Gillbob316

It's the new year now, and I'd be game to see this again. Off the top of my head, and becuase I'm bored, I'm gonna throw out some suggestions from the Mutant World... because it's the Marvel Universe closest to my heart... These range from actual possibilities, to some very obscure choices that I just personally think would rock as an X-Men fan... Here we go... Xtreme X-Men (Sage, Lifeguard, Slipstream, Thunderbird III, Xtreme Bishop, Xtreme Storm, Xtreme Rogue) Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (or Freedom Force) (616 Blob, Pyro, Avalanche, Toad, Destiny, Updated Mystique) Modern X-Factor (Strong Guy, M, Siryn, Longshot, Darwin, Rictor, Layla Miller, Shatterstar) Classic X-Factor (Forge, 90s Multiple Man, 90s Strong Guy, 90s Havok, 90s Polaris, 90s Wolfsbane, 90s Mystique) Generation X (Jubilee, M, Husk, Chamber, Skin, Banshee, White Queen) New X-Men (Pixie, X-23, Rockslide, Surge, Prodigy, Hellion, Dust, Mercury, Anole, Elixir) Morlocks (Marrow, Callisto, Masque, Leech, Artie, Caliban, A New Storm) Modern Starjammers (Havok, Polaris, Marvel Girl, Korvus, Lilandra, Vulcan) Classic Starjammers (Corsair, Ch'od, Hepzibah, Raza, Lilandra, D'ken, Deathbird) Mojoworld (Mojo, Spiral, Longshot, Dazzler) Deadpool Corps (Deadpool, Dogpool, Lady Deadpool, Kidpool, Headpool) Agency X (Agent X, Modern Taskmaster, Outlaw, Weasel, Bob: Agent of HYDRA, Deadpool) Second Coming (Hope, Cable, Bastion, Bishop, Cyclops, Nightcrawler) And just as a joke... X-Men no one likes, but I want for completions sake (Marrow, Maggott, Cecilia Reyes, Mimic, Changeling, Revanche, Joseph, Stacy X, Lifeguard, Slipstream)

I'm not gonna speak on other quality control issues such as Wolverine's eyes and Magneto's head but in regard to these two... Left arms instead of Right arms & vice versa. & Feet that don't stay on. These two problems are nothing new... frankly. Especially the foot one. They've both been happening since the initial waves of minimates, and it just kinda seems to be a matter of when exactly YOU as an individual first encounter either. My Wave 3 Logan was the first minimate I ever got with a backwards arm. So when I say the initial waves, I MEAN the initial waves. I've had a few repeat the problem since, and not just in the Marvelverse. Merry from my LOTR mates did it. The Dawn AND Witchblade in my Indymates boxed set both had 2 right arms. Interestingly, I'll note... Witchblade had two right arms, but the one on her left still had the left arm paint aps. Furthermore, I once got a Power Girl from the DC line, that had a right and left leg piece, but both legs had right leg paint aps (so basically her panty-line was going the wrong direction on her left left). So this evidently isn't just a case of incorrect assembly, but sometimes the wrong parts actually get mixed in BEFORE the painting process. *Shrug* In any event, like I said, it's not anything new, nor is it just limited to recent Marvel waves. As for the loose foot thing... yeah... again, been happening since the initial waves. I just now picked up a Spider-Man from my minimate box whose foot had fallen off. I believe he's from wave 4, off the top of my head... in any event, he doesn't have C3 feet... and I know he's far from the first minimate I've ever had with a loose fitting part. Be it, Hands, Feet, Arms or Torso. The one I personally hate is arms, since there's no easy fix for it. If one of the "peg" parts is loose, you can usually fix it by giving the peg a thin coat of paint or glue, to tighten it's fit. (Make sure it's dry though. Don't glue your minimates together. ) But the arms have a ball joint, and usually there's no easy way to fix it when it's loose. In any event, I'm NOT saying these aren't still problems that bug me, and should reasonably bug other people... buuuuut... saying they're NEW issues that are just effecting these NEW waves, I think is unfair... because they're totally not. And frankly I don't know that they're preventable problems... Minimates have tiny very similar looking parts. I mean they probably deal with a few THOUSAND arms a day when they're manufacturing these things? I'd guess? I mean we can whine to Chuck 'til we're blue in the face, but some factory worker in China churning through a zillion arms is still just as likely to mix up a left and a right here and there. Sooooo... I dunno. I hate to sound like I'm defending defective products... because I don't mean to be... If your minimate has a faulty part, I DO think you should be able to contact diamond about it, and I DO think they should do someting about it. (I hear that process yields mixed results frankly, so I DO think they should step it up a notch in that regard). By the same token, I just think... when you're dealing with 2 inch tall action figures, each with a minimum of 11 parts, most with even more parts... you're bound to get a hiccup here and there even under the most stringent quality control circumstances. *Shrug* For every minimate I've ever gotten with a backwards arm, I've gotten about 6 dozen that didn't have backwards arms... I guess is my point.

