MisterPL

I'm just glad the guy's name isn't **** Van **** here like it is on so many other sites where the censor has gone nutty.

Same here. DST claims they're shipping them "later" according to the shop owner. No idea when though he said it might be this week. Possibly next week. These things used to be so reliable.

Everyone says it's not the size of the Destroyer than counts but when I look at that puny thing, I sure as hell don't want to whip it out and put it on display. LCS and TRU assortments, I assume? Unique assortments with no crossovers?

Nice pics, Wink! I really need to build a bridge set for my TOS crew. I found one that's 1/50 scale that I may mess around with to get it to work.

When I went to my 20-year high school reunion (almost ten years ago), I stood right next to people talking about whether or not I was going to show up. It wasn't until I spoke and said, "I hope he does because the son of a bitch owes me money!" that people recognized my voice. Most of my classmates – heck, even some colleagues from long ago – haven't changed much but a few of us apparently have. So yeah, the people who know me now know what I look like but the people who knew me then could use an update. That and I've always been better with faces than names.

Excited for what?

That'd be great. Won't happen but I'd buy it, too. And as long as we're masturbating vigously to this fantasy, I'd like a much larger Destroyer as well. I suspect Thor 2 'mates will be on display at Toy Fair, if not sooner.

I understand going with the Sandtrooper over a Stormtrooper if the gear's removable. Hell, include (Joe Johnston) Spacetrooper gear and Hasbro will only ever have to re-release this one figure for all three variations. And yes, that Artoo had better come with tons of accessories. It can't just be a figure with moving legs and a spinning noggin. At this price it had better have opening doors and extending arms and all sorts of attachments from ALL SIX movies. Vader's going to need cloth goods. Lots of characters will and that will be easier to do ina larger scale.

Given how poorly Playmates' last Trek line performed, it wouldn't surprise me if CBS didn't renew the action figure license. However, fans are raving about the TMNT line. Playmates may be able to pull off a decent figure line for Trek... assuming they still have the license for that category. At this point I'm just a curious spectator. As much as I've enjoyed collecting 3 3/4" figures over the last four decades, I can't justify $10 figures at this scale. Make mine Minimates.

That's the first I've read about 3 3/4" Trek figures coming from Hasbro. I knew they picked up the construction set category for their KRE-O line but I didn't know they had the action figure category as well.

Hm. Peter Pan is released on Blu-Ray on the 5th while Monsters, Inc. is released on the 19th. Which tie-in makes the most sense for two 4-packs and a vehicle?

Let's not get Grumpy.

After collecting hundreds (thousands?) of 3 3/4" figures since 1978, I have no interest in adding larger figures to my shelves. That said, if I were in charge of Hasbro's Star Wars line, this is the direction in which I'd take it. With this scale you can have all kinds of detail, articulation, and accessories. I've often pictured something like a Definitive Luke Skywalker figure with enough accessories to go from Tatooine farmboy to princess rescuer. Include all the hats, helmets, weapons, and whatnot to make it the only ANH Tatooine Luke you'd ever want and watch them fly off the shelves. The only problem with the scale would be vehicles and playsets. A landspeeder? Possibly. An X-wing? Probably not. A cantina? Maybe as a collect & connect over the course of years.

Yeah, we should probably stick to one or two short sentences max with more emoticons. I forgot how textual comments from Trekkies can be.

They're still being coy about the inevitable DC Comics license I see. You just know there's a warehouse somewhere in Maryland packed with series upon series of DC Minimates from every era just waiting to be unleashed to the masses like a tsunami of multi-hued plastic crack! But, yeah; Dale's RV is totally possible! Probably have to get clearance from Winnebago but in all honesty I'm not that picky about super-deformed vehicles. Glad Chuck liked my barn idea for a Walking Dead carrying case. It could even come with a little zombified Robert Kirkman if The Creator allows it.

