Exactly. I've seen realistic action figures & goofy finger puppets of real people like Jane Austen, Sigmund Freud, Thurgood Marshall, etc. They were in a boutique-type toy store, you know the kind, they have expensive wooden toys, Playmobil, that sort of thing. Seems to me like a natural for minimates, and AA wouldn't have to pay a licensing fee.
I'd love to have an Abraham Lincoln 'mate, especially after seeing The Amazing Screw-on Head.