If you'll note when opening the last picture... http://www.artasylum.com/gallery/thor-minimates/ It says "Thor_TRU" at the bottom. My great powers of deduction indicate to me that makes this the TRU wave. (PS. I wasn't trying to be a smart-ass there, just saying... Powers... I have them. lolz) And since Destroyer is in this picture of what is theoretically the TRU wave, he will most assuredly not be the chase figure from the regular wave... since Diamond doesn't re-issue the chase figures. Since Thor, Loki, Destroyer & Odin can't be the variant, since they're in the TRU wave, and the frost giant is the army builder, the chase has to be Coulson or Jane Foster. My guess is Coulson. Love interest trumps boring guy in a suit. Just ask Pepper and Happy Hogan from the Iron Man 2 wave! lol.

Topic title says it all really... I currently have my minimates organized into several tackle boxes, which I find double as great minimate cases... One such tackle has all my X-Men and X-Villains in it. It's organized into four main sections... 1/4 Wolverine 1/4 Original X-Men (Angel, Beast, Iceman, Jean, Cyclops & Prof X) 1/4 Every other X-Man (Emma, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Misc X-Force, Etc) 1/4 X-Men Villains Here's my dilemma... I started to think out where to put all the Age of Apocalypse mates, and quite logically thought to put Wolverine with the Wolverines, Jean & Cyke with the Original X-Men, Rogue & Sunfire with the Misc X-Men... and so on in that fashion... However, I hit a mental snag when I got to Dark Beast. Being that he's lived on in 616 continuity for years after AoA... My brain tends to think of him less as an alternate version of Beast from this one story arc (like every other AoA character) and more as a present day villain and his own independant character. So my initial urge is to put Dark Beast with the villains. This however, contradicts my placement of characters like AoA Jean & Cyclops, who went in with all their other alt. reality versions in the original X-Men area... I realize how stupid and trivial this might seem, but I really can't wrap my head around what I want to do here... lol... so I came here to get second and third opinions and so on... I think right now I'm leaning toward putting him with the original X-Men, just to adhere to the same organizational rules I've already laid out for myself... But damned if something doesn't still feel off about it to me. I may never definatively make my mind up here. Thoughts? lol...

And now to gripe about stuff (because that's why Al Gore made the internet)... I also find it completely LAME that there are not one, but TWO AoA sets, and neither has Blink or Morph in it. Or X-Man for that matter, this would have been the perfect way to work him in. I feel like Blink, Morph, X-Man, Sabretooh, Holocaust & Sunfire have the most "usefulness" as it were, since they all have identities to support their AoA looks outside the AoA... but Sunfire is the only one who made it? That bites. I'm hoping however, since I Blink, Morph & Sabretooth are absent, that we might see an Exiles set or a couple Exiles themed two-packs to compliment the AoA sets, which would naturally contain Blink, Morph, Sabretooth, and possibly Nocturne or Holocaust or other characters. I'd still like an X-Man, but he might be in the cards soon anyway, with his recent comeback. Now, regarding the characters they did include, Sunfire makes me happy, since he can double as a 616 Sunfire for my X-Men collection, until they make a classic one. Dark Beast dissapoints me a little... I don't like how he looked in AoA, with the long hair. I like how he looked in the Genoshan Excalibur series... like normal beast, but grey and evil. I'm hoping Cyclops has an alternate head, because if he doesn't, they missed the mark I think. Needs his 1 eye and long hair. And am I nuts, or is Wolverine's hair HUGE? Rogue and Magneto both look cool. Modern X-Force... gotta say... I like the book... the set doesn't wow me. Nice to get the team rounded out, but I'd have prefered a better looking Domino to a black Psylocke. Angel looks cool, but I HATE that they didn't redesign his wings, since I loathe them on the two I have. They're gigantic, he can never stand up straight, and they're constantly curling inward to make a shell around him, so I have to blowdry them to bend them back out to his sides. Black Psylocke, like I said, bores me. Deadpool and Fantomex are news to me, I'm a few months behind reading the book. I assume they joined recently? Either way, I don't like either of them in Black. I prefer their classic White and Red respectively. So like... not a bad set... but it just feels like a bnch of variants I didn't need, and Fantomex, the 1 new character, isn't the way I like him. PS. Is Wolverine in this set, or did they just put the existing one next to them for the display? If he's in it, I'm sure this goes without saying but... lame. Wave 37, I just have a quick question, what's the guy in the orange jumpsuit? Is that a Ben Grimm, underneith the Thing pieces? I'd guess? Maybe? Cap Ages, I'm mildly upset that US Agent didn't make it in, but eh. They look nice at least. Heroes set... Spidey, Thor & Iron Man all don't look any better than what we already have, but I do like this Bucky Cap better than the first one.

