battlecat

Electro... too awesome... for complete sentences! I'll admit my first reaction to this whole "Year Of The Minimate" thing was all "Nice marketing, marketers" -- but now I've officially had every last drop of cynicism wringed out of me... it may also end up being the "Year Of Me Declaring Bankruptcy" as a result, but it's definitely become one amazing year for the line.

I'm waiting for the inevitable '90s Foil Cover Spidey, aka "let's just make him shiny"... it'll probably be in the inevitable Spidey Through The Ages set (we all know it's coming sooner or later). I do like the Secret Wars design, and I wouldn't mind a six arm Spidey someday, but beyond that what else is actually left to make? Was Spider-Man alive in Age of Apocalypse (only other big alternate universe I can think of)?

"Ray... WHAT DID YOU DO???" Also, whether this is a Spidey wave or not, I can't picture Spidergirl being packed with another character from her series. Let's face it, for DST she's just one more costume variant...

Originality?

Nice idea... A big crowd of NYC cops as minimates would actually look really cool. The entire police department did recently try to take Spider-Man down in his solo title... Hand would be cool too... I don't really see myself getting multiples of the army builders announced so far, but you can't have just one ninja

This is very zen, I accept this advice............... as long as Storm makes it into the set No worries dude, my only enemy in this thing is that Michael Jackson Beyonder...

Ehhh... sooo, Spidey wave then. 2-3 more villains hopefully... Can't think of an army builder.

Definitely, it would have made for a lot less "strategic voting" and a clearer picture of what people actually want in the set... Ideally they'd also have some way to register voters or make sure it was one vote per person, but even then I'm sure some would find a way around it. I hope we get more fan votes too. Despite a couple frustrating elements, it's been very cool to have a direct say in things. I do feel like DST generally pays a lot more attention to our whining and requesting characters, and has a bigger connection with the collectors, than any other toy company I've followed, at least since Palisades back in the day. Plus the staff definitely seem to love the property as much as we do, which is always a good thing...

Not just alive, she also just starred in an awesome, somewhat insane, critically acclaimed miniseries. So they need to get on that right now!

I think the suggestion of a buddy system is an amazingly generous thought, at least for larger releases like the exclusive GB packs that would add up on eBay -- but I certainly wouldn't want someone buying extra gas and taking the time to drive around and hunt them down! That's way too much trouble to go to. I assumed people were talking only about US board members with local TRUs where the previous releases were easily found, so they could just grab extras when they went to buy their own sets... Quite a few members do this already of course, but this way it would be pre-payed, including all the shipping and Paypal fees, so those members wouldn't end up with unwanted sets. I thought we just meant trying to organize that generosity (okay, that does sound evil) ahead of time somehow, definitely not hunting/bulk-buying/shipping to a hub/etc -- yikes! I feel guilty just thinking about that. I'll stick to eBay/watching for members with extras.

Well, I have tried to answer your question about why anyone would vote Spidey (I realize it was rhetorical/unasked ). What I said about the conspiracy stuff was in reference to many other posts on the board, not just yours, but the part in yours that made me think you were also implying a DST conspiracy was in your original post when you said this: So I'm sorry for misreading your meaning that it was individuals cheating rather than DST, but my point is the same -- it only seems strange to you because you can't see why anyone would want another Spidey. But there are plenty of reasons why they would (and clearly do), as I already listed. People voting for different reasons than us doesn't necessarily mean anything fishy is going on. Having said that, yeah people have definitely voted multiple times. They've said as much in this thread, but that's all been votes against Spidey (ie. trying to knock him out of the set by boosting up MM and Beyonder). This likely means people have voted multiple times for Spidey too, sure. The vast majority of votes are still going to be legit though, when you're talking about 1500+ votes. Just to make a dent in that you'd have to cheat a whole lot, and to sustain Spidey's top 4 position if no one was really voting for him would be impossible for anyone other than DST... I totally get the disappointment/frustration of this being a fan poll, but not reflecting the consensus of what Multiversers (as the line's biggest fans) would want to see in a perfect set. Ideally, people who aren't Secret Wars fans wouldn't vote, people who aren't going to buy the set wouldn't vote, and (for some) people who are both a SW fan and going to buy the set *but* believe Spidey deserves a slot wouldn't vote... but it's a fan poll, so they all can. As such I just don't find it particularly weird that more people want their 31st (or their 3rd or 15th or whatever) Spidey than a Molecule Man. All just my opinion of course If my last post read like I was attacking you specifically, I didn't intend it to. Something about all the anger directed at this Spidey just makes me want to defend the poor little bastard (usually at unfortunate length).

I've already gone into this earlier in the thread, but (deep breath)... just because most of us here, as hardcore collectors with hundreds of mates each, would much prefer new characters to another Spidey, that doesn't mean its representative of all Minimate collectors everywhere. There are casual buyers (I was one for a long time) who'd just like another Spidey, and despite the funny way you take the piss out of the mate as a simple wardrobe change , it was a very iconic moment for the character, and relevant to Secret Wars itself, so there are also hardcore collectors that want him (several have posted in this thread). There are also collectors on both levels who never read Secret Wars, and so have no nostalgia for Molecule Man or Doom in a muscle shirt or whoever, and so just vote for the cool looking Spidey. So I'm not in any way talking about people who have "no interest in minimates" just wandering into the poll. We know from DST that Spidey sells more than anything else, and we know from the living in the world that Spidey is very very popular (and no, Doom is nowhere near as big a name). I just think it's silly that every "we don't want another Spidey" post automatically turns into "there must be a DST conspiracy" rather than just accepting that your opinion may not be the opinion of everyone else in the world. If DST wanted him in the set that bad, they'd have made 3 spots fan choice, or made it into a 5 mate box set. They wouldn't bother cheating in their own poll. They don't need to anyway, because Spidey is very very popular. The Minimate-buying masses don't always think the way we think they should (see the popularity of DSS, or the cancelling of any set/series we think should have been a guaranteed hit). (And again, this isn't me defending my vote -- I voted Storm, and I'd much rather get a Doom or Spiderwoman than a Spidey. Though I do think the Spidey is cool. And I'm pretty sure all the anti-Spidey voting is to blame for that crap Michael Jackson Beyonder now potentially kicking MM out of the set, which sucks.)

