Gillbob316

I'd love to have Mimic in his new look, or any Mimic at all for that matter, but his new look especially. I think it's the best he's looked since his original costume. I hated his "shaggy beard" years. As for the other three... I don't necissarily think any of them are bad choices, but I'd rather have Dark Beast than all three of them. After reading him in Excalibur, Endangered Species, and Dark X-Men, I've grown to enjoy Evil McCoy in recent years. He has all the wit and charm of 616 Beast, without any of the self doubt or occasional depression. He's a fun character to read. Namor and Emma I could both live without another variant of (especially an Emma in Black, that I'll never use, since I'd prefer her in White anyway. Namor in an X-Men suit I'd like, but I could live without him.) And Weapon Omega hasn't been around long enough for me to care about him. I always like when a new character gets minimated, so he has that going for him, but I'd still rather it was Dark Beast. So overall, I guess Mimic, Namor, Dark Beast & Weapon Omega are my picks for that set, but since Emma was a key member, I really doubt they'd pass her by for those four. Sadly, I think Mimic is the least Marketable character of the five, and he's the one I want most. lol...

Okay, we really haven't requested Kang and only Kang for years... people exagerrate Kangs overall popularity... We... as a collective of minimate fans... imo... began requesting Thor, Beast, Ultron, She-Hulk, Archangel, Hawkeye, Deadpool & Gambit all at roughly the same time... We've also simultaneously requested every single un-made Spider-Man villain, since the dawn of time. Be it Kraven, Mysterio, Sccorpion, Vulture, Sandman, Electro, Lizard, Chameleon, or anyone else I'm forgetting. First off, Kang didn't even enter the picture until after Ultron was made. And the only reason Kang is so prominant NOW, is because all those other requests have steadily been trickled out over the last few years, starting with Beast & Thor and moving on from there. (I can't be the only one who remembers when Thor & Beast were at the top of everyones want lists. [Which one, depended mainly on if you were an X-Men fan or an Avengers fan, primarily.]) So I'll concede that NOW... Kang is at the top of alot of Avengers fans lists... and alot fo greater Marvel Universe in general lists... I personally would rather have Jubilee, but I'm an X-Men fan. (And I think she's at the top of many X-Men lists atm.) But he hasn't been steadily requested for years... at least not any more than some of those other characters... Deadpool and Gambit were more important holdouts on many people's lists (Mine included) and they were only made less than a year ago. I'm not saying he isn't a popular request, he is. But our requests more or less change on a yearly basis. This is the year of Kang & Jubilee. Who knows what next year might be... My money is on Falcon & Mr. Sinister.

They don't need muscle bodies and duck feet imo. Neither is that big. They're both very muscular, but average sized guys. I think of those pieces on guys sized like Hulk, Juggernaut, Rhino, Apocalypse... the HUGE guys... not the regular sized but beefy guys. I mean... I'd say it's definately debatable... depending on the artist drawing them, they an both vary in size from huge to just moderately muscular. Same goes for Venom & Sabretooth. But Venom & Sabretooth at least don't use duck feet. So I guess it could go either way... But I personally think of them as smaller than that. I definately think of Tiger Shark as smaller than Hulk, and with muscles and duck feet, his minimate would be the same size, and I don't think it should be. Look at Tigershark side by side with Red Hulk on an Offenders cover, he's half his size. No duck feet at the very least.

Same here. Well, they restocked yesterday but still. If any of you Illinois people find them at the Schaumburg or Melrose Park TRU's (the two I frequent) I'd be your bet friend if you could like... hide a pair of the exclusives for me... Just stick them behind an educational toy or something. Something that doesn't sell. Then gimmie a heads up here so I can go get'em, lol...

