Lobsterman

You know, I have a crazy guess about where this is going. There was an interview with Georg a while back in which prototypes for a 4" scale line were mentioned. This was mentioned in proximity to a question about how well Minimates had done in 2007 (the infamous "held their own" quote). In response to a question about whether Minimates' success would curtail thoughts of a smaller, realistic-sculpt line, he said, "To me these have little to do with a realistic line of small-scale figures, as I’m not convinced they would hit all of the same collectors." Now there are an awful lot of 4" scale collectors out there; many, many more, I'd wager than Minimate collectors. That's Super Powers scale, G.I.Joe scale, Star Wars scale, Indiana Jones scale... DC Infinite Heroes scale. See where I'm going? With the range of characters Mattel is planning to introduce for the DCIH line being mostly modern, I can't imagine DCD isn't thinking about an opportunity to piggyback onto their success with a complimentary line of Golden and Silver Age characters. But where does that budget come from? Their bread-and-butter 7" artist-specific lines? Or a niche line that's "holding its own," but not the blockbuster that a 4" line is certain to be? So my question now is, if DCD isn't arbitrarily tossing out Minimates, but cannibalizing them for a 4" line, would they consider farming them out to DST, who know how to make these little guys turn a profit? All wild speculation.

You forgot Mirror Master. You're fired.

ASMDaniel– Do you remember whether the Hulk and Abomination were 2.5" mates, by chance? (Hey, wishful thinking, right?)

I'm cutting out the UPCs from the packs I open, and photocopying the entire backs of my MOC sets.

Arrgh! So frustrating! "Well, people love and are willing to give us money for them... buuuut, we'd rather just piss people off instead." I'm telling you, UPC codes! Let's bury Georg in them!

And let me know if you need someone else to stand behind you with the nail-in-a-baseball-bat.

What if we mailed in UPC codes? No, seriously. It's one way companies used to track actual sales before the intarwebs.

I have to say, I'm a little bummed by the "meh" response to this news here. Maybe I'm overestimating the love for DC mates in general. Honest questions, and I'm not trying to call anyone out: has any/everyone preordered wave 8? If not, were you waiting until it showed up in stores? Or just planning to give it a miss altogether? If you haven't preordered yet, has this news made you consider it? Maybe DCD is right to pull the line if the support just isn't there...

Okay, so what could have thrown ice water on the line between SDCC (when everything but wave eight had been seen) and now? Was it Ambush Bug? Was he the slap in the face that caused everyone to drop the line outright?

He's done work for them in the past on this line, but he's often said he doesn't know anything until they contact him to do work. The thing I keep coming back to is a previous interview with Georg Brewer in which I could swear he said designs were done "through wave nine." That, and the fact that there's been no announced end to the line. Seems like these would have to have had sold just awfully for them to pull the plug without a word.

Okay, I'm in the bargaining phase. I know there are lots of DC characters we'd still like to see, but if we could get just one more wave, one shot for DCD to (sort of) finish the teams they've started, who would be in it? Here's mine: Alan Scott / Solomon Grundy Mr. Freeze / Two Face Kyle Rayner / Adam Strange Martian Manhunter / Black Manta I know that last pair is a little wonky, but, c'mon. We need Black Manta. Very, very close runners-up included Changeling, Mr. Terrific, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash.

Damn. Damndamndamn. Well, sorry, misterpl, for calling you "alarmist." Looks like you were right on the money. Okay, I have my torch and pitchfork, where's the posse? Letter-writing campaign? Storm the message board? Oh, Jesus, it's like Xevoz all over again.... (rocks back and forth in fetal position) ---- Don't make me quit these for DC Imaginext! Please!

It's a little odd to see two Hulk/Abomination pairings just one wave apart – first in wave 20, then in wave 22. I'm guessing that's because, way back in June or whatever of last year, when DST were setting the lineup for 19 and 20, the Hulk movie license (or the whole Marvel license) was up in the air. That said, I'm curious to see how they up the ante for these repeat characters. Dare we hope for a break from, or at least one-time concession on, the 2.5" mate prohibition?

Opinions (at least ones that hope to be taken seriously) are backed up by facts.

No, your opinion isn't garbage, just poorly researched. If you had spent five seconds googling the characters you were griping about, instead of railing on as if DST made them up out of thin air just to piss you off, you would see why the selections make sense.

Both are characters that figure prominently in current storylines: Gamora - the girlfriend/villian in the current Annihilation series with Nova Spymaster - a pretty bigtime villian in Iron Man history, and one who is staging a comeback in the current IM and Civil War books. I think DST is taking a smart tack trying to blend fan-favorite characters with ones who are relevant in the books right now.

You just missed Matt. He was in here with a sock full of nickels, spoiling for a fight. Keep talking, though. He might be back...

Oh, also, since we have you here... DC 'mates?!? What's the deal? Good news, bad news? Can you give us even a little hint? I know DCD is in charge, but have you heard anything?

What board? We'll go over and pound some faces. Seriously, though, that's interesting to hear, Matt. We're obviously the core demographic here, and would keep buying wave after wave of Spidey variants if necessary to keep the line going. We know you try to fit in obscure characters to keep us happy. But, you obviously have to cater to the larger casual buyer market, as well. Has the overall response to the upcoming waves not been as positive as you wanted? I personally think the Iron Man wave is fantastic, and I'm quite happy to scratch a modern Nova off my customs to-do list.

It would really bite if they gave us four half-finished teams (League, Society, Titans and Injustice Gang) and told us to eff off.

I wonder if the fact that Kubrick has a Star Wars license puts the smackdown on a Minimate license. I guess those are officially distributed in Japan, so it's a different market.

Wait, you don't get a warm and fuzzy feeling, or you don't get a feeling there will be any new mates on show? I wouldn't think not seeing new mates would give me a warm and fuzzy feeling... I'm so confused... :tongue: Unfortunately, I wouldn't put it past DCD to "quit while they're ahead" on a line – they did it with the Alex Ross Justice figures, and I think people would have kept buying those until every single DCU character, along with every other fictional and non-fictional human being in existence, was produced in that style. However, they did give people fair warning that line was ending – they said something like "the final chapter to this extremely popular line" in the solicit copy. We haven't heard anything like that yet about wave 8.

Shut your filthy mouth! No, seriously. Don't even say that.

In large piles, so that I could roll around in them.

Well, frak me. Can I just set up some kind of direct deposit thing with DST? 'Cause they're getting all of my toy money this year.