html

[groundhog7s]

My bad. I didn't realize that Kirk was different than any other Kirk they had. Is that one maybe season 3 kirk (with Minimate girdle attached)?

[karamazov80]

Looks exactly like the first Kirk release to me. I assumed that was what it was.

http://www.minimatedatabase.com/figure.php?i=377

[buttheadsmate]

Sorry ....every time I see the thread title "Star Trek Mates on Hold " I visualise the words 'Thank God' in my mind. I don't deny that perhaps a few vehicles would possibly sell quite well but another wave ?