battlecat

One thing I din't understand was when the Skrulls were talking about how humans have spread distrust among themselves already and really didn't have to do a whole lot, and then Nick Fury shoots Ms. Marvel. I mean, how does he know 100% that any of his team got replaced during the fight?

I think that "spreading distrust" stuff was just in reference to the fracturing trust between superheroes the past few years, with Fury tricking heroes into his Secret War thing, a lot of the superhero pop. not knowing what the hell caused M-Day, Civil War and the secret identity issue, etc etc.

Don't know about Ms. Marvel -- after Fury took off it seemed like that was actually the real her he'd shot. I'd heard she was fighting a Skrull duplicate in her solo title, so I guess she won but Fury hadn't heard? Anyone reading her book want to fill in the details?

I don't think the Skrulls can just replace superheroes if they haven't done that freaky ceremony ahead of time, can they? The whole point of Fury's team is that no one's ever heard of any of them, so the Skrulls wouldn't have duplicates standing by. Hopefully we'll see some more flashbacks about them in one of the Avengers titles.

I also hope the main SI book gets past the first 5 minutes of the invasion soon, although it is a lot of fun

Never had any problems with preorders there...

Were they asking you to email them your credit card info? Emailing financial info is never a good idea. Or did they direct you to sign into your account on the website and re-enter the credit card there? Because then I'd agree with karamazov80 that it sounds like the card didn't go through when they tried to charge it, either because it's since gone past its expiration date, or there was a mistake made when you typed in the number or mailing address (ie. it has to be written exactly the same as on your credit card bill, or it won't go through).

They have Halo 3 series 2 figures listed as newly in stock on the main BBTS page, so it all sounds legit. Re-entering your card info in your account on the website won't create a second order, so I can't see how they'd charge you twice. Good luck!

Awesome, thanks for that! Just wanted to make sure he wasn't on some completely different scale like Bumblebee, but no they look great together, I'll definitely be grabbing one now...

I hope the American posters enjoyed the finale today -- I am officially in Animated withdrawal

Hey bruticus, is Jazz the same height/scale as Prowl and Blackarachnia, in robot form? If there's any way you could snap a pic of the 3 standing in a row, I'd really appreciate it (of course, no worries if it's a hassle)...

Trying to decide if they'd work together on my shelf, before I hunt one down...

though I really don't like Transformers toys that can't transform.

I felt the same way until they brought out the Revoltech line, which are some of my favorite figures...

With TF Muggs though, I just can't picture them. Transformers are so boxy and Muggs are so... the complete opposite of that. Or maybe they'll be great, but my bank account kinda hopes not

Definitely the best episodes in quite a while. I've found them to be lagging a bit since the Elite Guard took off...

I didn't know Jazz was out yet, haven't seen him anywhere...

i know my LCS has dozen of the x3 mate 2-packs still, including quite a few of the variant pack for no more than £5-6 each. not having the money at the time, nor knowing ow rare they seem to be, i've never purchased any... i think now i'll pick the whole lot up, stick on ebay... or see if any of you guys here fancy them. i shant get a chance to go along til at least next weekend, but they've been there since they came out.

I don't think you'll be able to see anything through the flood of PMs.

If anyone's still looking for any Marvel Wave 1, Big Bad Toy Store has a new shipment of them up for preorder... I think they were listed at 12.99 a pop.

Maybe a sign that they'll pop up again in stores, if they're doing extra production runs because of the popularity? I don't really know how that stuff works, but Transformers certainly seem to get repeat production runs if it's a popular seller. Hopefully they'll do the same with Star Wars wave 1 since I'm also on the look out for Stormtroopers...

umm... Nope, no desire for them. The problem is that that's the way I felt about minimates then one fateful day at Toys R Us I picked up a five pack of Spider-Man ones...

I've found the size of these suckers incredibly helpful in keeping my "collection" down to only a couple of Marvel and a couple of SW -- it's much easier to stand there and talk yourself out of buying another Mugg than another Minimate. With mates, it was like I suddenly turned around one day and noticed every surface in my apartment was covered with them...

