HRGMann

Not to make everyone feel worse, but I also can confirm Angel/Warpath as 1 per case. This is based on what I have seen today at 2 separate TRU locations. What is really sickening, though, is the fact that the set with that horrid looking Hulk gets more case space than Angel/Warpath.

So, with Nightcrawler, Capt Britain, and Shadowcat we get... Phoenix! One step close to Excalibur! I wonder what the chances are we'll ever see Megan? Is she even around anymore?

Does Rocket Racoon have a sister? Because that would be awesome! ... wait, that sounded wrong on a couple of levels, didn't it?

I think the Minimates should be marketed to the 8-14 age range. I think this is the group that will get the most overall play value out of them. If I had small kids, I’d be buying the SHS every chance I had. That line made for kids, with the added perk that they do some nifty characters that allows the grownups to introduce obscure characters to their kids (Iron Man 2020 and Deathlok first come to mind). I think Minimates are the same, but for the older kids, and the grownups who are either parents of these kids, or hope to have kids one day and introduce these characters to them. Mine are old enough now that if they don’t readily recognize a character, they’ll ask about him/her, who they are, their backstory, etc., and it’s a great way to share stories, and through creative play, make up new stories. Sure there have been peripheral licenses on a small scale, box-sets, etc. for adult collectors, but look at where the bulk of the product is targeted: Marvel, and its big hitters Spider-Man, Iron-Man, and Wolverine. Minimates have holes in their feet that fit with Legos (or C3). When C3 stopped, the holes could have stopped, too, but now they’re the norm, and they allow for greater playability with building block sets. I’m even okay with obscure figures being 2 packs per case if it means the sales from the Wolverine packs are keeping the lines going. Given the relatively low price point, the characters, the licenses, and of course, the compatibility across licenses and with other toys, I think the Minimate as a product has legs that can keep it going for a long time. They just need to get it in the hands of the people that may not otherwise think to want them, i.e. the kids. The adults (“We the Board…”) have already done drunk the kool-aid.

I have in some cases put the masked head on another torso that had a bigger ball joint (at least it felt snugger than the other), and was able to pull the mask off.

I have watched these on ebay since the beginning, and it appears that some of them have gone down to about $15, which always struck me as about the cost of a variant pack from a regular series case (for those shops who don't get the god cases). I expect the folks charging $20 plus at this point will be sitting on them for a while.

Don't know how many folks here have read this series, but I'd like to see Elfquest minimates. With the Muffet and Terror Dog 'animal' mates, I think it would be fairly easy to include some of the wolves as well. Just off the top of my head, we would need mates of: Cutter Skywise Leetah Rayek Picknose Tyldak Winnowill Kahvi Two-Edge And you figure there are multiple versions of some of these characters, plus secondary characters, that these could last several waves.

Of course, I can't speak for anywhere else, but one of my local stores got a case in on Wednesday, and a second case on Friday. Since we don't know production numbers, it's hard to say how many more times it will be restocked. I strongly recommend asking customer service for your local store, using item number 81-0005.

I this had been an exclusive set packed with the Galactus Max-mate, I bet a lot more people would have bought it.

For series 2, I called and asked if they had them using the number 810005. If the service rep tries to look up something by name, there's no telling how it may be abbreviated in the system, so I said "they're Ghostbusters toys, but was told to ask using the item number"

I got my series 28 finally, and the first thing I did was perform a crotchectomy on both sabertooths, both skrulls, and wolverine. Every one of them looks better without the "male enhancement".

None are 1 per case, based on what I've seen. It's 2 packs of each, plus an extra Peter/Terror Dog and Ray/StayPuft.

Regarding the future of this line, I know there are several characters yet to be made from the films, all of which I'd like to see. More ghosts? Bring 'em! But really, what is the expectation of folks regarding getting anything beyond the second 4-pack and the PX pack? If any are done at all, I would expect them to be exclusives, produced in even smaller numbers than what we've seen to date. Or, we'll end up seeing re-releases of the core-4 to get new buyer interest. Does anyone know if the 2 TRU waves were even made in equal quantity?

