BuffaloDelorean

I think the black-vested version of Namor is the closest you could get without a decal.

Wesley and Q both wore Picard-type uniforms, and Kira wore the Sisko version for a bit.

I wonder if that had anything to do with Alien Ripley having Aliens Ripley's haircut.

Your second draft sounds more or less like the unmade-but-presumably-approved Marvel Legends Haslab version, so it's interesting that Marvel would have shot it down.

How much like the Legacy versions were the original designs? It's hard for me to imagine something like the Borg Queen's torso from that era of minimates. It's too bad those Worfs didn't make it into Legacy, too, even as swap-out parts for Picard and Sisko.

I got pretty good at identifying blindbagged figures by feel from the Lego minifigure line, but there were a few blindbagged MMs, like the Iron Legions and Ultrons, that were sculpturally identical to another release in the same series.

Have you considered Casey Jones, or Thunderbird with his feathers cut off?

Were designs done up for the packs for the Thor movies that never made it out? Are there two sets of unreleased Hoguns and Fandrals?

I remember thinking that second Angela was an odd pick for her wave, but that definitely explains it. Were there any other characters considered for that Guardians wave? I want to say it was the first specialty wave cut down from four to three different two-packs.

I think Shida's face is from the Marvel vs. Capcom Chun-Li.

Nelson Asencio says a bit about their development here: "PREVIEWSworld: With Art Asylum you designed the Minimates body that's been used in countless characters and licenses. Tell us about that creation… Nelson X. Asencio: If I remember correctly, it was around the year 2000. We were in the process of developing our IPs after we got some investors onboard. At the time, mini-figures such as Medicom’s Kubricks were hot, and one of the things we wanted to do was a “pre-school” line, so we created a few different items. We started our research and picked up as many different figures we could find on the market at that time. I sat down with the guys in the 2-D department and started brainstorming. Also, in the early stages, we were using “Mimix” as a working title. One thing I knew was that I wanted it to be fully articulated since these mini-figures mainly had the basic five points of articulation. So, we hit the drawing board and started designing Minimates, playing with different points of articulations, possible ball joints, and also playing with proportions! Eventually, we came up with the body which has been used ever since!"

The Walgreens version was from the second movie, but she had the first movie's look when she was on Deadpool's Mercs for Money team. If this set's version looks like that, they'll be pretty different.

Well, of those four only Cobra Commander is on the cover that seems to be DST's inspiration, although I know Scarlett also has her own book. It sounds like Snake Eyes hasn't shown up at all, maybe because his movie flopped. I guess it could just be the four corner box heads, but I bet there'll be at least one new character. Not Road Pig, though.

Is it two hero updates and Deadpool, or is he one of them?

Oh wait, it's got to be Negasonic Teenage Warhead, right? Cable seems like a safe guess for the third hero. Has Deadpool fought Cassandra Nova in the comics? What about Black Tom Cassidy?