Ivan

Ms. Firefighter might be one of the show promos. She is featured rather prominently.

Interesting concept for the shirt, even if it is a little disappointing. At least it's not white.

There is a new blog post on the design of the vehicles.

Some cool info including the design sheet for the pirate ship!

I love these behind-the-scene glimpses. They should turn it into a weekly feature like the Q&As.

It's good to see that large truck/transport/mobile-command-center thingy isn't dead. Wonder what APC is an acronym of? Acute Petroleum Consumer? Armed Prenatal Commandos? Alimony Protection Clause? Additional Pillow Creator? Accidental Pancake Consumption?

Probably something boring like Armored Personnel Carrier.

After taking a look at the voting right now and noticing that 5 of the matches are tied, what happens if voting ends and there's a tie? Coin flip?

Sudden DEATH!

Sometimes my mind wanders...

Hrm... My SDCC hotel is actually quite close to that Disney Store. (Yay shuttle!) Time permitting, I could possibly buy a bunch and bring them to the convention center. Save some folks the hassle? Any interest?

Just a thought. No promises at this point, it's still a month and a half away.

I need to figure out a way to get that Stormbreaker set in the worst way.

order it from AFX?

No, no, the worst way. I'm not sure what that is, but it probably involves ponies.

Thanks all.

I thought about creating a Super Pursuit Mode conversion sequence but I wanted to get the thing done before the toys hit stores. KARR seems unlikely at this point, but you never know*. It would give me an opportunity to get better at animating. Maybe I could create a storyline with both SPM and KARR.

Great that's just what I need, more ideas.

Next animation is going to be loosely based on a movie that isn't (yet?) a Minimate license.

*Chuck mode activate.

I just finished a new animation that I'm particularly proud of. It came out great and was a lot of fun to put together.

Behold, KITT!

There are several more still renders and the full animation at the permalink. Or just the

A Scotsman and an Irishwoman? I wouldn't have thought those would mix well.

Surprisingly, I've actually been able to keep the two-a-week schedule. The latest render (#6) was posted today.

I realize it's hard to follow the series chronologically if you're jumping in late. The site isn't built for that (yet). Here are all the Site 23-Baker posts so far. (Larger images in the links.)

• #1
  
• #2
  
• #3
  
• #4
  
• #5
  
• #6
  

• Paramount Health and Rehabilitation
  

Says the guy who rarely goes a day without bitching an moaning about DST's "woeful lack of attention" to geriatric Minimates. Remind me who's posting their wishlists, again?

Well it is pretty damn woeful if you ask me! How many Minimates portray characters over 60? 70? 80? Don't gimme any of this anti-aging mutant crap either! That doesn't count! I can count on one hand the number of female Minimates with breasts down to their knees. Why won't DST give us what we want?

The octogenarians are our future dammit!

The lack of pants might also be a reason.

No one can stop The Amazing Speedo-Man!

Speedo-Man, Speedo-Man, does whatever a Speedo can.

Runs around, can not fly.

Catches thieves, has great thighs.

Look out! Here comes the Speedo-Man

I think people have jumped into "Wish List Mode" a little too quickly with the mention of Paramount Wave 1. There's no indication it is a reference to Paramount Studios. While that is a remote possibility I think these are far more likely:

• Paramount Health and Rehabilitation
  
• Paramount Petroleum
  
• Maybe an extension of the Vehicles line with Paramount Cars
  

Nevertheless I have it on good authority that the Paramount line is actually the first wave of ballroom dancing Minimates! Filled with all the great ballroom dancers who have been trained at Alec Lazo's Paramount Ballroom. Melvin Roberts! Dixie Chile! Edwin Alonzo! Douglas Quaid! Roman Polanski! I can easily see this filling four or five waves. A perfect fit for TRU! Can't wait!

Excellent! You're a king among men. I'm already far more recognizable at TRU than I'd like to be.

Maybe it's the cape?

This list makes me a very happy monkey. It says a lot about the viability of Minimates and the confidence TRU has in them.

Pickle, did you search for any MAX stuff?

I'm starting a series of Minimate renderings on Minimate Labs. It's called Site 23-Baker. The first one, titled 'Survey', is up on the site now. This one is pretty simple, but they'll get more complex as time wears on.

I'm going to try and post two a week, Sundays and Wednesdays.