What specifically do you not like about the latest Brock Venom? I personally thing it's one of the best figures they have ever released. My only problem with it being that it has an unusually snug mask. 1st I don't like his face in general. I know it's a personal pref thing, but I'd prefer something closer to Movie Venom's face (but without the web pattern, obviously) Also, regarding the face, I don't know if it's just mine, or all of them, but it sits way too low on the mask. He's he only venom I have with absolutely no space between his mouth and the bottom of his chin. Now beyond all that, I just don't like that he doesn't match up part for part with Gargan Venom & Anti-Venom. Call me anal, but I hate that. If characters are supposed to be two sides of the same coin, I like for that to show in the part choices. I have the same issue, for instance, with Red Hulk/Green Hulk/Grey Hulk. Right now Red Hulk & Heroes Hulk are awesome together, imo, because they're built from the same basic parts. Wheras old figures like Grey Hulk & New ones like Ultimate Hulk, bug me, because they both use different parts. Parts that don't mirror the other two. Now, If you hold Gargan Venom & Anti-Venom side by side, they look like two sides of the same coin. Same basic body, same basic look. Different figures. If you hold any of the Brock venoms up to either of them, you don't get that. The most recent one has different powerhouse chest (makes him look smaller, I'll add), different hands, a slipcover face. All and all I just don't think he jives well visually, with Anti-Venom or Gargan Venom. Consistancy... is more or less what I crave. I want all my Venoms built from the same parts. As well as all my Hulks, all my Goblins (damn those boots and gloves), and ideally, any other characters this might apply too.

So hey, Now that C2E2 is over, and I've had a day to recover, it jsut occured to me, I wanted to come here and write up a little mini-review on one of the six new Iron Man mates that debuted at the con. One which I was slightly unhappy with... That mate being Battle-Damaged War Machine... Upon opening my 4-Pack and examining him, I found myself asking, "Wait... this figure is supposed to be battle damaged?" I honestly for a moment wondered if they'd just put a normal War Machine in my set by mistake. 1st off, if you look at the preview/prototype pictures, he has some scratches, dings & scrapes on his faceplate. The real figure has none of these. His face plate is clean. It's more than clean, it's shiny. Secondly, he... -might- have the Black "Burn" scuffs characteristic of battle damaged iron man figures... but since his color scheme is a monochromatic dark grey and silver, I honestly can't tell. And black scuffs that might be on the figure blend into the grey so well that they don't register. Frankly, the figure doesn't look battle damaged at all, to me. Now I don't actually have the regular, non-damaged War Machine yet, so I can't speak on how it compares side by side. Maybe if I get them together the differences will be more apparent. But comparing this fig to pics of the normal one on minimate database, the only visible difference I notice is there's a different rhodey head under the helmet. To me, that's incredibly poor execution for a "Battle Damaged" figure. This is definately a figure that suffered greatly from cutbacks between the prototype and general release. PS. The damage on Iron Man has similarly been toned down between the prototype and the release fig, but on Iron Man, the black scuffs at least show up on his red and gold armor. Better than Rhodey, but not as good as the Battle Damaged Mark 3 from Iron Man 1.

I'm very close to agreeing with you, but 1 hair off... It may sound nitpicky, but I don't like the blue they used. I'm a huge X-Men fan, I've been looking at pictures of Wolverine for decades, and I just don't think it's the right Blue. Everything else about wave 28 wolverine is great, but I feel they used the wrong blue. The Wolverine I think nailed the color scheme is Secret Invasion Wolverine. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the right mask. And a quick swap is out, since the yellows don't match up. If 90s Wolverine used the same hues of blue and yellow that Secret Invasion Wolverine did, I'd love him. But as it is, I still find him slightly flawed. But it's a minor gripe. 90s Wolverine is still my favorite overall Wolverine.

Copy/Pasted from the other thread... MK Daredevil is good, but far from perfect. 1 thing that irritates me is the afformentioned eye thing. (At least it's not as bad as Civil War Iron Man, but it's still not good.) 2nd thing that irritates me its he's really more of a red-orange than red-red. I'd really just like a new one that worked well as a companion piece to the armored one. The original is too simple, the MK is too detailed. As for Carnage, he's a little better, but again, not perfect. It's ALWAYS bothered me that his hands are a noticably brighter red than his body, and I feel he lacks the muscle defintion of some of the newer styled minimates. He still has that flat look of the original waves. Granted, it might be hard to illustrate muscle on him, with all that black swirlyness, but I think if a talented designer worked hard at it, it would be possible. Frankly I'd like a new Brock Venom too. I think the three existing ones all have flaws, and none of them look right next to Anti-Venom or Gargan Venom. I like Gargan Venom's mate, but he's not my prefered Venom, Brock is, so I'd like a redo of Brock that works well as a companion for Anti-Venom, as well as Gargan Venom. But I figure it's probably too soon for them to do this. Hasn't been a long enough Venom break yet. Juggernaut, Rhino & Grey Hulk. Their reasons for an update are fairly obvious, they all look puny by today's standards. She-Hulk would be good... I didn't hate the first one, but I think we'd all agree they could do better. Ditch that re-used Storm hair we've seen 100 times. Possibly give her an accesory that actually fits in her hand this time. (lol) And finally, Am I the only person who'd like to see a new red & YELLOW Iron Man? IE. NOT Red and GOLD. I think it just makes him look more comic-bookey, when they use yellow. I like the colors on the original Iron Man, but I like the updated sculpting for Extremis. Pretty much all the Iron Men they've been cranking out have been using Gold, and I'd like to see him move back to yellow. I hate to say I want another Iron Man, but I do.

