DSTZach

So many sight gags in that guide, you guys did a great job! I always wondered though what's the red thing that Juggernaut is standing by?

I think it's supposed to be a crimson gem of Cyttorak, although where we found a red, gem-shaped object and why we used it is beyond me, since it's not recognizable as much of anything. Sometimes you look back at photo shoots you did and think, "...Huh. That's weird." Pat McCallum would ream me out if a picture didn't make sense or was hard to understand. He taught me everything I know about photography, although working alongside professional photographers for several years helped a lot. Glad I didn't throw away money on an art degree! Oh, wait...

Why is Victoria's Secret Model Mary Jane wearing a belt?

Am I the only guy who would draw belts on all of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit models?

There will be a Merk in Series 1, but we just revised the sculpt. (x10000 better). Not sure what will be TRU and what will be comic stores, but we'll know by July.

Welcome to the boards, straycat! These pics make me wish C3 was still around. I though the Lego stuff would be too small, and was eying a Hasbro battle tank, but these look great.

Great collection, ABC123. I'm a huge IM fan, and I'm slowly trying to build an IM movie collection. Just got a Justin Hammer from a helpful Verser. Pepper Potts is in the mail.

... and still no packaged pix of TRU wave 13. So we're looking at June or July for those? I guess TRU would want to sell through all the Avengers stuff before stocking more comic Marvel sets?

I wouldn't let whether or not there are packaged pics dictate timelines for you. I had packaged samples of TRU 13 at Toy Fair. Lurch 77 won one in a contest. I haven't requested photos of them, but they probably exist. That said, I have no idea when they will be released. Probably after some Avengers toys are gone, yes.

I love the use of common items on the background. Was it intended to show some scale comparison?

Yes, absolutely. I think Doctor Doom is standing on my personal copy of the Atari game "Warlords."

And I should point out that Lurch77 already had this in his official timeline thread, but I had no idea, since I'd mentioned it in the photo thread and people had expressed interest. Also, I did a search for "ToyFare guide" and nothing showed up.

It's kind of amazing thinking about how far the line has come since then. Did the guys at DST even think they would run for 25 waves, much less 50?

Chuck says at every opportunity that they NEVER thought it would get this far. I hope to discuss our plans for Wave 50 very soon. :biggrin:

Shame poor Alpha Flight's odds have barely improved.

Yes, a shame.

In case nobody's ever seen this, this is the photo guide I shot in early 2004 for ToyFare #80. It covers the first few waves, then the last few pages do some mix-and-matching, and run down some odds. Kinda fun. I supervised the shoot, if I didn't shoot it myself, and the inimitable Jesse DeStasio wrote it.

Wait, is there a TF visual price guide posted on this forum somewhere? I JUST scanned in the whole thing, because I couldn't find it.

Oh man, Cortana looks awesome. I can't wait for this set. Nice shot Zach. That Keyes shot got realized pretty well too. Excellent work.

And so as not to come empty-handed, I give you this:

That's awesome. Thanks for the Keyes compliment, I shot that pic and the SHIELD one at two in the morning, because I remembered I wanted to do the Kindle thing at night.

It's sad to see halo go. But at least we got noble team,chief,cortana. This is one of my fav lines.

I thought they had the license to the next game......?

No, Series 5 will be the last.

If it comes with an SMG, that's good enough for me. And it is new. There's no SMGs out there. So now I have to buy a whole bunch. If it doesn't have the silencer on it, that's less of a big deal. I can find a small black tube thing to glue to the end of it and make one, but I can't just make an SMG body. Thanks for the info Zach. Also, Keyes doesn't come with a pistol? Drat. Oh well, it's not like he keeps it loaded.

Also really looking forward to getting Shipmaster Rtas Vadum. That guy's my favorite. Does his face have missing mandibles?

SMG (Submachine Gun, not Sarah Michelle Gellar) has a silencer on it. And Rtas Vadam has a missing mandible. Check and check.

THis one isn't bad, either. All digital:

http://www.littlerubberguys.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74927&view=findpost&p=409550

Love the shot Zach. The eeriness is too cool. Also, noticed you mentioned Secaucus Junction, you're a Jersey guy too?