Funny you should mention it actually... My Modern Mandarin is missing a foot. I contacted DST a few weeks ago and got no response. Got any feet? lol

As an X-Men fan, my fantasy waves are always very unlikely to happen, since all the characters I want most are second and third string X-Men, so here's a random list of sets I think make sense... Standard 2-Packs: Longshot & Dazzler Maggott & Marrow Mr. Sinister & Dark Beast Sunfire & Banshee Northstar & Aurora Lifeguard & Slipstream Forge & Updated Mystique Pyro & Avalanche Toad & Blob Chamber & Husk Strong Guy & Darwin Siryn & M Rictor & Shatterstar Corsair & Hepzibah Cannonball & Modern X-Force Domino Updated Juggernaut & Black Tom Blink & AoA Sabretooth Any combinations of other AoA characters. (Using logical pairings, of course.) Any combination(s) of Rockslide, Mercury, Hellion, Dust, Elixir, Prodigy, Surge, Anole, Armor, Blindfold & Pixie. There are other Young X-Men I'd make cases for, but most of them either sucked or died or both, so... that's the first string list. Good Variants to pair with cannon fodder: Morph/Changeling Psylocke (Exiles? Xtreme?)/Revanche Kuan-Yin Xorn/Shen Xorn Classic Sunfire/AoA Sunfire Sage/Tessa Dark X-Men Mimic/Classic Mimic/Exiles Mimic Green Dress Marvel Girl/Green Dress Deadpool Death (Wolverine)/Death (Gambit) Cannon Fodder: Generic Morlock Male Prime Sentinel Female Prime Sentinel Hellfire Cultist Reaver Purifier

Heya fellow Minimate & Video Game fans, Blizzard is currently holding a Starcraft II Propaganda Poster contest, and voting has begun. This is of special interest to me because... well... I'm a contestant. Anyone with a facebook account can vote by going to the contest entry page and "Like"-ing the poster they wish to vote for. I'm soliciting votes wherever I can, and the multiverse seemed like as good a place as any, since the community here is usually very friendly and helpful to one another. VOTE FOR ME! That link should take you directly to my poster, but if for whatever reason it doesn't, you can find mine on page 6 under the name "Gillbob316". I'm not demanding anyone vote for mine, but being that this has always been a community where people are willing to help fellow minimate fans out, I thought I might be able to get some support here. Please, please, PLEASE vote for me using any and all facebook accounts you have access too! And tell your friends! The more people that like it the better! Thanks! -Gillbob316

Banners, I've noticed in some of your previous posts that you and I live in approx the same area, and we sometimes shop at the same Toys R Us stores, and have even mentioned the same comic book stores a few times. That said, as someone who never found Moonstone & Bullseye, Union Jack & Wonder Man or Warpath & Angel at retail, and had to pay through the nose for most of them on ebay, allow me to say: I hate you. lol... (Just kidding man, just kidding.) (But seriously, when you find these things, you've gotta hide a pair of the shortpacks behind the Barbie Dolls or something, then shoot me a PM so I can go find them. You always seem to beat me to the punch when the new waves hit, lol.) PS. This is kindof what I was talking about in my last post. It isn't always scalpers that are picking stores clean, sometimes it's just another collector beating you to the punch. Based on the shopping locations he's mentioned in the past, I'd bet serious money that me and Banners have checked the same stores on the same days at LEAST once in the past, and probably scooped something out of one another's hands. [He probably usually beats me though, since I'm lazy, and refuse to get up at the crack of dawn most of the time, lol.] There's obviously no way of knowing for sure, but like I said, if I had some cosmic way of proving it, I'd bet money it's happened.

