DSTZach

The beauty of it is, from a cost-perspective, is that DST can rerelease it with MULTIPLE variations, just change the name on the stickers AND give us a different figure! I'm with you in that I want several of these, but if I can get different stickers AND different figures, I know I'd buy even more. This shuttle is hands-down my favorite MM vehicle ever shown, it translates so well to the format! And DST did an excellent job! I won't rest until this shuttle gets officially released. I wish people here were as passionate about it as they are about Kang :biggrin:

But, I have hope, because DST alluded to it in a recent Q&A, and why else would you hold back Spock from the Enterprise release? (I'm sure there's a variant Enterprise with Spock coming, but I like to dream)

You and I may want a shuttlecraft, and I can see a casual collector picking it up after the Enterprise, but multiple shuttlecrafts? That may be stretching it. I think we hope to get to variant Enterprises, but we'll see how this one does. We're only including one figure to keep the price down.

In past years, we've gotten 3 to 4 Marvel waves in addition to the movie waves in a year. Is that scaling back to 2 to 3 waves? We've got this one coming out in spring, the Avengers movie wave in summer, and wave 14 in fall/winter, right? Are they going to try to pack one more in around Christmas, or is wave 14 considered the "holiday shopping" wave?

Double checked my schedule, There will be a Wave 15 this fall, supposedly. Line-up is still in flux.

Zach, how much imput does Marvel give you guys? I've always been of the assumption that Quesada and company want to distance themselves from Morrison's X-Men, and so they'd be unlikely to approve new products based on those comics.

They approve all of our line plans, but as far as I know, there is only one are of Marveldom they are no longer interested in making merchandise for, and that's zombies. Beyond that, I have heard no restrictions. So Ask DST to complete your Morrison team, and see what Chuck says!

It's like Getting two new characters! Which means this wave is six new characters in a wave of eight! Or seven in a wave of nine, if you count the alternate SHIELD hairpiece.

I was really hoping there'd be some pics on DST's Facebook or somethin', but I guess in all the Toyfair hubbub it got forgotten. S'okay, one more day to find out if that Thing is THE Thing for me.

Sorry, never got packaged samples. Or packaged pics!

Age of X? Curse of the Mutants? Those are for us? No thanks. And Rictor was made years ago by Toybiz. I'm glad for what we are getting, don't get me wrong, but some people have been asking for Kang for six years. In that time, we've gotten about half a dozen or more versions of the same characters. Wave 44 is the personification of this. It's gotten to the point where two new characters a wave is good, and I'm sorry, but that's never going to be good enough this deep in. I love 'mates and I'll always collect them, but I don't enjoy the feeling of being "unimportant" in comparison to the people who might buy a couple two packs or a box set then move on from 'mates.

I never said long-term collectors were unimportant. I said that getting new customers was important, whether they're casual buyers, budding long-term collectors or, I don't know, returning long-term collectors who sold off their collections and regretted it. (Not taking an official line, just speaking as a long-term fan and someone who covered failing and successful toy lines for 8 years.) Long-term collectors stop collecting all the time -- not due to retread fatigue, but due to the myriad of reasons that collectors stop collecting -- and we have to encourage new collectors to join, or the numbers would dwindle to the point that the line becomes infeasible. Obviously, we want long-term collectors to keep collecting, but nine years does not make Marvel Minimates an unstoppable juggernaut. I wish it did. We constantly struggle for recognition and validation.

I think we make a LOT of new characters, at least as many as Marvel Universe does on a regular basis. This wave is 50% new, and three of the other four are generally anticipated re-dos. When was the last time Marvel Universe put out a wave that was all new? I'm thinking Wave 1. Heck, Marvel Legends wasn't all-new following wave 4 or 5, with the exception of Wave 13, which sounded good on paper but lingered at retail.

Another thing to remember is that not all long-term collectors are completists, and if every wave was 100% new, it might actually be a financial hardship for some to keep up with. leading to even more attrition. Just my thoughts on line planning. Which I do not do.

Also, I do not think we have a Spider-Woman planned all year.

In past years, we've gotten 3 to 4 Marvel waves in addition to the movie waves in a year. Is that scaling back to 2 to 3 waves? We've got this one coming out in spring, the Avengers movie wave in summer, and wave 14 in fall/winter, right? Are they going to try to pack one more in around Christmas, or is wave 14 considered the "holiday shopping" wave?

Not sure if there will be a Wave 15 at holiday, but TRU has two more MvC3 waves this year, the Spidey movie wave, and, frankly, a ton of other Minimates assortments from other lines. If it is a scaling back, it might simply be a logistical one.

