Reideen1313

But what about Marvel Legends? Those feature an abundance of characters and seem to do well on the mass market shelves.

6" figures have a bigger market in general than normal figures, and Marvel Legends (and its many sister toy lines) are highly saturated with Spider-Mans, Wolverines, Hulks, Things & Iron Mans.

And it does have its fair share of pegwarmers. Characters like Namor, Black Panther, Dr. Strange, Maestro, Vengeance, Sabretooth and lots of other guys who aren't the biggest headliners have been known to collect dust on shelves for quite a while. The figures that sell out are the ones that dominate each shipment, like Wolverine, in any form, or the ones that only come 1 or 2 per case, like Hawkeye and Vision.

I think one of the reasons Namor was a peg warmer is that it wasn't the 'legends' version of the character. Had he been in the green speedos, it would have sold better. Panther, Dr Strange, Vengeance all sold well around here. Sabretooth (AOA version) was a peg warmer - I'll give you that - but I think that's because it's been SO long since the miniseries, people just didn't care. AOA Wolverine was a must have to build the Giant Man fig, so he sold well - otherwise, he'd have been a peg warmer as well. (Just like he was when the AOA 5" line was on the shelves years ago.) Maestro is another victim of a great storyline that's been forgotten - not to mention that the figure didn't come with any of the 'cool' features I was looking for, like a Wolverine skeleton or his belt of helmets.

Hawkeye and Vision are two of the most wanted Avengers 'mates - up there with Thor IMO.

Point is, AA/DST could be doing SO much more with the line. Instead of taking a chance and giving us figures we want, they're playing it safe with constant Spidey, Cyclops, Wolverine and Captain America repaints. Even in a wave like this, we're getting another Jean, another Wolverine, another Storm, another Juggy, and another Beast.

Juggy, Beast and maybe Storm I'm ok with. Where's Iceman? Angel? Rogue? Pyro?

I just want some variety, like we used to get when they were new. Is that too much to ask?

Great work guys! You represent us well!!

Only thing about the LEGOs though is when exactly did LEGO do Superman and Justice League, or have I been out of that loop too long?

LEGO hasn't done Superman/JLA. They've done Batman and that's it. In theory, since all paths thru the DCU intersect with Batman, LEGO could expand to other characters based on the license they have, but right now, it's just Batman.

Interesting story about the some of the mock ups the LEGO designers used. AA's Batman cowl was used as a basis for some initial mock ups. Obviously it didn't fit the LEGO minifig head exactly, but it was close enough for the initial proposal.

Is it just me, or are they down again?

Nope, they're down again. Maybe they've decided to take the forum offline for good. BTW Reideen, I got a kick out of all of your last posts over there. I'm interested to see what they say, if they come back at all.

Yeah, I've actually been wanting to bump those posts for a while now. Unfortunately my home PC was down almost all last week - finally got the cable co. out yesterday to fix it, so I was able to give 'em a little nudge.

Anyone else notice that the site is down? Hmm...maybe they're updating it.

Is it just me, or are they down again?

I agree with Reideen ( damnit that's twice in one week, someone check my temperature )!!

Ok. That's it. I've gotta disagree with myself now, just to restore the cosmic balance!

There are SO many Marvel characters needing 'mate treatment, it's just silly to suggest another Spidey variant. (Even though we all know it's coming.)

Just look at the Avengers:

Thor

Hawkeye

Vision

Wonderman

Scarlet Witch

Jarvis (yes - I said Jarvis!)

Black Panther

Ant Man

Wasp

Yellow Jacket

Super Adaptoid

Korvac

Whizzer

Black Knight

Jocasta

Rick Jones

Captain Marvel

Moon Dragon

Starfox

Ms Marvel

Quicksilver

Marvel Boy

Nova

Warbird

Quasar

Starfox

Ultron

Namor

Kang

Klaw

Taskmaster

Grim Reaper

Enchantress

Loki

Grandmaster

And those are just off the top of my head.

Yet, we get Spidey after Spidey. Wolverine after Wolverine. Cap after Cap. I HOPE the characters above are on the list to be made. If not, someone at DST needs to have their head examined.

