hellpop

I don't believe they put in a release date... I never actually buy Toyfare, but just flip through it in the shop. Isn't that what it's there for?

Just paged through the new issue of Toyfare at my LCBS, which had quite the little Minimate scoop. Toys R Us has an exclusive Marvel Minimates two pack coming out... Union Jack and Wonder Man! UJ is in his traditional togs and has a removable mask (and looks great) and Wonder Man is in his Safari jacket look (which I believe is painted, not sculpted). Not sure why they paired these two particular characters together, but whatever....

My picks: 01) BEST MINIMATE (top 3 choices) -Clayface -Invaders Cap -Mysterio 02) WORST MINIMATE (top 3 choices) -Doc Cottle -1st App. Hulk -Modular Iron Man (I've just always hated that armor) 03) BEST PACKAGING (one choice) -The window boxes beginning with Marvel waves 23&24 04) BEST BOX SET/WAVE (one choice) -DC wave 7 05) WORST BOX SET/WAVE (one choice) -Star Trek Wave 3 (I think this wave basically killed Trek 'mates) 06) SEXIEST MINIMATE (top 3 choices) -Sorry guys... they're two inch block figures. I don't find them sexy. Abstaining. 07) BIGGEST SLEEPER (top 3 choices) -Hawkeye -Spymaster -US Agent 08) IF ONLY... (one choice) -Nexus (hey, he's the one character that I most want as a 'mate!) 09) FAVORITE CUSTOM (top 3 choices) -Luke's Groo is the only one that jumps out at this time 10) BEST ACCESSORY (top 3 choices) -Hannibal's mask -Ant- Man's helmet -The straps to put Cap's shield on his back (whatever it's called) 11) WORST ACCESSORY (top 3 choices) -Wasp's wings (since they don't fit right) -Skull w/Grodd - I'll just go ahead and vote for Duck Feet.... 12) BEST VARIANT (one choice) -War Machine 13) WORST VARIANT (one choice) -Dress Uniform Scotty 14) BEST IRON MAN OF '08 (top 3 choices) -War Machine -Iron Man Movie mark 1 -Iron Man Movie mark 3

Thanks, guys. I'm not too upset to miss out on a Spock.

Did I miss it, or has the Minimate given away at the panel still not been revealed? Dammit, I was at NYCC yesterday, but for some reason I assumed that the panel was going to be today (Saturday). They had the Spirit comics mates on display as well. They look awesome. Godfather is probably not a bad choice at all, though I'm not thrilled by them.

I absolutely, positively, cannot wait for these. This is the best Minimate news in ages. All of you naysayers out there should consider one thing: All of the comics shops that order Marvel (and ordered DC) Minimates but don't regularly order the non-comics ones will probably get these. Look at this as a test bubble for more Indiemates. If these do well, maybe DST will look at doing sets from Hellboy, Grendel, ect. And if you're a comic book fan that has never read the Spirit, shame on you!!!

My thoughts: -I didn't really consider Iron Man (even though the clues did fairly obviously point to him) because I really, really don't want any more Iron Man Minimates for awhile. That being said, this is one I'll probably get this one, if only because of the exquisite classic IM helmet included in the Through the Ages box. I suspect this will be my definiteve IM 'mate, much like the Invaders Cap is the definitive, IMHO. -Not a big X-Men or Wolverine fan, but these are all characters I will probably buy, if perhaps not right away (not in this economy!). I certainly agree that these are all characters that have been missing from the Multiverse for long enough. Glad to see AA listening to the fans and putting some guys hight on the want lists in here (though not mine...). My biggest complaint is actually with the spot taken up by FA Wolverine in the Secret Invasion box set, which could have gone (more appropriately) to Yellowjacket, Captain Marvel or Mockingbird. But what can you do? Wolverine sells. -I have a really nice Red Skull custom I bought on eBay, but I'm still happy to see him here. Also glad to see the new Cap. -Rulk and Skaar is probably a pass, unless they are too awesome for words. So I assume that Skaar "hasn't declared himself yet" and that Rulk is a villian? -Really wanted Hydra to be one of the army builders. Oh well. -I was wondering why Sabretooth wasn't in what clearly seemed to be the Wolverine wave. -Methinks that all these heavy hitters coinciding with the return of Minimates to Toys R Us is no coinidence. -Thanks again for the contest! DO THIS AGAIN!!!!

