Jatta Pake

Well, this could get interesting. A competition between an entrenched innovative grassroots fan based forum vs. a hierarchical company forum. If today's changes to the AA forum are any prelude ... Hopefully the AA group can find their sea legs with their website and generate additive content for the Minimate fan community. I have a feeling they are still trying to 'find their way' so to speak with the forum.

It's not so much the companies as it is the Universe in which the characters reside. At one point, Marvel made sure their Universe remained coherent, understandable, and structured. But it just seems like in the 90s, the Marvel Universe fell apart. Too many writers without knowledge or care of continuity. DC has similar problems, but they've worked very hard to keep the DC Universe coherent. Many said pre-Crisis DC was confusing, but compared to current Marvel it's a cake-walk. What ever happened to aging characters? Peter Parker grew up from the 1960s through the 1980s. Now I understand the sliding time-scale, but couldn't Marvel move Peter in a new, more mature direction? We've seen the various Robins from DC grow up. And look at Wally West. Make Peter Parker become a dad. Give him a mid-life crisis. Just please stop the Marvel writers who want to write him as a high school kid again. I know Superboy-Prime punching the DC Universe messed a lot of things up, but at least it's an explanation! Marvel never has any lasting continuity changes, and the characters seem to always forget about the last big foe. New writer, new problems. I think that's why a lot of fans look back to the Chris Clairmont days. I'm not a big fan, but the story arcs lasted. So, it's not that I'm bashing one company or the other. The writers and bosses change anyways. But I'd like to see Marvel return to its roots.

Official line from AA: "LOTR is over. License has expired so you won't see them. We have samples, but that was it..." From Morpheus the AA webmaster.

I think I'm switching my fandom over to DC. It doesn't have anything to do with Minimates per se, it's just that all the DC stories I've read so far have been fantastic. Now granted, my exposure to DC is very limited compared to Marvel, but I really dig the DC universe. Marvel became incomprehensible to me in the 90's. I've got the entire collections of Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men and Spider-Man on DVD and CD. And I've been slowly reading through the issues. But Marvel just falls apart in the 90's. Too many crossovers and dumb seasonal 'event' plots really kill the Marvel Universe for me. Can anyone follow the mutant story lines through the 90's? Now contrast that with the JLA and Batman. DC really came alive in the late 90's. I just can't get enough. I just wish I could get the DC collections on DVD. For those interested, I recently picked up the JLA: Syndicate Rules trade paperback. It's about the evil counterparts to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash, circa 1997ish. Absolutely first rate. Someone needs to make a custom Ultraman, Superwoman, Owlman, Power Ring, and Johnny Quick Minimates. Maybe I will! Anyone else with thoughts on DC vs. Marvel? Who do you like better?

For all the worries I have about doing the above I remind myself that I am a fan, short for fanatic. I doubt any corporate authority would ever approve, but hey we are crazy! We don't need to be rational in our zeal. Shanester - tell us more about the card idea. Are there waves? How are they printed? Where/how have they been successfully distributed? As a legal disclaimer, I disavow any involvement in the above.

I said MMHQ twice. I meant the urls of MMMV, MMC and MMHQ on the cards.

What about a guerilla fan club campaign? In Targets, comic book stores, and other places Minimates are sold, mysterious business cards appear next to the merchandise. The cards have the web urls of MMHQ, MMC, and MMHQ. They say "FREE UNOFFICIAL FAN CLUB CARD" or something like that. Forum members around the world have the cards printed up and anonymously leave small stacks near the Minimates ... We could have a contest in which members state, "If I left Fan Cards in stores, I would have left them in ---blank--- stores. But I deny taking any actions." Thoughts? Ideas? Card designs?

Great question. I'll check tonight when I get home.

You're NOT getting Iron Man? What is this world coming to?

Forgot to answer Reideen's question: No inserts or anything else. You just get the DVD and unsealed bagged Minimate. The baggie is just folded under so be aware that it is NOT sealed.

What everyone has been waiting for ... pics! A shot of the Iron Man and Captain America DVDs. They raised the price at Toys R Us to $14.99 from $11.99. Cap comes with his shield and an extra hand. The various Captain Americas. Close up.

Chase Figures? Regular Price? No chases. I believe Art Asylum has promised not to ever re-release chases. But I assume they could re-release characters from the Giant X-Men set as part of the rolling stock 2 packs. Although I paid a fortune for my set, I strongly support the re-release of those characters. I think new collectors should have a chance to get a Nightcrawler. The rolling stock would also likely include Street Fighter, Speed Racer, and BSG. As it was explained to me, companies need to establish "shelf space" at Target. Rolling stock would mean that Minimates always have a spot on the Target shelves. When they sell out, more are automatically ordered. Pretty sweet!

Adam has said that they are working on making the rolling stock mean they can stock ANY Minimates. So we may be seeing a lot of different characters. The cases I'm seeing have a Spider-Man/Wolverine 2 pack, Invisible Woman/Thing 2 pack, Blade/Punisher 2 pack, and Mr. Fantastic/Human Torch 2 pack.

Question to collectors: if you get only one, which one do you get? I'm leaning towards Iron Man but I'd like to see a pic of Cap's new face.

A simple study: Check out your local Target store and note the number of Darktide sets and Minimate 2 Packs. The Darktide boxes are gone and the 2 packs have been re-stocked again at my local store. People are buying Minimates! Hopefully some new addicts will be joining the forum.

How are they different?

Unfortunately my hands are only registered as dangerous weapons because of my bad joke writing. I have no martial arts abilities.

HAR - You really should check it out. It's one of the best sci-fi shows I've seen in a long time. Rent season one on Netflix or at your local rental store. You won't regret it.

What's an emoticon?

I'm holding out hope that years down the road when AA is rich with Minimate profits they will do a gigantor box set called: The Lost Minimates. It will include: Tony Hawk Minimates, LOTR Wave 3, Alfred, Hawkgirl, Grundy, Cartoon Brainiac, Batman Begins C3 Batmobile, and Black Bullseye Minimate.

Even worse, Banner is helping him run the controls!

Wow! Great job MINI-MYTE! Absolutely fantastic secrets. It's like finding the treasure of the Pharoh's tomb. I need to print this one out and read it again. Thank you for sharing MINI-MYTE!

Does it help the debate to mention that my hands have been registered 'as dangerous weapons'? Just thought I'd share. Some thoughts: Should Heroes Be Made More Accountable? Obviously the public felt so after Stamford. Politicians passed the SRA. Is The SRA Constitutional? Good question. If the US Supreme Court struck down the SRA the debate would be moot. But there is no evidence to support this would happen; in fact She-Hulk's support would evidence the constitutionality of the SRA. Will The SRA Solve The Super-hero Accountability Problem? I think we are seeing evidence that it doesn't. In fact, while it may be increasing accountability in some instances, it is creating numerous unintended drawbacks. A super-hero mutiney would encourage me to rethink any support. Alcohol Prohibition was constitutional, legal, and it reduced alcohol consumption. But it also gave us Al Capone and boring parties. Is The SRA Moral? I think this is the key to Timbos argument.

Thanks Cyc. Not one of my more memorable articles. Glad to know someone read it!

I noticed Morpheous said prizes and winners of the "X-Men Minimates Contest" would be posted soon. Anyone care to remind me or tell me what this is about? It is an answer in the AA Q&A #1 towards the bottom of the Q&A post. I'm not certain I know what this is about. Thanks.