They look nice from behind. I'll hold off on further praise (or criticism) until I see the front and facial features. I'm interested to see how well they captured the actor's likenesses.

Who are Gareb and the Shaemus family? They certainly sound like supervillains...

Gareb and the Shaemus's (sounds like a good band name) are an evil cadre of supervillian scalpers, artificially inflating the 'value' of items in magazines like Wizard to turn around and sell the same item at their family store, ToyWiz.

I am insulted to say the least. How can anyone question my fan status or love of minimates?

We're questioning your fan status & love of 'mates because of the statements you've made, which make you sound like you're in it for the investment, more than the product itself. If you re-read your posts, I'm sure you could see how some people could take it as such. Of course, subtle things like inflection and facial features - raising an eyebrow, smiling, etc - don't show up on message board posts, so it's possible people misunderstood your post and thought you were completely serious.

As for the trip to China, I am Chinese and I have relatives who still live there.

Sounds cool. I've always wanted to visit China.

The cost of travel, pain in getting suitcases through customs (Heavy), and the danger of the free market is reason for the mark up. Plus I know that I would pay $20.00 for a M. Manhunter if I didn't have one.

Since you're the seller, that is your option. You can set any price you want. I just think you'd do much better selling them at a more reasonable price - say $7 - $10. A $6 - $9 markup is much easier to take than $19.00 IMO.

It's common sense, buy toys for low price, sell for profit, buy more toys for low price. Don't condemn me for something alot of people do for a living.

Correct - business is built on that concept. Again, a statement like the above makes me think you're only in this for a profit - not for the product or fun of being a collector.

I'm a toy fan/collector and seller in my free time. Yes, you can be both.

You can, but usually not with much success when on a forum such as this one, trying to make a profit on the people posting here. People will remember you either as a great forum member who hooked them up with a 'mate that was fairly rare, for a reasonable price, OR they'll remember you as a scalper who tried to take advantage of them. Your choice.

Art asylum wishes all their fans were spending and collecting like myself.

No. They don't. They're glad you're a fan and buy their product - that's where their interest in you ends. How you acquire the product and how much you pay for the product is irrellevant to them. They couldn't care less how much you pay for a custom. They couldn't care less how much you pay for variants or chases on Ebay. All they see is the inital sale anything beyond that isn't something they're concerned with. If you think otherwise, you're even more clueless than I initially thought you were.

Y'know, the more posts I read of yours, the more I'm reminded of someone from the old forum going by the name Donald Trump. That wouldn't be you, would it?

In Brandon's defense (I know, I know, I'm always doing the unpopular thing...) he did offer me a couple of white blanks 'for my honesty' way back when on the AA forums. I did eventually get them, so at least in my case, he did come thru on what he said he was going to do.

Ady - if you want one, pm me and it's yours. I know it won't make up for the missing prototypes, but it's the best I can do.

Asked about an update on DC Minimates, Neo over at AA says:

"I'm getting info on these and expect something this coming week. As usual, we need to coordinate with our partner before we can disclose information before they're ready.

I understand the next issue of ToyFare will either have a Minimates feature or update."

Reideen - You may need to buy a new issue of ToyFare.

Never. Someone will post the news and eventually scans online. I'll never give Gareb $$ ever again. (Might as well buy 'mates from Toywiz...)

If Minimates are really getting bootlegged, this seems to me a sign they hit the big time. I know Star Wars stuff has been bootlegged, but I'm not aware of any other figures bootlegged on a mass scale.

I'm definitely interested in pics.

Not necessarily 'the big time' just an easy target perhaps.

Kubricks are bootlegged. Hasbro stuff - GI Joe, SW, Transformers, etc are all bootlegged (Batman was a target here while Hasbro held the license). ToyBiz stuff both past and present is bootlegged (Spiderman is the most frequent target). Mattel stuff is bootlegged (usually Batman related here also). Pokemon was a big target in years past - tons of bootleg stuff in that niche group. Gundam is another huge area for bootlegs.

