Wave 41

[groundhog7s]

HEY GUYS!!! GUESS WHAT!! Minimates are still around. I don't care who the hell is in the damn wave, we have 40 WAVES. That is the best fact of this, to me at least.

Actually, that's not a fact. When this comes out we'll have 39 waves. I'm really tired of everyone (including Chuck) miscounting waves-it's very misleading.

[Mystery Man]

Don't even bother trying to correct me on Fury

And here i thought i was the only one who wanted a new 616 Nick. Hate Ultimate Fury, i much prefer Ultimate Carol to him. But 616 Nick will ALWAYS be the best director, and her needs an update.

Also:

HEY GUYS!!! GUESS WHAT!! Minimates are still around. I don't care who the hell is in the damn wave, we have 40 WAVES. That is the best fact of this, to me at least.

Nick Fury will always be the 616 version to me. He's who I grew up with. I'd love to get a new version of him in a SHIELD outfit, complete with alternate heads to make Dum Dum, Gabe and Jasper Sitwell.

[AllStarMatt]

HEY GUYS!!! GUESS WHAT!! Minimates are still around. I don't care who the hell is in the damn wave, we have 40 WAVES. That is the best fact of this, to me at least.

Actually, that's not a fact. When this comes out we'll have 39 waves. I'm really tired of everyone (including Chuck) miscounting waves-it's very misleading.

And here I thought the Ghost Rider movie as a whole was very misleading

Here's hoping they do indeed release the 616 Sinister as the main version and AOA Sinister as the variant, but I could absolutely live with Ms Sinister as the variant instead. If they do the AOA Sinister though, I hope it's based on the original AOA Sinister art and not the crappy "Return to AOA" art.

[luke314pi]

Here's hoping they do indeed release the 616 Sinister as the main version and AOA Sinister as the variant, but I could absolutely live with Ms Sinister as the variant instead. If they do the AOA Sinister though, I hope it's based on the original AOA Sinister art and not the crappy "Return to AOA" art.

Agreed. In my little world, "Return to AOA" does not exist, kind of like the Matrix sequels.

[Nessex]

Here's hoping they do indeed release the 616 Sinister as the main version and AOA Sinister as the variant, but I could absolutely live with Ms Sinister as the variant instead. If they do the AOA Sinister though, I hope it's based on the original AOA Sinister art and not the crappy "Return to AOA" art.

Agreed. In my little world, "Return to AOA" does not exist, kind of like the Matrix sequels.

Agreed, agreed, agreed!

I try to think of the mini-series as Marvel Universe 296. IE: some other universe that has no connection to the actual AoA.

Edited December 21, 2010 by Nessex

[bilbofett]

I treat the anniversary AOA as a 'what if?'

[Nessex]

I treat the anniversary AOA as a 'what if?'

Worst. Anniversary Gift. EVER!

If i were the AoA, i'd have gotten a divorce from Marvel!

[bilbofett]

The only thing it did(besides suck) was to shoe-horn X-23 in there

[Polarboy]

Not a huge X-Fan, but I can appreciate much needed characters like Jubilee, Bishop, Mr. Sinister and (hopefully) Banshee and Sunfire.

But yeah, that Kang/Black Knight pairing is fast becoming my most wanted pairing ever. I hope we see those guys in 2011. And a Squadron Supreme set would be a lovely addition as well.

My main gripe isn't with these so much as the AoA stuff-- a storyline that lasted for three months from which we've gotten 12 Minimates. That's a lot. Between that, the X-Force stuff (both "classic" and modern), the New Mutants, and the Jim Lee team, there hasn't been a lot of balance between the X-Men and and the rest of the Marvel Universe.

And what's annoying is that, despite this, there still are several X-characters I want. Dazzler and Longshot especially, but also Banshee, Forge, classic Sunfire, Strong Guy, Moonstar... bah. Well, Mr. Sinister would have been on that list, so I'm not really complaining... well, I am, but I'm complaining more about the new TRU wave.

Make Kang and Black Knight already, dammit!

I blame this stupid policy Art Asylum has with the box sets having four figures. The x-figures seem to be hardest hit by this for some reason.

