DSTZach

If you specifically ask for a replacement part, and aren't just reporting a problem, Chris does his darnedest to track it down, even if he doesn't have time to e-mail everybody and tell them he's doing so. With the number of products we offer, and the number of parts involved and the relatively small size of our company, customer service is a tough job -- and it's not Chris's only job, either. Granted, some TRU stuff we may not have a lot of extra inventory of, but we keep a lot of parts around. The Build-a-Mate bins are mostly older stuff, but if you ever have a problem with an older pack, stop by the booth at a con (or send a friend), and I'll try to locate something for you when the booth isn't so busy. (I may say come back tomorrow.)

Otherwise, e-mail customerservice@diamondselecttoys.com, and give Chris a few month or so to send something out.

If your Venom was missing parts, you should let customer service know. Ditto if stickiness led to damage on the other set. They may not be able to get the exact parts you need, since it's an older TRU set, but it's worth a shot.

And did anybody else notice Magneto comes with Megaman, Deadpool comes with Dante and Hulk comes with Haggar? A little alliteration to pick packing partners perhaps?

Since Magneto actually comes with Zero, I think it was more about powers and abilities matching up. Hulk/Haggar are brawlers, Dante/Deadpool are gun-toting swordsmen, Iron Man/Arthur are armored types, and Magneto/Zero... both wield energy-based weapons/powers? That one not so much. But pairings are determined by DST with Capcom's blessing, or suggested by Capcom themselves.

Zero gets a disc base because his massive ponytail overpowers even his massive boots. #animeworldproblems

They're happening. Out tomorrow. Sorry I jumped the gun.

Series 2 ship date says November 16 now, but I'll try to confirm before I post that anywhere. Besides here.

At first I was planning on skipping all of the MvC3 mates, but they are really starting to impress me. Akuma looks amazing. Modok is excellent as well. Thor's new cape and hammer are fantastic.

Will we get a modern Wolverine costume in a regular Marvel line? I'd love to get all of the X-Men's current looks at some point

I can't believe people are asking for MORE Wolverines, but do you mean besides the one in the MvC3 Series 2 2-pack? Because that's pretty up-to-date, right? Also, I just found out that Wolverine comes with his mask in the Curse of the Mutants box set (AND has the mask-off hanging cowl bit, as well), and if you don't mind the fangs he's petty much a modern Wolverine figure.

i passed on the ff and deadpool sets too.I have the tru ff and wave 28 deadpool. The guys over at dst seemed to like the idea and the people at facebook said the would buy it too so who knows?

Just to clarify, as the one posting for DST on Facebook, I like Ghost Rider on a visual and conceptual basis -- haven't read too many of his solo comic books, not that familiar with most of his supporting cast. But Wave 44 is in development, meaning we're already in the design and sculpting stages. So we're not going to be adding Caretaker and Zarathos to the wave, let alone theming the entire wave around Ghost Rider. Also, as much as I have faith in Neveldine/Taylor, after the last movie debacle, you'll have to understand if DST doesn't put their eggs in that particular basket. That said, I'd love to see what we could do with Ghost Rider's comic universe, even without bikes. So let DSTChuck know what you'd like to see.

Yay for MODOK. I hope that set gets a LCS release of some sort as the secondary market prices are going to go through the roof.

We may eventually revisit MODOK, but there will actually be more of him as a TRU exclusive than there will be of the LCS exclusive ladies in that wave.

They might not be on their website because no one knows when they are being released.

Every time something new is shown on Diamond's Facebook page they always say they will be released Oct. 2011.....and someone always asks if there is a specific day and DST always says "sometime at the end of October, so keep checking."

Sorry, guys, once we ship to TRU, we have no idea when they'll get from their warehouse to their stores, or even online. I figured end of the month was better than radio silence. If we kept bugging them every day, maybe we'd get a day or two's notice at most, but at what cost? AT WHAT COST?

For the record, I did have my hammer made long before it was a twinkle in DST's eyes (well, I'm just assuming that but wanted to use that phrase to seem older). Luke can even be my witness since he sold me the hammers awhile back. I'm just glad they thought of it also and everyone can have one, even if it doesn't look as good as one made with blood, sweat and tears. And I'm being literal there (I'm lethal with super glue and x-acto knives).

And I also assumed that the Super Skrull base will be tranlucent instead of white. He will look freaking sweet when he's released.

Assume translucent on a lot of production stuff. Possibly even that spinning hammer. When did you make your hammer, GH? I thought it made its debut for the Minimate photo contest.

Hmm... so can you say whether or not this might happen more often in the future to make "hatless" characters more accessory-friendly? I know with the branching out into pirates, police, and now zombies there seems to be an attempt to make the whole universe of Minimates more swappable and compatible, and in general I applaud that, but I think it can really ruin a character to see a hole in his/her head where there oughtn't be one. I guess I'll buy the Deadpool wearing hats rationale, but... bleh.

Sorry the hole bugs you so much. Not sure how widespread it will be. I think I saw a hole on the Kingpin's head, but that may just be what the prototype painter had on hand. Think of it as an inverted Lego peg.

