Valo487

I think the problem is there's absolutely no reason to buy the TRU sets unless you don't know about the four packs. If you want these and are aware, you're going to want the four packs for the extra character, so the TRU sets are unnecessary, the only new set was the BW set, and personally I think a better TRU exclusive would have been to follow the Marvel approach, add a new character or two. Claude Rains as Larry's father for example, Bela the Gypsy or Maria Ouspenskaya would have been interesting additions to the Wolf-Man sets and would have resulted in a purchase from me, but all the two packs are going to sit there with fans who know, because they already have the four packs or plan to.

I'm puzzled by them not revealing Red Skull, I get that they don't want the minimate to scoop them on his appearance before they show actual film photos or footage, but I don't get why he's under wraps from the film. I mean, it's pretty obvious what he's going to look like, some sort of modified military uniform and a red skull for a head. Considering how much has appeared online from the film, I'm surprised by the secrecy surrounding this character.

That wasn't my intention, but at the same time some of their decisions do frustrate me a bit, so I guess that came out somewhat. But it's not my desire to insult them, but I do think we should express that frustration if it's not in a mean-spirited way.

Also, I never felt it had to be a praise thread, if you have a grievance please share it, I meant that more in terms of being constructive and thoughtful about it, instead of just "Screw Dst!!" If there's something you don't like, what would you do differently?

I hope not, that wasn't my intent, that's why I made sure to point out positive examples even though they definitely go way overboard with it in my opinion. I'm hoping it's viewed as constructive, since I know it has to happen but I feel there are good ways of incorporating them and bad ways as well.

My feelings on 'mates are very mixed at times, because I love the line, I've collected it since series one and gave up collecting Marvel Legends and Marvel Universe because I was more satisfied with 'mates, but lately there have been some things that have concerned me. I'm not even considering no longer collecting, but I know I felt frustrated when I saw the lineups for series 38 + 40. In both series there is one new character and an army builder, two if you count the variant in wave 38. This is ridiculous, plain and simple. There is no good reason that your average TRU wave has as many or more new characters in it than a LCS wave, plain and simple. If a big name must be included to sell a wave(which in a LCS I feel very skeptical about) use one big name and allow people who aren't new to the product to have something to look forward to. Even if you like wave 38, were that many of you really hoping for a new Spider-man, Daredevil, Elektra and Iron Fist over say Winter Soldier, Baron Zemo, Kang, Falcon? I know I wasn't, and I have a hard time believing that there were a great number of fans really excited about this wave, and when a line has been around this long, you need that excitement. And considering the two waves mentioned were mixed in with a wave that has one new character and an army builder(37) and a movie wave which features more repeats, there's not a whole lot for long term fans to get excited about. But hey, at least we have the box sets right? Yeah. Like the X-Force boxset featuring not one single new character. Brilliant. We have Wolverine again, and Deadpool who's rapidly becoming the new Everywhere Man, and no sign of Fantomex who we know has been made? Who made that call? What kind of logic does it take to not include one single new element in a box set? We've all bought box sets from DST before just for one new character, but it almost seems like they decided "If they'll buy it with just one new character, maybe they'll buy it with just a new paint scheme." They didn't even put in the effort on these that they did the First Appearance X-Men series, which had no new characters but they at least put some effort into it, I can't even say that here. It just seems like an easy cash in on DST's part, as this was not a team anyone was clamoring for, and they could have simply released Fantomex and called it a day, but I suspect the thought of a team full of repaints was too much to resist. As for the others, the AOA sets were awesome, loved those, and even though there were lots of character repeats, I never once felt like they were cheaping out on the product, they clearly put lots of effort into it and it showed, the New Mutants set has all new characters which I love, although I do feel the New Mutants set shoots a big hole in DST's claims that some characters wouldn't sell as a box set. Who knows those characters? If they can sell, so could the Wrecking Crew, all I'm saying. As for the upcoming Excalibur set, again I like the product but the execution could be better. They needed to release a new Nightcrawler, and the Juggernaut looks amazing, but those two could easily have been part of a new X-Men series and sold on there own, especially Juggernaut who is not known for his time in Excalibur at all compared to his villainous days. Captain Britian makes sense logically, but everyone who wants him ahs one, and judging by how cheap he can be had on ebay he's not a selling point at all, and I remember on this board when the set was announced seeing a lot of names who will likely not be made now because of his inclusion. As for QC, I haven't seen any trouble personally, but the numerous posts don't lie, I would hate to see this line which was so dependable fall into that quagmire, the last thing anyone needs is to be unable to buy with confidence. Finally, please, for the love of God knock it off with all the Spider-Men/Wolverines/Iron Men, especially if you're not going to be any smarter about it. For example: Six Armed Spider-Man and Lizard= Popular Spider-Man variation and major popular villain. Good call. Spider-Man and Iron Fist? WTF. Spider-Man doesn't even belong in the theme of that wave, I hadn't even seen that costume variant before they announced it, his ties to Iron Fist are tenuous at best, it just smacks so strongly of them trying to shoehorn him in there because they wanted to, even though they already had Daredevil as your name character. I'm not opposed to all variants, because they're going to happen one way or the other, but if you must at least be smarter about it. Noir Spider-Man and Hammerhead would be cool, but do I want to see yet another Spider-Man in wave 40 with another Green Goblin just because they finally figured out how to make a glider? Not really, especially when we had a Spider-Man in wave 37, 38 and now one again in 40. A glider would be cool, but if I buy that pack I'm paying 7.95 just for the glider, and frankly I don't think it's worth that. I know people can't wait to tell me to not buy it if I don't like it, but is that really what DST wants? People to not buy it? No. So what are they doing here? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE 'mates, they're one of my favorite things I collect, and there's nothing cooler to me as far as the line goes as when a set like the first Avengers wave is announced, or the Thunderbolts boxed set. I guess the best way to describe it is I love the line, I don't love the thought process that seems to be going on behind the scenes at times. But when the price tag increases and there's less and less to truly get excited about, it becomes easier to leave something hanging on the peg, which isn't good for the line. Lately I've been more excited about the TRU waves, because TRU wave 9 and 10 have more new characters than the LCS waves do. I used to love that the TRU waves were a nice addition to the line, but they shouldn't be outdoing the main series themselves.

