Gillbob316

Re: The "interesting" choice of Titanosaurus... I feel like he's pretty blatantly the character that got thrown into the set to ride on the popularity of the other three... as a means of getting him out there. Since he'd be less interesting in a two-pack or something (should Godzilla ever get two-packs) I mean, let's take the Marvel Civil War set as an example... Iron Man Spider-Man Captain America Nitro ... One of these things is not like the others. Titanosaurus is your Nitro. And I personally see that as a good thing, because it indicates that they intend to make more Godzilla minimate sets. When they cram in all the heavy hitter, all star, essential characters in the first pack... it usually means, "We don't think this line will have legs, so we're hitting all the high notes as quick as possible." ... when they throw in a filler character, it means, "We plan to make quite a few of these sets, so we're pacing ourselves on the big characters, and working in a few small ones too when we have room." I'd love a Mechagodzilla or a King Ghidorah as much as the next guy, but I'm happy to get Titanosaurus. I want as many monsters as possible in the long run. Hell, say what you will about the crappy movie, but I'd even take a Zilla minimate. Just because he became a canon (if lame) monster within the overall Godzilla franchise. And I wantz them all. King Kong would also be one I'd dare to dream for. He so rarely gets represented in Godzilla merch. Despite having squared off with him. Damned legal mumbo jumbo. (Perhaps Zach has some idea if there's any prayer there?)

I'd just like to address a little something about the idea that between meeting her in X1 and her dying at the end of X2 Wolverine barely knew Jean... and shouldn't be so wracked with guilt. I don't think it's being present for her sacrificial death at the end of X2 he's lamenting here... I think it's STABBING her to death at the end of X3 he's feeling guilt for. I mean I think that's obvious. He dreams of stabbing her. She has her long X3 hair. HE killed her, at the end of X3. That's what he's upset about in The Wolverine. Not her X2 Death. Though Jean wasn't in her right mind for the duration of X3, and Wolverine didn't really have any more "getting to know you" time with her, past the first two movies... she was Alive in X3, Wolverine still had feelings for her... and nobody is going to feel peachy keen about stabbing a woman they have feelings for in the gut and killing her. As for the movie on the whole... I dunno... Someone earlier was saying it was so much better than XO:W, which was stupid... And Origins WAS stupid, don't get me wrong. But this movie was pretty damn stupid too. I think people are just so eager to get past origins that they're overdoing praise on The Wolverine. I love Hugh Jackman. I love his Wolverine. I LOVE the X-Men. But these X-Men movies on the whole... are just a mess. I've ranted about it before... but in a pre "The Wolverine" world. I heard such kind words about The Wolverine pre-release that I hoped it would be different, but it was just more of the same imo... Take a bunch of mutants we haven't already used in the previous films Change them in ways that make them barely resemble the source material Take a classic story arc or two from the comic books and alter it in ways that allow for more characters and fight scenes Throw it all into a new movie, slap a big X or Wolverine on the poster, and crank that sucker out so Marvel doesn't get their rights back I mean yeah, people hated Origins. Emma sucked. Deadpool sucked. Gambit sucked. None of them were good representations of their comic book characters, and it wasn't a good re-telling of the Weapon X story on the whole. But like, what's so damned great about Wolverine? Silver Samurai (Harada) wasn't Silver Samurai, despite Silver Samurai being part of the plot. Viper was a snake mutant with an array of powers she never had. Mariko, who in the grand tradition of Uncle Ben or Gwen Stacy, is a character whose death stuck, because she didn't have powers, or need to be resurrected for comic book purposes, so her permanent death inevitably MEANT something to Wolverine's story... and they don't even kill her! Same old hodgepodge of screwed up characters and butchered story, at the expense of more wire-fighting and CGI action with big robots, who have the power to suck Wolverine's mutant power from his bone marrow for some never wholly explained reason. Origins was a crap retelling of Weapon X, with butchered characters. This was a crap retelling of the Wolverine mini with butchered characters. *Shrug* It was a better FILM than Origins, no question... it had better effects, a better look, and fewer stupid "How did Gambit get on that roof?" technical/continuity errors... But I don't think it was any better as an X-Men adaptation or in an overall story sense. As was X3. As was, yes I'll say it, First Class. X1 was a good starting point. X2 built on that, while only adding a couple new characters to the fold, and still standing strong on the foundation the first movie built. Every movie since then seems to be, "Hey, which mutants haven't we used yet? Lets loosely base this on some well-known story from the comic book and just cram as many more of those suckers in as we can, whether it makes sense or not. And if they don't have a cool power that translates to a nice CGI effect, by god, make one up!" I haven't been happy with this franchise in years. They're a mess, as adaptations go. And I am firmly in the camp of people who wants it to revert to Marvel's hands. I need a fresh start here. I'm excited that DOFP is at least bringing some continuity back to the franchise on the whole, but it looks like it will still be much of the same. Classic story. Altered loads. Bunch more characters thrown into the mix for no real reason. Bishop, Blink, Warpath, Sunspot, Quicksilver... why the hell are they here? Oh, more mutants and more cool effects. Trask and the Sentinels are sensible additions that help the plot. Fine with those. I'm sure even Bishop's presence will play into the time-travel angle a bit, so I accept him. But the other four seem superfluous. (I think Singer pretty much confirmed that Quicksilver is just there to accommodate a cool sequence in his movie, that he didn't want to cut, when the controversy of Avengers Quicksilver vs X-Men Quicksilver arose) Ugh, this is like the umpteenth time I've ranted about this on the internet (and like at least the third on these very forums, lol) X-Men is my absolute favorite comic book franchise, but these movies... they pain me.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute here wait... So Wolverine 2 got a TRU wave, but Thor 2's TRU wave got cancelled!? What complete and utter bullcrap! I haven't been paying attention to minimates as much lately (started a new full time job a couple months ago, I haven't been paying as much attention to anything lately) and I wasn't even aware Wolverine got a TRU wave til now... This just makes me EXTRA irritated that Thor 2 got canceled... I feel like the Wolverine movie didn't have many characters/looks we NEEDED minimates for. And Frankly Silver Samurai is the one I'd have been MOST excited for and we still didn't even get him (as usual with the big surprise end-of-movie villains... grumble grumble) I remember being so relieved that we were getting the other two warriors three FOR SURE this time... and then we didn't. >_< Thor 2 got screwed! FANDRAL AND HOGUN OR WE RIOT! (Kind of off-topic, sorry, lol...)