I worked at KB toys for about 2 years, back when they still existed, and while this was always kindof a tender issue, it sounds like your store cracked the whip about it way more than mine did. (Though, granted, two different stores.) Though there really wasn't any way for the managers to police this, we were told we weren't allowed to sell any items we bought on the secondary market, and I can proudly say without guilt that I never did throughout my entire period of employment. That said however... 90% of the time, they didn't stop any employees (Specific to my story: Me and my buddy who are toy collectin' types) from raiding the cases as soon as they came in the back door, which was oftentimes, early morning, before the store had even opened. We got new waves of stuff the minute they came in. The store got its money. No one really complained. It was more or less viewed a perk of the job. I bought dozens upon dozens of toys, many rarities and 1 per casers, but they were ALWAYS for my own personal collection. Not one thing I ever bought went to ebay. Now, note that I did say 90% of the time. To elaborate further on the other 10: There was a brief period... around the time Marvel Legends did their first build a figure, Galactus, in which even the normal figures were highly sought after for their parts... when a couple complaints began rolling in. These complaints were known to have come from a certain couple of regular customers we had, who made their living buying rarities and scalping them. I remember one's nickname was Johnny O... the other was an old fella with a mustache... there may have been a couple more, but those two really stuck out. They were basically there most new truck days, first thing in the morning, to pick the variants clean, and nothing more. It was well known that they were what might be known as professional scalpers, lol. Their complaints were that they were there at the crack of dawn, sometimes taking time off work (as if this was somehow our fault as employees, for making them blow off responsibilities for some quick cash) only to find nothing of value and wasting their time. And after these complaints were made, the managers begrudgingly told us we couldn't open the cases and pull items for ourselves fresh off the truck anymore. They were to remain sealed until the store had opened, and these particular customers (should they be there upon opening) had a chance to see us open the cases and look them over themselves. If they weren't there to see them opened first thing, they became fair game again, a 1/2 hour after the store had opened. This lasted for a case or two, and soon enough things were back to the norm. But see, the key element in my tale is... the tables were somewhat turned here. I, as a collector, and not a scalper, enjoyed the perk of being able to easily procure my new waves, shortpacks included, with no hunting whatsoever. It was somewhat heavenly, in that regard. Meanwhile, the scalpers, who were regular customers, were getting the short end of the case, and it made them all red in the face and bothered. (And yes, I freely admit years later, that we did enjoy the hell out of pissing them off.) So... I dunno... I guess my only point is, I think people in the collectable collecting world have a natural tendancy not to see things from any other perspective than the one that benefits THEM (Self included sometimes). I know the saying goes that the customer is always right... but frankly... as someone who's been on both sides of the coin... it ain't always true... sometimes the customer is just a pushy asshole who thinks you're an idiot because he isn't getting his way. /sarcasm on If an employee does you a special favor and sets something you want aside for you, he's a hero. If an employee does someone else a special favor and sets something you want aside for someone else, he's a bastard. If an employee tells you there's nothing in the back, he's a filthy liar. Employees hoard all the good toys back there, so they can scalp them later. Demand he go double check to make sure he can't find something for you, because god knows, stores aren't out to make money, so they only put the crap product on the floor. If an employee pulls something from a case for himself, it's always with malicious intent to scalp it. Never because he genuinely wants it. Never because he's also a collector with the same enthusiasm as you. Employees can't be collectors themselves, and cannot enjoy the perks of having first crack at new product. Because logically, it doesn't follow at all that someone who enjoys toys would apply to work at a toy store. And finally, if the customers take off time from their real jobs to make sure they're the first at the store to get valuable variants and shortpacks they'd intended to profit from on ebay, the employees must be held accountable for waisting their time if they can't find anything of value. They're busy men. How dare we pull them away from their jobs to shop for toys. /sarcasm off ... I'm sure everything I've said in this post won't be met with complete enthusiasm from ya'll... but frankly most of it's true, and needs to be pointed out to toy collectors from time to time. The toy hunt isn't always fair. This is a fact. I no longer work for KB Toys (obviously) and I no longer enjoy these perks. Does the hunt disapoint me sometimes? Yes. But it is what it is. That said, I don't begrudge other toystore employees their right to pick through cases before me. It happens. You win some you lose some. Do I think the Toys R Us employees might have been bending the truth when you talked to them? Possibly. However, all the same, I'm betting when you walk in Monday morning, you'll still find a wealth of Series 7. Maybe not the complete contents of every case, but more than enough of them. It's not always a conspiracy on behalf of the scalpers to rob you of your toys.

As a fairly huge X-Men fan, who like many, was introduced to them during the 90s, I'd like to comment on this... Bishop has been very hit and miss for me over the years... there have been times when I'd completely agree with you... other times I've really liked him. It's actually kind of vexing. I wish his personality was a little more consistant. During the 90s (cartoon or comics) I never really liked him. He always seemed like a douche. Never quite trusted anyone, always giving Gambit the stinkeye... same shtick as Cable, time traveler with big guns... I really liked him while Chris Claremont was writing him for a few years, during Xtreme X-Men, when he was using his expertise and training from the future to find solutions for any given situation, and when he and Sage had a buddy-buddy partner thing going on. More recently however, I'm back to hating him... Marvel has more or less been completely F'ing him up again ever since Messiah Complex started and he went all crazy "blah, I gotta kill Hope" I really liked those years when he finally wasn't a crazy guy from the future who didn't trust the other X-Men, but apparently Marvel wanted to pull his character back there, in some attempt to return him to his roots... In any event yeah, I find him hit and miss. Sometimes I like him, sometims I don't. Right now I don't. I'm still glad to get his 90s look though, since its the first look I ever saw him in, and thus, stands out as most definative in my mind.