Having spent a great deal of time reading books from both companies I can proudly say both have some pretty crappy comics on the market.

Too true, but on the flip side of that, the past few years I think they've both released some of the best superhero stuff I've ever read -- Marvel's had Runaways, Astonishing, Nextwave, X-Statix, New Avengers, and DC's had New Frontier, All Star Supes, Loeb & Sale's Batman and Superman stuff (before Loeb's talent wandered off somewhere), Morrison's crazy Batman run, and from what you've said I'll have to check out 52...

I agree Marvel's lately followed suit and pulled all their series together into a more cohesive universe -- on the one hand that's made me love Marvel as I've gotten back into comics the last few years, on the other hand that interconnectedness is the same thing that's made a lot of DC books hard to follow when I've picked up an issue (although like I said I read Batman, and various non-canon minis), so I don't know. Anyway, it's been interesting hearing your take on it all...

I still largely disagree.

Well, that's fine It's all just opinion and interpretation.

Iron man has been huge forever. Maybe not as huige as current comics, but still not new to the field.

Before New Avengers began setting him up in his current King Dick of the Universe role, I would not have called him huge. Like he was a well-known character, but not a big seller (I don't think his solo books are all that huge even today). You could maybe argue him as a Marvel cornerpost the last few years (or at least the Avengers as a whole), but before that he was no Spider-man/Superman in sales or interest. I think The Ultimates made Marvel realize he deserved a more prominent role in the mainstream universe events, same with Hulk and Cap. For a loooong time all big events seemed to be Spidey or X-Men based, and then they gave up on events altogether for a few years (I think DC's done the same at times?) although now events are big sellers again.

52 was based around the Question, Elongated man, Booster GOld, Steel, Adam Strange, Animal Man, Starfire & Rip Hunter. You heard of half of those characters before?

3 out of 8, Question and Starfire from cartoons, Steel from Death of Superman right? But again, I never argued 52 didn't use small characters, I praised it for doing that -- I just said you can't say the series had nothing to do with the big 3 when it was specifically about their absence.

Did you read 52? Or just look at the cover of the 1st issue? Having read Marvel for a long time, I can say Wolverine is on every damn Superhero team.

Nope, just followed the reviews. So yes, I'm no expert on 52, but my point was about the series' concept, not content or quality. Wolverine's currently on 3 teams I think: New Avengers, X-Men (sort of), and X-force. But yes, he's a ridiculously overused character

DC doesn't use the big 3 nearlyt as mucxh as people think. Of their big teams: Justioce League, Titans & Justice Society the big 3 are only on 1 of them. That being said Supes, BAts and WW has been on LESS THAN HALF of the "incarnations" of Justice League over the years.

Sure Supes & BAts eaqch have like 4 books apiece, but DC's vision and sales don't rely on them.

And they also have a joint book! And now Trinity for all 3 of 'em I wouldn't say all DC's sales rely on them, but they definitely shove them into all kinds of things, presumably to get bigger sales (same as Marvel shoves Wolverine into everything).

Crisis of the INfinite Earths followed JOhn Stewart, FireStorm, Alexander Luthor, Flash, Pariah, Blue Beetle, Psycho Pirate, Harbringer and, Superman.

Inifinite Crisis followed Powergirl, Nightwing, Superboy, Superboy Prime, Alexander Luthor and SupermanII.

Countdown: Kyle Rayner, Troiya, Trickster, Piper, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, JAson Todd, Jimmy Olsen, Mary MArvel, Atom.

Notice a pattern? The big 3 are almost not a part of any of the biog things DC does.

Final Crisis, which is supposedly their final world changing Crisis has already taken Superman and Batman out of the equation, with Wonderwoman being next in issue 3.

Okay, but when I talk about the influence of Supes/Bats, I'm thinking their supporting cast too, who are all over those events. I'm glad to hear they're booting the big 3 out of Final Crisis, from what you say it sounds like it worked well for 52.

Also, having read that '90s example... Well all they did was "reboot" FF, Avengers and others while keeping XMen and Sipderman (their 2 bioggest properties) in play.