MK Daredevil is good, but far from perfect. 1 thing that irritates me is the afformentioned eye thing. (At least it's not as bad as Civil War Iron Man, but it's still not good.) 2nd thing that irritates me its he's really more of a red-orange than red-red. I'd really just like a new one that worked well as a companion piece to the armored one. The original is too simple, the MK is too detailed. As for Carnage, he's a little better, but again, not perfect. It's ALWAYS bothered me that his hands are a noticably brighter red than his body, and I feel he lacks the muscle defintion of some of the newer styled minimates. He still has that flat look of the original waves. Granted, it might be hard to illustrate muscle on him, with all that black swirlyness, but I think if a talented designer worked hard at it, it would be possible. Frankly I'd like a new Brock Venom too. I think the three existing ones all have flaws, and none of them look right next to Anti-Venom or Gargan Venom. I like Gargan Venom's mate, but he's not my prefered Venom, Brock is, so I'd like a redo of Brock that works well as a companion for Anti-Venom, as well as Gargan Venom. But I figure it's probably too soon for them to do this. Hasn't been a long enough Venom break yet. Juggernaut, Rhino & Grey Hulk. Their reasons for an update are fairly obvious, they all look puny by today's standards. She-Hulk would be good... I didn't hate the first one, but I think we'd all agree they could do better. Ditch that re-used Storm hair we've seen 100 times. Possibly give her an accesory that actually fits in her hand this time. (lol) And finally, Am I the only person who'd like to see a new red & YELLOW Iron Man? IE. NOT Red and GOLD. I think it just makes him look more comic-bookey, when they use yellow. I like the colors on the original Iron Man, but I like the updated sculpting for Extremis. Pretty much all the Iron Men they've been cranking out have been using Gold, and I'd like to see him move back to yellow. I hate to say I want another Iron Man, but I do.

Just to clarify... I eventually did open my Battle Beast, and in contrast to my earlier reports, he's more of a Black on Black, not Dark Green. The plastic wrap made it hard to tell. He's got a flat dark grey/black reptiley skin, and glossy black armor. Furthermore, he doesn't have a chaingun, just a large futurey-looking gun. Sorry for the mixups.

I think you mean Chuck seeing how Matt no longer works for DST. Hmm. Wasn't aware. You'd think I'd have picked that up on these boards somewhere, but this is the first I'm hearing of it. In that case, I guess I do mean Chuck. I only said Matt since he was the one primarily manning the booth at the last con I went too.

What do you guys think the odds are that diamond will be selling the Iron Man Movie wave at C2E2 this weekend? Reason I ask being, it sounds like between the borders wave and the TRU wave all the IM2 mates are out there, I think. So I'm thinking maybe I can just get them "straight from the tap" come Friday. PS. I'm going nuts waiting for C2E2. (I'm going, btw) Since we haven't heard much news lately, and Diamond actually has a full on minimates panel planned, I'm assuming we'll see at least 1 new wave debut, at the very least, if not more. And I'll get to breath on the glass case and see them up close, then turn to Matt and say, "Why the hell is there still no Jubilee in this wave!?" Fun times.

Question: How many characters have yet to be made when excluding Movie Mates? For Example: Blob has a minimate, but it's only a movie version, which bares little resemblence to the character, beyond being a fat guy. That said, I still consider Blob a character who needs a mate. And I have to imagine if Toad made the list that Blob could have. They're in just about the same league, as X-Men villains go. That's what made me wonder. Just curious. EDIT: Alright, I just went through the list and the answer is none. But I still think I had a valid thought, lol... Guys like Blob need a proper minimate.