I have a very... unique perspective on this topic, in that... unlike 90% of the world (and likely every last person posting on this forum) I actually DIDN'T stop watching the show once Tommy left, and it was no longer age appropriate, and I've seen the vast vast majority of Power Rangers... over 20 years. There was a season or two later in the run that I admit I haven't seen, but I am keeping up on the most current season, and filling gaps on netflix whenever I find the time. But I have seen... literally hundreds and hundreds of episodes of Power Rangers. Probably at least 500 more than anyone here (yes, the show has gone on for THAT long since you stopped watching it) lol... That said, it probably goes without saying that I'm a huge fan. SO... I'm coming at this as both a gigantic Minimate fan, and a gigantic Power Rangers fan. I search those forums and news sites too... lol... Yes it's cheesy. Yes it's cheaply made. But whatever. I'm into it for some reason. I actually just watched an interview with Jason David Frank (Tommy) from SDCC the other day, and as he put it, (I'm paraphrasing) "Yeah it's cheesy, but kids eat cheese. Kids like cheese. Kids like String Cheese. Kids like Mac and Cheese." The early years (with Saban) were the early years... it was much cheesier and formulaic back then, but it could be, because it was new and kids dug it. Later years with Saban improved a bit. The stories and production quality got a little less formulaic. Episodes felt a little more meaningful to the show's "universe" on the whole. Most of the original viewership (and likely you) had already stopped watching it by now though. Still, it survived on new generations of kids coming in. Then Disney bought it, and the writing and production quality of the show was actually worlds better while it was owned by Disney, if you ask me. The Disney seasons had some of the best season long story arcs, writing, characters. I liked it under Disney. Since it was reacquired by Saban, it's taken a dip back toward the stupid and cheesy the last two years, and I'm actually not nuts about it. But they are at least trying to push toward a big shared universe story with the past 20 seasons, for the Anniversary year. So it's something. Anyway... all that is just my opinions of the show. Minimates however... Maybe... MAYBE if they were sold at TRU. Not as a specialty wave though. Kids and their parents don't shop at specialty stores as much... and I could never see this line surviving at specialty stores. I know that zillions of people would want to lap up the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as minimates... but after that I feel like interest would die off quickly. The later seasons costumes were no less cool looking in many cases, and just as well designed... but they just haven't taken root in the world's nostalgia 1/10th as much. Would YOU Buy Power Rangers Zeo, the 1st of many reboots to the series? What about Power Rangers Turbo, Turbo was the last season with Tommy, the last of the original cast? So how 'bout Power Rangers In Space? Lost Galaxy? Lightspeed Rescue? Time Force? Wild Force? Ninja Storm? Dino Thunder? SPD? Mystic Force? Operation Overdrive? Jungle Fury? RPM? Samurai? Megaforce? I just listed every season, but have you even heard of half of those? lol... I would buy them all. I know other Power Ranger nerds on Power Ranger forums who would buy them all. But would YOU? I don't think your average minimate fan, or your average consumer in general... would. At least they wouldn't clamor for them. Definitely not at specialty. -Maybe- at Toys R Us they'd sell... but that would mostly be fueled by moms not being able to tell the difference between buying one ranger or another for their kids. I don't think many people would SEEK OUT Wild Force rangers. Know what I mean? So you've got seven Mighty Morphin Rangers... a few villains (Zedd, Goldar and Rita are the only ones that ever seem to get made in more recent nostalgia lines)... maybe some secondary characters, Bulk, Skull, Alpha. Maybe some classic monsters, but that's a stretch. They don't really make toys of the 1-And Done single episode monsters much these days anymore. Even in the main line. And then after that yeah... interest dies off quickly. They'd probably also do a Megaforce wave to promote the new season. Maybe a few misc classic red rangers. Then the line would end... and me and every other Power Ranger nerd would just be disappointed that it was never more fleshed out... lol. That pretty much sums up every Power Rangers line of products ever, btw. Maybe Some Mighty Morphin' nostalgia products. Mostly "Current Season" products. Maybe a little extra from the years between. Then done. Don't get me wrong, I would buy every last one they made. I just... don't see it as a great line for minimates. Despite having 20 years worth of heroes and villains to pluck from, I don't see the line surviving. IMO, as a fan of both properties. Minimate fans, we want to milk a line for every character it's worth. We'd love every line to last forever, like Marvel. We're always asking, "Will we ever see more Ghostbusters? Back to the Future? Star Trek? Star Trek TNG? Street Fighter?" Power Rangers lines... they don't do that. They don't last. They smash out whatever current product they can in a year... then they reboot the line, and restart from square 1 for the current season. This would just be another 2 waves and done property for Diamond, and I don't want that. I'd take it. But I don't want it, lol. I'd prefer to get ALL TWENTY YEARS (which won't happen) or nothing at all. Maybe I'd be content with just Mighty Morphin' but if they dabbled at all in later seasons... I'd just get bummed that those seasons weren't all incomplete and fleshed out. BUT if they WERE to do it. 2014 would be the time... as the big anniversary season is airing next year. Big crossover battle. 20 years. 100+ rangers. If they don't do it now, there won't be a better time. I just don't think they'll do it now... lol...