I'm lukewarm about some of the parts reuses, but overall I like this set. Bishop and Emma Frost were probably the two X-Men most in need of a redo, so one down. Jubilee has been #1 on my want list since... this line launched, lol... That said, being that she's been #1, I'm also kinda dissapointed in the part choices. The painted on glasses blow, I REALLY hope she comes with a spare alt head. The tony stark hair isn't great, but its also not the worst in the world. Old though it may be, I'd almost have prefered the original Ultimate Jean Grey hair, as I've seen on a few customs. The earrings on it suit Jubilee perfectly, but it does loook kinda dated, so I'm not 100% sure on that... but maybe. In any event, I think a new hairpiece with sculpted glasses around her forehead would have been best. Oh well... Beyond that I don't hate the set. I don't mind Bishop's not having a mullet piece, kindof makes the mate look 90s, without looking full on goofy. I'd have prefered a definative standard brown suit wolverine update over a lame battle damaged one, but eh... *Shrug*. I also could have done without 80s Magneto, but eh. I'm happy enough about finally getting a Jubilee (even a so-so Jubilee) that I can overlook those two. EDIT: Okay, I just noticed another thing to gripe about. Am I nuts, or does Jubilee have a big crotch piece? If so, that seems kinda pointless.

Alright... I don't have much to say about the first half of your post beyond saying what I already said, and this: To claim that comic books and action figures are not a male dominated demographic is a laughable claim. I'm not saying there aren't female heroes out there, I'm not saying there aren't female fans out there, and I'm not saying I don't want female figures made. Just look at my wishlist in my sig. My top 2 wants are female. I am saying Rogue will NEVER be on the same level of popularity as Wolverine. Ever. Lara Croft will never be Spider-Man. Witchblade will never be Batman. And nitpick my Power Ranger example all you want, but it's still a good basic example. I'm an adult. I collect Minimates AND Power Rangers (among many other toys). At the end of the day, they're all still toys. To berate Power Rangers as a childrens toy, but take a stance that collecting minimates makes you a mature sophisticated collector is... dumb. I'll grant you inimates are a little more adult based and Power Rangers a little more child based, but at the end of the day, it's all still collecting toys. And trust me, Power Rangers, Minimates, GI Joe, Transformers. "Adult" action figures, "Childrens" action figures. Marvel Select OR Super Hero Squad. It makes NO difference, you can apply the same basic idea to the case ratios of ANY action figure line. Male figures will vastly outnumber female figures... 90% of the time. This isn't some sexist claim I'm making to imply that women can't be good heroes. They can. Believe me, I love them. I've mained female characters in almost every video game I've ever played since I was 10. They're fun and they kick ass. But the cold hard truth is, comics books, and by extension action figure and toy collecting, is primarily a men's hobby, and generally speaking, men like manly toys. 12 years old or 40 years old, it makes no difference. There are ALWAYS acceptions, as with everything in life, but toy manufactuers don't play to the minority, they play to the majority because they want to make money. I can only think of one all female set diamond ever did, the indymates 4-pack, and it sold horribly. As I said, Matt pretty much flat out told me, that more often than not they shy away from anything more than 2 females in a boxed set, and that's already pushing it. This isn't a concrete rule, but it's a very good guideline. I could very easily see them breaking that rule for a "Women of Marvel" set, with 4 of Marvel's biggest female leads ever. I do not see them breaking that rule for a Sisterhood of mutants set. EVER. As I said, a boxed set of 2nd to 3rd string female villains has everything going wrong for it, from a sales perspective. In regard to everything you posted about racial issues, I'm not touching that with a 10 foot pole, as it's really not what I'm here to talk about at all. I'm not saying I agree with your thoughts, not saying I disagree, only that I don't wanna talk about it. Moving on to the second part... An X-Men wave without Wolverine is a much more flyable concept than a Spider-Man wave without Spider-Man. X-Men is an ensemble cast. Wolverine is certainly a popular sales booster, no question, but there are enough good X-Men to stand without him. Spider-Man, on the other hand, is a solo hero. The same rules don't apply. Even in comic books, an X-Men book can stand on its own without Wolverine. A Spider-Man book would really have a hard time standing without Spider-Man. (I'm sure there have been examples, but still not a good long term idea, I'd think.) Furthermore, wave 11 wasn't so much an X-Men and Spider-Man wave as it was an X-Men wave that took the opportunity to sneak in Firestar as a small nod to the Amazing Friends. There's really nothing beyond that 1 figure to suggest anything Spider-Manly about the wave. As for Wave 23, yeah, all that stuff you said only served to make it a notorius peg warmer that's still on the shelves at my comic book store. Alot of other peoples too from what I hear. And to say it didn't include an Iron Man, while technically true, still feels like bending the truth a bit if you ask me. Especially when you consider Stark wasn't the variant.

