DSTZach

A beautiful strip, man. Happy X'arkfart, everyone.

The shipping dates aren't always accurate. This has happened before. Sometimes mates hit before Previews lists them. It can be frustrating if your not ready(stupid bank overdraft fees ) :biggrin: BBTS probably has them and they're going to ship. They created the UPS labelfor mine.

Yes, shipping dates are sometimes late -- since I've been here, I have not seen them go earlier than what we have indicated on the blog, but I've only been here since May, so I'll defer to you guys on that.

But I can't even imagine how you would have gotten Minimates before they were listed in Previews, unless they were offered somewhere else first.

If these aren’t shipping until next week why is BBTS saying these are in stock and have already sent out “your pre-order is now in stock” e-mails?

Diamond's retailer site says "shipped 12/28." I knew many retailers get their items on Tuesdays, but I had no idea they got them this early. I guess they sent shipments out early for the holidays.

packaged pics of these guys are up too!

http://www.artasylum...-showrooms-now/

Nice. I see the super pursuit mode and the KARR version.. but when do we get regular KITT and Michael Knight?.. out of the 3 versions, the classic version has got to be the one most are wanting first... am I missing something?

The regular Michael Knight and KITT will be part of the TRU wave of vehicles. The packaging shots you see on the AA site are the Previews exclusive vehicles.

Hope to have the TRU packaging soon, with standard KITT and the Albion ship.

This is my favorite line, other than Marvel stuff. I'm really hoping for more stuff in February... at least the Mummy and Invisible Man, if not the Phantom too.

We'll definitely have more UM MMs to show off in February! You've already seen our tentative Wave 3 of Select figures, and we're working on Minimate designs now.

sounds like a good idea Zach.. Can't wait for them. Any idea as to a release date? Prolly not huh?

Assume Halloweentime, along with most of our horror releases.

Has anyone in BBTS' area seen them in the wild yet? Any pix? I'm curious to see what extra accessories Trish/Dormammu come with.

Nobody should have seen them in the wild. They ship next week. Trish should come with her big sword and guns, and Dormammu with fireballs and a flight base, I believe. We posted some packaging pics a while back, but I neglected to bust them out of the package and shoot them. My bad.

Medusa looks to have a slightly less deathly pallor in the packaging shots than she did in the promo's.

vs ?

She doesn't look bad with the more human hue, but i kinda liked her looking a bit more paranormal. Still - very nice looking set. Can't wait to get my hands on a couple of sets.

NOOOOO!!!

I liked her better in the promo shot, with the pale blue skin! She looked more undersea mermaid-like and I really liked how she stood out from the rest.

Sorry, monkeycrumb. Not sure what happened there. Hope we can make a pale version sometime in the future.

We are talking about the guy that MU just put out, right? His costume isn't so radically different from SW Cap that came with Crossbones.

So why don't you just heir on the side of public appeal, package him with a mask, and name his "Commander Rogers Captain America"? Is that a terrible idea?

I don't think so, but Marvel might, as it doesn't reflect the comics. As fun as Minimates are, they have to represent what's on the page or screen.

Bottom line is this: I'm GLAD we still have so many desired figures - that's a sign of character depth, as opposed to "scraping the bottom of the barrel" (which will never happen with Marvel, I'm sure). Give us another strong 10 years and include all of the figures on this poll, and there will still be tons of unmade characters I'd be happy to purchase!

This. I would also like to point out the fact that we're having a civil discussion about a figure line that we love, with a guy who works there, listens to (and respects?) us...

I love this board.

I RESPECT YOU ALL. And as a former collector, I can appreciate a collector's desire to complete a collection. I've also seen what happens when a collection is completed. The line dies a slow death. I wouldn't say that we're avoiding certain characters to draw things out -- there are still plenty to do, clearly -- but we're also not in a hurry, which means we have the luxury of doing '80s and '90s characters before '60s classics, or even the new Spidey on the block.

