emperorshotz

Yeah Pretty convinced here that it will be Cap Marvel, Cap America, Dr. Strange, Iron Man, Nick Fury Jr.,and probably Thor. To which I will end up getting them all.

I feel like since Zach mentioned more obscure characters coming up, and to tie in Uncanny Avengers (especially appealing to more X-Men fans), Sunfire has gotta be in there somewhere. High profile book comeback, no existing figure, and he'd help finish up the Giant-Size X-Men, too. Wasp is also a contender due to her having only ONE figure, her recent return, and role in the book.

I'd say Rogue, Scarlet Witch, and Havok are out since they all had recent figures in the past year. Although, Marvel/Remender are trying to push Havok as the new poster boy for Marvel's mutants. Maybe the TRU wave will have an Uncanny Avengers heavy two pack? Sunfire/Wasp?

Well, after talking to a local TRU manager, it sounds like this box set may not ever come to any of the 5 Utah locations. Weird stuff.

That's a shame. I'm ten minutes from the George Washington Bridge, I still have yet to see them. I'm glad I ordered mine as soon as I could off TRU.com

Considering how many Deadpools we've gotten in the last year I wouldn't mind if they took a break from him for a bit. You're probably right that we'll get this version of him at some point, but considering how many other characters we already have that will likely be in the Marvel NOW! wave, I'd rather they focus on the more noticeable changes and new characters.

Well there aren't many both new and interesting costumes.

They'll definitely try to fit in Captain America's new costume. What about Havok? Rogue? Scarlet Witch (prob not since she was in AvX TRU set)? Captain Universe? Hawkeye (although the movie version is almost identical to his most recent comic version)? They definitely have options I prefer they focus on characters that haven't had as many versions, obviously, and I believe Zach hinted at more obscure characters making it into the lineup, so who knows?

It's probably just painted detail, but close up on those puppets almost looks like they're articulated...

I also totally was gonna skip out on the Alicia fig... But the hair alone makes me want her. Kinda wanna swap it with another Invisible Woman for a more modern Sue.

Well I see Emma Frost is up for 200 cps for the next week. This game sure gets pricey.

With this change in the Bruiser class, I may have to sub in Hercules for Quicksilver now.

And Luke is right about Valkyrie, she is only OK. Ghost Rider is very entertaining to watch like Deadpool.

Tigra doesn't seem good enough to get yet, until the next Spec Ops I'm sure we'll need her.

I like that they are reworking old characters, like suddenly Dr Strange is a top tier.

I don't know how but they can certainly make Luke Cage, Nightcrawler, and Daredevil way way better.

Some have new costumes like Cage and I wonder what Rogue's new costume will give her; she and Witch were my first team.

AOA Nightcrawler would be sweet, but I don't know with it being an Avengers game. Like somebody like Fantomex has powers/abilities made for a game like this but he's more X-Men.

As much as I love X-Men characters, I want a ton of more Avengers in the game. No Hank Pym yet, really? And Vision is basically there already, I'm sure he'd have intangible like Kitty Pryde.

Did anyone win Cable? Any Impressions?

The bruiser improvement is a gamechanger, has anyone altered their teams yet?

I think I'm goin with Hercules and FF Spidey as a Infiltrator.

I love looking at the Heroes screen on PVP to see my levels. I wish I could bring it up on my phone and look at it like a fantasy football lineup.\

*edit* and what about Wolvey? He is such a joke is this game. He must have something big coming.

Wait, what was the Bruiser change? I'm away from a computer until tomorrow.

I don't mind the boobs, really-- they're kitschy, they're funny, they're character appropriate. I'm actually questioning Roger's ears/headpiece more. It feels like there's too much excess plastic around the head creating a white "hair" effect that I don't really see on the character. Was there a reason for the headpiece coming out the way it did? Maybe I'm missing a physical character trait it represents.

Otherwise, STELLAR work, Jeff. An awesome homage to a childhood favorite

it was shown at NYCC, ill try and get some pics up but if someone beats me to it:

Firelord/Airwalker

Silver Surfer/Thing (with Ben Grimm parts)

Fear itself Hulk/ Fear itself Juggernaut

Anhillus/Human Torch

i might be a little off on the packing but i THINK thats right

So. Awesome. Thanks, undeadpool. I'm on board for everything but the Fear Itself stuff!

Is the lineup for TRU 15 already up? If so, where at? I missed that.

I feel like Kaine would be easy for DST to make. Claw hands, Ultimate Sabretooth hair, some tampos and a scarf, BAM!! Just saying....