You *may* have just answered your own question...

That'd be great ideally, but it won't happen. TRU's distribution is their own thing. DST usually doesn't know when they hit stores and members here most likely know it before them. Plus not all TRU stores get them at the same time. I usually have to wait a week or so after the first initial report before my local TRUs get them. DST can probably "control" when the CBSs get them, I think... But then again, their shipping schedule is sometimes more like a guide and not always exact. I know DST haven't *announced* specific release dates for the Marvel waves so far (and as you say, they come out in different stores over a span of weeks from what we've seen) but that doesn't mean they don't know/plan the general timeframe. In the Ghostbusters press release on the DST site they say the TRU sets are due out in June, and the LCS sets in July. Also, the waves so far have come out about a month ahead of the LCS equivalents. So yes I'm only guessing that it's in their TRU contract, but the release schedules so far fit that model...

It's probably that TRU's deal allows them a month or so to sell the sets without competition from comic book shops... sales are sales for DST, so I can't see why they'd care which venue the money came from.

Even if this line ends up being 6 alternate universe Spideys plus Scorpion, I will buy the whole thing just to support the decision to make Scorpion ... one major Spidey villain down, three to go!

I don't know if you'd need sponsorship, I think many of us non-US members would be happy for the opportunity to just pay cost + shipping, instead of cost + shipping + crazy eBay markup... Paying double for the occasional Marvel pack is one thing, but the total cost to get all of those Ghostbusters exclusives off eBay would be murder...

It's been a long time since I read it so I'm not sure, but I think the front of his costume is a death's head logo (like on Spidey 2099)...

Wow, good job! Bad reveal, but good job.

I feel a stabbing pain in my wallet... Not really feeling the Library Ghost, I guess I was expecting more "phasing old lady" than "purple monster", but all the team member variations are great! Plus this way you can get a Dana-dog without having to buy a second 4-pack. Bit surprised that TRU would get the only Slimer release (unless there's a third box set in the works -- maybe with Janine and the final two GB2 uniforms?) I *think* it's supposed to be this:

Yep, that's one of the 2 solo titles. One of my favourite Marvel covers was that X-Force/X-Statix one where it's just Wolverine standing there, saying something like "I'm just here to boost sales" With New Avengers, it's not really meant to be anything like the shiny Avengers (and 'Mighty' was created to appease those fans not too long after 'New' anyway), except for using the same concept of heros gathered together by one incident and forming a team. Since they formed during a New York prison break, they just happen to be a bit more ghetto... And while including Spider-Man and Wolverine looks like just a cash grab from the outside, if you read the early issues Bendis does two of my favorite/funniest takes on both of them (and the two characters play off each other brilliantly sometimes). Even when I don't like specific big events sometimes, I appreciate how they constantly grow and change the Marvel U these days (instead of weirdly rebooting things all the time like DC). Reading old X-series trades recently, it seems like they were doing this before, in the '80s, with Storm taking over the X-Men, and training New Mutants to take over, while the original X-Men went off to start X-Factor, etc etc. But then in the '90s there was this nostalgia backlash, and they put Cylcops and everyone back in their "place". It's like the new writers wanted to reset things to what they'd grown up with instead of moving forward with new ideas...

Just in case you were actually asking , yes, he's in the current Astonishing team. And he has 2 solo titles, 3 if you count his "First Class" series set in the '80s continuity. Plus they release what seems like 2-5 random Wolverine one-shots a month. Not to mention fake-Wolverine in Dark Avengers, and future-Wolverine in a current Fantastic Four spin-off miniseries. Oh and there's a Weapon X series starting up (though that may be replacing one of his solo titles, I'm not sure). Not even kidding a little.

My first thought was that Armored Daredevil would have to be the variant to a regular DD update, just because it's such an obscure version (one of the few announced mates I've ever had to Google ). But my second thought was that Cosmic Spidey wasn't a chase, so who the hell knows... Either way this is shaping up to be one weird wave.

Or you stragglers could vote Storm, since she's now been knocked out of the top 4 by all the "kick out Spidey" voting... edit: oops, beat me to it.

Just got a big BBTS box in the mail... I got 3 of the new Star Wars Muggs -- Red Guard, Wicket and the Scout Trooper, which is a thing of beauty. I'd also been looking for a Chameleon mate recently (one of the last few old mates I want) and hadn't seen him on evilBay or in the trade thread recently, so when I saw an old box left on BBTS I grabbed it. It was a bit overpriced, but it was fun to open my last "old school" Minimate box... memories! And I feel like I betrayed the board a bit, but I also bought a couple of those Shocker figs, Scud and Katchoo. Surprisingly solid, more mass market toy quality than collector, but the Scud's pretty rad and the Isz are perfect (didn't buy the Maxx though, his proportions seemed way off and the "teeth" too big -- though I do own their mini Maxx fig, which is spot on, so who knows why they couldn't replicate that in the larger toy). Apologies for offering any praise to Shocker, it's still obviously a mess of a company Oh and finally, I got a Tokidoki Dunny in the mail today too. So good times!