My experience on con days... (And this experience, I will note is NOT with SDCC, I've never been. So it may well be a different beast, as stated above) Thur is a ghost town. No crowd, and half the time, half the guests haven't shown up yet and some of the booths aren't even set up. If vendors are offering them, it's by far the best day to get exclusives, as there's way less competition. But usually the show hours are way shorter thur too, bordering on a half-day. Fri is also pretty dead, but less so than Thurs. The con is more in full swing. Still, lots of celebrities/guests won't have shown up. And likely only 1 or 2 worthwhile panels. This is the best day to find cool (not necessarily cheap, but sometimes) buys, before other people scoop them up. Sat is a giant crowded crapstorm of people. Usually shoulder to shoulder. The upside of Saturday is it's usually the day that ever Celebrity Guest/Artist/Other cool attendee is there, and also usually the day with the best, most worth seeing panels, which is fortunate, since it gives you time AWAY from the crowd... if you so choose. Sun dies down a bit again. Far less people than Saturday, but still a fair few. Sunday is the best day to get bargains, as every booth starts dropping their prices to unload as much as they can and not have to pack things up. This is when you start to see lots of post-its with slashed prices, and people yelling out "Half off such and such!" It's also the best day for haggling, as after 4 days not selling an item, vendors are more willing to bend. That's the long and short of most cons in my experience. Each day has its pros and cons.