Hope your mom picked it up because I was there tonight and all they had was one left. PS Illinois was a pain in the ass I Had to hit foour no where near each other to get them...but the borders people were all super helpful. Were any of them the Schaumburg one, because that's the one I plan on checking, if I ever get around to it.

Funny Story... I called my Toys R Us to give them the 6-Digit item number, and check if they're in stock. Girl goes to the computer, looks them up. I know she actually did, because she actually repeated back the product name for me, and I never gave her the product name. She says no, not in stock, so I say, "Do you know when you might get them." <few seconds pass> "It's actually discontinued, we're not going to be getting them in stock any more." I say, "Okay thanks, bye." <click> immediately after hanging up I just mutter, "Fricken' Liar." I have no doubt the computer told her they have none, and I believe her, but I find it funny that they put them in they'd go so far as to put them in the computer just so they could be discountinued and pulled before they were even released, lol. But it's okay, because while I was on the phone with her my shipment from CornerStore for My Iron man single packs, series 27, 33, 34 & the Spidey Set came to the door, so hooray! New minimates for me anyway! But yeah, still no Iron Man mates at my local (Melrose Park IL) Toys R Us.

My 2 cents.... One dollar off what BBTS charges is not "so much cheaper". And for me, saving ONE dollar isn't worth it when you factor in Cornerstore's ridiculous practices of charging people a 15% "Re-stocking fee" to cancel PRE-orders, where with BBTS you control your own ordering system and can make changes whenever you'd like to. That, and Cornerstore was responsible for one of the biggest breaches of credit card numbers among collectors that the toy collecting community has ever seen. Then there's the whole 'not filling pre-orders' thing. I'll never shop with CSC again unless I absolutely have to. But see I usually do big orders... I order like... 4 waves of minimates at once. And possibly some box sets along with them. Cornerstore usually has box sets for 12.99-13.99, other sites usually 13.99-14.99. So if AFX is 14.99 and cornerstore is 12.99, lets say im saving $2 on every box set I'm ordering, $2-$4 on the overall cheaper shipping, at least a dollar on each of those 4 waves. Which isn't even always the case, btw. BBTS had waves 24 through 30 for about $30-$32 which is $8 more, not $1 more, for those of you keeping score. CornerStore's waves have been consistantly $23.99. So, saving anywhere from 1 to 8 dollars per wave, 2 to 3 dollars per boxed set, and 2 to 4 dollars on shipping, it adds up fast. At the end of the order I generally find myself saving anywhere from $10 to $20, or more, and yes, to me that is "So much cheaper" (PS. I always total up the whole cart at BBTS, AFX and CornerStore when I do an order to see who's cheapest. So far, AFX and BBTS have never come close to winning.) SOOOOO... end of the day, I say again. I have never personally had a problem with CornerStore, they have always been the cheapest option I could find, and I'd recommend them. Wheras AFX once sent me a broken variant, when I ordered a full wave, and offered only to replace it with the non-variant set from the same wave... which bugged me to no end, since I had no need of the non-variant set. Everyone has different experiences with different stores. I can only offer opinions on my experiences with CornerStore, which have all been good. EDIT: Just to run some quick numbers, I just ordered Waves 27, 33, 34 & The Spidey Friends and Foes set from Cornerstore. They totaled $84.96 before shipping. The same items total $95.96 before shipping at BBTS (And 27 is out of stock, so I can't even really get it). That's $11 bucks, and I'm poor, so that IS alotta money to me. I was also able to order a set of 6 Iron Man Single-Packs from Cornerstore for $30, which is an option BBTS doesn't even offer. They only offer a case of 12 for $50, which is essentially 2 free, I'll admit, but since I have no desire to get extra generic drones that my Local Store will probably be clearancing off in a month anyway, the 2 free doesn't really appeal to me. I'd rather have the $20 than the 6 extra drones. If I got two extra Justin Hammers, then they might have something. BUT... I feel like I'm getting all up in arms now, which REALLY wasn't what I meant to start off like, I swear... I'm just saying I think CornerStore gets a bad wrap. *Shrug* They've never given me problems, wheras AFX has. And BBTS is just too expensive, and always sold out of everything, so I can almost never get everything I want from them in one order anyway. BUT... I'll say again, Everyone has different experiences with different stores. *Shrug*

