cdubya

I'll bite, but I'd be even more excited if these were based on the video games...

Found series 5 at TRU (Missouri) Friday!

Awesome asst.s!  Predator looks complete, now we just need: Nikolai, Stans, Mombassa, Tracker and masked Beserker from Predators. Predator 2 still needs Lost and Boar Pred.s, Leona, perhaps Danny. A King Willie and skinned- corpse would be cool, too! Any chance for a deluxe "trophy wall"?

Not sure she was on the line plan, but hopefully!

She'd be an excellent candidate in the event of TRU exclusives...just say'in!

BigBad Toystore has Series 1 (two-packs) up for pre-order.

Are there supposed to be three guns in this set?

I was wondering the same, as there's clearly an (empty) spot for one in my tray (under the name-card) as well.

Hmmm, not loving the maskless Pred.s but I understand the tooling-costs involved, so I can accept it. That's definitely a respirator on the BD City-hunter (his armor should be bronze, BTW ). It appears that the left arm shoulder armor is a sculpted piece on both. They've boosted the Pred.s' height (which is good) via the foot/shin armor and loin-guard. This works on City-hunter, but not so much on Jungle-hunter. In effort to conceal J-h's torso extension, his cod-piece appears too long and the loin-cloth will certainly restrict movement. I was expecting J-h's thigh armor to be separate slip-covers on the legs (disappointing), but am pleasantly surprised that his bone-trophies are sculpted (yay) rather than tampoed. I presume that there are more accessories that we're not seeing: C-h's spear and smart-disc (hopefully it will peg onto the thigh holster), Billy's gun, Colin's scalpel, and perhaps a few surprises. All-n-all a decent asst., though I'd have liked to see a bit more variety amongst the Pred.s (P2 "lost-clan" or Ps "super-pred.s"). Here's hoping that the 2-packs don't contain too many repeats as there're a lot of characters to cover!

"Anytime". I cannot wait to finally see how the Predator is constructed!

I actually hope the success of both Aliens and Predator lines leads to an eventual merger. Say what you will about the quality of the AVP films, but there were some great creature designs. Wolf is possibly the most bad-assed Yautja despite starring in the worst film in the franchise! No humans necessary other than maybe the lead female from AVP.

Not to mention that the flame bits can then be added to Frost to recreate when trigger-happy Dietrich accidently frys his poor ass! Yes, I very much like this variant.

Zach already confirmed in reply to one of my previous posts that series 2 would be comprised of Bishop, Newt, Frost, Crowe, and another Ripley and that there'd likely be another TRU wave. By my count that only leaves Ferro and Gorman (amongst Xeno variants like incinerated Alien) to be made from Aliens. It's safe to say that we'll get the full cast if Spunkmeyer and Crowe are done. I'm personally more concerned with completing my Alien cast. Anything beyond that (Alien3, etc.) is gravy IMO.

Yes. And there should be a Series 2 at both locations, with Frost, Crowe, Bishop and Newt, plus a new Ripley and others. Plenty of characters yet to make.

Sweet! Though by my count, that only leaves Ferro and Gorman. Unless we're talking variations of previous characters, I can't imagine what surprises you have in store! I can't wait!

Huh, I would've bet Hudson and Vasquez would be the Series 2 equivilent of Hicks and Drake. Not that I'm disappointed to get them sooner, I just figured TRU would get the same but with the Frost/incinerated Alien and Crowe/Alien that we saw previously replacing Dietrich/Colonist and Apone/Alien. What happened to those 'mates? I hope they're still planned. So TRU's Ripley and Hicks are split-up and paired with Aliens?

Hmmm, while I still think sculpted mandibles are the way to go, I can understand wanting to reduce the amount of toolings (even if they could be reused multple times for Lost Clan, etc.). The profile may look odd, but I suspect a brow-forehead/dread cap will suffice. However won't each mask variation require separate toolings, or are the plans to utilize one headsculpt with the unique masks being separate pieces? That could be a cool way to kill two birds with one stone if done right. Just a suggestion!

I was hoping for essentially a helmet piece where the dreads and mandibles were sculpted but the eyes and mouth would be a tampo, so I'm a little worried about the whole face being a tampo. I guess we'll see how it looks.

That was how I imagined them, but it may still work. We'll see. I'm more concerned with sculpted details and overall silhouette (stature, proportions, etc.). If they put as much care into these as with the Alien/s Xenos (despite slight inaccuracies), I think we're in for a treat!

Technically the 3" carded Star Trek from Target were my first, but I vividly remember how excited I was when they announced the Marvel line in 2"! The wait seemed like an eternity from announcement to release. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I purchased the TRU 5-packs before my series 1 preorder finally arrived at my LCS.

It was a mistake. I do not think he is packaged like that.

I think the blind bag Predator Minimates will be to cool to resist. Thermal Predator, Billy, Danny Trejo... Whoever you get, he'll be awesome.

Godzilla sets are up on the air. Heavy tooling, specialty-only sales... Not a great combination.

As much as I dislike "blind-bags" (I'm sure the mindset was: ultimate hunt for the ultimate hunters ), if it gets us more 'mates that wouldn't fit into the two-packs then I'll take it. However, did you mean to say cloaked Predator instead of "thermal"? Unless he's looking at himself in a mirror, I can't imagine why he'd be in thermal-vision! Now Dutch or anyone else...bring-it! While it's still "pending approval", can you at least describe how the Predators will be assembled (removable armor or painted, sculpted mandibles or tampo, etc.)? I can't stand the wait, let alone the suspense of what these might look like!

As for Godzilla, I can understand the dilemma, but we really need at least one more set (I know, we always say "just one more") with Ghidorah and Rodan or it will seem so tragically incomplete!

Interesting. Yeah, I'm confused as to why someone would jump from Lego to Mega Blocks but looks like that has now happened with both TMNT and Sponge Bob.

Because Mega Bloks are now part of Mattel. As much as I despise Mattel, the merger is making many things possible for MB (who are seriously underrated). Their micro action figures (MAFs) are amazing!

"Sets", as in plural?!? Any chance we'll get a peek at ToyFair?

While these aren't quite for me (I do occassionally watch the show, though), these do make perfect sense to go along with the rest of the Kevin Smith collection. Smith's 'mate does seem a bit vague since he's lost the weight!

Spooky, that is exactly the same line-up I had in mind! Love the "swap" angle and totally agree on costume choices. My intention, however, was to get all of the old MEGO line substituting Draco (nobody wanted that figure then) for Hawk. While I had forgotten all about Tina, she seems the logical choice size-wise for an accessory.

No extra head for the Alien. We'll see how future sets break down.

Not sure why Kane's heads are packed like that.

Because he's as thrilled about the chestburster as we are! Um, did I hear you say "future sets"?

Sweet, more 'mates in the mix! Thanks for the reply.

...but then you wouldn't really have two complete sets because 1 would be a Mutagen chase. Then the complaint would be that people can't find a normal Mikey. I personally don't get the fuss (other than perhaps Krang and possibly Mutagens) as all others will be plentiful throughout three formats just for Series 1. I can't think of a previous offering that's gotten this kind of exposure. There's always Ebay for the panicky, but I'd recommend patience.

Zach, has there been any word on whether TRU is on-board with the Aliens series? And more to the point, are there any differences between the specialty-market release? I know how they love the silver "R exclusive" stickers (and consequently so do we)!

I know Chuck is interested in making all of the Predator 1 cast, and I believe there have been plans set for most of it, in two-packs and elsewhere.

"Elsewhere" sounds intriguing.