There used to be a couple of excellent sites devoted to bootlegs, unfortunately, The Island of Bootleg Toys just disappeared one day. Undiscovered Playthings was shut down, essentially by Nintendo. They felt the owner of the site was promoting the sale of bootleg toys by having the website up and running. He pulled the Nintendo/Pokemon related stuff, but since the site isn't around anymore, I have to assume either Nintendo or someone else continued to pressure the owner until he took it completely down.

There are still some sites to be found, like this one for example, but they're nowhere close to either Island or Undiscovered.

For the record. I have spent THOUSANDS on minimates. Not hundreds thousands. Think for a moment...

I have over 10 of Minimytes customs - range from $40-$100 EACH

I have 5 Giant Size boxes - range from $40.00-60.00 EACH

I have all the Marvel/DC variants and rare

I have all Marvel and DC minimates period.

I have all Bruce Lee Minimates - range $20.00-25.00 Each

I have multiple series sets for custom fodder.

I have all LOTR minmates period.

I also both multiples (3x or more): Indie Mates, Star Trek Mates, Dark tide, Ultimate Avengers

I am the High Ass Roller, folks.

Sorry for doubting you. Sounds like you have a fine collection. Post pics sometime, ok?

As for the chinese bootlegs, I am going to China Oct. 20th. Last time all we saw were street fighter ones, but I will do some checking on the black market, and post pics. If I can get a bag of Martian Manhunters, please understand I will still be charging $20.00 each as they are identical to the original. They don't have wierd paint apps or wierd dates on their legs. This leads me to believe they are made from stolen or rplica master molds.

If they're $1.00 each, as you indicated in an earlier post, why would you turn around and sell them to fellow members for $20.00? Or, are you talking about a bag of them for $20, which is what the FCBD blanks cost - because if that's the case, I'd be willing to buy a bag for $20. If not, then you are walking a thin line between collector and scalper. I'd suggest treading carefully.

I can't believe the thousands I spent collecting minimates.

Now, THAT'S funny! Thanks for the best belly laugh I've had all week!

While I agree that it's unlikely HAR has spent 'thousands' on 'mates, it is possible to have done so.

Someone here recently said they have approximately 1100 minimates (IIRC - it may have been 1011?) in their collection. Let's assume that individual purchased them all in 2 packs at a fair retail price of 6.99 each. 550 two packs = $3844.50.

Even if you have 300 mates (thats 150 2 packs), using the same above formula, the total spent would be $1048.50. That's not counting purchasing any blanks, gold/silver exclusives or prototypes.

Depending on the collection, it's very easy to be talking about that amount of $$ spent.

Had it been solicited at this price, rather than $69.99 as it was originally, I might not have invested in LEGO and Tech Deck Dudes playsets to create virtually the same thing.

AFX still shows it at the original $69.99 price BTW.

You guys are thinking on too large of a scale here. You need to think big license, smaller line. Less characters to complete the license.

As an example, Tom & Jerry would work.

Tom

Jerry

Spike

Droopy Dog

See? Nice easy line, instant recognition of all the characters, and the whole line can be completed in just one wave. If it does well, it could be expanded to specific episode related figures, such as Tom & Jerry from the Two Mousketeers episode.

Scooby Doo would work also.

Scooby

Shaggy

Fred

Velma

Daphne

Creeper

Again, the whole line can be completed in one wave, but there is room to continue if it succeeds at mass/specialty retailers. Repaints would even make sense AND give us different characters - Scooby can easily be repainted in to Scooby Dumb, Scrappy, etc. Shaggy could wear either his traditional green shirt, or the red one he was sometimes shown in.

Johnny Quest is another such license that could be completed in one line.

Johnny

Hadji

Dr Quest

Race Bannon

Bandit

Dr Zin OR a Lizard Man

Classic monsters - as suggested above - could work well also. Do the classics first. Frankenstein, Dracula, Mummy and Werewolf - if you need 6 in the line, add Creature from the Black Lagoon and Bride of Frankenstein (using the Leader's big noggin).

