pawcanada

I pretty much second everything Lobsterman said. As it stands I'm more interested in fantasy based characters than police men etc., so if I can add some Knights, Ninjas and Samurais to my collection, I'm all for it. Again, I agree. One thing I loved the most about the Street Fighter waves was the additional accessories they offered. Granted we've not seen the Hadouken blasts used again since Hydroman, but one can hope. If they can add any of the accessories to the main line then I think everyone can benefit. It's the constant evolution from new licences and waves (i.e. C3 feet) that I love the most about Minimates.

I'm looking forward to them myself. Like many geeks I'm big on the whole "Pirates vs Ninjas" rivalry, and after recently ordering some of the custom Ninja mates from Luke's site, I'll need some pirates for them to face off against. Plus I just love the designs we've seen so far, especally the swashbuckling hero and ghost pirate. Definitly looking forward to adding them to my collection.

I'm loving the Lego Vampire/Dracula. Looks like my minimates will have to share self space with Lego soon

Thanks for the comments NorhRaider. Your comment about "how many times has this changed hands" is something I hadn't really considered. I recently bought fourteen mates off a guy in the UK, including a Martian Manhunter and Darksied mate. Considering how rare those two can be (least from my experiences), now you mention it, I do wonder if the guy I bought it form was the first or fifth person to own them. I will mention though, two of the mates I got from him (as well as a Cap mate I got last year) had faults. The Dr Fate mate was missing it's hairpiece (which I know was missing from the photo) and the part of the bow that holds the arrow on the Hawkeye mate had been snapped or cut off (the Cap mate was missing the piece that attaches the shield to the arm). It's annoying when that happens but sometimes it's the price you have to pay to get them loose and potentially cheap. Anyway, my first article/blog is done. To be honest I feel I could do with re-vising what I said. I cut out a whole chunk as I knew I was rambling. In general articles like this often go through two or three re-writes so expect to see some changes in the future. Feedback is appreciated: Exclusive Minimates - A great way to expand your collection, or fuel for Scalpers? Exclusives are common among toy collectors, as well as collecting in general. Though this might be a bit of a stretch, how many CDs have you seen with an extra bonus disc or extra tracks you won’t find on the more traditional version? However, in the case of collectables like Minimates, they’re often more than just a bonus track or making of disc. Exclusives often come in the form of box sets designed to be sold at either a specific shop or a convention. For the last couple of years, the San Diego Comic Con has seen a couple of exclusive box sets, while the online store Action Figure Express also hosts a few box sets. Additionally Toys R Us has recently started stocking their own wave of Minimates, usually featuring a pairing from an up coming wave, a pairing we haven’t seen before from an existing wave and an exclusive pack or two. With only a handful of waves being released a year in comic shops (at the time of writing it was only Marvel based waves that were), exclusives allow collectors to expand their collection with Minimates they would otherwise not get, either due to a character’s limited popularity or to tie in with a popular comic being released at the time, such as the two Dark Avenger box sets that were released in 2009. However in the long run, exclusives are both a blessing and a curse. Thanks to exclusives, the amount of Marvel Minimates released in 2009 alone was easily double, maybe even triple what we’d otherwise get with just waves alone. And DST has aimed to release a box set with at least a character like Jewel and the Noh-Varr version of Captain Marvel who otherwise won’t make it into a regular wave. Somehow I doubt we’d have seen Union Jack in the next Marvel wave. Exclusives have also been designed to compliment each other. The SDCC 09 Tunderbolts set lead to Bullseye, Moonstone and Swordsman getting released at Toys R Us. While they were at times an expensive pain to get, it helped give a completed look to the army of collectables on my bookshelf. And the Toys R Us Ghostbusters wave have given us more than just the handful of characters released in the (at the time of writing) two box sets. But exclusives aren’t without their problems. There’s nothing more annoying than seeing your favourite character released as a store/convention exclusive and know full well you’ll potentially have to pay an arm and a leg to get it, as the exclusive’s rarity attract “Scalpers”. Scalping, in the collectable market, refers to someone buying a rare, hard to get and/or much desired collectable, then re-selling it at a higher price in an attempt to make a profit. And with exclusives being rare in the first place, they’ve become thus the ideal target for Scalpers. A good example would be the 2009 Toys R Us exclusives. The Union Jack/Wonder Man, Bullseye/Moonstone, Spider-Woman II/Molecule Man and Warpath/Angel packs were all limited to one per box, and therefore could be found going for as little as $20 and as much as $40 on eBay. And even if you don’t fall victim to a Scalper, there’s always the risk of another collector spying the auction on eBay. My Union Jack mate cost me a good $20, simply because other people were as keen on him as I was. However it would be valid to say it was my own fault for getting involved in such a high auction. Thankfully there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. For starters DST are now making the exclusive packs more common in the TRU waves. This means fans will stand a better chance of getting them and Scalpers are less likely to get away charging $20 for World War Hulk/Battle Damaged Mr. Also the community in general is more than willing to help out others, especially international collectors like myself who can’t simply pop into their nearest Toys R Us to get the next Ghostbusters or Marvel wave. And if you’re lucky you might just find a box set or lose figure going on eBay for a cheap price. While it may seem like I’m anti-exclusives due to the measures some people have to go to too obtain one, they are in the long run a great feature. Without exclusives, characters like Ares, Union Jack, an updated version of the Sentry wouldn’t have made it into my collection (outside of customising anyway). While I may in the long run have to pay a little more to have all the ones I want, it is ultimately the case with collecting any kind of model. I’m sure my Warhammer playing friends have had to spend equally large sums to get the powerful piece they want.