Just to review some things I've read on this page... 1) A Sisterhood of Mutants Pack: I realize he's no longer employed with them, but he used to be, and I have to assume he was correct when he said this... Matt pretty much flat out told me at one con that 2 girls in a 4 pack was pushing it and anything more than that was right out. And I think that sentiment is quadrupled especially when you consider they're not big name heroes, but a band of 2nd to 3rd string villains. I realize there are always acceptions to every rule, but comic books and action figures are typically a male dominated demographic, and in male dominated demographics, male products sell better. There's a reason every case of Power Rangers comes with 1 pink ranger, 1 yellow ranger, 3 green rangers, 3 blue rangers & 4 red rangers. 2) I saw someone mention a Maximum Carnage set... that would make me want a Seperation Anxiety set, lol... Damned Sega Genesis, it made me love those 5 random symbiotes. If nothing else... forget the other four Life Foundation Symbiotes, As a huge fan of Universal Studios, I would KILL for a Scream minimate since she's the only remaining holdout for a complete set of Spider-Man ride villains. You have no idea how happy it would make me to have a little set of minimates to recreate the ride, and I fear I'll very likely never get Scream. 3) In that last post I believe I saw, a complete Spider-Man wave with 3 civilians and NO Spider-Man figure in it... yeah... that's gonna happen, lol...

I think SDCC is way too soon to expect Avengers Forever. Moving on however to comment on X-Force... Feral looks good but I'd have greatly prefered Cannonball, by far. But she does look good. I'd argue she makes better use of the Beast hair than Beast did, and is that a new torso piece on her? Looks like it would suit a new Nightcrawler or brown suit Wolverine quite well. Also, bonus points for the white detailing on her gloves, hopefully that won't get removed between the prototype and the factory version. (Still wish she was Cannonball though, lol) Deadpool doesn't look as good as the one we have already, if you ask me. I don't like that he has all black belts & detailing, I think the brown looks better, and I hate his big black gloves. Did he ever even wear those? All the pictures I can find of 90s Deadpool have red gloves... Cable looks god awful. His head is about the only thing about him I find passable, the rest just looks like the worst mess of parts reuse I've ever seen. I'd have GREATLY prefered a repaint of the existing 90s Cable in the color scheme of his original action figure (http://www.marveltoys.net/single.php?figure=216&v=abcdefghijklmn), to this abomination of a figure. The only silver lining I see is that he appers to have a half-metal bare chest painted on under that hideous chest armor, so he might be more passable shirtless... maybe... Domino just looks like crap if you ask me. Which dissapoints the crap out of me, since I'd otherwise have LOVED to get a Domino minimate... shame it fell far short of my expectations. Her hair looks horrible, it's like some sort of ugly slicked back mullet, and her face kinda sucks... I'd have greatly prefered a happy go lucky badass face than the ugly "huh?" face they gave her... her left eye looks like it belongs on a Deadpool figure. I also hate that it doesn't have a pupil... So all and all, as a completionist collector and huge X-Men fan... yes, I'll buy this... but the Cable and Deadpool are two rehashes I don't feel I needed, and that don't look half as good as their predecessors, and even the Domino, who was one of my bigger wants, falls short. Feral, the only one who looks good, isn't even a character I really wanted. New minimates are always good, imo, but that doesn't mean they can't still dissapoint.

But my point is, Ben Reilly: Spider-Man, as well as Ben Reilly: Spider-Carnage, both get their own categories (not even a shared category, but two seperate ones, each with 1 minimate occupying them), but Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider, who is probably the most independent persona of all three Ben Reilly minimates, as strictly speaking he is neither a Spider-Man or a Carnage variant IS listed as a Spidey variant. Makes no sense to me that the one who is a Spider-Man, and the one who is half Spider-Man and half Carnage, aren't spidey variants, but the one who is neither Spider-Man or Carnage, IS a Spidey Variant. Whether you think of Scarlet Spider as his own character, or as a costume variant doesn't really matter. It STILL doesn't make sense. At the very least, any way you shake it, one of these minimates, all of which are the same man, should occupy the same category as one of the others. Whether that means Ben Reilly should be changed to a Spider-Man variant or Scarlet Spider should be changed to a Ben Reilly variant, is a whole other debate. (As stated, I'm on the side of considering Ben Reilly his own character, just as US Agent [who is more or less the Captain America equivalent of this same discussion] is considered his own character.) I more or less said all this in the first post, but it admittedly got a little long, so the message got lost in the middle somewhere. So no hard feelings if you missed it. Let me once again say, that I want people to please understand, these comments aren't coming from a place of anger, hate or malice. They're coming from a place of anal retentive fanboy organization which I can't control, and I apologize for that. Overall, I love minimatedatabase.com. lol...