Okay, just picked these up while traveling from one of my offices to another, and toy karma strikes! The TRU had just put them out, and I bought the case (one set for me, one for my kids); the extra packs were Peter and TD, and Ray with Mr. Stay Puft. I didn't look at the figures, just the boxes, checked out and moved on. Upon closer inspection, I find that one of my Egon/Jogger packs has inside of it... Peter and the Dog. The box has not been tampered with, just a factory error. Oh well. I figured I'd let everyone know to watch out for this, make sure that the figures in the windows match the box. On the plus side, I have an extra Bill Murray head to put on Tyrol's green fatigues for my Stripes minimate.

Wow, no kidding! Between the mask and the torso, I'm surprised the guy is still wearing a smile!

Oh, I remember that plot... Isn't that what Dr. Draken tried to do in the Kim Possible movie "So the Drama"?

I just got back with one set as well. One full case was ont he pegs, and I only left with one set. For me, that was a success in self control.

I'd like to get a plain old regular non-phasing Vision... And I'd like to see Baron Zemo, and for army builders... Brood.

From a couple of ebay buy-it-nows, I received in the mail today full sets of series 1 and 3. I never got the Ultimate X-men mates, and I am very pleased with them. Even though they're old-school mates, I like their designs. So, as far as Ultimate Universe mates, we have: Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Sabertooth Spider-Man, Goblin Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America (x2), and Nick Fury .... and Spider-Woman on the horizon. Have I missed anyone? Was Ultimate Daredevil's costume different from the regular version? Wasn't Ultimate Elektra in black? Who's left except for the Fantastic Four? The Supreme Power guys?

Despite the obvious popularity of the Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Iron Man characters, and the fact they could do 4-4-4 case of these and have them just BLOW off the TRU shelves, I think we'll be lucky to get 2 each per case of Angel/Warpath and MM/SW. If they don't make Angel available, do they really expect to sell the 4-packs? Likewise, though, If we can't find the Secret Wars 2-pack, will as many people be getting the 4-pack? For the army-builder pack-in, I thing they should have waited on the Guardsman and gone with the Skrull. But again, they didn't ask me...

Unfortunately, as long as there's shipping, there will be shipping charges. I know it's the excessive charges you're likely referring to. Still, I have had a lot of success with AFX. Yes, they charge a little higher for shipping, but they also are really good on the customer service side. Plus, sometimes (like now, actually) they run some really good deals on bundled sets. With all the running around I have done on the Toys R Us exclusives, paying shipping and having them delivered would have been nice, if they were available on-line. Hopefully there won't be special taxes on minimates! I can see it now... "we want to tax minimates so we can use the revenue for programs. So, we have to figure out the maximum tax we can apply, while at the same time NOT taxing minimates so high that people stop buying them" Who first called these things "plastic crack"?

I just got the notice that Series 27 has shipped. My wallet could use a break, too. I think the first step is admitting that I have a "problem". I only read the first 2 Ultimates series, and don't remember if Ultimate War Machine appeared in the second series. Is the armor close enough to Ultimate Iron Man's to maybe do a repaint exclusive (TRU, AFX... Luke's Toy Store)?

Yes, Emma had her part in him going from covered in ice to all ice. Iceman was injured in some major battle, had a chunk of his chest torn out, and he was afraid to turn human, thinking the chunk would be missing from his human self. Later, Emma did commandeer his mind, did all kinds of icey-cool tricks, and (I think) told Iceman that he was much more powerful than he ever allowed himself to be.

Okay, my brain is getting fuzzy in old age... the Iceman/Loki thing, did that have soemthing to do with Maleketh, the Casket of Ancient Winters, and Ragnarok storylines that Uncle Walt Simonson did?

I'll try to take a better pic later, but wanted to share this immediately. Let's see your's! By the way, BIG thanks to Luke!