drgnrbrn316

Weren't there orange and blue ones being handed out? I've seen them both on eBay.

Some interesting insight into the whole TRU thing, but I disagree about the Minimate section idea. Nice as it would be to browse the Marvel Super Hero Squad and spot a Minimate set on the peg next to it, wouldn't it work better for brand recognition to be looking at the MAX stuff and see Spider-Man hanging on a peg next to it, to show that they don't just do firemen?

If not a dedicated section, at least do an end cap on an aisle somewhere with a cross sampling of products to show what's available.

Besides, they aren't hanging them amidst the Marvel stuff in my store. That's where they put the Ghost Busters when they can be bothered to hang them on a peg at all.

On a side note, that was a smart idea bringing examples with you regarding the quality control problems. I'm surprised that so many of them can slip past the goalie though. At one point, I was under the impression that the factory sent samples to DST for approval. Maybe the whole process has become more streamlined?

Where does one acquire a 2x3 ziplock bag?

I've found them in hobby stores, pretty much anywhere where you can find small beads and stuff like that.

True. They do serve as a nice compass to lead me to where I should look. Without them, I'd have to search the whole TRU to see if they had decided to put more out.

Not for me.

What, new Ghost Busters Minimates out? Are they over here where the old ones were/are? No, they're in the middle of the Marvel Super Hero Squad display.

Anyone know if anything was mentioned at SDCC about this fabled Minimate section that's supposedly coming to TRU?

On the bright side, Target might be back in the picture, so we can start peg warming in three locations instead of two.

I think the whole Marvel/TRU deal could work a lot better if they balanced the case ratio (4 unique sets, 12 fit in a case, the math isn't hard) and made the 2 non-exclusive sets a little more desirable. As it stands, since the non-exclusives dominate the case and can be found more easily elsewhere, when the cases can be bothered to make it to the TRU website, you end up with a ton of extra sets that keep them from putting new exclusives back up. If there were 3 of each per case, and instead of Iron Man/Crimson Dynamo you had Wolverine/Deadpool, then the sets would probably move a little faster, for all those who missed that boat last time.

Basically, put 2 exclusive sets, 1 set from the past, and 1 modern set, or better yet 1 army builder set, and you'd have something for everyone.

Even if you don't adjust the case ratio or the line-up, just making them accessible online and easier to find in stores would go a long way in keeping sales up. Assuming they show up in your local store, how many aisles do you have to go down to find them. Minimates have 4 separate locations in my store and the employees don't really bother keeping up with any sort of logic on what goes where.

Just saw this Minimate panel report where the writer says DST confirmed there will be a couple of AoA 2-packs to go with the box sets.

In regards to that report, is anyone really surprised that Ghost Busters outperformed Marvel at Toys R Us stores?

With the Ghost Busters stuff, you could preorder them or buy them from the website, and find them in stores, regardless of how the previous series did. (there was a restock of series 3 sitting on a shelf in my store, so they just dumped series 4 on top of it when it came out)

With Marvel, no preordering, they may put a grand total of a couple cases online, though that's not guaranteed, and finding them boils down to a store by store search, where they'll restock the previous series rather than put out the next one, regardless of how long the previous one has sat on a peg. On top of that, over half the case is made up of retreads to sets hitting comic shops and online retailers (places that take preorders), so people are skipping these sets since they've already reserved them elsewhere.

Did anyone else read about the Spider-Man panel? There's a few pictures and this tidbit: "Slott teased to the audience that the black-and-neon-green suit is not the new Spider-Man suit, but one of potentially several new suits." Guess we won't be running out of Spidey variants any time soon.

This just in, the next 5 Spider-Man figures will all be wearing red and blue.

There's plenty of Spidey variants, but for some reason they gravitate around the same one. I can understand keeping the line approachable to newcomers, but surely one red/blue suit a year should be enough, right?

Yeah, thanks to all the folks on the floor for the updates.

quick question...where the hell are the battle beast updates??? How many promos have they released??

3 that I'm aware of, all of basically the same figure, though it comes with a new paint scheme, weapon, and angle of mouth.