So you're saying you'll never make a Wrecking Crew boxset

I am not the final arbiter of such things, but it certainly seems unlikely, doesn't it? Given what's come before? It would probably take a lot of convincing, and strong retailer support for it. That said, some pretty obscure two-packs have been made for TRU, so that's always a route we could take. I thought the Marvel Universe 1-and-1 route was rough. This is pure speculation, remember. No plans at this time that I've seen.

You guys up for an 18 figure super-boxed set?

I think we've talked about doing bigger box sets, but nothing definite.

I don't think it's so much that DST is taking in our input more than it's just Zach toying with us...

I'm really not doing this for fun, just trying to offer a different point of view on things -- one that's informed, and yet has no real power. And if I can re-assure the desperate from time to time, even better. That said, I do offer my input on product occasionally, so I like hypothesizing with Minimate experts about what might be cool, but also work as a realistic, mass-friendly release.

And Zach... now that the line is formally annouced can you let us know what, if anything, is going to be the difference between Wave 44 Cap and previous versions beyond a new tampo?

Not seeing too much different on the design sheets, but I believe they've also changed a bit since then. Best-of Cap gets a belt, 44 Cap gets a harness, MvC3S3 gets a belt. Tampos are fairly different, though. Face tampos should align with the masks better on 44 and Best Of, I think they're a touch off in the prototype photo. Faces are added in by the designer at that stage.

Oh, come on. You have four fan favorites and two characters starring in current books (WS in his own and Falcon in X vs A), and it's a convention set targeted to comic people. Maybe swap out Zemo for Commander Rogers just so you can get a star-n-stripes shield in there, and you can't say this lineup is any less feasible than the Stormbreaker set from last year.

That set did have Thor, and a Thor movie had just come out. Comic-con sets aren't just targeted at hardcore Minimate collectors, they're targeted at non-Minimate-buying comic fans, and even attendees who don't read a lot of comics. So you need an A-lister. Kang, Falcon, Winter Soldier and Zemo are high Bs (most, if not all villains are Bs), and while I love Commander Rogers, if he's not Cap, he's not Cap. Not saying we won't make those characters, just not THAT box set.

If you ever need me to weigh in on something, PM me.

I think you might have just opened up the wrong floodgate with that line.

It's not like they couldn't before! I've chatted with a couple of people. And they can tell you I'm slow to respond there, as well.

Yeah. I totally agree. But what I don't understand is how they can justify this and not still be making DC Minimates. Or Street Fighter.

I think I saw this thread in October and refrained from commenting. Not sure why.

We never had the license for DC Minimates (DC Direct did), and we don't have it now. Easy to choose the license you have over the license you don't. If DC Direct had continued the line, we'd still be making them today. Maybe.

We're currently making Street Fighter characters in the MvC3 line. Hopefully, sales for this line will be better than they were for Street Fighter back in the day, which is why it was cancelled. Since we have a relationship with Capcom, there's no reason for it not to continue if this line is successful.

And Lenore is targeted at a completely different audience than either of those two properties, so rather than hitting up the same customers twice, we will hopefully pick up new customers, helping the brand as a whole.

1. Baron Zemo (23)

2. Kang (21)

3. Falcon (21)

4. Winter Soldier (17)

This as a convention exclusive boxset this summer would make a lot of sense.

We would definitely sell between 17 and 23 of them.

I think people will be happy with our box sets.

Perhaps somebody someday will explain to me why Marvel Waves 4 to 22 never even allowed the Minimates to be seen in the package ,I've always been amazed by that decision .

Don't listen to Youbastards. It was entirely based on license restrictions. We would have shown them, had we been allowed to. Shelf/counter display vs. peg display might have been a licensing issue, as well.

Sadly, by eavesdropping, you missed a great opportunity to tell them about the upcoming LCBS wave 44 with Wolverine, and encouraging them to try different minimates in the meantime until Wave 44's release :biggrin:

Except there is no Wolverine in Wave 44! He should have told them about Curse of the Mutants. Until MvC3 Series 2 hits, that's their best bet.