For whatever it's worth, my two cents... I've used CornerStoreComics.com for about 10 waves of minimates now and I've had zero problems with them. (I know tha's not the case for some of you, so take my input as you will.) I mainly started using them because they're so much cheaper. I always hated ordering from AFX because of their ridiculous shipping rates. Both CornerStore's regular prices and their shipping rates are lower than ShopAFX and BigBadToyStore, pretty much all the time. I more or less always order on or close the week of release, for new waves of minimates. I don't preorder, but usually the website still says they're preorders, because they haven't updated yet. They still always ship within the week. All and all CornerStoreComics has been wonderful for me. The only website I ever didn't recieve minimates I ordered from was ToyRocket.com, but that was mainly because they went bankrupt and don't exist now. AFX and BigBad, I've ordered from, and didn't have problems with, but as I said, neither can beat CornerStore's prices. I hate to sound like I'm a sales rep for CornerStore, lol... I'm not... but like I said, they've been good for me. Just my two cents. PS. And now for a complete left turn: Webhead, Civil War was like 4 years ago... don't you think it's time to change the left half or your signature banner? (I have no problem with the right half. lol)

It's entirely -possible- that your comic book store ordered and pre-sold the whole wave, so you never even saw them. It's happened at my local store. (Dreamland Comics, in Schaumburg IL) a few times, which is more or less why I stopped getting minimates there. I was sick of walking in only to find out the new mates sold out before the store even opened. With some waves, I could walk in at 10 am Wednesday, the whole set would be on the shelf with a big "NEW" sign, and I'd buy it. I got the X3 wave this way. I got the Spider-Man Movie waves both this way. I got a couple misc waves thsi way. Those were good days. With other waves however, I'd walk in, again, 10 am, the day the new wave hit... they wouldn't be there... I'd ask "Did a new set of minimates ship today?" (knowing full well that one did) and they's say, "Oh yeah, we got them but they were all reserved to pre-orders. We can order them for you if you'd like." to which I'd respond no thanks, and toddle off. I don't... mind preorders, per say, but it's just stupid to me, that I can walk into a store the minute they open, on the day a new product is released, 1st person there at the crack of dawn, money in hand, and be told the items have already been sold. I would think that most stores woul be good enough to their consumer to at least keep some stock set aside for shelving. I thought the point of preorders was to give the store an idea of how many they should order above and beyond what they already planned to order. And what they already planned to order, I would think, should be on the shelf. Frankly I've stopped buying regular wave minimates from stores. I was sick of the unreliability of it all, and eventually I realized it was just cheaper to get them online. My comic book stores (Most comic book stores) charge $7.99 a set, so that's 23.97 for three sets WITHOUT the variant. Add the variant to that, which will cost you at minimum another $7.99, possibly more if your store gouges you simply BECAUSE it's a variant, up to about $14.99, and you're already paying way more than it costs to order a whole wave online these days. Anywhere from $32 to $38, plus tax. A whole wave at CornerStoreComics.com costs $32.69 with shipping. WITH shipping, that's the same price. CHEAPER, if your store overprices the variant. And that value only increases if you're ordering multiple waves together, since you're saving on combined shipping. (And I almost always order multiple waves together, since minimate waves almost always ship in pairs.) Do you have to wait an extra week or two for them to get shipped? Yes. However, when I can't walk into my comic book store on release day and get them... what's the difference? I'd be willing to pay my comic shop a little more, IF THEY'D ACTUALLY SELL THEM TO ME. But no, they sell them to the regulars that pre-ordered, and only offer to order more for me. They order them for me and I pay more, or I order them myself and pay less? Might as well just order them myself. So like I said, I've more or less stopped buying regular waves in stores. I buy the TRU waves from TRU. That's about it. But I'm done now. Forgive my bitter rant. lol...

And now for a left turn... I dunno if this has been brought up before, and if it has my apologies, but I just noticed today that the left glove on my Battle Damaged Wolverine from Toys R Us, looks a little messed up... It's like, shorter, and not painted evenly, in comparison to the right glove. I don't know if it's a paint error, or if it's an intentional choice by diamond to make his glove look "battle damaged". The one on MinimateDatabase looks the same. Are they all like this, or did anyone get one with two symetrical gloves?