Potentially dumb question: So are all these boxsets for sale at SDCC, or preview only? If the latter is the case, when will they become available?

Classic X-Force and 90s X-Men were for sale, as were the We're Ready to Believe You and Ghost Busters 2 sets. Everything else mentioned or shown is future products with varying release dates.

I'm quite excited about this movie, despite all the repeat Minimates we'll be getting when it comes out.

The ones on eBay look the same, but there could be some subtle difference like the addition or lack of a hole in the head, or the reversing of a knee or something.

These just showed up in eastern NC this week, but still no sign of TRU 7.

Like what the smurf. I'm so smurfing sure. We just got the Ironman 2 wave but still haven't seen any of wave 7. I'm losing my smurfing mind over here.

Same here.

Nope, too late. I've gone to my happy place where Dr. Who Minimates are plentiful and DC Direct is still making DC Minimates (with an in-scale Batmobile).

Oh how I wish I could be there in that world with you when reality hits like an atomic bomb and the world starts collapsing around you. How epic it will be, like a Michael Bay movie.

I wonder if they're going multiple directions with Battle Beasts, or if the focus is shifting off of Minimates and onto this. They've basically been giving the same Minimate away since they first announced the property. It's a good way to save money on tooling costs, but if they were moving forward with MMs based on BBs, then you'd think they'd have tooled another head/body/hand/something by now.

Could be that they've been busting their humps trying to get all these various box sets off the ground that they haven't had time to put another wave together. They might have it mapped out on paper, but they might not have the prototypes to back them up yet.

Maybe they'll show off the concept art at the Minimates panel.

Now I just need the Ghost Busters blank and the Battle Beast. Might skip the other blank, depending on if it resembles the ones from years past.

I'd like to see Morbius as part of a Legion of Monsters set. Throw in Man-Thing and whoever else. Maybe FrankenCastle to keep it current.

They can throw FrankenCastle into a wood chipper, if it were up to me.

If they also carry the LCS or TRU sets, then I could be okay with it, but I'm not down with another batch of exclusives. Last time Target carried Minimates, I found myself leaving town every couple of days to go to the nearest one that could be bothered to carry them. The local Target never bothered with Minimates, and unless we're talking a whole dedicated line rather than just a couple of exclusive sets, I don't see them carrying them in the future either.

As it stands right now, I have to:

* Order the LCS stuff from online sites

* Buy the occasional LCS stuff that actually makes it into my local store just to encourage them to order more Minimates

* Buy the non-Marvel TRU exclusives from their website and hope they actually put them all in a box together and not back over them with the delivery truck

* Buy the Marvel TRU exclusives from eBay, usually at a ridiculous markup

* Buy the occasional TRU exclusive that actually makes it into my local store to encourage them to order more Minimates

* Order the AFX exclusives as they pop up

* Buy the trade show exclusives from eBay, usually at a ridiculous markup

* Buy the trade show giveaways from eBay, most definitely at a ridiculous markup, since that one Minimate helps pay for someone else's trip to SDCC, NYCC, etc

I welcome any retailer that steps in and helps alleviate all those problems. I'm not looking for another one who just adds to them. The overseas folks experience pretty much the same thing, probably on a worse scale, so I don't see them being overly interested in another batch of impossible to obtain exclusives either.

That link also put Vulture in the Noir universe.

Maybe Jeph Loeb will be a villain in the Ultimate universe!

At least now I know what to hunt for on eBay. As usual, the Battle Beast will be the one that requires some work (and money) to obtain.

I guess, with the TRU sets supposedly acting to compliment the other sets out there, there's a chance that anyone's favorite that was overlooked in these box sets could be covered in a 2-pack down the line. Assuming you can find a store that carries them and hasn't sold out of them.

Still, I see a LOT of X-Men love, which doesn't interest me much. I hope series 38 and TRU series 8 are unveiled at some point, with some other characters on display.

We get a new X-Force Wolverine, but no Domino, Vanisher, Elixir, or Wolfsbane? Lame.

Who is the 4th in the second AoA set? I'm inclined to think Cyclops, due to the eye scratches, but he still wore a visor, didn't he?

Glad to see that the 90s X-Men set at least comes with some accessories.