You had first apperance x-men five character four in the box

first apperance x-factor five characters four in the box

first apperance new mutants five characters four in the box

Just for a change Excalibur five character three in the box plus a villian that appeared in about 2 issues of the original run

original x-force anywhere from six to nine characters depending who you ask 2 in the box and a villian (that everybody wanted) and a sort of minor character.

Maybe if they did these boxset properly and ajusted the price when needed, that would patch some of the holes. I wouldn't really care if the two pack were solely the same old crap if we got a half a dozen really nice boxsets a year. Things like the outback x-men or 90's x-factor but give us everybody in one hit, hell a lot of people might even get things like power pack or the new warriors if they could get everything in one box.

[MiniFiend UK]

Not a huge X-Fan, but I can appreciate much needed characters like Jubilee, Bishop, Mr. Sinister and (hopefully) Banshee and Sunfire.

But yeah, that Kang/Black Knight pairing is fast becoming my most wanted pairing ever. I hope we see those guys in 2011. And a Squadron Supreme set would be a lovely addition as well.

My main gripe isn't with these so much as the AoA stuff-- a storyline that lasted for three months from which we've gotten 12 Minimates. That's a lot. Between that, the X-Force stuff (both "classic" and modern), the New Mutants, and the Jim Lee team, there hasn't been a lot of balance between the X-Men and and the rest of the Marvel Universe.

And what's annoying is that, despite this, there still are several X-characters I want. Dazzler and Longshot especially, but also Banshee, Forge, classic Sunfire, Strong Guy, Moonstar... bah. Well, Mr. Sinister would have been on that list, so I'm not really complaining... well, I am, but I'm complaining more about the new TRU wave.

Make Kang and Black Knight already, dammit!

I blame this stupid policy Art Asylum has with the box sets having four figures. The x-figures seem to be hardest hit by this for some reason.

You had first apperance x-men five character four in the box

first apperance x-factor five characters four in the box

first apperance new mutants five characters four in the box

Just for a change Excalibur five character three in the box plus a villian that appeared in about 2 issues of the original run

original x-force anywhere from six to nine characters depending who you ask 2 in the box and a villian (that everybody wanted) and a sort of minor character.

Maybe if they did these boxset properly and ajusted the price when needed, that would patch some of the holes. I wouldn't really care if the two pack were solely the same old crap if we got a half a dozen really nice boxsets a year. Things like the outback x-men or 90's x-factor but give us everybody in one hit, hell a lot of people might even get things like power pack or the new warriors if they could get everything in one box.

To be honest I think only the X-Men FA and X-Factor boxsets are the only ones hit by the splitting of teams and I would say since then AA/DST-TRU may have learnt from that and adjusted any team building case ratio's accordingly.

Only time will tell to be tuthfull but I cant see it being as bad as it was.

As for the amount of minimates in a boxset 4 is fine, I can live with that knowing I may have to hunt for the other characters. I could see larger boxsets pricing some collectors out of the market.

[buttheadsmate]

To be honest I think only the X-Men FA and X-Factor boxsets are the only ones hit by the splitting of teams and I would say since then AA/DST-TRU may have learnt from that and adjusted any team building case ratio's accordingly.

Not arguing because I feel you're right .....but the facts are that 2000 sets of X-Men FA & 2000 sets of X-Factor were produced. I would think that about 1700 FA Angel variants were produced & 2000 sets of X-Factor TRU Angel sets were made.......my source is Chuck who categorically stated that short-packed TRU exclusive are greater in number than LCS variants. I may be wrong but I'm fairly confident about those figures although I'd believe a figure higher than 2000 for the TRU Angel/Warpath set. So initially it all seemed set up quite logically.

What DST didn't anticipate was the debacle over which was the LCS Angel variant & the scarcity of Angel/Warpath sets that hit the market. AFX handled the sales of these 'X' box sets so they were initially exclusive, the FA Angel was a LCS variant & the Angel/Warpath set an ebay exclusive ( ) .......not too bright a move when you think on it.

[mrjasontodd]

the Angel/Warpath set an ebay exclusive

The truth.

