hellpop

Yeah, bought everyone but the Atlantean Soldier/Namor set. Just don't need another Namor, and don't care enough about the Soldier to justify it (he didn't look great). Case looked to be pretty even; there were two of every pack, three of the Doom/Reed set (I would bet there's three of the Torch/Thing as well, but I didn't notice). Should be plenty for all. Universal Monsters are out too, though I'm going to go to that thread to spread the word (and no, I didn't get any. I'm not made of money!).

Wow, that's great news! I never read the latter day Excalibur, but the Davis stuff are teriffic comics. It's almost too bad that they've done so many of these characters already, because other then Meggan, I don't know how many characters are needed. I'm betting we get the redesigned Captain Britain, and a new Nightcrawler. I would really, really love the Black Knight, though I'd be disappointed if he's in anything but his classic costume. What did he wear in Excalibur?

Just got back from Toys R Us... they're out! They're out! They're out!

While I agree that the thinking and execution behind the Spidey reset are terrible, Brand New Day has actually turned out some very good Spider-Man stories. Slott is really a terrific Spidey writer, and I'm glad he's going to become the only writer soon. The biggest problem is that they've tried SO hard to go back to "classic" Spider-Man style that the book has often felt very forced. But there's been some good work in there. And while everyone's bemoaning recently canceled Marvel titles-- Agents of Atlas, anyone?

Daredevil is probably Bendis' best work (at least mainstream work) though I never read the whole thing because I gave up reading his stuff years ago. Yeah, I'm a Bendis hater, though I've mellowed a bit. I actually read House of M not that long ago when I found a cheap copy and found it to be much better then I expected. My biggest problem with him is that he is, to my mind, writing comics for which he has no aptitude. He's not a guy that can find the individual voice of a character or project he's working on (like, say, Roger Stern), but rather one who tries to ram his perspective in even if it's a poor fit. He is, I think, a terrible fit for the Avengers; at the same time, though, he's taken them from Marvel's second tier group (behind the X-Men) to the forefront of the line, so what do I know. That square peg/round hole conundrum is one that Marvel has suffered a lot during the Quesada years. They simply seem unable to recognize that some writers (and artists) don't mesh with some characters. Mark Millar, for example, was a terrible fit on the Fantastic Four, because the things that make his work exciting and interesting are not the things that will work with the FF. Not that this is a recent phenomenon; John Byrne was a perfect fit for the FF, and a terrible one on Superman. So, anyway, Bendis on gritty, street-level vigilantes= fine, Bendis on big sweeping superhero sagas=not fine. Feel free to disagree!

It's also not just that variants and short-packed items works for TRU, but for DST as well. Having items that are hard to find creates a buzz for a toy line. I know that I, at times, have almost bought toys from lines that I don't collect when I saw them just because I knew they were "HTF". On the other hand, I've passed up toys that I was interested in just because they were everywhere and easily found again. Looking at Minimates, I'm much more likely to buy the shortpacked item when I see it, because I'm not sure I'll see it again. For example, I bought the IM2 set with the Black Widow as much because I might want it later and not be able to find it as I wanted it at that moment. I'm more likely to buy all the sets I'm interested in when I see them rather then taking a chance and not being able to find them later. Hope I'm making my point clearly....

Well, I would hope that the 25+ years invested and, 80+ longboxes in my basement including a near-complete run of Daredevil might elevate me at least to the title of 'ensign' or 'rookie' at this point, hell I'll even settle for 'novice' or 'greenhorn'. My comic book pedigree aside, usually the point of a "gimmick" is to boost sales. Does anyone care enough about Black Panther as a character (let alone the readers of Daredevil?) for Marvel to think this move would help them financially, even in the short term? Replace Cap with Bucky, ok... I can understand the logic of that, there's history. Former partner-turned-misguided villain takes over the shield of his mentor and attempts to redeem himself and continue his mentor's legacy for the country that needs him. Replace Batman with Robin/Nightwing, again...there is a logic and history behind the decision. Former protege who has already made a name for himself steps into his mentor's cowl to honor his legacy and provide Gotham City the protector it needs. Replace Daredevil with Black Panther...no logic, no history, no way to generate positive buzz about the project. Completely unrelated character takes the tagline and issue numbering of another character and moves into his section of the city to fight crime. We all know that nothing is permanent in comics. I'm fine with that and it's one of the things I love about comics. It's a medium that you can take an established character and tell any kind of story you want. If the story plays out well, fine, I'll happily eat my words. If the story bombs, then it's just another example of the people in charge being out of touch with what the readers want. Agree 100%. As a Black Panther storyline this could have worked; tying it to Daredevil makes no sense. This whole "there's a new Man Without Fear" thing... whatever. Near as I can tell it's not generating much interest at all. Unfortunately, the lack of permanence in comics means that storylines have no impact. We know that the status quo will be reestablished sooner or later, so we tend to view change wearily and warily. Comics companies now blatantly lie to us (as in when Marvel insisted that Spidey revealing his identity was permanent), because they know the readership base is desensitized. We all know that Wonder Woman's going to eventually go back to the classic costume, so why bother investing in this new direction? When you sell stunts rather then stories, that's what happens. And, am I crazy, or didn't they have Iron Fist dressing as Daredevil just a few years ago?

I think DST has a while to go before they catch up to Toy Biz in terms of ridiculous Spider-Man figures: http://www.againwiththecomics.com/2007/03/...r-man-toys.html Scuba Spidey doesn't look so bad now, does it? My personal favorite is the fishing one; I just like the idea of Peter Parker going to the ol' fishing hole- in Brooklyn Heights, no less- in full costume with matching pole. I saw this once at a Kaybe years ago, and I've always regretted not buying it.