Your experience pretty much echoes mine, Captain. I started dropping the Playmates line when it became more frustrating than fun to collect. The 1701 Series and con exclusives (CONNNNNN!) ticked me off enough but when the line became a Target exclusive, I knew it was over for me. I came to the Art Asylum board when I heard they had the license for Trek figures hoping they'd be offering 3 3/4" figures. What I found were 7" figures with rubber pants in a time when 6" figures ruled the marketplace and the Furby Yoda was deteriorating on the shelf due to crappy rubber eyelids. The only way you could get AA founder Digger to address your concerns was by punctuating posts with F-bombs here and there. I became the bane of his online existence and, in true corporate American fashion, ultimately became a message board moderator, but I digress... It was the 3" Trek Minimates that satified my need for a Trek fix. I never cared about block figures before playing with those but there weren't nearly enough of them. When the 2" line hit, I was thrilled... until even this TOS fan was overloaded with Kirks and Spocks. I think the third time will be the charm. The only thing that gives me pause is the lack of a chase figure. As a collector, I don't care about the hunt. I'm more concerned about the longevity of the line. From a business standpoint, retailers will be able to order fewer cases but fewer cases sold means less money for DST. I'm really concerned that this business model – which is identical to DC Direct's failed line of Minimates – won't be able to sustain the line for long. I hope I'm wrong.

Toys should be out next month, and I may even be able to announce them next week. Packaged samples are in. We'll see. So... three more days, tops, right?

Well, the pictures must have been taken by now, right?

Keep in mind there are almost THREE DOZEN armors in the film that we haven't seen yet. While it would be nice to see DST throw newbies a bone with a "Hall of Armor" gift box set, they've usually shied away from offering the same figures twice. (But I can still picture it and I'm still drooling...)

Congratulations on getting honors, though. Keep it up!

Oh, ye of little faith. I know The Olde Guard is literally dying off but I'm always surprised at how many new fans of the TV shows I run into. Besides, AA/DST has already offered 49 Trek Minimates (not including the unannounced TRU assortment). Playmates had 159 figures in its standard line so you're already over a quarter of the way there. Happy thoughts.

The thing that any toy licensee could capitalize on is the uniformity of the costumes. You sculpt one Away Team jacket and it's good for everybody. That would be a good way to offer Minimates like Pike and Spock from "The Cage" again; just put them in Away Team gear with extra pieces to make bridge versions as well. I was huge into Playmates back in the day but they made some decisions that still irk me. - The original Riker figure came in a battle-damage uniform. Later releases saw the same sculpted damage cheaply painted over (like we weren't supposed to notice). - The hip articulation was great for pornographic dioramas and little else. Thanks to the V-cut, the figures couldn't even sit properly in their bridge chairs without looking like they were visiting an OB/GYN. - Because the emitting beams were sculpted to the phasers, weapons looked like bad light sabers. - The First Contact figures were inexplicably an a 6" scale. They looked great but were terribly out of place with the rest of the 5" line. But they did offer some fun playsets and vehicles along with a wide variety of characters from most of the TV series and some films. I still have the Galileo from TOS and the bridge and transporter from TNG. I always wished the figures were in the 3 3/4" scale so I could have that Star Wars/Star Trek crossover. When the last movie came out I found it hard to believe that the same company that had delivered such a successful Trek line in the past had failed to do so years later. I have high hopes for DST's Minimates. I know the new films are bringing in new fans, people who had never given Trek a second glance but are now going back and watching the previous films and shows. With any luck that will translate into big bucks for this latest incarnation of Trek 'mates.

As far as Captain Toy is concerned, Minimates wins for Best Block Figure.

"Endo?" As in "End o' this message board?" BWAH-HA-Ha-haaaaa! (Enjoy your stay.)

Just saw this line in Ask DST #193: DST CHUCK: To date, we have never held a direct license with Disney, so not right now but you never know. It's not in an answer to a Minimates question, but that "To date" clause is something to think about. Maybe I won't try to brave the Disney Store tonight. "To date" wasn't what caught my attention. The qualifier "direct" did. It's possible that DST/AA could produce Minimates for Disney the same way they did for DC Direct and the way they're doing now for Icon Heroes; as a third-party licensee.