metaphorge

With as many alternate versions from alternate timelines as there are of Kang, I pretty much figure that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US reading this is a version of Kang; who doesn't want a minimate of themselves?

Wave 36 had better have The Stoat in it or I'm going to quit collecting.

The idea that in the Marvel Universe mutants are for some reason feared when there are, like, a billion non-mutants with powers is ridiculous. So why are mutants so feared?

The out of story reason is the mutants-as-racism metaphor. In story, it's pretty much Magneto's fault. Magneto pretty much showed up as the first guy to claim to be a part of a hidden race of humanity, started spouting his mutant superiority speeches, tried to take over a nuclear missile site, and then a whole country. So first impression of mutants-as-threat stuck with people of the 616.

Rhetorical question, but yeah. Magneto did that way back when, but a lot has changed both in comics and in reality. My point was more that in order to stay relevant, to be believeable as a "threat" in their world, mutants and the X-Men need to periodically undergo changes. Otherwise, the mutant "threat" would be long gone, or at the very least gone.

A lot of people in THIS reality still seem to think people that have a different physical appearance or belief system or sexual orientation than they do are a threat that should be exterminated, so I don't think the "fear of mutants" rampant in 616 is far-fetched. I'm sure things here would be even worse....

Ties with 28 for Best. Wave. Ever.

What can I say? I love my Jim Lee-costumed X-Men.

Now I just wish the Capcom mates had more depth so I could get some serious X-men vs. Street Fighter rumbles going on....

Oy. Vey. Selene?? REALLY, DST?!?!?!?! Was ANYONE asking for her?!?!?!?! ANYONE!?!?!?!?!?!?! A. If you are going to make the rest of the wave 70s/80s/90s you FINISH the wave 70s/80s/90s. B. you start and OLD Hellfire Club, you FINISH the OLD Hellfire Club, not start the new one. C. NO ONE ASKED FOR SELENE. She's not even who almost anyone thinks of when you say "Black Queen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I am sorry, but KILLED this wave for me. I have no interest in Selene other than the vairant, and i Jean isn't the final figure because you made her beyond awesome with a billion accessories and gorgeous sculpting, i'll join Tenime without the the TRU part.

Selene, but not a sight of Jim Lee Jean Grey?!?!?!?!?!?! REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!

Oh, and yes. I may just have to burn down the building.

I'm quite happy to be getting a Selene, actually; I just wish they'd also give us a Sebastian Shaw to go with her.

Hellfire REP-RE-ZENT!

Just got my set in:

This seems to be the best possible result, as we're getting two 'mates that likely would never have seen the light of day outside of Secret Wars (Molecule Man & the Beyonder), as well as the difficult-to-work-in Captain Marvel and the improved version of the tough-to-find Arachne/Spider Woman. The Spiderposse/commercial apologists get their Spidey variant, and Doom is always welcome. There are numerous other places that Mohawk Storm can be worked into the line (c'mon Inferno Boxset) so I'm sure we'll see her sooner or later. It's not like there isn't another new Storm coming out shortly anyway, so we can wait a bit on a fourth variant of the character.

Found a full set on Wednesday. Loving them, especially Cavil (I want a second of the Cavil set so I can display John with and without his hat and coat).

Cavil Cavil Cavil yay!

It's too bad the Trek line was put on hiatus before they gave us an Archer, then we could have bashed together Quantum Leap 'mates....

Scored Bullseye/Moonstone and Wolverine/Sabertooth... they also had armor Spidey/Gargan Venom but I passed (have the armor Spidey, will be getting the Thunderbolts box).

I suspect it was posted erroneously on DST's site, then yanked down, but not before Reddog was able to snag the image (meaning Reddog may join Elhonez on Matt's "list").

"Nice work," to Reddog. I've got a basement he can hide in if They Come For Him.

You clearly said that over-saturation with popular characters would "kill the line" as fast as "overpacking it with obscure characters."

Yep, and I stand by that statement.

I argued that Minimates have always focused on the popular characters over others, and are currently only continuing that trend by continually releasing Spidey, Wolvie, etc. in nearly every wave. Of course, there are so many Minimates being released now, we are getting the obscure along with the less-obscure, but no one was arguing here for an "all Spidey, only Spidey" wave or anything, as you seem to be suggesting (note: stating such would be the epitome of. . .a straw man argument).

But I'm not suggesting that, and clarified that, and you're still arguing against a statement I never made.

What some are arguing is that the wacky, obscure characters may need bigger names to sell.

Some are also listing all the appearances of particular characters in various media over the last twenty years and then debating over whether that's enough exposure to warrant the character being made into a 'mate.

I think that's very silly, and cited evidence of even more obscure characters being made into 'mates.

I also think that excessive timidity in across-the-board character selection will result in the line's failure (note that I did not say that DST has been excessively timid) and, if, as you say, broad sales are dependent only upon the inclusion of popular characters in a wave, it shouldn't matter at all how obscure its box- or wave-mates are. I'm not sure I buy that, but I don't think we need to limit ourselves to character choices that have been featured in electronic media in the last five years or some other high standard of visibility, especially when we're speculating on what 'mates we'd like to see.

If you were this confused about what I meant here, why didn't you just ask questions instead of continuing to argue against a point I never made?

Also, don't you owe me a dollar? ;P I know, I know, I said a "two pack"....

How much you guys wanna bet we see a Ms. Marvel/Ares pack in the near future?

OK, make that a four pack. ;D

Minimates have existed for how long now?

I wasn't joking earlier. I went back through every wave so far released, and only noticed two waves that didn't have any of the characters I mentioned--wave 11 (Rogue/Iceman/Firestar) and 16 (Thor wave).