...and that's when the Art Asylum blog crashed....

Admit it Matt, you're watching the Phillies parade like I am!

Substitute Jubilee for Captain Britain and Skrull for Hydra guy, add an "Ultimate" in front of regular Nick Fury, and you have my last pick If Captain Britain is indeed correct, I'll be super-happy, even though he's neither a mutant nor a minority (unless he's been retconned into mutantity (mutantness?)).

Umm, hate to burst your bubble, but in our male dominated society, females are considered to be a type of minority. Not really... in fact, women outnumber men in our population. If DST used this specious reasoning, I'll be annoyed.

Fwoosh Winner here as well. Not too surprised, since those clues were much easier then the wave 26 ones.

I was thinking this as well, but I just refuse to believe we will get another regular Nick Fury. It makes no sense. We got him recently in his Silver Age garb. Is there any other common garb he could be wearing? I am fairly certain the variant is Sgt. Fury. But I think the Silver Age hero will be someone like Captain Marvel. This means pack #2 has to include at least one figure with the following characteristics: a mutant, a minority, and a character repeat of a Minimate we've already received. Assuming the female gender is considered a minority (technically a majority of humans but considered a minority based on power relationships) then that could limit the field. Here is my wave 26: Pack 1: Cable/Deadpool - I refuse to give up on believing we won't get a new incarnation of Cable. Plenty of costumes to pick from. Pack 2: Marvel Girl/Spider-Girl - This assumes DST classifies Spider-Girl as a mutant...not sure this has been definitively expressed but it remains a possibility. But DSTMatt is such a comic encyclopedia I'm sure he could explain this. Plus Chuck gets a Spider-being in this wave AND Spider-Girl is a very popular character. Marvel Girl is a repeat of Pheonix. The only downside of this is the pairing theme. Young girls 2-pack? Pack 3: Captain Marvell/Skrull - I swear I read somewhere where Quesada called the Skrulls costume "ridiculous" given their plans to invade Earth. And Captain Marvel is very Silver Age and enemy of the Skrull. Variant Sgt. Fury - Sgt. Fury can pack easily with the Skrulls as he has taken a major role fighting the Skrulls in Secret Invasion. I wouldn't be surprised if some "flashback" scene ever comes up with Sgt. Fury fighting Skrulls during WW2. There you go. My guesses for 26. Umm... I hate to burst your bubble, but neither Marvel Girl nor Spider-Girl are minorities (see the Day 2 clue). I think they would be great guesses otherwise! I also refuse to believe we'll get another Nick Fury. There's really no need for one. I suppose that they could do an Ultimate one, but that really doesn't fit the Silver Age clue. I also think that Sgt. Fury is a completely random character without a "regular" release to play off of. Unless you count the Black Panther zombie-chewed figure, which I would....

Four bucks?! Gah! Good for you, man. Clearly your LCBS didn't know what he had (and where might he be, BTW...?). I love getting finds like that. He's probably the last "rare" figure that I still need. I'm not in that big a hurry, because I don't really think he's all that great, though he does look much better if you take the headpiece off.

Yes. My guesses stayed the same as yesterday for wave 25 (so they're probably still wrong), but the wave 26 is a total toss-up for four of the characters. And has anybody thrown out Forge as a minority mutant? He would also work with Storm. Oh, I had not, but he's a great guess. He's a Native American, right? Very good thinking. As for MOC's comments about disappointment, well, I'm already disappointed that we're getting another Wolverine in addition to the one in the SI box. I also can't think of any minority mutants that I want (except for Xorn... oh snap, it could be Xorn!). For me, I guess the whole thing depends on the SA character. I have my heart set on Captain Marvel, but I'm not even going to guess him. The truth is, I always get a little excited every time new Minimates are announced, then a little disappointed every time it sinks in that my own want list failed to make an appearance yet again. But the Phillies won the World Series this week, so everything else is icing on the cake!

Question for anyone else that has the set: are you having difficulty getting the Wasp's wings off the chest piece? I'm very worried that if I tug any more I'm going to pull the little peg off. Any tips?