This is only a problem is there is no chance of DST ever releasing All of those ch. . . . ahhhhhh now i see the problem. (PS: i want them all too - i think we have a pretty decent chance with most of those, but modern Vanisher, Feral & Boom-boom seem more like longshots [insert witty mojoverse pun here]) EDIT: (PPS: I'm hoping we see a 90's Domino & Warpath too - wouldn't say 'no' to a 90's X-Factor Wolfsbane either). Realistically, I don't think Rictor or Sunspot have much of a chance either. Maybe Sunspot if they started a whole New Mutants thing, but I feel like that's unlikely. Shatterstar can go either way. I feel like he's not likely, but maybe if just the right opportunity came along. Domino and Cannonball probably have the best odds (obviously). They have the most spillover X-Men cred. Especially these days. Honestly, I don't like the odds of anyone that isn't currently living on Utopia. DST has made it fairly clear in the past that a character has to be relevent to the current climate of the Marvel Universe to get made, under most circumstances. Every now and then a Giant Sized X-Men or Secret Wars opportunity will come along, but they mostly try to stay current. So yeah, Cannonball, Domino & Warpath. Currently mainstream X-Men. Good odds. (I realize Sunspot is too, but he feels like more of a background player to me atm. He needs to kick his face time up a few notches and pop into some books besides New Mutants if he wants better odds.) Rictor & Shatterstar, maybe if X-Factor's presence starts to pick up in the greater Marvel universe more. (Which seems to be the plan from what i heard at C2E2, but we'll see how it goes.) Until that happens, I think Madrox is about all we're gonna get from that family. Everyone else: Not very likely.

I dunno where the hell this attitude that Scarlet Spider is a Spider-Man variant came from, but i hate it, lol... I'll grant you that he's a clone, but at the end of he day Ben Reilly is still a completely seperate person, and Scarlet Spider is a persona that's uniquely his. Peter Parker has never been Scarlet Spider. He's not Spider-Man, or at the very least, not Peter Parker. I've pointed this out in the past, but it baffles me why Ben Reilly Spider-Man is listed as his own seperate entry on minimate database, but Scarlet Spider isn't. The Ben Reilly with a unique hero persona & Name = Spider-Man variant, but the one that's supposed to be Ben Reilly AS Spider-Man = Not??? How the hell does that make sense! (PS. Spider-Carnage is also Reilly with the Carnage Symbiote, and also has his own entry, which only further complicates matters.) And people say, "Well he basically is a Spidey variant, so it's okay" to which I say, "Okay, well then why isn't US Agent listed as a Captain America variant?" What makes US Agent so much more special as a Cap knockoff that he gets his own entry, while Red Hulk & Scarlet Spider get clumped in with their main guys? I also don't get why some heroes are lumped with their civilian figs (Phoenix, Invisible Woman, Most Glaringly: Wolverine) but others (Iron Man, Luke Cage, Several others) are split into two entries for Civilian & Hero. I also don't get the confusing scramble that is Iron Man/War Machine/Tony/Rhodey (all of which seem to be one in the same at some point or another.) Why is Rhodey in Mark II a "James Rhodes" but Tony in Mark II an "Iron Man", but either in War Machine armor is in a third completely seperate entry, under War Machine, which itself, doesn't include James Rhodes... lol... I don't understand where these distinctions are being drawn, but they confuse the hell out of me, and as an anal person, i find it all maddening... lol Which is why I organize my checklist Thusly... Most Relevent Codename (Secret Identity). <-Main Heading -Actual Name (Figure Name and/or Distinguishing Feature) <- Sub Heading (IE. "Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spider-Man (Miguel O'Hara) & Scarlet Spider (Ben Reilly), are three seperate main entries, and then I put all the costume/persona variants (Spider-Carnage, Etc) under sub-headings.) The Osborns provides a decent basic example of how my list works... Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) - Green Goblin (Classic) - Green Goblin (Villains) - Green Goblin (Ultimate) - Iron Patriot (Dark Avengers) - Norman Osborn (Thunderbolts) Green Goblin (Harry Osborn) - New Goblin (Movie - Spider-Man 3) Basically, kinda like that. Anyway... I've gone off on a much longer rant than I originally intended too... my only orginal point being... Ben Reilly is a seperate dude. Give him his props. lol... Sorry for the tyrade. PS. I love minimatedatabase.com, use it frequently, and appreciate all the hard work that's gone into it over the years. Thank you very much guy who runs it. (I know you're one of the members here, I always forget which one) It's great. (I just have minor discrepencies with some of the ways its organized... which is why I organized my own list in excel... lol...)