I was thinking that my feelings on 'mates have been pretty strong both ways recently, some amazing stuff released/announced, with some real missed opportunities as well. I thought perhaps a thread where people can share how they feel about the line might be useful, since DST does come into the forum from time to time. THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT THREAD. If you have a grievance feel free to share it, but this isn't designed to beat up DST, but hopefully provide feedback on the line overall, in regards to the waves, TRU waves, boxsets and what not. I'll post mine shortly once I get all my thoughts in order, but feel free to post yours, I'm interested to see what other people think.

I was already pretty annoyed by the character selection in waves 38 and 40, but now that Lobsterman laid it out and it seems pretty unlikely we'll be getting comic waves to go with the movie waves, it's even moreso. I hope they still surprise us, Captain America's one of the biggest name heroes whose supporting cast hasn't been really tapped into. Crossbones, Falcon, Baron Von Strucker, Baron Blood, Sharon Carter, just to name a few....maybe a Captain America with variant Punisher Captain America?

Off the top of my head... WRECKING CREW. Come on, this is getting ridiculous. I was less than impressed by the recent answer in the Q+A's about their status. The Brotherhood: Still several untapped characters from the biggest group in X-History aside from the originals themselves. We have so many X-Men heroes but so few villains. (Toad, Avalanche, Pyro, Mastermind, Blob, Destiny, Rogue, Sauron) Masters of Evil (Zemo, anyone else) Thunderbolts (Songbird, anyone else) Alpha Flight (Northstar, Guardian, Sasquatch and Aurora) Age of Apocalypse (X-Man, Mr. Sinister, Havok, ?) I'm sure I'll think of more soon, but I'm tired so I'll mull it over and come back.

Seeing how many got made from the last one, I'd really like to do this again.

No sign of these yesterday in VA. They got in a ton of the FF wave though, I was surprised.

Mine never got them in, and they get all the other minimate series, I don't get what happened,

Are my eyes deceiving me, or does this TRU series have more new characters than the last few LCS waves? Well, at least we're getting them somewhere.