I'd definitely prefer a new hairpiece. That one looks so dated by comparison. Everything else I'm on board for!

God, you're like the Midas of miniature plastic-- everything you touch is GOLD!

Arrrrrgh!! I am stuck in a box set desert!!

And I know in my bones the minute I break down and order it from the site, 2 cases will hit the newest TRU and just peg warm thus dooming the chances of them every ordering another set. (which is apparently what must have happened at the Cary TRU and the Secret Wars set, cause that's the last one to come through there.) But if I hold out and not order it, it will never show up locally and I will miss it. If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all. oooOOOOOooooh! Gloom, despair, and agony on me.

A 'mate in the hand is worth two in the bush, I always say.

Always.

I always. Say. That.

The mod podge experiment was a success!

It smells and looks exactly like Elmer's glue, but a bit more watery. It dries clear and gives the appearance of a water slide decal or sticker. Upon a closer look and under a light source you'll notice a sheen and brush strokes, but nothing that distracts from the figure. A great way to add color printouts to any mate...and the ink won't bleed or fade.

Overall, I'm happy with the end result- I'm applying the same technique to my customs from here on out. Glad I gave it a try.

Any pictures?

I hate having another IronMan as much as the next guy but sorry that figure is stellar and the most work that they have ever done on a minimate. I usually buy two boxes (one to collect and one to display) but when it comes to box sets I usually just buy loose figures but in this case each of the figures was great and this Ironman deserves to be displayed and is easily in my top 5 of mates.

It's not the figure I have the problem with-- Like I said, the figure is exceptional. I was referring to the actual design of the armor in the comics. Just my own personal preference, that's all.

Can we all just agree that this Iron Man is the best minimate ever?

I think you meant to type ugliest. It is very well-executed though.

This, I concur with full heartedly. I would have preferred any other character from the storyline, but the technical aspects of the manufactured piece are phenomenal.

Also, a simple repaint with some red metallic paint and:

Resin mold casting has been kind of intimidating. With the release of PF5 Phoenix Cyclops, I'm looking to get off my butt, put in the elbow grease, cast a clear version of the chest emblem Phoenix effect for use in my Dark Phoenix Cyclops mod. I know that a couple people have successfully casted minimate parts.

What's the skinny? What products do you use? What methods work best? How much is it going to cost me? It's completely new to me.

Any help or advice would greatly be appreciated!

The greedy fanboy in me wants all three Beetle armors. (Jenkins' Beetle, not the recent unknown female) But if I had to pick just one, it'd be the second armor hands down.

And yeah, I'm down for new and old Kaine too.

ABE BEETLE WITH VARIANT MACH-WHATEVER ARMOR!!

Defining Spider-Woman as an "obscure" character while one of Marvel's top writers has been reintegrating her into the public eye for at least the past 10 years (including possibly including her in a sequel to the wildly visible and popular Avengers franchise) seems a bit out of touch. Especially while the company has been pushing to elevate the status of their female heroes to try and better match DC (Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl) and the character shares a mantle with arguably Marvel's most notable property.

I think once you start deviating a character in iterations too far left from the norm (Fang costume Wolverine, let's say) THAT defeats the purpose of the "Best of" wave.

Obscure to comic fans? Probably not. Obscure from a marketing or sales perspective? Definitely. That isn't a knock against the character since most of Marvel falls into that category. Based on what we've seen from DST and others, the A-list is very short: Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and Wolverine. The B-list is probably something like the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Deadpool (right now anyway), Punisher (maybe), Dr. Doom (maybe), Venom, Green Goblin, Magneto, and, after all the movie exposure, Loki. You could argue about adding or subtracting a character or two, but I think that pretty well covers the characters that anyone running a Marvel line feels confident will sell. Which is probably why we have three or more minimate versions of each of those characters.

You ABSOLUTELY have a point with the "comic fan" angle-- of course, while having to know their customer base, the goal of marketing these products from both Marvel and AFX/DST/etc's standpoint is appealing to the widest breadth of an audience as possible for maximum profit, hence the point of the "Best Of" line.