Straw-man. As I said, with emphasis added:

I'm not making the argument we should do a wave of all obscure characters, just that I think there's been too much weight placed on character recognition by the "casual fan" as primary selection criteria around here lately.

To get back to the point I was actually making, I think it's ridiculous that we, in a discussion forum, subject every possible candidate for 'matization to an extensive "does every kid know who it is?" litmus test (as we did with Pyro in this thread), when we've received, and will continue to receive, a number of obscure characters next to the umpteen Wolverines.

At least they're better than Mighty Muggs.

How much you guys wanna bet we see a Ms. Marvel/Ares pack in the near future? It makes as much sense as the Bullseye/Moonstone or Wonder Man/Union Jack packs.

With the TRU poll out there, I predict a final result of Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Doom and Storm.

I'm a real fan of Spidey but even I've gotten sick of all the versions of him edging new characters out of the running.

The fact that the Dr. Doom won't be made really stinks since this is THE one chance for him to get to show up. I mean, this was when he wore this costume and that's it. Really should be in this set.

In a perfect world, you'd have Beyonder, Captain Marvel, Molecule Man and Storm for the boxed set with a Spidey and Doom set as a TRU exclusive.

I could get behind that.

We got Gamora and Spymaster recently. I think you're overestimating how much recognition a Marvel character needs to be 'mated....

Spymaster was bundled with an Iron Man variation. And I could point to a bunch of Gamora/Nova sets on shelves in my local comic shop that would suggest that the random characters don't have as much selling power as you'd want to believe.

We get a lot more waves that tend to revolve around one of the big names than we get ones with a hodge podge assortment of secondary characters.

I'm not making the argument we should do a wave of all obscure characters, just that I think there's been too much weight placed on character recognition by the "casual fan" as primary selection criteria around here lately.

Being too conservative with character choices will kill the line just as fast as overpacking it with obscure characters.

You know, this arguement about characters being recognized by kids and stuff... Does it really apply that much in Minimates? I mean, are there a lot of kids that collect the line versus collectors?

I can't comment on the actual numbers, but I imagine there is some kid recognition involved. For instance, look at how big of a presence Spider-Man holds on the license as a whole. If it were strictly a matter of collectors, then would we need the 30+ variations? And I can tell you that his webbed face does make an impact. I was showing my little brother the control art for series 29 and 30, and the ones that he announced were ones he must have were *gasp* the Spider-variants in series 30.

That's not to say that characters like Pyro couldn't fly, if the character had a look that really appealed to the masses. I'd just say expect him to need a little boost from a more popular X-Man.

We got Gamora and Spymaster recently. I think you're overestimating how much recognition a Marvel character needs to be 'mated....

Has anyone considered the possibility that we want Spidey in this set so it will sell well to casual fans at TRU? If it sells well, they are much more likely to request more box sets like this in the future. If it sells poorly, we may never see one again.

In that case, why don't we just make it a four-pack of Spiderman, Wolverine, Captain America and the Hulk....

Sarcasm aside, DST asked us to vote for the one figure I'd like to see in the pack. It certainly is not Spider-Man (by my calculations I'll be purchasing at least five Spider-Man minimates in the next 12 months, and I just purchased six in the previous 12 months), so, did not vote for him (I voted for the Beyonder, since it is a Secret Wars pack and he belongs in it, especially considering the character has gotten over 300 total votes). Simple.

I'm not sure Bathing in Mud Spider-Man is the best choice to sell this set to the "casual fan". Unless I miss my guess, this is going to be in-stores around the same time Wave 30 is, and I'm not sure having a Spidey in EVERY box is a good selling point. Won't those 'casual fans' just buy a two-pack with Spidey in it?

When's the cut off on this going to be and the lineup foramlly announced.

That’s right True Believers! Beginning today and continuing until May 31st, fans will be able to visit ArtAsylum.com and cast their ballots in deciding which of their favorite characters will be included in the exclusive Secret Wars Minimates box set.

We could call ourselves Shocker Toys!

Hmm I thought the idea was to be a company that actually made toys?

T.

To be fair, Shocker has actually, finally (after delay #42311672) brought product to market, which I purchased. I'm the first to admit my devotion to The Maxx borders on the pathological....

It does seem kind of criminal that we don't have a Mr. Sinister minimate, doesn't it?

And while we're at it, maybe have Ms. Sinister as the chase variant? ;D

The new Trek film is poised to tear things up at the box office with glowing reviews, so I wonder if Trek 'mates (while not directly tying in to the new film) might get a new lease on life due to renewed interest in the property as a whole....

Even at BBTS, the Hydra Marvel Legends troops went on sale. They eventually sold out, but. . .probably at a loss. Check out the price:

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product...amp;mode=retail

This is the same store that was trying to sell 3 2-packs of ML figures for $90 last week.

I think the variant packed with army builder is a nice middle ground to help satiate those who want multiples, as I don't think that there is a big enough market for army builders to justify selling them on their own. Probably only a handful of board member here would even want more than 4 or 5.

This is an apples-and-oranges comparison. The Hydra soldier was the first (and only currently released) army builder in the entirety of Marvel Legends, and was part of the final general release wave of the line. I think Hasbro missed the boat on making army-building much of a pattern of ML collectors. They're including goons much earlier in the new Marvel Universe 4" line.

Since army building is a new phenomenon to Marvel 'mates it's hard to say how much it will take off, but I know I'd certainly buy a lot more packs containing army builders if I didn't get stuck with extraneous pack-mates I don't need.