I really wish they'd put more thoughts into the lineups as of late, at least give us one new character please. I'm sure Fantomex will show up at some point, and I'll pick this up to have the team, but I'm not excited about it, it's just something I'll do. Remind me again how it makes more sense to put out a boxset with no new characters but we still haven't got the Wrecking Crew? If the argument is "No one will buy four characters they've never heard of" remind me who is clamoring to buy a boxset with four characters they already own?

Did you even read or bother to think about what I said? I didn't make a single suggestion as to who I want, I really don't care, I simply want something new a little more often, and considering this wave has a lot of retreads, as does the comic wave before it with Daredevil, Elektra, Spider-Man and Iron Fist, and when you factor in that the Thor movie wave is half movie versions of characters we already have, I don't think I'm being unreasonable to wish that instead of a series with both Iron Man and Spider-Man when we just got a Spider-man in wave 38 that they stick to just Iron Man and free up that two pack for new characters. They still haven't finished the characters on that promo poster that came out in 2003, where's Toad? I never said that what I want is what should be, and I do admire your arrogance in stating that what I want is selfish but because you like it it's ok, great argument there. I know I don't have to buy it, and here's a news flash for you, if I don't like it, I won't buy it. But is that really a great idea when you're dealing with a line marketed so heavily at collectors? To tell them not to buy it? I've been buying this line since series one, and will continue to do so, and I never even said they shouldn't have Spider-Man and Iron Man, I simply asked why they can't include them in the TRU waves and save the series slots for more unique characters which are far more likely to be seen by the general public than anything in a comic shop. They do include Wolverine and Spidey and the like in the TRU waves, but then they turn around and put them in the comic shop waves as well, how many do we need? How many do casual buyers buy? One, no parent is going to keep buying their children Spidey after Spidey over a pack with two new characters. You said to just sit back and enjoy the fact that we're getting characters that have never been made before, and I do enjoy that, but I don't think it's unreasonable to prefer a wave feature more than two new characters out of six, and forgive me but I don't need to "feel lucky" that they're making them. Did I miss the part where they started giving these things away for free? I'm supposed to somehow be thankful that the new X-Force boxset features not one single new character even though they had Fantomex made and he'll probably pop up somewhere, but they felt that Wolverine in the SAME COSTUME he's already been released in made more sense? I enjoy their products, they enjoy my money, but I don't owe them my gratitude just for making them, they're not doing this out of charity. All I wanted was them to show more restraint and instead of giving us yet another plain Spidey and GG, throw in Noir Spidey and Hammerhead, that's a pack I'd be excited about, but instead we're getting the same two that have been around since wave 2, but we're supposed to buy them yet again because they found a way to sneak in a Goblin Glider. I might pick it up if I buy the whole wave, but I can't help but think of the first all Avengers wave and how popular that was, and think that a wave full of popular in-demand characters would be a better call than the usual three-four retreads with one or two new characters thrown in. The casual buyer will likely never see this series unless they carry some over to TRU wave 11 or whatever, and the die hard collectors already have the characters ad nauseam, so who is this being marketed towards? The all Iron Man wave: Three Iron Men, three brand new villains. I'm sure DST would argue this wave sold because of the Iron Men, but I doubt anyone cared beyond adding to their hall of armors about IM, they wanted the new guys. That's all I'm saying, stick to one big name if you must, but no wave should be more retreads than new characters this deep in the line, why create product that your audience already has?

Updating the list once again... *Blizzard *Hammerhead *Pyro *Grey Gargoyle *Boomerang *Toad *Tiger Shark *Baron Zemo *Winter Soldier *Crossbones SP: Kaine or Noir WV: Don't have any. I'd still like to restate my desire for a Wrecking Crew box set.

Can we really not go a single series without a Spider-Man, Hulk or Iron Man? I'm not trying to be negative, but there's a Spider-Man in series 38, there's the one with the Lizard, and so on. I get it, he's a big name and he's cheap because he's just a coat of paint most of the time, but come on, they've announced four retreads in this series, and series 38 is mostly just new versions of people we've already got. The new characters we get are awesome, but I don't think it's too much to ask to see more than two in a series. The argument that "We have to put the big names in the series so people can get them and to appeal to new fans" is ludicrous when these are not found in major retail stores, the TRU series always has a healthy number of big names, and if anyone's going to randomly buy them they're ten times more likely to buy them from TRU not the local comic shop. And also, these big names are never gone long enough for anyone to miss them, they have put out two box sets featuring just big name heroes alone. I get that DST is going to do this, but can we at least scale it back a bit? One big name in a series instead of three perhaps?