Alright, I'm late to this thread, but my post about Disney mates over in the C2E2 thread made me come seek it out... So RE: Minimates at Parks... I come from a big Orlando tourism family, and do the parks down there frequently, despite living in Chicago, lol... Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure, in Orlando, has a Marvel area/attractions, that predate Disney's acquisition of Marvel, and yes, they've sold minimates on and off and on again for years. Usually the specialty store waves, like a comic book shop would have. I've picked up lots of variant sets there on trips, because people don't tend to be looking for them there, so they're usually plentiful (but also slightly overpriced, like most themepark merch. But variants are slightly overpriced pretty much anywhere you buy them, so it's fine. lol...) I've also seen a few boxed sets there. Wolverine TTA jumps out in my memory. I know I saw that at Universal... I recall. I have never seen Minimates at a Disney park, though I admit my family has toned down the trips in recent years, and my visits to Disney have been sparse since they bought Marvel. I will keep a weather eye next time I go though. As to the question of Universal properties... I've always been VERY aware of the fact that Diamond seems to work frequently with Universal... and would love to see more... Terminator, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters and Universal Monsters all definitely have a presence in Universal's theme parks. They all furthermore, have or once had some sort of show/attraction. Funnily enough though, I never recall seeing any of them being sold in the parks... only Marvel, to my memory. I for one, would love to see more Universal Studios properties as minimates. Men in Black, The Mummy (the Bredon Fraser franchise), Shrek, Nickelodeon, Bill and Ted, Jurassic Park... there are many licenses in their parks that are as yet untapped by minimates. They also have that whole Wizarding World of Harry Potter shindig going on there now too, but strictly speaking, that's not their intellectual property, I believe. In any event, me personally speaking... I don't know how great a fit they'd be for the parks. The problem is Minimates are generally a cheap/affordable toy... and theme park merch is usually far from cheap/affordable, lol. There's a REASON the only minimates I ever bought from Universal were variants, lol... Because paying $15+ for a regular 2-Pack is... outrageous, lol. So I personally wouldn't buy most minimates there, were they available elsewhere. And they should be available elsewhere, as a park exclusive would be outrageous, and just anger collectors who can't get to Disney World, lol... I'll note at this point, not only have I seen minimates in Universal's parks, I've also seen them in bulk at Universal outlets in Orlando... being clearanced off in large numbers for cheap. I'm sure they move lots of Spider-Men and Iron-Men, but I don't see how many people walk into the park looking to buy a Happy Hogan minimate (which is probably why I found him so easily, lololol) But if the characters had big enough appeal, for moms to buy their kids. Then I could see it making sense. Disney Allstars would be good. Marvel 'Best of' would be good. So *Shrug* it's a tossup. I don't know that Universal Monsters -would- sell that well in the park. Collectors don't want to pay park prices, and I don't really see kids dying to walk out with a Quasimodo boxed set? Know what I mean? I could see the STAR monsters selling, maybe... but the monster line also has alot of... human and girlfriend characters... that would warm pegs in a themepark severely. Disney though does seem a good fit for the parks. Their characters ALL have a kid appeal, and most are timeless. So I'd certainly love to see the Disney mates expand into the park. I wouldn't buy them there, 'cause I'm a cheap ass, but if they sold to moms with kids there, it could help the line expand. Maybe. I dunno. lol...

I was AT the panel, and I don't even know what the hell we're talking about. Someone PM me too. Just because now I feel clueless.

In other news from the panel that's mostly gone unmentioned... a little girl asked if there was any chance of Princess minimates. Zach said something along the lines of maybe, possibly pending how the Disney Store Peter Pan minimates did... Flash Forward... Me, my sister and my best friend were sitting on the train home... like... 7-8 hours later... all exhausted for the day... mostly silent and lethargic... all of a sudden I break the silence out of left field... "I want some goddamned Disney Princess minimates!" Completely serious statement... just took a few hours to set in, lol... Here's the thing. I WANT the Tinkerbell minimate. I'd like Peter Pan and Hook. I'd probably also even like to grab Wendy and Smee. I personally however... don't need Wendy's brothers, a half dozen lost boys, or the pirate ships. The tertiary characters hold less appeal to me, as Peter Pan isn't one of my most favorite Disney movies ever. I'm a HUGE Disney fan overall. But it's not high on my list of movies. But the figures are strategically peppered throughout the Peter Pan sets in such a way that I'm forced to buy every last one of them to get the good ones that I actually want. (Which I'm sure was completely intentional, and I understand it entirely. From a business standpoint.) Add to that gigantic Disney Store prices and WELL... I just haven't talked myself into buying them yet. I would. But I haven't. BUT... I would love... love love... love love love... a collection of Disney Princess minimates. I would buy every last one of them. I'd love classic Disney too, like Mickey and Donald. I'd love Pixar characters. I'd love... to have an allstar Disney roster, of minimates. Love love love it. I had never really thought about the possibilities before the little girl asked. I'd seen the Pan minimates, but got so caught up in the sea of Lost Boys that I lost sight of all the OTHER Disney possibilities... until that little girl tipped me off. And NOW... because I'm thinking about it... I just want a damned minimate Disney World. That said, I feel compelled to go buy all the Peter Pan ones next time I get to a Disney Store to hopefully do my small part in boosting sales/the chances of that happening. I kinda feel like Peter Pan was a bad place to start to be honest. It's a bit specific and dated. I assume it was chosen to appeal to boys... but as said, I feel like it's a bit specific, as well as a bit dated. I don't really know many little boys these days who geek out for Peter Pan. But then, I haven't been a kid for ages, so I could be wrong. I almost feel like a general Disney Allstars set would have been better... but probably also more complicated to license. How are those doing Zach? In any event, give that little girl her wish! Or a job. Or something. I totally... totally do... want a minimate Disney World now. If you made like. the Epcot ball, or Cinderella's Castle. Or a monorail. Or rides. This idea... it blows my mind a little. I realize it's ambitious and huge, and likely to never happen, but still... I'm in love with the idea. But at the very least yeah, I'd buy up a couple princess boxed sets in a heartbeat. *Manliest Post Ever*

Know what's been half-stuck in my craw for 2 days, here I go asking about the Brotherhood. Find out the idea of a Brotherhood boxed set has at least been discussed, floated across the table, and may even be released between 1 and 11 years from now, and nobody even mentions it in this thread. For shame. How is this completely un-urgent non-news not the absolute highlight of the panel for anyone besides me. Was a Brotherhood boxed set announced!? NO! But there's at least chatter. And chatter leads to plans! *Shakes Fist* So more chatter! Zach said Toad and Blob are overdue. I heard it dammit! You can't deny it now!