A big thank you to Secaucuscollector, HRGMann and buttheadsmate for your comments so far. I've been working on the articles over the weekend and will probably post the first one here later today (if I get it done). To be honest your comments have given me more to think about on the topic, allowing me to cover more than I intially expected to, so thanks again.

I'm currently in the process of developing a website called "My Miniature Mates" that will allow me to catalogue my minimate collection, house a number of blogs and in general allow me to learn and improve my skills with ASP.NET and CSS (my goal is to re-locate but few people want Classic ASP developers these days ). To offer more to the blogs, I was hoping to collect various opinions on some of the topics I hope to write and would appreciate if if you could leave a few sentences on how you feel about any of the following. Full credit will of course be given where due. Exclusive Minimates - A great way to expand your collection, or fuel for Scalpers? Army Builders - Best thing to hit minimates in 2009? The end of a series; when and how best should a series stop? Second hand minimates; Have you bought one off eBay? What was your experiences like? Any and all help is greatly appreciated. And hopefully doing this will cause me to stop procastinating and actually get on with the project (to the mods, I appologise if this topic is in the wrong forum. Please re-locate as needed). ------------------------------ [edit] If you have any question in general about the site I'm building, please drop me a message as I'm happy to talk about it (as a procastinator I feel the more I talk about something, the more likely I am to do it ).

I LOVED Lego growing up, and would always enjoy playing with the mini figures and customising them. My 8 year old self (yes I am borrowing that from one of the other commenters ) is telling me to buy these first chance I get! I hope they'll do more waves in the future, especally if they add in Vikings, Pirates, Knights and Samurais .

A big, fat second! I don't mind variants on Spidey but I'd much rather see some of the other cosutmes he's worn, even the "He only wore it for five minutes but it still looks good and even made it into one of the games" costumes like Spider-Phoenix and Negative Zone Spidey. But as it stands, I don't want to see the bleedy classic one any more! And that includes battle damaged! If we have to have battle damaged, give me sodding Battle Damaged Scarlet or Ben Reilly! OK, I'll stop ranting now Wolverine - Same as Spidey - I don't want to see the yellow and blue any more! Give me anything else he's worn and we've not had yet, but not the yellow and blue! Sentry Ares Thor (after "Reborn" is out) Iron Man Venom Carnage (bar needing C3 feet) Magneto Red Skull Mar-Vell

I forgot some of the others I wanted to say: Colossus - As much as I like the two we have so far, I wouldn't mind seeing another one. I've not read much X-Men but I read he had a different costume in the 80's (I believe I also saw a custom of it) and feel that would make a great minimate. Spider-Man 2099 - Like Scarlet, this is one of my favourite Spidey costumes, and Miguel as a whole is a good variant on Spidey in general (shame he was booted off Exiles). With the improvements we see now a days in mind, I find it a little dissapointing this mate seems a little rushed. Though the paint job is fine, I do feel it could be improved to become a little more detailed. While a clawed hand won't be the best way to represent his talons, it's something I'd like to see (unless they do a palm half like accessory, similar to the repulsor rays we've seen with Iron Man). A slipon mask could also be given to him, perhaps with the face under it showing his pointed teeth. And they forgot his cape, one of the more iconic aspects of his design. Any Cosmic Marvel character released so far - I've really grown to love the cosmic side of Marvel and would like to see updated/improved versions of the characters. Super Skrull is definitly first on my list, especally if they're giving Reed some new accessories in the upcoming TRU set. I'm sure many fans would also like to see older incarnations of Nova and Gamora, while I'd like to see updated versions of Drax and Adam (Guardians of the Galaxy is one of my favourite reads at the moment). Sandman - Both of the 616 Sandman mates are OK but could be better. The first doesn't quite have the level of detail we have today and the second was a little weird. I was all for a sand form, but why translucent brown?! The sold pink we saw in previews was better (maybe not perfect)! Granted the movie version is everything I'm looking for, but I'd like to see something similar based around 616's incarnation, especally if they include the sand blasts the second 616 version had. I thought they were great!

