MisterPL

Kids and astronauts... Lost in Space. Next.

I didn't start reading the comic until the first EIGHT TRADES were collected. And right there, on the cover of the first compendium, is Rick... minus a right hand. Which still pales in comparison to this DVD cover.

For what it's worth, I ordered the Lori and Morgan exclusives from The Walking Dead and they each arrived in bubble envelopes. The toy packaging was fine. Regarding cancelled orders, presumably due to no inventory, is there any chance TRU.com could order cases of just their exclusives? Chuck said back in July that pre-orders for this line in general were blowing away pre-orders for Marvel. Seems like TRU would want to adjust their buy accordingly, especially the short-packed exclusives. (Or should I say "elusives?")

I know a guy who collects Jedi figures. If I could get the necessary pics, this would be an easy way to customize a Jedi figure of him. It really is the perfect gift idea. Who doesn't like a little head?

Thank you, dr baghead! I was searching high and low for that post a week or two ago and couldn't find it. I loved the solution and am glad that DST is apparently using it.

Honestly, there might be a significant market for sports-themed accessories. If you could offer things like football helmets and a chest piece with shoulder pads along with a decal sheet with numbers, sports fans might buy enough to make entire teams. Of course the pieces would be generic but they wouldn't necessarily need logos. They'd just need to be easily customizable. Same with other sports like soccer, baseball, basketball, and women's beach volleyball.

These guys are probably one Cease & Desist order away from litigation. We're dealing with intellectual property that's fiercely protected. I'm guessing they're simply off of LEGO's radar for now and getting by on sheer luck. Back when Palisades Toys got into the minifigure business, they came up with a body style that what too much like AA's Minimates. They were forced to change it. I'd recommend staying away from anything resembling AA's Minimates body parts. Offering accessories – for products from iPads to action figures – is one thing. But replicating the original without a license is asking for trouble.

Dang, there's some real talent on this board. This is what I miss when I skim over the text accompanying pictures like these. I'm thinking, "Oh, nice pics," without even noticing the poncho. I thought it was the real deal, an accessory that is hidden in my unopened packaging. Great job on those ponchos, MINI_MYTE. I'd love a Michonne variant that comes with one or two of those at some point down the line. In other news, my Minimate karma seems to be changing. After giving up finding these 'mates at retail, I decided to try the crapshoot that is TRU.com over my holiday break. I ordered Lori and Morgan and hoped that I'd actually receive them. The order was confirmed, processed, and the items were shipped independently (since I ordered them hours apart). So I waited. In the meantime I went to my local TRU to see if the latest Marvel wave had hit. Lo and behold, I came across a case of TWD Series 2 on the peg. I grabbed the exclusives as insurance in case my TRU.com order got messed up. Yesterday I came home to three packages; one from Luke's (the LCS Series 2) and two from TRU.com. Inside the shipping envelopes were Lori and Morgan, as ordered. The extra set went to a co-worker who recently started sharing my addiction for Minimates. She now has as many TWD 'mates as I do... for now. Because on top of all that, and thanks to the generosity of The Board, it looks like I'll be getting the Shane and Glenn sets soon, too. Sorry if I'm gushing. Just (finally) having a good collecting week and wanted to share.

I have to add Street Fighter vs. Tekken and Battle Beasts to my list. Glad that fans of those franchises are getting their 'mates but they don't really do a thing for me beyond potential custom fodder. Still, I might buy them on clearance specifically for certain parts so at the end of the day, even franchises I have zero interest in might end up as part of my collection in some way.

Is there any chance you could make dividers for Plano ProLatch 3700 utility boxes? I could always use more of those and each box only comes with 24. Oh, and my Iron Man 'mates need a way to showcase their various armors. I was thinking about something like this but obviously smaller. Stackable alcoves would be ideal.

Good question. Because the only reason I'd see DST moving toward unique packs for TRU and LCS is if they wanted to burn through more characters. This license might be hot now but it doesn't have the enormous stable of characters that sustains a franchise like Marvel. There are only a certain number of viable characters in TWD that are guaranteed sales. Just speculating (of course) but if the terms of the contract were coming to an end this would be the best way to get as many comic-based characters out there to fans looking to complete their collections. And since this line serves as a litmus test to prove how popular the COMIC franchise is, DST could move on to the TV franchise before someone else scoops that up. Because let's face it; Mezco has probably already taken notice of how these things appear to be selling and they've got all the distribution DST does. I know a couple newbie collectors who are content with the current line but they REALLY want to sink their teeth into toys based on the show. Characters like Daryl and Merle would be must-haves. I want Minimates, not Mez-Itz.

In the beginning, I was a die-hard collector of 3 3/4" action figures. The more realistic, the better. I was totally into anything based on a movie, even if it was one I didn't like (most Star Wars) or hadn't even seen (The A-Team remake). Block figures weren't for me. I wanted realistically styled miniature versions of my favorite characters from film, TV, and comics. I didn't want these little LEGO wannabes with their stylized looks and stiff, cutesy bodies. Then my mother bought me the first Star Trek Minimates. (She was being silly, still buying toys for her 30-something son.) They were okay and I enjoy Trek so I gave them a try. It was the articulation that surprised me. These little guys were a lot more posable than I thought they'd be. Since then I've strayed from 3 3/4" figures and stayed with Minimates for many of the reasons already listed; small size, infinite variety, easy customization, abundant accessories, authentic design... all of it. I've embraced the Minimate aesthetic whole-heartedly and come to understand and appreciate why collectors have liked block figures from the start. It's become a fun little hobby for me and I'm looking forward to continuing for as long as DST and AA (and I suppose TRU) keep cranking them out.