Based on AA's recent line choices - Speed Racer, Kelloggs, Rocky - I think the above suggestions would stand a better chance of getting done than anything else suggested before unfortunately. Don't get me wrong - I'd love to see SW, James Bond, Thundercats, Dr Who, etc, but they're just too big to guarantee we'd see the complete line and we'd end up with a partial collection, as we have with LOTR and quite possibly, SFII.

Put all the site names in a hat and pick one

I vote either a royal rumble or a Vulcan Pon Farr. MOC can be T'Pau and declare when the contest is over.

NO TOYFARE EXCLUSIVE!!! Remember all the head aches, ulcers, and fist fight offers over the PM/IF pack? No one would pre-order ANY through them because we could get them sooner at a convention. Can I get a witness......

Amen!

That was quite the cluster, wasn't it? AA wasn't talking, Wizard wasn't talking and those of us who preordered just got more and more upset. Kind of seems silly now in retrospect.

Although, I do have to admit, I haven't looked at an issue of Wizard or Toyfare since then - that couldn't have any relation to the preorder debacle.

Aye the pics are pretty amusing, and it wasnt those that were complained about, more the attitude and turn for the worse this thread seemed to be taking..

Sorry Ady. I shouldn't have let Timbo get me riled up. Won't happen again.

I've pulled my part of the chat he and I had.

Congrats Lurch. Kids are wonderful - they'll drive you nuts (much of the time) but they're great.

On a side note, to any of the parents who have little ones, I'd highly recommend buying the new Curious George movie. I picked it up on a whim yesterday because my 2 1/2 year old has been going nuts for the commercials.

We watched it twice last night and are working on our second viewing tonight already. It's much better than most of the crap passing for children's tv right now (IE "My Gym Partner's A Monkey") and it's not a bad little show. At an hour and 30 minutes, it's just a little long for him, but he sits thru most of the show with very little distraction.

Hey, I wasn't trying to get you stirred up Reideen. And I can understand your point of view. I don't agree with all of AA/DST's business decisions. Speed Racer, Rocky, and Kellogg's remain a bane to my existence. But from a strictly business standpoint, no one could justify making an entire line of the countless characters from the Street Fighter games if you can't sell any of them. If the first wave can sell in some capacity, then we can see more characters. And with the wide range of characters they could choose from, its always likely that they not get everyone's favorite character in the first wave. I've seen as many Darkstalker fan's buying this line as I have SF.

I never meant to imply that you had to buy anything, I was just saying the reason you said not to buy was the reason why people should buy. Lines that make money stay around a lot longer than those that don't.

AA/DST have a ton of mistakes under their belts and at the moment they seem to be turning a corner. We're starting to see things in stores. We're finally seeing some movement on new lines like BSG and (ugh) Speed Racer. The "new" Marvel stuff is coming soon. The next few months are going to make or break things for a lot of the die-hard fans of minimates in general. Best we can do now is support them these next few months and see what lies ahead.

No problem DB. Sorry if I came across too harsh.

The bigger issue is that we (not necessarily you and I, but 'mate fans in general) were having a very similar discussion last year at this time with speculation about new DC 'mates, BSG was on the horizon and, like usual, there was talk of 2" Trek coming back.

I'm tired of AA talking about how great things are going to be. I wish they'd start showing me how great they are.

Next thing you know, AA will send emails out to all the potential licencees they have on board for 'mates, blaming a power outage and a wiped hard drive for the delays in, well, everything, like another company, who shall remain nameless, is doing.

There are differences between AA and said nameless company, but with the constant delays and broken promises, they're getting fewer and fewer IMO.

Don't get me wrong Ady - I appreciate hearing the news. I just think, like always, there are things AA could - no, SHOULD - do better.

Communicating with fans who have supported them thru misstep and miscommunication, is at the top of the list. Getting the things out they say they're getting out, when they say they'll be out, is a very close 2nd. Hiring a competent marketing professional is third, but that's more for the continued life of the company than for the fans- who would benefit indirectly.

Sorry for the rant - I'll shut up now.