I used to pass through Jersey on my way into the city from New York State. Still pass through there occasionally, because I have family on that side of the river. But now I leave through Grand Central and go up the East side. No sunsets in GCT, unfortunately, and my home station is not as cool as SJ.

Here's that Halo pic I shot for Geo. Tried to shoot an energy sword pic like the one you did, but they came out kinda lame. This one is okay.

My comment about a 'kick in the.....' is based on some very basic research that anybody can do when surfing ebay for Minimate promos . I've concluded that the 'true fan Minimate retailers' must be holding on tight to their promos & not selling them . Perhaps the other 40 or 50 ebays auctions for grey Rams I've seen & the ones that I'm watching now are just the ones that slipped through the net. Almost without exception not one of those sellers is also selling any other Minimate item ....in most cases never has .

Oh, I'm sure many of the retailers who get them don't carry Minimates. It's bound to happen, but those are the ones we want to show the product to. Wish they'd open them, understand why they don't. Comics retail is a tough business. Does that mean it's not worth doing? Maybe. We'll see how the Beast orders go. At least they're seeing the market for these things. After all, each of them went on eBay and searched for "Minimates."

Now, some of them MAY have a bunch in their store, but they simply may not sell Minimates online, because Minimates are a very low-profit item. We don't make much money on them, retailers don't either. It's about volume. So investing the time in listing them is something only a few key MM dealers do, the ones who specialize. But they will make an exception for a high-value item like a promo. (Again, it's a tough business.)

Luckily, we don't do these very often. We didn't do anything at Toy Fair this year, and this Beast was to mark the launch of a new in-house line, a rarity. Sorry to all those who couldn't get one.

My very first picture of my very first Minimate ever. It's fairly terrible.

Great shot! Can't wait to see 2012 Geo shoot the 2012 Rhino.

I haven't uploaded my new Halo shoot yet (there's one shot of Cortana you'll LOVE), but here's a Loki I threw in the Avengers gallery.

Shot by a lake on my drive to the train station. It was so damn cold last week that the already warming-up lake was steaming. Or something. SCIENCE.

Sorry, Mystery Man. I was just joking. I know you were only trying to help.

And some of Hawkeye's arrows fit in his quiver, but maybe not all five.

Sorry -- not a whole lot of obscurity going on at SDCC this year. But hopefully a few holes will get filled for people.

Nice display!

That's a great shot, Donny!

I still like the other one better, but this one got the more stealing things idea across.

You know, sometimes I feel I should really just start my own thread instead of seemingly monopolizing this one.

The other one is great in a Pink Panther opening credits/Help! closing credits kind of way, but I love this one, too.

And if others want to break the monopoly, they need to post more! And maybe quit their jobs. I'm fortunate enough to get paid to shoot pics, but I feel bad posting stuff here, too.

Anyone try a Mandarin hairpiece for Loki yet?

I did (just now, when you suggested it ). A little too long, and not quite the same style, but close enough.

I'm sure the experts here can think of something better. Sorry we didn't give you the real thing. Pics when you get the chance!

Anyone try a Mandarin hairpiece for Loki yet? Anyone pick up an Avengers tank or assault jet (non-Lego)?

Thanks for trying, Mystery Man. But wild speculation is currently reserved for the Alpha Flight box set thread.

Zach, this is going out in the mail for you tomorrow!

(The grey in the decal and the paint isn't as noticeable in person, my camera accentuates it.)

GAH! That's awesome! You are the king.

Two rocks with Hulk, BTW. Not sure about Hulk color, forgot to compare when I had my packaged sample, but it certainly looked close. WIll try to compare this week.

It was announced at the C2E2 panel that one of the SDCC exclusives will be Voin (with his cape down, unlike the cape pulled up promo) and a Dragonfly (that uses the DC Salaak extended torso with extra pair of arms). Hopefully that explains what they're talking about zakkatz.

He may be frantically scouring his Marvel Universe handbook for those characters. We should probably only discuss Marvel here, or move it to another subforum.