Hm. Looks like we're back to character variants instead of army-building walkers with the LCS series then. And I'd go beyond "fairly pleased" and right to "tickled shitless" if TRU would offer their exclusives is greater quantities.

I found the remnants of Series 2 at TRU today. No sign of stragglers from Series 1. So if anyone has a spare Shane and/or Glenn set, I've officially given up hope of finding them in their natural habitat and would appreciate some help.

I don't really have any character preferences. I just want them made available in large enough quantities for me to be able to find at retail.

"WeeSpouses" and "TinyCounterparts" didn't exactly roll off the tongue. I think they made the right choice. Seriously, that's a good question for Digger.

I don't think the intention is to stifle the masses or keep the lower classes down and out but that will definitely be the end result of these short-sighted decisions. Governments only look at money without regard to the value of that which it's being spent on. Libraries have always offered a huge return on investment. Unfortunately it can't be measured in cash so they're among the first to go. I'm a commercial artist who does NOT work on web design so every time I hear "Print is dead" I cringe. First because I know it isn't true but mostly because it seems people WANT it to be dead. I'm wondering what all these people are going to do with their e-readers when the lights ultimately go out. They'll be stuck reading the classics and very old news.

I had the back in the day and loved it. If DST were to offer Space: 1999 'mates and the Eagle (or Hawk) that would be just fine with me.As for a movie, they could just go all Prometheus on it, give it a different title so it's not obvious to the masses what it is, but still leverage enough elements from the original series to make it recognizable to fans. I'd also be up for a feature film sequel to the show with Martin Landau and Barbara Bain back in key roles. Set it in an alternate universe where the moon did leave Earth's orbit and in the distant future, rescuers are finally catching up to it.

After reading today's Q&A with DST, I'm wondering if the astronauts in question are from Space: 1999. Because, dayam, if they are...

I was getting booted off for YEARS after deciding it was just a quirk. My Mac at work had no problem staying logged in but for some reason my Mac at home would get logged off all the time. Until yesterday when I realized my bookmark for the site was "minimatesmultiverse." I took out the "s" and all is well. (Five and a half years later. )

It's funny because there are some licenses listed here I really WANT to like but don't. I recently made a significant effort once again to watch Doctor Who over my Christmas holiday. BBC America was nice enough to offer a marathon and I gave it another shot. And another. Still hasn't hooked me. ThunderCats is similar. I wasn't a fan of the original cartoon but I gave the new version a try. It was okay but I can't honestly say it became must-see television for me the way other cartoons did. That said, there are properties I have little or no knowledge of and buy the 'mates anyway because they look like cool toys. I've never played Halo nor do I own an Xbox but I've got plenty of the Halo Minimates and Warthogs. Likewise I'd probably get into Doctor Who and new ThunderCats 'mates if I had the disposable income. Properties like GoBots and Transformers I simply don't see translating into Minimate form successfully. Golden Girls? Absolutely. I'm so hot for Betty White it's embarrassing. I'd tap that so hard she'd break a hip. What was the topic again?

As I recall, Disney had wanted to acquire rights to Lord of the Rings but couldn't and settled on The Black Cauldron. The film underwent extensive re-editing prior to release but flopped anyway. I think it was Tim Burton's first work for Disney (as an animator).

Same here. It might be a big win for DST if they decided to give it a try but I'd have no interest in it whatsoever. I'm a huge Batman fan and I even passed on this Hines Ward figure from The Dark Knight Rises.

This is going to sound profoundly hypocritical but I never cared for zombies either. I'm still not that much into horror, or the torture porn that's passed for what I considered horror. None of that Saw for me but when Shaun of the Dead and 28 Days Later came out, for some reason I watched and embraced them both. Not to get too deep but I think my distaste for zombies stemmed from my mother's closet alcoholism. Zombies are essentially people who lose their identities and you're left with shells that look familiar but act in bizarre and dangerous ways. Once I recognized that association between the drinking and zombies and how personal it was, I overcame the fear. Now I've got Zombieland in my home video collection and I'm a fan of The Walking Dead. As for Disney, there are plenty of properties that wouldn't appeal to me that others adore. My overall standard is this; if it's not superdeformed, I might buy it. The Black Hole, the Tron films, The Rocketeer, and Pirates of the Caribbean (and probably any other live-action film) would be fine. Animated properties that don't exaggerate features to ridiculous proportions are okay so Peter Pan, The Incredibles, and most of the Disney Princesses would be fine. But I have no interest in seeing anthropomorphized animals forced into Minimates. No Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, or properties like Jungle Book and A Bug's Life for me.

A great response to a sad situation. Glad that people like Abrams get things like this done.