This is the one thing that'll keep me from buying the 4 packs at TRU. So far, we've got less than half a set of SF figs. Without Ken, Guile, Honda, Blanka, Dhalsim and Zangeif, it's just not worth it IMO. That's not even counting Balrog, Vega, and Sagat. If you're only going to do the job half way, why do it at all? With a line like this, it would have been smarter to get retailers to submit orders for the entire line, rather than just the initial wave. If that wasn't feasible, than maybe they shouldn't have gone forward with the line.

That's precisely the reason that you should buy them.

And I should exercise more, eat less red meat, get more than 6 hours of sleep each night and floss after each meal. Doesn't mean I'm going to do any of the above.

It's my understanding that wave 1 didn't sell too well (mostly due to not being available anywhere, I'm sure) which is what brought the question of when wave 2 would be released.

And that's my (or any other 'mate/SF fan's) problem, how exactly? Isn't it AA's job to sell these things to retailers to get them in front of fans? I don't have to buy anything.

Now, we get Street Fighter 4-packs in stores. This is the final test to see if there's interest enough to keep making Street Fighter mates.

Great. Hope the line makes it. If I see a Ken or Blanka on store shelves, I might just go back and pick up Series 1. If not, I guess I'll save my $$.

If they sell well, then the line can move forward. If they don't, well, there's always Speed Racer, right?

Yet another line I really couldn't care less about after reading the numerous reviews both here and elsewhere. If AA isn't going to put out a quality product (or a complete line) then why should I continue to spend my $$ on their product at all?

Look at it this way.

Lets say Trek mates come back. But, AA cannot make Kirk or Spock. They've decided to leave those characters for wave 2, in hopes that fans will buy all of wave 1 to get to wave 2.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Retailer support isn't there, the only place to really get ST wave 1 is online retailers and Ebay, so they don't sell as well as hoped.

Being one of those fans who didn't buy wave 1 in the first place, would you buy them anyway, just to have a hope of getting Kirk and Spock?

For me, after seeing some of the mind boggling marketing attempts made (or, not made) by AA - like spending $ making a Batman C3 commercial that never aired on TV as an example - I don't have a whole lot of confidence in seeing SF wave 2, so I'm gonna pass.

Thanks anyway AA.

Thanks to a well placed source I have some answers to some of those burning questions people have....

Q: How many Cylons per case?

A: 12 pieces in each case 5 different designs.

Great. Maybe I'll buy some of the classics. Any word on why they're so damn expensive?

Q: Will the Cylons be blind boxed?

A: NOT BLIND BOX! NEVER said they were people ASSUMED! One case gets you at least one of each.

Then why not come out and squash the assumptions when they saw they were posted instead of waiting this long?

Q: How close are we to seeing Marvel Wave 12/13? (release date?)

A: They are on the water now!

Cool. Next question. How long til we get a wave that I'm interested in, rather than all these repaints of already existing figures?

Q: Will there be a Marvel wave 14?

A: YES! News on that sooner then anyone thinks.

But, will we care about it or will it be Cap, Wolverine and Spidey heavy? Maybe a new Iron Man to round out the Civil War tie in?

Q: Will we see a Street Fighter...Wave 2?

A: NOT SURE

This is the one thing that'll keep me from buying the 4 packs at TRU. So far, we've got less than half a set of SF figs. Without Ken, Guile, Honda, Blanka, Dhalsim and Zangeif, it's just not worth it IMO. That's not even counting Balrog, Vega, and Sagat. If you're only going to do the job half way, why do it at all? With a line like this, it would have been smarter to get retailers to submit orders for the entire line, rather than just the initial wave. If that wasn't feasible, than maybe they shouldn't have gone forward with the line.

Q: Is there a P2 Lillith in the JP blind boxes?

A: Can't recall I'd have to dig out the old sheets.

So, happy hunting.

Q: Trek Mates, will they happen, anything you can share?

A: seen some new stuff recently!

As in, I opened a file cabinet that I haven't opened in over a year and there were the style sheets, or as in, I saw prototypes of figures and boxes?

Thanks for getting some answers Ady, but for me, it just raises more questions.

Maybe it's just me, but I think any dissapointment you'd like to express really should live on the 'official' AA forum. If AA wants feedback from their fans, they really should be prepared to take the bad witht he good.