[TM2 Dinobot]

Yeah, but they were produced in relatively large quantities. The fact that everyone wants one and not everyone can get one is not DST's fault.

[Rheul]

the Angel/Warpath set an ebay exclusive

The truth.

I found it at retail.

[karamazov80]

I found it at retail.

[TENIME_art]

I didn't.

Nor Bullseye/Moonstone.

Nor Hulkbuster Iron Man/Gamma Hulk.

[Polarboy]

Not a huge X-Fan, but I can appreciate much needed characters like Jubilee, Bishop, Mr. Sinister and (hopefully) Banshee and Sunfire.

But yeah, that Kang/Black Knight pairing is fast becoming my most wanted pairing ever. I hope we see those guys in 2011. And a Squadron Supreme set would be a lovely addition as well.

My main gripe isn't with these so much as the AoA stuff-- a storyline that lasted for three months from which we've gotten 12 Minimates. That's a lot. Between that, the X-Force stuff (both "classic" and modern), the New Mutants, and the Jim Lee team, there hasn't been a lot of balance between the X-Men and and the rest of the Marvel Universe.

And what's annoying is that, despite this, there still are several X-characters I want. Dazzler and Longshot especially, but also Banshee, Forge, classic Sunfire, Strong Guy, Moonstar... bah. Well, Mr. Sinister would have been on that list, so I'm not really complaining... well, I am, but I'm complaining more about the new TRU wave.

Make Kang and Black Knight already, dammit!

I blame this stupid policy Art Asylum has with the box sets having four figures. The x-figures seem to be hardest hit by this for some reason.

You had first apperance x-men five character four in the box

first apperance x-factor five characters four in the box

first apperance new mutants five characters four in the box

Just for a change Excalibur five character three in the box plus a villian that appeared in about 2 issues of the original run

original x-force anywhere from six to nine characters depending who you ask 2 in the box and a villian (that everybody wanted) and a sort of minor character.

Maybe if they did these boxset properly and ajusted the price when needed, that would patch some of the holes. I wouldn't really care if the two pack were solely the same old crap if we got a half a dozen really nice boxsets a year. Things like the outback x-men or 90's x-factor but give us everybody in one hit, hell a lot of people might even get things like power pack or the new warriors if they could get everything in one box.

To be honest I think only the X-Men FA and X-Factor boxsets are the only ones hit by the splitting of teams and I would say since then AA/DST-TRU may have learnt from that and adjusted any team building case ratio's accordingly.

Only time will tell to be tuthfull but I cant see it being as bad as it was.

As for the amount of minimates in a boxset 4 is fine, I can live with that knowing I may have to hunt for the other characters. I could see larger boxsets pricing some collectors out of the market.

I'm going to disagree. In all reality adding a 5th figure to the boxsets should only add 3 or 4 dollars at most to the price of a boxset. So you would then have to weigh up what would put more people off the purchase, 4 dollars or a first apperance Avengers minus Thor?

My guess is people would pay the extra for a complete 5 figure team. Things like new mutants they should have put the original 5 in one boxset and then did a second box with Illiyana, Doug, Warlock and Amara. The first box would have sold really well and most people who brought the first would have probably picked up the second slightly cheaper box as well.

[undeadpool]

Not a huge X-Fan, but I can appreciate much needed characters like Jubilee, Bishop, Mr. Sinister and (hopefully) Banshee and Sunfire.

But yeah, that Kang/Black Knight pairing is fast becoming my most wanted pairing ever. I hope we see those guys in 2011. And a Squadron Supreme set would be a lovely addition as well.

My main gripe isn't with these so much as the AoA stuff-- a storyline that lasted for three months from which we've gotten 12 Minimates. That's a lot. Between that, the X-Force stuff (both "classic" and modern), the New Mutants, and the Jim Lee team, there hasn't been a lot of balance between the X-Men and and the rest of the Marvel Universe.

And what's annoying is that, despite this, there still are several X-characters I want. Dazzler and Longshot especially, but also Banshee, Forge, classic Sunfire, Strong Guy, Moonstar... bah. Well, Mr. Sinister would have been on that list, so I'm not really complaining... well, I am, but I'm complaining more about the new TRU wave.