Iron Patriot is going to be heavily shipped, I think, so I wouldn't worry too much about finding him. He'll probably be joining all those other Iron Men using Stark Repulsor tech to warm the pegs at your local toy aisle.

Minnesota really has the look of a team so desperate to win they're liable to fall apart. I do think the Saints will struggle a bit relative to last year (I just can't imagine that they'll be as hungry as last year, and I think Atlanta's going to make a leap up), but they're still a strong team. Neither team was great tonight, though. If anyone's interested in wading through my blatant Eagles bias, you can read my NFL predictions at my blog: http://dinosaursinf14s.blogspot.com/2010/0...-could-not.html

Toy Biz did make a Showdown figure of that costume, by the way.

Nice Shang-Chi. I made a quick custom of him using a Street Fighter Ryu as the base, with the torso Sharpied red and yellow, and the hairpiece painted black, and with the head of Agent Zero. Your sleeves really put this one over the top.

I remember a friend of mine around that time pointing out how silly Psylocke's costume was, with all those little bands, and how long it would take for her to actually put them all on, and it kind of ruined the whole thing for me. Most of those costumes have not aged well, but neither has Jim Lee's fashion sense, if the new Wonder Woman costume is any indication.

Wha!? Why you... Just kidding. That's sure as "official" as my two. And it saves me the work, soo.... I'm actually excited to get a chance to take one of these. EDIT: 137/142; missed one of the old TRU exclusives and 4 of the upcoming exclusive sets. You know, you already have to edit this and add the New Mutants....

What a cool idea, and well executed.

New Mutants are all right, but I'm disappointed in their choice of characters. I suppose that you can always buy multiple sets to make some of the others; they all wore the same outfit, after all. I'm sure there will be a follow-up, though. Warlock, at least, is a must. The only AoA 'mate I have any interest in is Sunfire. Those outfits are just so very, very ugly. I'll be at the show, so I'll probably pick this up and trade the rest.

Cyclops is my favorite X-man, in large part because of 175. One of Claremont's best scripts, GORGEOUS art by Paul Smith. But if you're going to do a Cyclops/Phoenix set based on a comic, it has to be 136, doesn't it? It's THE issue. Even though Jean spends most of the issue in her Marvel Girl costume. Looks like new stuff has made it's way to Wal-Mart. Went a little nuts last night and bought the Wrecker, Winter Soldier, Iron Patriot and Mary Jane (and even passed on a Skrull). It's really cool to have the whole Wrecking Crew together. This line has really done a nice job in tapping into the breadth of the Marvel Universe, much more then Marvel Legends ever did. Still want Wrecking Crew Minimates though.

It is really starting to grow on me. I think the paper makes colors more vibrant, and it is quicker to apply since you don't have to soak it in water first. The two drawbacks are the glossy finish, and not being able to reposition the sticker once you apply it - you have to do it perfectly the first time. The glossy finish can be fixed with some clear dull or matte finish spray paint, so that problem is fixed. I have screwed up a few stickers by positioning them wrong the first time, but I always print 4 of each sticker just in case. So from now on I think I will be using the polyester film, unless I need to use clear decal paper, which doesn't happen very often. Luke was recently kind enough to send me a couple stickers along with a custom he'd done for me, and I was very happy with them. They apply very easily, and look great. However, I was able to remove them after placing them on the 'mate without any problem. Dunno if that means they won't hold fast long term, but right now they're sticking just fine.

Okay, Part 2 is ready and available to play. Looks like there's going to have to be a part 3 for all the box sets. There's too many !@#$ Marvel Minimates! This one was a little trickier to construct, so if anyone has any problems, or can think of ways to improve it, let me know (I'm afraid I can't explain why the layout ended up so funky...). Also, I added a few extra minute to part 1, so if anyone wants to try again, you've got a bit more time. http://www.sporcle.com/games/Hellpop/marvel_minimates_2

Fixed Kitty Pryde. Sorry about that. And Nessex is right, it is Sabretooth. I allowed for a lot of variations in answers, but not misspellings! Started work on part 2 last night and should have it done in a day or two....

Whoops, I didn't even think of those variations... I'll add them as possible answers.

Sorry about that... I updated the quiz answer for the Shield agent, so it should accept both S.H.I.E.L.D and shield.

I posted a Sporcle quiz that I put together earlier today in the general chat forum here earlier tonight, and mentioned that I was planning to make a Minimate Quiz as well. Well, the hell with it, I decided to make the quiz tonight. So here it it: Marvel Minimates (Part 1)! Yes, only part one. You can only have 200 answers in a Sporcle quiz, so I had to stop after Wave 29. But I'll do another quiz with the rest, and the TRU ones and the box sets and stuff, and perhaps more if you guys like this one enough. Anyway, give it a whirl and let me know what you think, particularly if you notice any errors. It's not easy to type "Spider-Man" 40 times! (Oh no, did I just give away an answer?) EDIT: Here's the link for part 2

I've been fooling around a bit with Sporcle recently, which is a quiz site that allows you to make your own quizzes. I decided to give it a try, starting with something simple, but fun: superhero pets! Here's the link: http://www.sporcle.com/games/Hellpop/superhero_pets I plan to do a few more, including some Minimate related quizzes, so let me know what you think.

BTW Luke, I was thinking: if you're going to be selling these as full sheets, do you think you could put a couple generic male and female chest decals on there? I know I've got several customs using black chests that just need a little muscle detail. Say maybe a half-dozen or so?