Oh okay, cool. Scarlet Witch was still the character behind House of M (and Avengers Disassembled) though. And Marvel's had those Annihilation events the last couple years, which were all about wacky space-based characters I've never heard of and had nothing to do with their big sellers. And, like I said, I think World War Hulk and Civil War were really what made Hulk/Cap/Iron Man much bigger players in the current comics (all the recent Marvel movies obviously helped too ), instead of them bringing people to the events.

I'm not saying Marvel doesn't use their big guns all the time. Just that DC does too. And that's fine. And they both produce alternatives for readers trying to avoid those overused characters. My whole point was it's hard to make a straightforward case that DC = A and Marvel = B. They've both tried a lot of different things over the years. Apologies for the long reply!

Not sure if Canada is still a week ahead with the Animated airings, but this past weekend's was a two-parter finale shown back to back, so if any Americans are taping it this weekend you may want to add an extra half hour to be safe. I was a little annoyed when my tape cut off, but thank god for Youtube

It is a brilliant book and turns on it's head people who believe DC is based around the big 3. It's not. Unlike Marvel, DC is willing to push their biggest stories with their smallest characters.

I believe DC tends to be based around the big 3 (and that's fine; Marvel's largely based around Spider-man, X-Men, and these days Avengers), and 52 did not really turn me on my head. Seeing as the whole book was based on the premise of what would happen in the absence of the big 3, that means Bats, Supes and Wondy were very involved in the story. I mean good for DC for taking their cornerstones out of play for a year, but when their absence is the whole driving force of the story it's hard to say that story isn't pushed by them (wasn't the first image for 52 even that picture of Superman's cape, Batman's cowl and Wonderwoman's whatever, all sitting there unused?).

Similarly, didn't Marvel bump all their heroes off into some pocket universe or something in the late '90s? I think that was how the Thunderbolts started, maybe? Plus, House Of M was driven by Scarlet Witch (not exactly a big character), and Iron Man has only become a Marvel cornerstone because of his involvement in recent big stories. Anyway, not trying to get too Marvel fanboy on you I just think most sweeping generalizations about Marvel and DC can be seen from a different angle or two.

Have DST switched War Machine suits, or is that just a mistake by the person posing the mates? In the original ToyFair photos, the Stark version was the one that had shoulder mounted guns and was missing the chest "porthole" thing, but here they're positioned the other way around. Since I want the one with guns/no porthole, I hope they haven't made that the Rhodey variant....

Any Iron Man buffs know which suit is which in the comics, character-wise?

Wow, I hope the Deadpool Minimate is that well done when they finally make him... and then five minutes later we can all start petitioning for a Deadpool Mugg

1985 is also pretty interesting so far, anyone else picking that up?

Yeah I'm reading 1985, Kick Ass is good as well.

Millar's really everywhere right now, isn't he? The end of that last Kick Ass issue was simultaneously shocking/hilarious. And 1985 actually made a loser crook like Electro seem really disturbing and threatening.

I don't think Fantastic Four's been as good, but this week's was an improvement, and his first ish of Wolverine was only set-up but it looks like it could be fun, and McNiven's art is awesome either way...

Clearly Optimus is the new female lead in Grease, and he liked Danny Zucco so darn much that he got all leathered up at the end of the movie: Nemesis Prime.

Just got my Animated stuff in the mail, they really are great. Grimlock is competing with the TMNT line for my favorite toy of the year. Bumblebee's good despite the wonky feet and the fact that he can't stand anyway near Prowl and Blackarachnia without looking insanely out of scale. The sort-of-transparent-head thing to make the eyes light up works well, and they really did a great job making the robot and vehicle modes equally appealing, instead of sacrificing one for the other. Oh and Grimlock hate twisty ties!

Also, if anyone else uses BBTS from Canada on the basis that they ship packages marked as "gift" -- yeah, it looks like customs has cracked that impenetrable code, since I just got border fee'd.

$46 for Black Spiderwoman is nuts. I didn't even pay that much for Black Spidey or Stealth Iron Man, and that was only a year or so back... that makes me relieved I've mostly checked off my list of hard-to-find mates at this point.