Make Kang and Black Knight already, dammit!

I blame this stupid policy Art Asylum has with the box sets having four figures. The x-figures seem to be hardest hit by this for some reason.

You had first apperance x-men five character four in the box

first apperance x-factor five characters four in the box

first apperance new mutants five characters four in the box

Just for a change Excalibur five character three in the box plus a villian that appeared in about 2 issues of the original run

original x-force anywhere from six to nine characters depending who you ask 2 in the box and a villian (that everybody wanted) and a sort of minor character.

Maybe if they did these boxset properly and ajusted the price when needed, that would patch some of the holes. I wouldn't really care if the two pack were solely the same old crap if we got a half a dozen really nice boxsets a year. Things like the outback x-men or 90's x-factor but give us everybody in one hit, hell a lot of people might even get things like power pack or the new warriors if they could get everything in one box.

To be honest I think only the X-Men FA and X-Factor boxsets are the only ones hit by the splitting of teams and I would say since then AA/DST-TRU may have learnt from that and adjusted any team building case ratio's accordingly.

Only time will tell to be tuthfull but I cant see it being as bad as it was.

As for the amount of minimates in a boxset 4 is fine, I can live with that knowing I may have to hunt for the other characters. I could see larger boxsets pricing some collectors out of the market.

I'm going to disagree. In all reality adding a 5th figure to the boxsets should only add 3 or 4 dollars at most to the price of a boxset. So you would then have to weigh up what would put more people off the purchase, 4 dollars or a first apperance Avengers minus Thor?

My guess is people would pay the extra for a complete 5 figure team. Things like new mutants they should have put the original 5 in one boxset and then did a second box with Illiyana, Doug, Warlock and Amara. The first box would have sold really well and most people who brought the first would have probably picked up the second slightly cheaper box as well.

the thing i dont get is if dst is only aloud to do 4 mates to a set, why dont they do the obvious 4-man teams. i would gladly buy a set of the u-foes or the wrecking crew. also i would have much rather had an x-force boxset(modern) with the original 4 and then have archangel,elixer,domino, etc filtered into other waves.

[Lobsterman]

I think you guys are missing the sales strategy here. If they do a box set with a complete team,

1) you are completely satisfied, with no need to buy any other extraneous sets.

2) DST has no potential cross-promotional pieces to offer TRU, Previews, LCSs, or whoever as incentives to get them to carry the line.

In nearly all of the four-character box sets we've seen, you've gotten a fairly well-rounded lineup, then been able to (slash been compelled to) get the missing puzzle pieces from an LCS or TRU wave you might not otherwise have been so excited for. It's all about making sure you buy multiple Minimate products from multiple retail venues. It's not at all about creating the fully-self-contained and unassailably complete holy grail box set for any team.

For example, I wouldn't be surprised to see a TRU wave 12 or 13 with, say, Kylun/Pete Wisdom and Fantomex/Elixir to round out the Excalibur and X-Force sets we're getting.

[Mnemosis]

I think you guys are missing the sales strategy here. If they do a box set with a complete team,

1) you are completely satisfied, with no need to buy any other extraneous sets.

2) DST has no potential cross-promotional pieces to offer TRU, Previews, LCSs, or whoever as incentives to get them to carry the line.

In nearly all of the four-character box sets we've seen, you've gotten a fairly well-rounded lineup, then been able to (slash been compelled to) get the missing puzzle pieces from an LCS or TRU wave you might not otherwise have been so excited for. It's all about making sure you buy multiple Minimate products from multiple retail venues. It's not at all about creating the fully-self-contained and unassailably complete holy grail box set for any team.

For example, I wouldn't be surprised to see a TRU wave 12 or 13 with, say, Kylun/Pete Wisdom and Fantomex/Elixir to round out the Excalibur and X-Force sets we're getting.

THIS!

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it's in some way a mandate from Toys R Us, just as with chase figures. Toys R Us wants a reason for people to come in their store, repeatedly. DST wants Toys R Us to carry their product, thereby exposing it to a larger market than just the direct LCS market - i.e. kids/parents.