Well, can I add that the first comic I bought as an adult was Great lakes Avengers #1 with Squirrel Girl and that's why I have such an affection of her?

Does sharing that get her any closer to becoming a Minimate also? She could easily be packed in with a Grey Gargoyle, you know.

I never said my love of Grey Gargoyle made it more likely we would see him as a Minimate. Just pointing out that dissing characters only leads to hurt feelings. That's why I have never said a bad thing about Squirrel Girl, even if I have absolutely zero interest in a figure of her.

Also, I was sharing a personal story of my youth, one that explained my love of capes and mustaches, and why I wear gloves all the time. NEVER AGAIN.

Why, you guys should make a minimate of him!

I see what you did there.

Is Little Red's bag a separate piece or is it attached to the shoulder costume?

Shoulder bag and hoodie are one piece. But the shoulder bag has a wolf's head sculpted onto it, so it's got that going for it.

How can we be getting Jean DeWolff before Uncle Ben or a comic version of Harry Osborn?

Almost answered this question, then realized you were just stirring up trouble.

Gray Gargoyle? Might as well add Frog Man and the White Rabbit while you're at it.

THIS I have to answer. You know how Stan Lee said every comic is someone's first comic? My first Marvel superhero comic was a Cap issue where he fought Grey Gargoyle. Therefore, Grey Gargoyle is the second or third greatest Marvel character alive to me. Also, he recently laid the smack down on Paris in Fear Itself. He's KIND of a big deal right now.

Then DST will say; the ones with 0 votes will get made. LOL.

Since every one of these represents someone people want to see made, I imagine a zero-vote getting made is better than someone who's not even on this list, right?

That said, I'm very curious to see these results. Then I'll cross off everyone who's getting made this year, and look at THOSE results.

Voting for Orka now.

Of far more concern to me is the reply to the QA question about Holiday-mates which have always been 'dealers only' exclusives

More dealers exclusives to scavenge from ebay .....whoopeybloodydoo.

I don't believe Chuck said anything about retailers. Not sure why he would have addressed if he was just talking about gifts for retailers and press.

See how I did that ? :biggrin:

I should have let you wallow in your misery for a while longer.

Point is, I saw in motion, exactly what Zach's been talking about in terms of why we see so many Vanilla editions of the big guns every wave.

Once again, Funkguerrilla has taught us something about ourselves, and about life.

Kind of ironic there isn't a Wolverine on sale now. If only they'd found a Series 10 or Series 9 two-pack -- even then, it's a shirtless version and a brown-costume version. Might not have been good enough.

Sorry, didn't see this thread way down here! We should move it to Current licenses!

Yes, Set 2 is all our characters -- it's confusing, since Set 1 was all other people's. Yes, that means no royalties, but that doesn't always mean a set is an automatic yes if orders are low. Yes, packaged samples are in. I'll post some pics soon, and maybe some new loose shots. I also took some pics back when I first got samples:

http://www.artasylum.com/blog/2011/08/femme-fatales-minimates-the-photo-shoot/

Sorry I didn't see this. If you ever need me to weigh in on something, PM me.

Of far more concern to me is the reply to the QA question about Holiday-mates which have always been 'dealers only' exclusives

More dealers exclusives to scavenge from ebay .....whoopeybloodydoo.

I don't believe Chuck said anything about retailers. Not sure why he would have addressed if he was just talking about gifts for retailers and press.

Short answer? They were just late getting this wave out in time for either the movie's theatrical or home video release. These were meant to be the comics tie ins for the Cap and Thor movie waves.

Untrue. This wave was simply meant to be a follow-up to a summer that generated a lot more interest among casual fans in Thor and Captain America. Although I believe production did slide slightly, and having it out for the DVD release would have been ideal, no intended milestone was missed.