While it may not be very likely, female characters (IMO) are pushed a big part in hoping to appeal to the niche FEMALE fans (also, ideally and a bit more difficultly, drawing in new younger female fans/kids/customers) in Marvel NOW! we see new titles such as Captain Marvel, Red She-Hulk, the Fearless Defenders, female heavy Uncanny X-Force, several new female Avengers being introduced in upcoming storylines where they take center stage (Captain Universe, Smasher) etc. In popular media? the Avengers: EMH cartoon (Wasp), Ultimate Spider-Man (White Tiger), the upcoming Hulk cartoon (She-Hulk)... So Spider-Woman being included in a set like this? Like I said, she's rumored to be in consideration for an Avengers movie appearance (along with Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel), but yes, maybe she would be the comic-centric figure.

I was trying to come up with the most popular/"limelighted" female characters I could think of (Elektra with her own movie/media appearances as heinous as they might have been, Black Widow to please collectors who find her hard to reach and due to her massive exposure this past year, Invisible Woman and Storm seem givens in their own respective comic universes and their own cartoon/movie/exposure experience, etc.) There's so many angles and cross-sections of customers to consider, it seems, when marketing these. The likelihood of an all-female "Best of" wave? Who knows. IMO, not very likely, just a pipe dream of mine... but there have been a lot of moves out of left field in Minimates that pleased both long time collectors, newly exposed fans, comic book readers, etc. Impossible or obscure? I just don't know about that. Especially given that not ONE female character has been introduced after two waves? There's a lot of components as to why it might be a profitable run. We also have how many Jean Grey's vs. Punisher's, for example? Some female characters would absolutely sell better than some male.

Defining Spider-Woman as an "obscure" character while one of Marvel's top writers has been reintegrating her into the public eye for at least the past 10 years (including possibly including her in a sequel to the wildly visible and popular Avengers franchise) seems a bit out of touch. Especially while the company has been pushing to elevate the status of their female heroes to try and better match DC (Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl) and the character shares a mantle with arguably Marvel's most notable property.

I think once you start deviating a character in iterations too far left from the norm (Fang costume Wolverine, let's say) THAT defeats the purpose of the "Best of" wave.

If we do get a 'best of' of with some women in it - i'd be keen to see an updated Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew).

Was just thinking about this today and completely agree. An all-women "Best Of" line would be a great fit for this. A toned down paint job, new hair, under arm wings... I'm salivating just thinking about it

Probably something like:

Spider-Woman

Wasp

Invisible Woman (to match Reed)

Storm (GSXM costume with new hair/cape/tampo?)

Black Widow

Dark Phoenix

Black Cat

Elektra

Might be too soon for Elektra, definitely think it'd be too soon for She-Hulk after MvC, but she'd be appropriate. Could also sub in Psylocke (Ninja)/Rogue/Mystique in those slots. I'd say Ms. marvel, too, but I'm hoping we get a Captain Marvel Carol in the Marvel NOW! wave.

2 Lokis: One for me, and one for BANSHEE!!!

Can't wait!

CRAP! They just started the new season of PVP and it's PSYLOCKE.

Ugh. I just wanted to buy her the old fashioned way :\ Wish I could figure out how to unlock research for this stupid Power Armor!

Deadpool is 112 for me and I finished 1.3% in PVP. Not sure what the correlation is. Also: went to research the Scrapper Power Armor, and it's still locked... is there a Level restriction?

Lastly: why does it seem no one ever plays with/uses Nightcrawler? I was thinking about adding another infiltrator to my roster (already have Kitty and Black Widow) and had my eye on him, but never see him in PVP. Anyone have any feedback on him?

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but Pryde of the X-Men is always going to be my go-to, warm-hearted X-Men memory, even though I loved the 90's cartoon. Jacket-sportin' Dazzler was AWESOME!!

Awesome - Thanks for the tip! I only wish i hadn't completed some of the earlier missions with 4 Star mastery. Once you do that, it seems that you are no longer allowed to complete them on the 'easy' setting - the combat gets scaled up to match whatever level you are.

I've been farming CP in this particular mission for a while and let me tell you, the Fixer + Vapor combo becomes a real pain in the ass when they start matching level in terms of difficulty. It's all about turn advantage since Vapor gets two turns and Fixer keeps upgrading to not only increase HP but to introduce Nanoplaguing which is impossible to clear up. I'm level 57 and I still get KO'd once or twice every time I try to defeat 'em. Granted, I'm usually using lower-leveled characters to try and level them up, but still...

Chapter 4, Mission 4 is the easiest and most cost efficient (energy-wise) way to command CP, IMO. I believe it's around 70 energy if you combine bosses. It also features Magneto as an epic boss. You need Storm in order to complete all the deploys, but once the map is clear, if you count the spin for Vapor/Fixer and the spin for Magneto, the odds of hitting CP are much greater.