I can't tell you, as a TRU employee, how many parents/kids I've turned on to Minimates, who had no idea what they were prior to talking to me. Now, if Toys R Us, didn't carry them, these people never would've started buying this product. It behooves DST to do whatever TRU says, just to make sure that product is on those pegs.

Now, maybe no one at TRU is savvy enough to say "Break up that five man team and give us the fifth figure as an exclusive," but they ARE savvy enough to say "We'll continue to carry your product as long as it performs at (insert value)" which leads DST to try to come up with a way to guarantee performance. What better way than making TRU your only option for completing line-ups?

None of these businesses are out to make you happy. That's just a side effect of their pursuit to make themselves rich. The fact that they give us as much of what we want should be considered gift enough.

[insanespidey]

Sorry about the dumb question (I've kinda been out for a while,) but will we always get an army builder from now on? with the variant I mean?

I kinda hope they save AoA Sinister for a two pack with Nate Grey (X-man) or another AoA Boxset.

I wonder about nimrod though. Do you think its going to be original Nimrod? the Second Coming Nimrod Sentinels? Or maybe Nimrod with romevable parts to make him Bastion? I kinda feel like Sinister and Bastion would have more of a connection with the whole Messiah War/Second Coming thing.

[Nessex]

Sorry about the dumb question (I've kinda been out for a while,) but will we always get an army builder from now on? with the variant I mean?

I kinda hope they save AoA Sinister for a two pack with Nate Grey (X-man) or another AoA Boxset.

As far as i understand, each wave for the foreseeable future is planned to come with an army builder. It looks like a trend that DST is sticking with.

I'm still hoping for an AoA X-Man too. Wouldn't mind a Storm, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler & Colossus too . . .

I wonder about nimrod though. Do you think its going to be original Nimrod? the Second Coming Nimrod Sentinels? Or maybe Nimrod with romevable parts to make him Bastion? I kinda feel like Sinister and Bastion would have more of a connection with the whole Messiah War/Second Coming thing.

If he is going to be the army builder, then i would suspect that we are getting the Nimrod Class Sentinels featured in the Second Coming story.

It'd be nice if they included an accessory/add-on piece that turned them into the classic Nimrod too . . . but this may be hoping for a bit much.

[groundhog7s]

Has anyone considered that this might be the Nimrod we're getting?

[drgnrbrn316]

I'm guessing wave 40 is acting as the LCS version of the Heroic Age box sets that graced TRU and Disney stores. It is kind of frustrating that we have to shoehorn these waves into the mix where the folks who have been here a while end up with yet another retread just to cater to those who didn't get in on the ground floor, but its a necessary evil, and so long as they make each revisit different enough to warrant a go, then I'm game for the whole thing. If Green Goblin comes with his glider, and not just a repurposed Menace glider, that makes that set worth it, even if we get a reprint of Heroic Age Spidey. If we get a proper bulked up Hulk or a variation of the Iron Man armor we haven't seen before, then that makes it worth while as well. And Sinister showing up makes whatever he gets paired with, even Invisible Jim, worth the price of admission.

That being said, I think we're entitled to gripe about "yet another" Spidey, Iron Man, or Hulk, since there are so many characters who haven't been done properly or even at all, so long as we can appreciate the necessity of these retreads.

On a side note, while we're talking box sets and the number of characters within, I think they should do an X-Men 198 complete box set, with all 198 mutants from the storyline. Then we'd get them all and be done with it. Except the newly made mutants. And the depowered ones. And all the non-mutant characters that graced the book. Crap, we'll never be done with X-Men will we?

[groundhog7s]

On a side note, while we're talking box sets and the number of characters within, I think they should do an X-Men 198 complete box set, with all 198 mutants from the storyline.

Best idea ever.

I'll take a guess at why this wave is mostly the big name characters in that it's probably sandwiched in between the Thor and Cap movie waves. Perhaps DST's thinking is that movie merchandising-based waves might boost Minimate attention and why not try and show that you do the regular styled characters also. I know I'm not the first to say this, but as much as I'd rather see more attention to newer characters (or at least ones that have less than 3 versions of them done already), Minimates have been gathering a larger audience recently and this kind of stuff just builds the foundation more to be built on.