nah g'day everyone i used to post here under another name due to lack of username change feature i've had to migrate rest assured y'all are in safe hands

if you wanna double check your speculations though or say g'day or whatever feel free to pm me eh gang inbox is always open and all that jazz x

i’ve been collecting pretty much from the jump, Marvel is what pulled me in. the logan & storm 2-pack was the start of my collection and there have been a couple times where my interest has wained (different priorities, or mostly characters that i don’t really care to have) but over the last couple years i’ve been picking up some of the things i’ve missed and it feels good. currently i’ve got about 450, and other than a few grail items/army builders i think i’m about done for now lol.

i have watchmen, x-files, and the man with no name trilogy as well. i held on to some C3/DC and i sold my LOTR stuff a while back. the new transformers, gi joe, and power rangers sets look good! too bad i’m not that big of a fan, but i’m excited to see what else comes down the line and to chat with other MiniManiacs!

Puzzle yourselves no more though as here I am introducing myself. I'm an Australian bloke in his mid 20's, should anyone reading be a Thunder Down Under themselves, I'm born, raised and reside in the Sunshine State, where fun times await. From what I gather, that's also what Florida is known by to its friends, but I digress. But yes, tl;dr: I'm a 90's kid of the Pineapple State, Australia.

Now, were I doing this AFK, IRL if you will, I'd be carefully navigating the introductions while tamping down social anxiety, and burying my Minimate collecting (and similarly less 'hip' hobbies) deep in my 'closet', if you will. But this here is a safe space and ooo-eee I'm incredibly glad I found it. So I might do something I've never really done, and discuss my history with Minimates. 

Now, as y'all may be aware, minimates (as with many forms of more 'niche' figures, and seemingly, with the obvious exception of LEGO, mini figures at large) are rarely available domestically in Australia, at least in my experience. It's perhaps important to note I grew up and came of age living on a farm in rural Queensland, further compounding the issue.

So, let us begin, over a decade ago. A childhood friend of my mother, both of them big fans of glam rock, brings her back some knick knacks from the US of A, including one Mr Ace Frehley of KISS in Minimate form. On later visits back to Australia from my mother's friend, I was blessed with further 3inchers, minimates of my own. I definitely had AA's Kirk, Spock and McCoy, possibly Gorn also, and I also had some of the Bruce Lee range (an early custom, well, kitbash, I made was using shirtless Bruce Lee as the chassis for an Iggy Pop) and remember pining for Alice & Ozzy. So, as with most addictive things, my first hit was free.

Later, I'm on that inter web, it's some time just post-2005. My parents have made sure to make/receive the evening's phone calls on the landline, as it's dial up internet allowing my family's battered IBM to ride on the information super highway and, as I hope you know, unless you had a second phone line dial up made using the internet and taking phone calls an either/or decision. Of course mobile phones, and wifi, and so on changed all that. Anyway, I'm deep in it, and on either OAFE.net, MillionairePlayboy or the (sadly defunct) AllNerdReview.com I notice these new fangled Marvel Minimates. I'm enamoured at the smaller size, the range of characters comic book licences would allow them (this is all pre MCU, remember those times! think how well rounded AA/DST had their Marvel roster before much of the public had even CONSIDERED the universe beyond Raimi Spideys and Lee Hulks again I digress) and indeed, for my sins, I was beyond charmed at the use of 3", 2.5, and 2" scales in the Lord Of The Rings line. Times were good.

Times were also good with my first TRUE love, and I realise this may be a tad blasphemous: Palisades Palz. The blindboxed second series, which I managed to find around age 8 in a boutique toy shop during a holiday to the Sunshine Coast. I pulled out trench coat Mulder, Tooms, Newborn Alien, Skinner, X... and was already ankle deep in the X-FIles at that point, having rented all 3 VHS specials from our local video store many a time. You can imagine how ecstatic I was, and tbh I consider that moment, of finding my own minifigures IRL, my true 'start of darkness' in terms of mini figure collecting. 