I was. No I didn't, so it is I who apologize. You met me briefly last year, but this year I was being a lurker, because I was only there for saturday and my day felt incredibly stretched. So I was out the door near immediately. I only spent like three non-consecutive hours on the actual show floor and didn't see half the panels I wanted to. Things were crazy. I was the guy near the front row who briefly forgot what he was gonna ask twice, and had a sister falling asleep to my left. I asked about the Brotherhood. I'm the guy pushing for Toad on the forums. See, it all ties together, lolol... EDIT: Also, just wanted to add (seemed silly to make a new post so soon)... I DO 100%, completely and utterly enjoy new characters FAR more than redos, and would never pretend not to... but I DID see the pictures, and WILL say... all four of these looked like very solid minimates, re-dos or no. Deadpool, Elektra and Red Hulk all looked like definitive, iconic, great versions of themselves. Punisher looked like he would be the same, were his skull white. While some may be happy with MvC Red Hulk... this one is better, by miles. He looks like Red Hulk. Wheras the MvC3 one looked like a red MvC Green Hulk. I know we'd all love Abomination, but it's still the best Red Hulk yet. I didn't mean to sound like I was tearing him down with my "Don't expect a basic Thunderbolt" comments. I was more trying to illustrate that Thunderbolt won't be what people is expecting, and he's the wrong side of focus if you ask me. Red Hulk is the cooler look, and I'll be keeping mine Red Hulk. The Deadpool looks like he's going the extra mile a little more than some of the previous ones (like X-Force, or MvC, who were kinda bare-bones Deadpools)... Punisher is both a new costume, or when swapped to a White Skull, a very nice update on a classic costume. He is trenchcoat Punisher, and we haven't had a new Trenchcoat Punisher since wave nine... of fifty+... The Elektra, I admit, didn't look much different from the previous one... BUT... I also only got a glance at her. And it has still been 3 years, ish?, and she is still a solid and definitive version of herself. And as was mentioned, she DID have both a bandana and a non-bandana hairpiece, which makes her a bit different. So while I DO like new characters... I still like this set. Far more than say... Age of X. Or the Worthy Boxed set. Here we're getting 4 Do overs, but very nice, well done, definitive versions of those do-overs. Rather than... weird, niche costumes from one story that came and went, and only fill out half a team. Punisher's red skull chest not withstanding (but hey, it swaps, so... who's complaining?) SO YES! Stay positive 'til you've seen them. It's kind-of like 4 "Best Of" figures in a boxed set, instead of a wave if you ask me. And I for one loved both "Best Of" waves. I really like solid updates on definitive looks... in my minimates.

I just want to point this out for the sake of pointing it out, because I don't think it's been pointed out, or if it has, I missed it... Anyone who didn't see the pics and is expecting to get a normal Thunderbolt Ross minimate under Red Hulk, expect to be disappointed. The Ross underneath Red Hulk is more akin to the "Transformation Venom" Topher Grace minimate, from the Spider-Man 3 movie line. He's mid-transformation. His chest is red, and I believe (going from memory) his arms were half red, half caucasian. I'm honestly not sure if he was supposed to be turning red, or if he had a red shirt tearing off. But in either case, he also has the >:O Mid-Hulking out facial expression... and his eyes may have been yellow, I don't quite remember. But you couldn't even pop the head onto another body really. (Unless it has a second face that wasn't shown?) So yeah, don't expect him to like... be a standard General Ross in a military uniform or anything. It's a cool effect, but I personally will be keeping him Red Hulk, and continuing to use the movie Ross for a Ross. We are by no means getting a standard comic book Ross.

I almost wish I had been paying attention to this thread. See I just live here... so I'd have been like, "Yeah... I'm not doing anything Thursday" had I looked before today... But now it's Thursday, and I'm doing things. Curses.

Mine are organized in many pockets of various sizes across 5 "small parts" tool boxes... (The kind one might store nuts and bolts in normally)... Displaying them would be nice... I simply don't know where I'd do it. I keep the extra parts/accessories in their own chest, along with the army builders. There was once a time... I could pick up any individual body part and know exactly which minimate it came from. That time has long since past... I sometimes wonder if I wanted to go back and sort all these parts to their individual minimates of origin, if I could actually accomplish that task, through lots of time and patience and visits to minimatedatabase... but I feel like there are probably a small array of solid black loose hands and feet that would inevitably be my undoing...