It is getting almost impossible to find old variants at reasonable prices.

On the one hand it seems like a good sign that minimates are getting more and more popular, which is good for the line, and on the other it seems like crazy prices would drive off potential new collectors, which is not so good...

Final note, I would like to point out there is not ONE Spider-Man book on my list.

Well there's only one Spider-man book now anyways, it's just out three times as often ... I had found the main universe Spidey comics pretty unappealing since getting back into comics a couple years back -- because of the things you mentioned, Gwen-spawn, evolving, Aunt May asassination attempts, etc. -- but I'm actually really enjoying the weekly 'Amazing' relaunch. Sure, the quality is all over the map depending on the writer/artist of the month, but some of the stories have been great, and even the goofy issues don't ruin the fun of reading a new Spidey comic every week.

Ultimate is definitely a much better product overall, but I still get a kick out of the Brand New Day stuff. Before this, the only place I really enjoyed main universe Spidey was in New Avengers, again thanks to Bendis, or when he'd pop up in Runaways or She-Hulk, where they remembered he's supposed to be funny.

On a related note, that new Spectacular cartoon is awesome...

http://www.minimatedatabase.com/pack.php?i=32

Oh okay, they've released so many non-wave FF mates I get mixed up.

$46 for Black Spiderwoman is nuts. I didn't even pay that much for Black Spidey or Stealth Iron Man, and that was only a year or so back... that makes me relieved I've mostly checked off my list of hard-to-find mates at this point.

The New Exiles is the only comic that I have kept up with, and that has been very disappointing. Exiles used to be my favorite comic, but the stories have been crap as of late and don't even really follow the old Exiles formula.

Didn't Chris Claremont take over that book a while back? He's a pretty acquired taste, to say the least, and I'd imagine he's just doing the same kind of stories he always does regardless of what formula the book had before... I thought World War Hulk was fun, at least for a few issues. But yeah, it basically had no plot.

Personally I'm loving Secret Invasion and the Avengers tie-ins, as well as Kick-Ass and most of Buffy Season 8 so far.

I sometimes pick up comics just for the art too, although it's always a nice surprise when the writing lives up to it -- I've been reading Ult. Spidey since Stuart Immonen started drawing it (his stuff in Nextwave was awesome) and really liking it. Same with All Star Superman, came for the art and the story's been outstanding.

fave is probably the 1st appearance Spidey... maybe Kitty Pryde. Web Armor and 2099 are up there too since those are the first comics I ever bought (well other than, like, ALF)...

not at all a completist, just grabbed the ones I really wanted:

-Black Spidey

-Stealth Iron Man

-Frosted Iceman (have two actually, the first one that I got off eBay I should've emailed the seller about, but just grabbed it, and it has some minor wear-and-tear and is missing his ice blast... and I'm way too picky/neurotic for that!)

-Black Electra

-Diamond Emma Frost (ended up getting two of these too, since the first one came out of the box with what looks like a blue ink blob in the middle of the clear part of her leg)

-Archangel

-SM3 MJ

-was the transparent Invisible Woman a regular wave variant? I thought she was harder to get, but I could be remembering wrong. One of my favourite mates though.

Skipping the upcoming movie mates, and then I'll probably grab Rhodey if I see him (but the two War Machines are so similar I'm not that bothered if I don't) and that Spider-man villain I've never even heard of, so I'll wait for pictures to decide.

Wouldn't any Skrull Elektra have to be a Dead Skrull Elektra? She didn't show her true colors (yes I said it) until she kicked it, did she?

Even though she's only been in the background of a couple of panels so far, I would love to get a Jessica Jones in her old superhero costume (mostly because any other Jessica Jones mate would just look like a random civvie). I would also like a modern Luke Cage without a beanie hat, because I do hate that beanie hat.

Wave 25:

Gambit and Mr. Sinister

Jim Barnes Captain America and the Red Skull

Black Panther and Storm (with an Armor Black Panther variant)

This would be awesome, although if there was a Black Panther/Storm variant, I'd much rather see Storm rockin' her mohawk. But that might just be my Secret Wars sticker book nostalgia talking