Eh. These join a group of 'mates that has swollen considerably as of late, new versions of characters we already have that look great, but they're hard to get excited about. I'm keen on Mole Man, and I'm sure I'll pick up the others, but I feel like there are lots of lost opportunities here. Not every 'mate made before the DC 'mates needs to be redone. I'd have much rather had Grey Gargoyle in place of that Namor, who was 'mated for the first time himself not too long ago, Annhilus instead of another Thing, and the list goes on....

I really want a Hammerhead 'mate packed with Noir Spider-Man. The majority listed here I also fully support, particularly Morbius, Puma, Beetle, Demogoblin, Jackal, Molten Man, and Tombstone. I'd also like to show some support for Kaine.

I don't get it, I've gotten every TRU set from the one by my house, they always get them in, yet there has been no sign of them at all. Normally they show up within two weeks of the first sighting here, but it's been quite some time and they haven't turned up. Need my 'mates!!

Elhonez's list is awesome. I hope we start seeing some names crossed off of it very soon.

A.I.M.- 7, still need the variant. S.H.I.E.L.D.- 1 so far, need to get the variant. Kree- 5, still need the variant to bring me to 6. Skrulls- 5, want a few more. Multiple Man- 1 so far, ironically I have the Classic Angel pack and not the non-variant set yet. Sentinels- 2. Hydra- 1, want a lot more. Vault- 1, need the variant. Hellfire- None yet, they were all bought up at my LCS. Yeah, DST's making some cash from me on these Army Builders. I would like to see some sort of army builder supplement set so I don't end up with 100 'mates just for the army builders one day.

I'm curious to see how this goes, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now. I have no doubt one way or another Steve Rogers will become Captain America again one day, but if they want to get their money's worth out of Bucky as Captain America before they return the status quo I can't blame them for that, it's better than the way they handle each "shocking new revelation or twist!!" in the Spider-man titles, where they don't even have time to let it breathe before they're off to the next moronic idea. As far as the Secret Avengers go, these lineups are starting to really get weak. There seems to be no reason for some inclusions save for the novelty of it. I'm starting to really suspect that they just draw names out of a hat every year before they do these new teams. The fact that they change the team every year or so is bad enough, because there's so little time to establish the team and why they're all there. I'm not complaining just to complain, they're the writers so they can do whatever they want, I'm just looking at it from a logic standpoint at what is best for the titles in the long run. I'd definitely buy a 'mate of this look for Steve Rogers though. Package him with Baron von Strucker and we're in business.

I buy every new comic based character, and the majority of variants if they're a legitimate one, although the New Avengers wave really tested my resolve. I bought all the movie based ones so far except for X3, but considering how many Starks and Iron Men are in the upcoming Iron Man 2 series and exclusives, I may pick and choose. I'm definitely getting Whiplash, Justin Hammer and any other new character or version of a character, but the sheer repetition of the title characters in movie lines, both 'mate and regular action figure lines, leaves me weary in the end. I'll likely get hit with the fever when they actually show up and still buy them, but I don't feel a great deal of excitement when I see 6 different versions of movie Iron Man. That said, I understand why they do it. Casual fans and whatnot.

ike a few others have said, I think part of why this news was so odd to me is that other characters of far less name value have been made or at least discussed, but Zemo hasn't. I mean, he killed Bucky(until he got better) that ought to earn him a place in the Dick Dastardly hall of fame. Songbird being likely while Zemo doesn't come up in conversation just seems wrong. I realize Songbird's on the table because of the Thunderbolts, but still. Maybe though when they finish up the Thunderbolts they can start team bulding the Masters of Evil. They seem to have chosen the Avengers and the Thunderbolts as the two teams to work on at the moment, so hopefully when they've finished one they can start another. All I know is whenever they finally make the Kang thing happen I'm nominating Zemo as the new grassroots character to get behind.