I certainly wouldn't say no to them, but I'd much much much much much much MUCH rather get the Brotherhood rounded out first. (As I just explained at length in the Villains poll thread)... That said... I'd like the Dark Phoenix Saga Inner Circle and that's about it. Shaw, Leland, Pierce, Wyngarde, Updated Emma, and I'm good. Honestly, I could probably even live without Leland and Wyngarde. White Queen needs an update, if this were to be done, that I won't deny. Shaw and Pierce have at least remained relevant X-Men villains over the years, so I want them a little more than the rest. Wyngarde I feel, is better released as Mastermind (or one with the other as a variant). Leland is... a somewhat useless character, in the grand scheme of the Marvel Universe... that I'd just want for Dark Phoenix Saga completion's sake. Maybe Tessa... but more because I want her as Sage than I do as Tessa. Honestly, I just don't see where these guys have the comic book appeal to get a wide release of the whole team. They're not SUPER Villains, like Blob or Toad or Pyro. I know their powers because I'm an X-Men geek, but most of the comic book world doesn't even have a clear idea of their powers, I've noticed. They played a key role in one of the most iconic X-Men stories of all time, and I'd never deny that... but beyond that they're... kinda boring. From a toy/character perspective. Ultimately, they're a bunch of guys in stuffy shirts with ponytails. They're too lame for their own boxed set or wave. No way could they support that. Not even GOOD villains get their own waves, and very rarely do they get their own boxed sets. The Hellfire Club stands about as much chance of release as a "founding fathers" boxed set... less chance actually... since more people know who George Washington is than do Donald Pierce. I could see Shaw getting released as a one-off someday, kinda like Selene was. Shaw and an updated White Queen or Dark Phoenix seem like an okay 2 pack for one of those "Misc" character waves, that lacks a strong theme. But I don't think the rest of them have very good odds at all. I could easily see Minimates going another 10 years as a toy line while never releasing a Harry Leland minimate... lol.

I really want Toad, Blob, Pyro and Avalanche in equal measure. I would not say I strongly want any one of them more than the others, but I do strongly want all four of them more than any other villains (X-Men villains or otherwise)... These four guys... to me, basically... are the iconic Brotherhood. I know that as far as 616 canon is concerned they don't even perfectly line up with any one brotherhood team, I'm not even 100% sure all four of them have EVER been in the Brotherhood at the SAME time... I know 3 of them weren't original members, I know Toad wasn't a "Freedom Force" member... but they're the four that to me... really epitomize the Brotherhood. They're the ones that constantly float in and out of every re-forming or re-surgance of the Brotherhood. Two or three of them are pretty much universally in every incarnation. Pretty much every mass media representation of the brotherhood has some combination of them... Pryde of the X-Men: Blob, Pyro, Toad 90s Cartoon: Blob, Pyro, Avalance Evolution: Blob, Avalance, Toad Wolverine and the X-Men: Blob, Avalanche, Toad Movie-verse: Pyro, Toad X-Men Legends: All four When Kang finally got made, and people lobbied for support for new characters, I chose to get behind Toad specifically for 2 reasons. 1st is: Of the four, Toad is the one who works best as a standalone choice. Blob, Pyro and Avalanche tend to show up together more often, or as flunkies in a greater collective. Toad on the other hand will serve quite often as Magneto's one and only right hand. Pyro and Avalanche practically feel joined at the hip. Blob is occasionally on his own too, I admit... but that brings us to the 2nd reason: Yes, the poster. The poster is a nice little tale that helps people rally behind Toad. As Miry said, it almost feels like unfinished business somehow. I just chose to get behind Toad as the single most focal one for those reasons... but my REAL hope is that if we can manage to get ONE of them we'll inevitably get ALL of them. DST seems much more apt to finish teams once started, than they usually do to start them in the first place. And yes, make no mistake, the moment we DO get Toad... I will shift focus to Blob as the number one most needed Villain... lol. And then Pyro. And then Avalanche. Because it's really a rounding out of the Brotherhood's core members that I ultimately want to see. Toad is just the catalyst I hope will start a greater chain reaction. And if we get Mastermind, Destiny, Spiral, a Quicksilver update, or Sauron in a loincloth along the way... in a supplemental TRU 2-Pack or something... so much the better... imo. (Though I'm not clamoring quite so hard for them.)

I personally like Thing better without the wash. The wash makes him look messy, imo.

See... to my point... I feel like if I had to pick the most deserving character, in a universal sense... it would be Falcon. But in my own personal sense, I feel COMPELLED to vote for Banshee, Pixie and Marrow... because I'm an X-Men fan. I don't think Pixie or Marrow even deserves to be on the list ultimately, but they're two of my highest personal wants, and they're drawing my vote away from Falcon. Even though, had the list been more focused, Falcon probably would have been my clear choice for a winner. When the list is 50 names long, the focus gets diluted. But if this is "Round 1" I suppose it will narrow down in future polls a bit, so I dunno...