For the Military Ones: There were exactly 8 of each I believe. There's a very slight chance I'm wrong, but I'm 99% sure there were 8 of each. When they're first introduced, they each debut in 2 rows of 4, if I'm not mistaken. For the Hammer Drones: I'm honestly not sure because they weren't that important. I think also 8, but I'm way less sure about it. (Minor spoilers)... EDIT: This is the scene they debut in, which makes them real easy to count.. Kinda hard to tell from the pic, but like I said, I'm fairly sure each model debuts in two rows of four, totaling 8 of each. The tan ones get cutoff, but you can kinda see them all in the green ones. http://splashpage.mtv.com/wp-content/uploa.../030710_im4.jpg

Alright, just saw the movie, so here are my thoughts... First regarding the Hammer Drone(s)... (Minor Spoilers) Second, regarding Whiplash... (Major Spoilers)

I'm torn... I've eyeballed a couple posts in this thread already... haven't read in depth... but from what I've eyeballed it sounds like there are some new minimate possibilities coming out of the film that I'd like to hear more about. By the same token, I have yet to see the movie, and don't want it spoiled. So it's like my brain wants minimate news now, but doesn't want Iron Man 2 spoilers at the same time. To read on or not to read on... choices...

As much as I'm a huge X-Men fan and I'd love them all, I agree that the secondary cast of X-Force, by itself, isn't enough to move a set. I feel it's almost mandatory an X-Force set include a Cable, just as a given. Problem is, they made him already. Deadpool would be good for moving sets too, as stated. So what we're looking at is crappy variants of one or both of them. Stryfe would be awesome, if a villain need be included. (And he might be passable as a Cable variant, if DST wanted to play it off that way.) So lets say, between those three, if nothing else, we have two free slots for the rest of the team. My picks would most definately be Cannonball and Domino. No question about it. PS. Nessex, I like your want list in your sig there. Mine would read almost exactly the same, except I could live without AOA Jean & Holocaust, and I'd add Jubilee and Pixie. (I'm a fan of the perky young girl characters, what can I say? *Shrug* You know that C2E2 panel? That was me asking about Jubilee. lol )

I own every single Marvel Minimate currently released except Gold Spidey, Silver Spidey & Santa Spidey (who arguably, might not even count in some peoples estimation) and X-Factor Angel (and someone is currently helping me rectify that one in a trade). That said, I don't have a problem with re-releases and rehashes. I've paid a little more for some of my mates. I've gotten great deals on some of my mates. All and all, I feel it's more or less evened out over the years, and there's no mate I feel I've paid so much for that it would embitter me if they re-made it. I hear lots of people saying they paid fortunes for lots of old minimates... can't say its ever happened to me. Now I'll admit... there's a few odd old minimates who command high prices now. Nightcrawler. Blue Professor X. I have both. I paid retail. *Shrug* But there really aren't so many rare ones out there, or any who have reached such an outrageous price, that I feel they're too priceless to ever be remade. Barring maybe those three spideys, who as I said, arguably aren't even actually part of the official line. In fact, I think being rare is just all the more reason to remake them. No one should have to pay $50 for Nightcrawler. And no one IS paying $50 for Civil War Cap. Lets not blow things out of proportion here.

I voted for The Captain and Reborn Cap. I know they're the retreads, but frankly, I have yet to get a Captain America minimate I'm 100% happy with. So with that said, I wouldn't mind updated versions of the both of them which match one another (and they have slipcover masks, so they should mesh nicely with Bucky Cap too.) I'm seeing alot of love for him, but I've never been a fan of gimmicky mates like suspended animation Cap. Or Transformation Spidey/Venom, or Secret Wars Spidey, or Spider-Sense peter parker, or any of the phasing minimates like Vision and Shadowcat. I like my mates to be versitile. Mates that only represent a very specific scene or cover or power usage turn me off. I like the mask accesory with the Civil War one, but beyond that, who cares? More or less the same as the other Civil War one. The other two I'm more or less completely unfamiliar with, and could take or leave. The armor is somehow both neat and stupid looking to me, at the same time. Is the WWII one Ultimate? He sure looks it, but the only two Ultimate costumes I'm familiar with are the two that were already made in series 27. Frankly, I can't believe they're not using his new, post-reborn costume, from Marvel's Secret Avengers promo art. Seems Bucky is staying Cap, and Steve Rogers is forging onward with a new costume and no gimmick. I would think that costume would be the one to make, since it's relevent to the current publications.

I would assume very heavily that the Warpath is modern X-Force Warpath, and everyone with other ideas is reading into it WAY too much... They said round out some teams, not complete some teams. Technically 90s X-Men still needs Jubilee and Mullet Bishop (possibly more, arguably) too, so Professor X completes nothing either. Warpath, X-23 & Wolverine are the only members of New X-Force that have been there the entire run, so I would agree that he does feel more needed to round out the set than others. Wolfsbane started with the team, but was then gone for a while in the middle. Archangel, Vanisher, Elixir & Domino all joined later. So anyway yeah, It's Black & Silver Warpath. I'm... like... 99% positive. Quit thinking so hard.