Thanks for the pics Zach. They look great. Where may I ask did you snap these? The backgrounds are quite intriguing.

Magma and Punisher were on the platform at Secaucus Junction in New Jersey. Spidey was shot in the Javits Center during Toy Fair, and in front of a lightning background we used for the Universal Monsters display at our booth. The silver walls are parts of the Danger Room you can get with various Marvel Select X-Men. Mirage was in my yard. Rictor on my steps. (They need some work.)

And Wave 43, hitting soon. And MvC3 2 and 3, for what that's worth.

Spidey's webs are sculpted on. Magma's hair does NOT connect to the base. That said, I may not be using it right, I've meant to ask Robert.

Accidentally posted them all to Facebook, but shot some Spidey back pics and a corrected Boomer. Also, Dani belt-a-palooza.

I don't question this wave at all Zach, like you said it's designed to appeal to new collectors. My question is that it seems like there's a lot of 'mates that are made for that reason, including some of these same characters just recently, and the number of 'mates made to draw in new collectors seems to vastly outweigh the new characters at times.

Because the number of non-collectors of Minimates outweighs the number of collectors. The number of people who don't own a Minimate Spider-Man FAR outweighs the number of people who do. If we close ourselves off to them, the line stagnates and dies. And the CHARACTERS in this wave were picked for new collectors, but the idea of a WAVE of A-listers was made to appeal to retailers. The best way to get new collectors is to get into outlets that were previously closed to us.

I know you guys are making Vindicator, and I applaud that and will be front and center to pick one up when it hits the shelf. I guess my wish was that every once in a while we'd see a wave that was just for long term collectors, with nothing but new characters. We come close with some of the TRU waves, and don't think I don't appreciate it, but it seems like there are a lot more Age of X and Curse of the Mutants style sets than Galactus sets, which was AWESOME by the way.

When was the last time a wave was all new? I'm not being cynical, I'm trying to remember.

Given that we've now made all of the A-listers and a good portion of the B-listers, I doubt we'll ever see an entirely new wave ever again, but that's just me. Perhaps there is a way to make a single wave that's technically all new characters, but with enough simulacrums of A-listers that it would be appealing to retailers/casual fans, but it would have to be a carefully constructed monster. That said, I'm looking into a way to make Wave 50 a collector-appreciation wave. Marvel Minimates turn 10 in 2013, and the 50th wave should fall in that timeframe.

Thanks for the updated pix, this wave looks amazing! If you are taking more pix, can I request to see Spidey's webbing?

Will do.

Also, can you confirm if one of Mirage's belts an "X" belt and the other is this design?:

Yes and yes.

Sorry I discover some details right before you guys do. If I asked for clarification on every single Minimate accessory we made, Robert would strangle me. Looking back, I see that the belt was on the control art, and I may not have ACTUALLY looked at it. I may just see about showing you guys the artwork after each wave is revealed. Downside is something may not make the cut.

Digging the heck out of that Punisher

Me, too! The more realistic Punisher gets, the less he works for me. I like a guy with a gun in a skull jumpsuit. End of story. Two more, one blurry:

awesome. Have we seen Magma's hair sculpt before?

...and I think Boomer's shoulders are on backwards.

...Son of a... You know, I thought that collar seemed high, and I didn't turn her around to see what the back looked like. Hope that's not standard for the packaging for this wave. I'll re-shoot her later. (I was too fixated on the side of her pants.)

Got in some samples, thought you'd like to check them out.

Have a Mirage and Rictor, too, will shoot them in a bit. Looks like Magma got a recolored Nova base for hot lava action. And Mirage comes with two belts? Was someone asking about that? Two belts. Wish I had more New Mutants here to shoot her with; ditto X-Force and Boomer.

Zach, are you able to share the official names for the 'mates for this wave yet, assuming 'Drunken Hobo Thor' isn't the solicitation name?

I did not get creative with this wave, sorry. Aside from Ant-Man II, they all get their standard codenames. I'll see if it's too late, but I'm pretty sure it is. I'll try to be more creative with Wave 47/14.

32 people voted this year. I know, I know... with 2000 members here on the MMMV, 32 is just a drop in the bucket. But look at it this way, of the 2000 members, the 32 that did vote are some of the most passionate / vocal members of this community who'd like nothing more than to spread to gospel (sing the praises) of minimates.

As for the top bunk, you can have it. I'd feel safer on the bottom anyhow. Less chances of getting shanked / shived. Prison safety tips sure do come in handy from time to time.