Maybe we can petition for another 4 pack, if not a wave, of X-files mates ?  It wasn't long at all before I was diligently saving my pocket money (my allowance, for you Yanks) and fastidiously researching all year, then begging my mother to take my stack of small bills and put it into her bank account and call a number of toy store I'd heavily researched that STILL HAD an entire case of Die Hard Palz and importantly, shipped to regional areas as remote as where I grew up. & you bet your butt we got em, and that I soon kit bashed a Byers and Langly to be prepared for when I (hopefully some day) get my hands on Melvin Frohike himself. Once again, I digress, but...if you're into Palz and reading this, don't be a stranger   

But this isn't Palisades Palz Plutocracy, it's the marvellous Minimates Multiverse, so I'll get back on track. Once I got my first real job, and perhaps more crucially once I got my first debit card, I could expand my (as you can imagine, already somewhat sizeable) mini figure collection in earnest. That's where the ever exquisite Luke's Toy Store enters my life. For too long, I'd see amazing, eclectic four packs from such a variety of properties in ToyFare (long live print media!) or online, and despite my best efforts I couldn't find anyone to stock it in Aus, or anyone who'd ship such small items internationally without taking the piss (which is to say, lightly ripping me off/overcharging). Needless to say, very few of the minimates in my collection would be there without the fine service Luke provides, and so I feel it's important I give a resounding thank you to the man himself right off the bat. Long Live Loose Shipping!

Anyway, sorry for the essay, if you've read this far thank you kindly. If you're looking for a tl;dr, the guts of my intro is in the first para proper but I'm a 26 yr old Pineapple Statesman, which for those in the know means I live in Australia, in what's supposedly the Sunniest State. Looking forward to talking to y'all, and thank you kindly for having me x

peace, 

A

During the quarantine I've gone all in on this project

Whenever I'm taking a break from this particular interest, I'm usually found at home, watching my Pomeranian relax in one of his dog beds and watching TV with the wife and kids. Such a simple, yet, happy life. Have a nice day!

How about I just say it's been a long road getting from there to here. Real life got insane the last few years. Even had to completely give up all collecting for most of 2015-2016. Jobs lost, new ones found, careers abandoned, new purpose discovered.

Still married to my ever more long suffering wife. Proud father of a rising high school junior marching band geek obsessed with table-top RPG's (his groups collective excitement for the old TSR Marvel game warms my heart) and a rising middle schooler with a serious Minecraft addiction.

Mostly enjoying this wondrous age of comics-to-film/TV era. Certainly much, much more than the current state of the print universes that spawned them.

And truly missed having the time to be here, and hanging out with you guys.

My buying habits will change, I'll be a lot more picky than I was, and for a number of reasons I also want to cut down on my collection.

I'm sure I've missed a lot so I'm looking forward to getting caught up around here!

Fortunately ,despite the beer that I imbibe ,my girth remains similar to his which remains the same as when I first saw him when FF issue 13 hit the stands in the early 60's. We have little more in common,watching ain't my bag.

Like ol Uatu I watched without interfering for nigh on a year ........it's been tough!

Anyway I just want to warn tell you that I'm no longer comfortable with the Uatu 'thing' .........I'm coming back & I'll be more 'Loki' than 'low key'

-Beavis.

Anyways, I'm trying to get into customizing. There are a lot of characters I want to do - mainly from DC since they don't make those anymore. Right now I am looking to throw together a Flash minimate, and if he turns out well I'll simply follow it up with Reverse Flash. After that, who knows? But any tips on making Flash/RF would be greatly appreciated to this complete noob. I'm using the helmet of the Walgreen Captain America that was released I believe within the past year. Probably just going to paint the lightning bolts on his ears.

The only thing that really worries me is my hands tend to shake. It's just kind of something that developed when I was on a medication for a kidney disease I have years back, and it just never went away. So we'll see if I can actually paint the little details alright.