Hey, I wonder if someone could clarify something for me... I'm a little unclear on which Toys R Us Iron Man 2 mates are unique new mates, only at Toys R Us, and which ones are re-releases (Or series 35 pre-releases). I open all my mates, so I generally only buy the Toys R Us sets with unique minimates in them, and sell/trade off any doubles. I skipped, for instance, The Punisher War Zone exclusive and the Lady Loki/Thor set, Since I had those mates already, and package variants mean nothing to me. That said, since the toys r us wave seems to be a mix of unique figures, series 35 figures, and even some series 21 (Iron Man 1) figures, I'm finding it hard to keep track of which ones i need to buy, lol. If I'm correct... TRU Rhodey in Mark II/Black Widow is Exclusive = Must Buy. TRU Senate Hearing Tony Stark/Mark I is Exclusive = Must Buy, and the Mark 1 is different from Series 21? I think? TRU Mark V/War Machine should be in series 35, so I can skip it. TRU Mark IV/Whiplash should be the same as Wave 35, correct? So I can skip these, and wait to pick them up in 35? But Borders Mark IV/Whiplash are different and I should pick them up? Correct? I think I have everything straight, but all these slight armor variants are confusing me. In total, I need to buy... Wave 35 TRU Widow/Mark II Rhodey TRU Mark I/Stark Borders Mark IV/Whiplash 6 Hammer Single Packs & The C2E2 Exclusive 2-Pack & 4-Pack That should be everything? Right? With no doubles?

Warpath and X-Factor Angel. (Not counting Gold/Silver/Santa Spidey) That's it. And as a huge X-Men fan, not having Warpath is killing me. I can't stand knowing theres an X-Man out there I don't own. (No Thunderbird does not count, as he is an entirely seperate X-Man. ) If anyone has a spare they'd part with for less than the outrageous $50-$60 tag they get on ebay, I'd trade you my soul. lol...

Alright, this picture isnt 100% great, but its good enough to talk about... I'll note that not all the colors photographed well, and I'll make notes later in the post to address this... Alright, in this photo are, Emma Frost, My Supposedly Blue Iceman, My Clear Iceman, My Frosted Iceman, and My X-Factor Iceman, just for the sake of comparison. I didn't photograph Invisible Woman because I keep my X-Men in a different container than my Fantastic Four, and I didn't feel like digging both out. You can really see what I'm talking about on Emma in this picture. Now Strangely... I'll note... in real life Emma's head looks relatively clear. The yellowing is mostly in her hair piece. In the photo, it kinda looks like the whole thing is yellow, but I think its just her hair showing through. Second is my (theoretically) Blue Iceman. He's not really yellowing, but I threw him in the picture to reflect on the original topic. As you can see in the picture, he's a different color than my Clear one and also has the darker paint apps that they say the blue one should have... but oddly enough, he still isn't nearly as blue as some of the pictures I've seen of Blue Iceman on the internet. However I WILL note, that this picture doesn't do his blue justice. He's much bluer in real life than he his in this particular picture... but still not quite as blue as some of the pictures I've seen on the internet (Like at Minimate Database) If I had to guess, I'd say the inconsistancies are all in the way he's photgraphed. If I lay my blue one on a white piece of paper, alot of his blue gets washed out, and he looks clearer. If I lay him on my palm, his blue really pops against the more fleshy color of my skin, and he looks closer to the pics on minimate database. To further illustrate that point, I noticed the pics of Clear on MMD are on a very white background, and the pics of blue are on a slightly creamier off-white background. In any event, side by side with my clear Iceman, I DO see a difference. (PS. My Clear one is a definate series 11 one I bought the day the wave hit, My blue one I bought loose on ebay, so I fully admit, I have no idea what its origins really are.) Third is my Clear Iceman. Again, he's really washed out in this pic. To further illustrate how innacurate this picture is, he looks about the same as Emma, in real life. A little bluer, but close to the same. I think most of it got washed out because he's in the center and he got the full brunt of the camera's flash. 4th is Frosty. Like I said, he appears to be yellowing a little too, but its not as visible as Emma or Clear, because the frosting masks it a little better. 5th is X-Factor, he has no problems and looks the same as he did when I bought him a couple weeks ago. Just put him in there for comparative purposes.