I know you're joking (or, at least, I assume you are), but Spider-Ham was one of my favorite comics as a kid, and the first six issues or so are quite good, and heavily influenced by Carl Barks' Duck comics. I would LOVE a Spider-Ham/ Marvel Tails set, and I think Marvel's really missing an opportunity by not exploiting the character. EDIT: @ Gillbob: So, wait, the guy that was just complaining that we do too many polls is making wish lists of AoA characters in unrelated threads? See again, you were reading that post with far more "complaint" than I had in me as I typed it. I'm long-winded. This I admit and am very aware of. That doesn't necessarily mean I carry a negative tone... in my long-windedness. And while I realize this wasn't/isn't an Age of Apocalypse thread originally, the last page or so of discussion (which I had nothing to do with starting) pertained to it.

Your response makes me think you read my post in far more complainy a tone than I had in my brain as I typed it. No need for the "You don't like it!? Don't read it!" response... Though now perhaps I'm reading you as over-counter-complainy and exacerbating the problem. WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE! EVERYONE CALM DOWN! BE COOL! TELL THAT B*TCH TO CHILL! SAY, "CHILL B*TCH!" Anyway... I'm just saying... I can't see where a poll that's 50 names long really... accomplishes its goal of picking a SINGLE character well? Was my point? I dunno. The Villains poll just seems superflously long to me... it could have been Enchantress, Toad, and like 4 or 5 other names and yielded the same result. Indeed, all the extra space for more names/votes did was encourage me to vote for Toad, Pyro and Blob... even though I admit Enchantress seems more relevant to the Marvel Universe on the whole than at least one of those guys. A broad selection dilutes things... to a degree. Seems like a whole whole lot of the other names are just there because of people wishlisting, which to my understanding, was not the point of that thread. Indeed there are dozens of names with 0 or 1 vote. This thread, like that one, already seems to point to a whole lot of Falcon as the main course, with a side of lots of wishlisting. Is wishlisting not contrary to the point of the thread... as per the Original Poster's own defined parameters? If the goal is to choose one name. THAT'S kind of my point... It's not that I'm complaining, or disinterested. Or that I dislike fun. I'm just offering some input/opinion/perspective on the topic at hand... In the way I... tend to see fit to do so? >_>

Kaipo, you probably wanna check the Alpha Flight thread. In short, boil water then put the piece in the water for a minute or two. The plastic will get nice and soft then you can slip it right on. When it shapes to the form you desire, dip the piece in ice water for a minute so it hardens. Shouldn't give you any problems from there. This method works for straightening out claws, weapons, etc. This was a problem on all the Aurora mates. bigvis, thanks for the response! Totally makes me feel better that everyone had this problem, and it wasn't just an unlucky day for me. Misery loves company I guess. I also had the "Aurora's hairpiece is malformed" problem... the solution I use, which I find much easier is... (Picked this up when I used to collect heroclix, which were very very often warped) Blow dryer. Close range (1-2 inches). Apply until plastic becomes soft and pliable. Once soft and pliable, put the hairpiece on her head until it cools off and re-stiffens. Much easier/faster than all that water boiling/dipping... and much less wet. But I will caution, Blow dryers CAN get VERY hot at close range, so use caution/be careful. Still I find it much easier than the water method... with the same net result of: "Heat the plastic up so its soft"

Well hell, chalk me up as another person who would buy another AoA 4-Pack... hell... there's probably room for 3 more. 1 scarcely seems enough. Who's left? X-Man Colossus Shadowcat Dazzler Storm Nightcrawler (whose had a particular resurgence in relevence I might add) Quicksilver Sugar Man Wild Child Banshee (Though I would be loathe to get him before 616) Iceman Angel Madri (Army builder yo) Gambit Jubilee Bishop Exodus Not to mention characters from the anniversary reboot... X-23 Psylocke Phoenix Silver Samurai Xorn Okay so like... 5 or 6 more boxed sets. That's what Zach promised us, right? That's exactly what happened in this thread? That's how I remember it.

I feel like this particular forum community... of all those I frequent, has a habit/problem of over-doing it on polls. I mean like... did the villain poll really NEED to have like... 50 names on it? We couldn't have narrowed that down to like 5/10 with discussion alone? REALLY? As it happens... I think Falcon is the clear standout in this discussion... so much so that a poll isn't even needed or warranted. Cap fans might make a case for Winter Soldier. X-Men fans for Banshee. Iron Man or Thor fans for... god knows who... But I think Falcon is the character with the most wide-spread exposure/appeal... and the clear winner. Falcon has had a speaking role on Robot Chicken. Have Winter Soldier and Banshee had speaking roles on Robot Chicken? Need I say more? A few so/so characters have been proposed... if one really WANTS to make a poll... but most of the names I've seen thus far don't even seem like they should be in the running (kinda like the vast majority of the Villains poll)... While I am an X-Men fan, who would LOVE Banshee or a proper Sunfire, I wouldn't even say they should be in the running. As the most essential X-Man yet to be made SURE, as the most essential HERO... no. Not even close. These two are like C-List X-Men, D-List Marvel Universe on the Whole. The only reason they're so high the X-Men that need to be produced list is... well... we have all the A and B list X-Men already. (I also want to note: Many seem to forget Sunfire HAS been made, we just don't have a CLASSIC Sunfire. We got Sunfire in his AoA costume, which also doubles as one of his modern 616 costumes. So unlike say Blob, whose only minimate is outside normal canon, we do technically have a comic accurate 616 Sunfire. Albeit, not a classic one.) I actually liked Battlecat's posts a few back that was a list of characters who've had some recent relevance. Those guys feel like they have stronger chances than some of the classic characters proposed thus far. Pixie, for instance, almost feels like she has similar odds with Banshee, to my inkling... even though Banshee is a far more storied character overall. (Both are on my want list, for the record. lol...)