Oh I misunderstood. You need to go talk to those droids. Ask them about their day. Get them to talk about their family, kids. You know, get really chummy. Then when they finally trust you, you ask for a favor. Ask for a piggy back ride. At first they will refuse, calling it demeaning and out of character. But you must persist and ask again. Eventually they will acquiesce and hoist you onto their shoulders. From this vantage point you should be able to see a small circular block with four studs. I think it was blue but can't remember for sure. Shoot this block. That will free Yoda from the Evil Witch's magic cage that is mounted to the ceiling. Use the force enhancer you got in the previous level to slow his decent. If you don't, he'll splatter all over the pavement. Before Yoda will lead you to the next stage, you have to prove your worthiness to be an usher at his wedding. It's a grueling trial involving small handguns, ziplines, and a cat named Kirkegaard. I don't want to spoil it for you though.

Have you killed all the droids yet? It may seem like they keep coming forever, but eventually there will be fewer and fewer until you get them all.

My apologies, I had intended to quote karamazov80 in my post. The government censors must have removed it.

You jest but according to my server logs there are some highly influential individuals in Washington D.C. (using government computers) with a significant interest in Minimates. When I check the referrers for the DC IPs it's readily apparent they have accounts here at MMMV. I don't know user names but, this one and this one look interesting.

I see two possibilities. One, the DST lobbyists are very good at their jobs and have influenced the upper levels of government. They are seeking to either lower raw material (plastic/tampo ink) prices or change copyright and trademark law to skirt likeness restrictions placed by intellectual property owners. This is good news both ways as it will either lower Minimate prices or raise licensing opportunities. (I hear the only thing preventing the long awaited Golden Girls box set is the Estelle Getty estate will not approve any likeness.)

The other, more nefarious, possibility is that the government computers being used to access our Minimate underbelly are not those of lawmakers, but of law enforcement. You know, those three letter agencies, FBI, CIA, NSA, BOB. They are using Minimates as inconspicuous monitoring devices. Implanted with advanced, nigh undetectable electronics they transmit the activities and communications of Minimate collectors worldwide. All suspicious activity is flagged and cataloged. Behavior is monitored to determine if the subject can be convinced to turn on his comrades. If not, blackmail is employed. Old Minimate collectors don't die, they get abducted by the government.

I think I have my question for the next Q&A.

Ah, the International Day of Minimate Inquisition was a success. I think this should be a quarterly event instead of annual.

I'm still not convinced that customizers aren't somehow playing God though. Sure, taking a jacket or a boot from one Minimate and putting it on another is no big deal. But what about a headswap? If you take a Peter Parker head and put it on Tony Stark's body, who do you end up with? Parker? Stark? Peter Sarsgaard? I think I'm going to have to consult a clergyman for this.

Although I'm fairly certain 'soul' is measured by volume... like punctuation.

Hey, we still meet at SDCC. Right outside the DST booth... around giveaway time.

Thankfully, my black eye healed up nicely.

In celebration of International Day of Minimate Inquisition tomorrow, I think everybody should take a few moments and think of a unique, enlightening, or slightly glorious Minimate question and send it to Chuck.

So, did anyone actually do this?

I hope I wasn't the only one. I'm looking forward to everyone else's slightly glorious questions.

I fear my question (on Minimate metaphysics) may have been too verbose and will be skipped over. We'll see in a couple weeks I guess. Thankfully I've got it squirreled away and will keep submitting it until I get an answer. The people need to know!

In celebration of International Day of Minimate Inquisition tomorrow, I think everybody should take a few moments and think of a unique, enlightening, or slightly glorious Minimate question and send it to Chuck. And no, questions of the form "Will X be made?" are none of these things. Here are a few ideas to get your brain goo flowing:

• What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen Minimate?
  
• What do Minimates see when they close their eyes?
  
• Which Minimates are Communist spies?
  
• Are the three-inch Minimates jealous of the two-incher's popularity? Or do the two-inchers envy the three-inchers size?
  
• Will you still make Minimates after the robots overthrow humanity?
  

Let me stress, it's important for you to come up with your own questions. If Chuck gets five "What do Minimates see when they close their eyes?" questions from five different people, he's going to get suspicious. Then he's going to come here looking for answers. Then he's going to find this post. Then suddenly it's all Ivan's fault. Then when I show up at SDCC he's going to take me out back and shove duck feet under my fingernails or something. Nobody wants that. Let's just play it cool people.

Thanks all. No longer shall the masses complain about the lack of Minimate olfactory appendages! Blessed is the day when all Minimate are able to sneeze with vigor and authority. We shall rejoice in the mucus of FREEDOM!

The original plan was for everything to get a nose, logos, accessories, packages. And well, like milk in a hat, time makes fools of us all.