Dude, if it's just for the boards, numbers don't matter. BUT if you are actually trying to show the people in charge how you feel through the "Worst" categories, as you said, it's honestly not a number that is going to cause changes. Heck, I would have loved to do something with the Marvel poll you did, but with only 26 votes for the leader, it's tough. Not saying "Fix it!", just being honest.

And I would love to have you 32 singing praises for the line, spreading the gospel, as Eric puts it. The five fan sites that have been created are amazing (Central, HQ, DB, Minibar and Portrait), and Eric's comics on the FB page are a delight. (I've actually missed the full-sized strips, excited they might be coming back.) This forum is largely internal, but you 32 regular posters certainly are heard by the other 2000, who may read more than they post, as well as any guests who may wander in looking for more info on Minimates...

I am completely unaware of the unreleased Trek wave, what was the line-up?

I may be talking out my exhaust port. I thought a wave of Minimates had been cancelled, but now I'm not seeing anything beyond the actually released Wave 5. IGNORE ME!

\Would you ever be able to spill the beans and let us know what the character line-up would have been? Sorry, I know this is a Trek thread, but when I saw you mention the possible inclusion of Kirk in an unreleased wave, I thought maybe you could tell us. At this point, I just want to know as a part of official Minimates History.

No, I think you're right. I was talking about 5. Didn't realize it actually came out. DC I know nothing about.

It's still Karloff, and I guess they wanted more supporting characters, rather than multiple Karloffs.

Why was the decision made to make two Quasimodos?

Not sure. I read the book, but I know the cartoon more than any of the movies (it's one of my favorite Disney pics). It may have been a simple case of priest avoidance? Also, he may not play as major a role. Not sure if likeness comes into it, but we definitely have Chaney.

Statham/Crews, Austin/Roberts (wrong hair), Arnold/Stallone, Rourke/Willis. Not sure who the first guy is in the control art, but then it goes Norris, Willis and Arnold, all from Expendables 2. Second control art board showed Lundgren, Li, Couture and Van Damme -- not sure how many people took shots of it. Art was destroyed before I could rescue it.

That's the exact reason I didn't link it upon the DST FB page. The Best & Worst awards are meant more for us here at the Multiverse. No offense to Diamond, but the "worst categories" are tradition as they let the people in charge know exactly what the fans weren't to keen on during the year. It's not meant as a slight against DST, but rather a voice from the masses.

I know, it's for the boards, I just wish I could share such great work (and the Minimates praise that goes along with it) with the general public. Unfortunately, the loudest voices regarding what was unsuccessful in the previous year are the sales reports from Toys "R" Us and inventory reports from the warehouse, but we certainly want to know what you guys think. For the info of the people in charge, how many people voted?

Glad to hear you like the production value Zach. Now, when will DST give me a full time job as their resident minimate comic creator? :biggrin:

You want to move in with us? I get the top bunk.

Of that entire list, Lundgren is the coolest I've met. Very nice guy, second would be Rourke. Schwarzenegger is hit or miss but he's the one I've interacted with the most. Roberts is, moody, to say the least. Willis is the biggest jerk in Hollywood. I've never heard a good story about him, and every encounter I've had with him I have stories that I can't share in public. I have a close friend that used to work *for* him, don't ask what capacity. Stallone's nice, as is Crews. Last time I saw Statham was at a Coffee Bean on Sunset, he was nice to me but again I hear he usually isn't. Li doesn't talk much from what I've seen. I haven't yet met the others, don't much care to either.

Sorry, I'm sure you guys don't care. I just think this will be the line that breaks my minimate completism. I hate Bruce Willis with a passion! If I did wind up with his minimate, it'd probably get boxed away for parts one day!

Now, Monkeycrumb, are you working with these guys? Or just meeting them around town? Legitimately curious.

High production values, as always. And funny! I would promote the hell out of this thing on all of our outlets if it didn't have the "Worst" categories.

Well done.

I meant Marvel. MvC3, TWD and SFXT all have a shared two-packs plan. Not sured I said the Marvel system was permanent, either, but that's how it will be for the foreseeable future, And didn't Zombieland have running zombies?

I'm just throwing this out there, but I think the best thing to give this line more exposure (not that it'll need too much) is for there to be a contest similar to the one Luke had a couple years ago where the winner get's their likeness done on one of the generic zombies of a future wave. You know that would make some news around the web on all the various toy/geek sites and gain more exposure to DST/Minimates.

Just one of those things you think about and feel like you need to say in public (on the internet) (for no real reason).

Not sure if that would work, since all the zombies are based on the comic. But not a bad idea. And interest in this line has already expanded beyond the toy/geek sites, so I'm expecting it to do much better than Maximum Zombies would have on its own. Hopefully that will only help should one day the MZs return.