On Topic, but Off-Topic... Does anyone else notice yellowing in their Clear Iceman, Emma, or Invisible Woman figures? Frosted Iceman too, though its less noticable on him, since he's semi-solid. I can't tell if mine are yellowing, or if I'm just being paranoid and they always looked that way... I can't see why the heck they would be prone to yellowing... I keep my minimates stored in sealed plastic tubs... they're not air-tight, but I can't imagine much gets in there... and I don't handle them an obscene amount... but whenever I look at them, I feel like they don't look as clear as I remeber them being when I bought them... And followup question, if anyone else has noticed that they're prone to yellowing, has anyone found a way to prevent and/or correct it?

She has, on occasion, been depicted as turning partly see-through when phasing . . . But only very rarely. And i don't think it EVER happened during the Astonishing X-Men run. What REALY bugged me about the AXM Shadowcat was her hair. She almost always wore her hair pulled back into a tight pony-tail when she was in costume. And when her hair was out . . . it wasn't styled in the manner of a circa 10970's Farrah Fawcett! (Lets face it though - half of that wave was a write-off!) Even in that picture though, it's more artistic style than her actually turning transparent. Her feet do seem to be fading away, but only in the area she's passing through. I mean, if the minimate were applied to that painting, her hands would be invisible... she'd look like Phantom Limb from the Venture Brothers.... And yeah, more often than not (and definately in astonishing) her phasing is drawn with a clean line. In any event, I still don't like it, lol. The hair bothered me less, but you do make good points. None of the Astonishing figures turned out as good as they could have, really... since it was a "Parts Re-Use" wave... Some were better than others, Cyclops and Colossus weren't that bad, but they all had room for improvement... Beast was the worst, imo... And Wolverine could sorely have used a mask... (Speaking of Wolverine's mask, am I the only person who can't stand that none of the yellows and blues on ANY two Wolverines match? I'd love to mix and match parts from some of them, but none look right together. They need to pick a yellow/blue combo and stick with it for him. I personally think Secret Invasion Wolverine had the best ones. And Zombie Wolverine was definately the worst... he was friggin' Orange...)

I agree with this guy, I think transluscent plastic is often gimmicky and mis-used on the wrong characters. I like it on characters like Iceman, Invisible Woman, Hydro Man or Emma Frost, who literally transform into a see-through material. Clear Plastic is well used on these guys. I hate it, however, on characters who are merely supposed to be glowing or coated in something transluscent, like Gamma Hulk, Radioactive Man, Human Torch or 1st Appearance Iceman. (Iceman originally just coated himself in snow and ice, similar to Human Torch. It wasn't until later that he refined the use of his powers to actually transform himself into ice.) None of these figures should be see-through, really... They glow and shine... they don't turn transparent... should Silver Surfer be clear grey plastic? No. Another figure I don't like it on is Powerhouse Sandman. Granted, he's made of sand, so as he "flows" you might be able to see through him... in theory, but I just think it looks poor in this particular figure. He looks like he's made of maple syrup, not sand. The solid sand they used on the movie sandman looks much better, imo. The figure I absolutely HATE it on is Shadowcat, from the Astonishing X-Men wave. While her power is to seperate her molecules and become intangible, I never once remember her molecules becoming so seperated that she began to fade into invisibility and nothingness... why her hands and feet are clear is absolutely beyond me... I'm a little iffy about Vision though. On the one hand, I kindof feel the same as I do about kitty... he's not turning invisible, he's turning intangible... but on the other hand, I have seen artists depict him as "see-through" when using his powers, so it's a little more forgivable in his case... Kitty however, I've never seen use her powers to turn invisible. But all and all, like I started off saying, I think clear plastic is over-used. For Thing I think it could work. If he had pants on, you could remove his powerhouse chest for a normal human chest, and then all he'd need is a head swap and arm swap, which we've seen on many mates before. For Torch however, I don't think they'd do it. He changes from a caucasian guy in a blue jumpsuit to a completely red guy. I can't see any of his parts working on both forms, since he changes from head to toe, which in essence, equates to a complete second minimate, not just extra parts.