Sorry, I must have missed that. Everyone seemed to be focusing on Psylocke. One other SA hero that I personally didn't think of until just now: Hercules. I know that drgnrbrn316 ruled him out, but I'm not really sure why. He's a definite Silver Age character (he first appeared in an early issue of the Avengers), he has his own series and he's never been a Minimate before. I'm still going to go with the Panther (I think DST realizes that there is more of an outcry for the Panther then Herc), but you never know. Or not until tomorrow, at least. EDIT: Okay, looking back at the clue, I think it might just be Hercules. Consider: -Assuming that Wolverine is in the first pack (healing factor), and that Storm is one of the minority mutants, and that Sgt Fury is the variant (the early version of a 2008 movie character), then it can't be the Black Panther, since all three of those previously have Minimates, and so does the Panther (the zombie-chewed one). -Of the other SA characters that I'm considering, Captain Marvel and Black Widow don't have their own books. Herc does. That would make the three with their own books Wolvie, Deadpool, and Hercules (Deadpool does have his own book, doesn't he?). So I think if you go: Wolverine/Deadpool Storm/Jubilee Hercules/Aim Agent Variant: Sgt. Fury you fit all the clues reasonably well. Of course, the big assumption is that Storm is one of the minorities, and it's not Psylocke/Jubilee, or Jubilee/Sunfire, or Sunfire/Psylocke, or some other combination that hasn't crossed my mind.... Argh! This is worse then waiting for the World Series to continue!

Anyone else think the MM set of clues are much harder then the Fwoosh clues? I feel reasonably certain about my wave 25 guesses, but I'm still pretty stumped with this set. I'm sure Deadpool is here, and that's about it. The SA character could be Captain Marvel, could be Black Widow, could be the Black Panther... since the Panther has his own book, and I think Storm is likely one of the minority mutants, he makes the most sense to me. So my guesses are: Wolvie/Deadpool (not too thrilled that there's a Wolvie in the SI box if he's going to be in this wave) Storm/Jubilee (I'm surprised no one else has mentioned Jubilee, since she's a minority mutant and Wolverine's de facto side kick. BTW, I will not be buying this pack) Black Panther/AIM agent (I'm sticking with the Hydra goon in series 25, which could be a humongous mistake. Maybe I'll change my mind before I submit my answers) Variant: Srg. Fury (I'm just holding out hope that the SA character isn't another Nick Fury).

Sabretooth first appeared in Iron Fist #14. Matches pretty well with the "tried to kill Wolverine" clue, eh? By Jove!! you have cracked it. Aug 1977. so modern sabretooth and big fur lined collar as the variant!! Nice Job Hellpop!! Thanks... a part of me thought that I should keep that to myself, but it just didn't seem sporting. Minimates are about sharing, right? I also think this means that Wolvie/Deadpool is the first pack in Wave 26, rather then Deadpool/Sabes. Of course, Wolvie/Sabes could be the "Best Archenemies" pack... argh! Anyway, I feel safe in saying that we are getting: Sabretooth Deadpool Wolverine in some form (great...) Rulk

Sabretooth first appeared in Iron Fist #14. Matches pretty well with the "tried to kill Wolverine" clue, eh?

That's my guess... with Winter Soldier as the variant.

These look as good as one could hope, considering the movie looks... not good. Miller has no business going anywhere near the Spirit. At least the Black Widow custom looks to be pretty easy. But the really great news is the 'mates based on the Comics! I really hope this is the beginning of more 'mates based on other comics properties. I wish they'd do the same thing with Hellboy....

For the record (since I started the too many Iron Men debate a while back) my issue isn't the amount of Iron Men 'mates OVERALL, just the sheer amount that have come out, or have been announced, in the last year. Particularly in relation to the rest of the Marvel Universe in that time. But yes, there are too many of them. They look nice together though!

I also have a Suncoast near me, and I picked up the Spidey box set (the one with Hydro Man) for about 6 bucks. It's not a set I really wanted, since there's only one unique character. But the price was right. They also have a ton of DC wave 5 sets- and only that wave, at least at mine- for 5-6 bucks depending on the character. I picked up an extra Shazam and made a Black Adam quick custom. Turned out pretty well. Incidentally, FYE, Suncoast, and Coconuts are all the same company, so the clearance prices will should apply there as well. They also have a lot of DC Direct and Marvel Select figures clearanced.

Have they admitted this much before? Sounds reasonably promising. . . He's at the very top of my want list, so this would be awesome. I think his outfit would lend itself to a very unique mate.