Iron Fist - He needs his newer costume Nightcrawler - Especally if they either give him his swords or hands with the sword as part of it (as I'm not sure how easy it would be to keep the sword in his hands) Scarlet Spider - I know I'm probably going to get hit for this, but I felt the Scarlet we got was... Lacking. As you might tell from my avatar, Scarlet is one of my all time favourite Spidey costumes, yet I was a little dissapointed with what we got. The web shooters were painted on, which is odd when previous minimates of Ben had them as seperate pieces. I also felt the pouches on his legs could have been seperate, he could (perhaps) have a powerhouse chest piece for his hoodie and a slip-on mask (I realise I'm probably the only one who liked it on Spidey) with a blonde hair piece.

I'd love to see an updated wave, if nothing else for Doombot army builders. However in general I think the Fantastic Four would benefit a lot from the update. They could create a Johnny Storm mate with interchangeable parts to turn him into the Human Tourch, and maybe even a Ben Grimm mate that can switch between Ben and the Thin, perhaps with the un-used Secret War design (it's late so my brain is goo at the mo ).

While I can see why some people might not like them, I personally think they look great and while I've only ordered one version of each, I may (funds and opportunity pending) order a second version of each. I hope these work out.

They look bloody awesome If I can get all four, I'm definitly going to pit them against my ever growing army of Movie Iron Man mates for a couple of photos (been meaning to do something like that for a while).

Just had a thought - what if a future wave of the vehciles includes Ecto-1? They could pair it with Machanic Ray.

Now THESE are something I want to bother the nice people here for help getting

Oh, I'm sorry... Yeah, you can live without them. No worries mate. No harm done. I might pick them up if I see a single figure on eBay for a decent price but otherwise I'm fine with my collection so far.

These look awesome Luke! Nice job! I'm going to have to show these to some of my friends . Though they collect Warhammer rather than minimates, 1. Name me a geek who doesn't at least like zombies, 2. we all like Jonathan Coulton and 3. I'm sure our combined skill could make them. And speaking of .

I'm really looking forward to these two waves. It's funny - I sold a boxed Marvel Legends Captain Marvel and boxed Marvel Legends Captain Britain figure on eBay then about a week later these two waves were announced. Two of my favourite characters as my favourite kind of collectable. I also like the Multiple Man. Might have to keep an eye out on eBay for one of those.

Ahh but I live in the UK mate, so it's not like I can walk to my local TRU to pick one up For two minor changes that I can live without, it doesn't seem worth the hassle of eBay or pesting one of the nice people here.

If they have, I haven't heard. I heard they weren't going to as it would be considered kiddy/childish or something along those lines (even though fans like myself would be in their mid twenties). Be great if they did though.

The completist in me is tempted by the new Tully, but I feel the changes are too minor for me to see any point in getting it. Same with the revamped Slimer. Maybe if they put the two of them in a set together. However with hints of a GB2 based boxset on the way, can't wait to see more . After Marvel, GB is quickly becoming my favourite licence. It's a shame they won't take any characters or elements from the old cartoon. It would provide them with another for everyone, including Janine and gives them access to some interesting ghosts.

To be honest, I burst out laughing when I saw this! I understand (to a degree) why Marvel has to change characters to line up more with the movies. Heck, I liked some of the changes (Spidey with organic webbing for example). However this armour just looks... I dunno. I think it's a shame Tony has lost both the Extremis armour and powers as I felt both were a good direction for the character. As for this armour, maybe I'll think differently when I see it in the comics but for now I'm not impressed.

I REALLY hope this works, as so far a few of the army builders have been packed with characters I don't care for. I'd love a Skrull and like Multiple Man (despite not reading X-Factor. need to do that) but I've never cared for Sabertooth as a character (maybe the Exiles one) and have no interest in either of the X-Men boxsets that are out now. Now a days I prefer to focus on just the characters that interest me, so I'd rather not spend the money on effectively one minimate.

I had hoped it was a different head. The lines on the face made me think of the Iron Spidey face from the Civil War boxset (though I don't have ot at hand). While I like the idea of "improvements" being made on re-releases of the minimates (e.g. the spare hands and feet for the Tony Stark version of War Machine), I'm also a little anti this as I'm a bit of a completionist but more likely to import the LCS version from someone like Luke instead of the TRU version. I know it's a minor thing, but I have a few quirks .

Captain Mar-vel, Silver Surfer and Swordsman look great, but the House of M Spidey come with a removeable mask? I know the regular one doesn't.