I'd agree with Ms. Marvel merely because she seems to outshine Captain Marvel in most regards. I think she actually gets MORE exposure than he does... generally speaking. The whole history of backstory with Rogue helps. As does the fact that there have been a half dozen Captain Marvels (Including her) which gives none of them much room to shine like say a PETER PARKER or BRUCE WAYNE! I honestly couldn't even give you one of their name's off the top of my head... something alieny... I know that much. She however, is Carol Danvers. I do however think Batwoman and Spider-Woman's fame... in a mainstream sense... is just as female versions of Batman and Spider-Man... if it even exists at all. We, as comic book geeks, know that they're very different characters who have little to do with Spidey or Bats, but the general public doesn't. I run into lots of people who ask things like, "Why does Spider-Woman look nothing like Spider-Man" "Is she his wife?" "Is she Mary-Jane?" ... Indeed I imagine the reason we see Spider-Girl (who isn't even a 616 character) in more merchandising than Spider-Woman, is because "Spider-Woman" has less mainstream appeal than "Girl Spider-Man" Not to mention she suffers from the same "multiple identity" trouble that Captain Marvel does... but Marvel, in recent years, has more solidly pushed Jessica in the role, and distanced or renamed other Spider-Women, like Arachne... so that helps. Batwoman I see no mainstream appeal at all in. Most people don't know the classic one exists. Most people only saw the modern one in headlines for a while as "DC's New Gay Character!" ... after that she kind of fell to the media backburner. Again indeed, Batwoman has less mainstream appeal than "Girl Batman" (IE. Batgirl) At the end of the day, characters like Spider-Woman and Batwoman AREN'T famous... is what I'm driving at. To comic book geeks, certainly, but not to the rest of the world. They get overshadowed on store shelves by characters that ARE closer to just girl versions of their male counterparts. Spider-Girl is a far far far less deserving and less relevant character to the Marvel Universe than Spider-Woman, but she gets alot more exposure on general public merchandise (Children's Toys, Coloring Books, Sexy Halloween Costumes) just because she's: Girl Spider-Man (and Spider-Woman isn't)

TRU.com aside... Anyone in the western Chicagoland area-ish... (And I know there are a few of you. Banners. Tenime, I believe.) The Schaumburg Toys R Us has a METRIC FREAKING TON of this wave. I counted at least 4 cases on the shelf, and all I bought was a single Airwalker/Firelord pack to replace the one from my order that got canceled. There were Things, Nuls, Kurths, Torches and Annihili 12 deep across 4 pegs. It was honestly the most stock of a single wave I've seen at a single Toys R Us... ever. I have no idea what possesed them to order so many. If you can't find them at first don't panic, the Marvel toys are spread across two aisles. They're not in the one with the Iron Man 3 movie toys, they're in the one with the Dark Knight Rises movie toys. Go! Swarm! (lol)

Chiming in on the all female idea... There are only 5 X-Women that could remotely qualify, imo. Jean, Storm, Emma, Rogue & Mystique. The rest are all too secondary. That said, I feel like one of the hero girls and Mystique would make for the best 2 pack. None of the 4 hero girls is in dire need of an update, but Mystique definitely is. As someone mentioned, Jean's Dark Phoenix look could use an update, but that would be 2 villains, which seems... odd. I feel Black Widow would be a lock, in this post Avengers world we now live. I feel a Spider-Woman update, as others have suggested, would be very welcome. Ms. Marvel could probably stand an update (she's one of those minimates on the cusp of old and new... doesn't need one badly, but couldn't hurt) Gwen and Mary Jane both could use a non-movie update... though I don't think I like the idea of Civvies in a best of line. Wasp is an iconic character who could stand an update (the one we have thus far isn't bad, but very retro) I personally wouldn't say no to another go at She-Hulk... I know we just got the MvC3 one, but I didn't like her skin-tone. I'd like a lighter skinned update, like the original She-Hulk minimate, or the bulked up hulk we got in Best of wave 2.