Lobsterman

Barry had wings on his boots, too.

I'm really pleased they did a separate mask/head for Bats instead of the previously advertised sculpted head. Matt, since we know you're reading, can you say whether our vociferous protests against sculpted heads had any bearing on this change? Will we be pleasantly surprised with the more of the same next week when Marvel 19 and 20 come out?...

Okay. DC minimates are very clearly and very consistently done in the style of the comics, not the animated show.Your argument that these are "cheap renditions of already released product" just doesn't hold water. Cheap: Not really. Flash, at least, cost more than the original, because he has more unique pieces (treaded feet). Plus, they sculpted new hair and a new mask. That's two pieces they could have used existing molds for, but didn't. Nightwing, again, has a new hair sculpt. And I personally think the quality of these are superior to the existing C3 ones. Already released: The C3 mates are widely considered to be animated style, not comic book style. If you're a "series" collector (and most collectors are), the C3 Flash just doesn't fit with the new DC mates. There's obviously a lot of Flash fans out there, and a demand for a comic-styled Flash exists. I'll concede that a Barry Allen Flash would have been nice, but this is still a different version of the character than the C3. You wouldn't put your Mattel JLU Flash up with your DC Direct League, because he's "the same guy," right? This is totally different than the retreads of The Man With No Name from the GB&U set; that one is a straight pick-up; same parts, same deco, same style. This is DCD listening to the majority of collectors who want a style-consistent version of a major character.

Actually, no, in the comics, Wally's mask has open eyeholes like Barry's did.

Interesting choice to blend multiple series in a single wave. It's a nice way to give the TOS crowd all of the fan-fave characters they want, while keeping TNG and DS9 fans interested enough to stick with the line. I'll be curious to see if future waves will be mixed, or phase out TOS and move to full TNG/DS9/Voyager waves? On the other hand, will some TOS characters always be necessary to net the core Trekkie base?

2007 "When is DCD going to re-do the C3 characters so all of us who missed the boat can get Flash, Nightwing and Martian Manhunter?!?" 2008 "Why is DCD wasting our time with retreads of C3 characters that clearly nobody needs?!?" 2009 "How come DCD hasn't made my solid gold toilet yet?!?"

Um... this seems a bit alarmist. Not to come down on you, but DCD's been moving release dates up, which seems to suggest them adding additional waves to the release calendar. Now if we don't see or hear anything about wave 9 and beyond at Toyfair, I'll go get my pitchfork and torch and storm the gates with you. It just seems a little premature to panic because it's been a couple of slow news weeks. Minimates are the only DCD line I don't consistently see warming the pegs at the specialty stores (Suncoast, FYE, etc) and comic book stores at which they're sold. Is it possible the first few waves were slow going and sales have picked up? Or that Georg just isn't personally excited about block figures? DCD has always been good about giving niche products the benefit of the doubt. Pocket Heroes lasted almost four years and through a good portion of the major DCU characters, and I can't imagine Minimates, with their already-established fan base, doing worse than those. I think registering on the DC boards and making sure they get our feedback is a great idea.

Or maybe it's an upside-down Swarovski crystal ashtray that just happens to be shaped like a human skull. For when he smokes his cigars. Okay, that's the last one.

No mini-sombrero? No es bueno.

Ooh, wait, maybe it's Brainiac's head! ^_^

Maybe it's an exclusive teaser for DST's surprise announcement... Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull minimates! Yeah! Maybe!

Wow, good question! I second that. Those would make great little displays! If commercially printing them isn't feasible, could you make printable hi-resolution artwork available to Radical Confidential members or something?

Okay, who do I need to bribe to get on the e-spectrum mailing list? I'm signed up for everything DST cares to send out, I have them whitelisted on my email, and I never seem to get this mailing. Can someone walk me through the steps?

So they already have a GB&U set in the works, too? Awesome! I can't wait to see pics. Because this thread is useless without them.

In the last few years, Havok has been wearing a costume similar to his original one; all black, with a center-of-chest energy lite-up thingy and tracer lines to his arms, legs and head. Interestingly, Polaris' new costume is kind of similar to her original one, too. http://www.earth-2.net/images/news/2007/08...-23/x-men01.jpg

**UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMOR** I've heard that the new issue of Toyfare reports there will be a Rocky III set, with Clubber Lang and Thunderlips! Can anyone confirm? --- update --- Apparently, there were pics of Platoon mates, too. Army builder time!

You know, I don't think soft goods would work on the minimate scale. I personally have a hard time with them even at 1/12, because the weave of fabric just isn't to scale. It always seems to hang funny, or be too stiff, or the stitching is way too big proportionally. I think it would look weird on something as small as a minimate. I think the sculpted poncho and vest look fine on these. Hey, they stole that from Back To The Future 3!

DST's site is now saying Marvel 19 is bumped back a week, to hit on the 20th with Marvel 20.

I bet X3 Storm's hair would work just fine. I'm using it for Sentry's longer locks.

These could come in handy. I'm still trying to think of specific applications, but they're pretty cool, anyway. http://www.archertransfers.com/catSurfaceDetails.html

I thought that was a little odd, too. I can think of at least one other piece of news I would have rather seen as a pre-Toyfair teaser...

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is third. But, AFOD is really the first movie in the trilogy.

I've wanted a classic gaming series for a long time. Series 1 Mario/Megaman Samus Aran/Kid Icarus Sonic/Bionic Commando Chase: Fire Mario/Charged-up Megaman Series 2 Luigi/Bowser (3") Simon Belmont/Snake (Metal Gear) Bill (Contra)/Link Chase: Lance (Contra)/Battle-damaged Link However, I realize this would be next to impossible, as it would involve wrestling licenses out of four different companies. So, I'd be more than happy with a four-pack that sticks to Nintendo-licensed characters: Mario Bowser Link Samus

Here's a hypothetical: Would you trade Marvel for G.I. Joe?

bigbadtoystore.com still has four in stock. Run!