Zack, I thought about asking this question at the panel, but thought it might be a bit of a downer (and hard for you guys to comment on without Chuck on hand), but I'll ask it here: have you guys gotten any feedback from specialty stores since Minimates redebuted at TRU? Anecdotally, it seems as if more comic book shops are having trouble selling through their orders, at least in part because several identical packs are available at Toys R Us, often earlier and for less. In some cases (such as at my LCBS), retailers have stopped ordering Minimate waves at all. So, will we see less crossover between the two fields of distribution in the future, and can we expect specialty to follow the format of wave 43 by focusing on a specific storyline that might better catch the eye of a comic book shop owner?

I guess we'll see how orders go when 43 is solicited next month, but we certainly would like to bring more comic shops back into the fold.

Yes, DD is appearing in both waves, with Kingpin and with Sin-Eater. I'm fairly certain there won't be anything different about them, but I'll keep you posted. And pretty sure the Spider-sense is translucent, but haven't heard about Magma yet. She's made of molten rock, so I'm not sure that makes sense. Glad you guys like the Kingpin. I love him like crazy.

I haven't asked, but I think the holes were left on the Deadpool 'Mates' heads because if there is any Marvel character who would wear a funny hat, it would be Deadpool. I think someone on the MMV even said they were going to put Headpool's propeller beanie on Kidpool.

Yes, DD is the 8th figure in TRU 13. Technically, I only asked what people would THINK if I said there was no overlap. Turns out there was one overlap. Still, it's better than four.

As far as TRU 13 getting a lot of sculpted parts, and specialty 43 getting a lot more basic 'Mates (not counting J. Jonah's coat/vest/newspaper and Jean's jaunty beret), there is no slight intended toward specialty. We're pretty proud of the Jean DeWolff wave, and felt that was the way to go for specialty. Plus, the higher number of figures produced for TRU makes all that new tooling more worthwhile.

Pretty sure spider-sense and spinning hammer will be clear.

Glad everyone liked the zombies. Working on a 2012 line plan.

Thanks everyone who came to the panel and/or introduced themselves at the booth!

You guys are my source on this! Sounds like there are virtually no smiley Pufts to be had. Anyone order them from online?

Translucent Puft should be angry, and I've already seen one that is. Assuming they all will be.

A Minimate-sized Ecto-1 would drive into that thing real nice.

Just sayin'

Stop sayin'. Wish I had one for you. As a consolation, consider this the playset we will never be able to give you. BUy the 1/24 scale model kit and go to town.

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/pl_ecto1.htm

SPIGOT ON!

Take the variant rule as being more of a guideline, like the pirate's code.

Otherwise, the variant theme in Wave 43 would be "senior citizens", because the actual assortment breakdown is:

Spidey & Jean DeWolff

Daredevil and Sin Eater

SHIELD Agent and J. Jonah Jameson

SHIELD Agent and Aunt May (chase)

SUIT JACKETS FOR EVERYBODY!

SPIGOT OFF!

To prove I am not lying, here's a shot of a translucent Stay-Puft. This one has no face, but don't panic -- it's not another variant, just a prototype.

And have you guys seen this?

http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=7080&e=product&pid=45293

Does anyone have a more recent release-date calendar? Luke??

I'm really curious as to when most of the releases are coming out these next few months. IIRC the Universal Monsters boxsets should be out the week of 10-12 (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Sadly, this is the one thread I hope to see updated more frequently but it rarely is.

That is correct. UM box sets and Curse of the Mutants hit 10/12.

Hearing now that Marvel vs. Capcom Series 1 has been pushed back significantly, to December. Hope that frees up some wallets for UM.

There's going to be a DST Minimates panel so Zach will probably have another slideshow that has all the dates and stuff on what's coming soon. He might post it online afterwards so we can all get an idea of when things come out.

And don't forget to feed Zach. He gets jealous that Chuck gets all the cookies.

Hopefully panel dates will be accurate. We work fast, and on multiple things at once, but that means that if there's a setback on one, multiple things get rescheduled. So the dates should be as accurate as they can be. The cards in the case are usually the most accurate, probably more accurate than my slides.

And I accept any type of jerky. Must be sealed in the bag. I don't want you guys jerking your own meat at home.

Also, I'm hoping that the giveaway will not have lines, since all line managing will be done by the NYCC staff at the front door, and we don't expect to be everybody's first stop. We'll see how it goes.

Not really a civilian any more, since he's now military personnel AND the new Venom.

You seem to know a lot about Flash Thompson Venom...Hmmmmm....

Any chance you are also a big Marvel Select fan?....

You're kidding, right? Have you been to our Facebook page? It's like Flash Thompson central over there. It's been beaten into me.

Until you've done the Con thing you'll never get your head around the fact that getting give-aways is an art-form & very very mind-bendingly job-like.

By doing the giveaway at opening, we're hoping to eliminate some unpleasantness. Mostly mine.

Not really a civilian any more, since he's now military personnel AND the new Venom.

While I have my own counter-arguments to everything that was said here, it's not my job to argue, so I'll just say that every line plan is meticulously crafted, and endlessly thought out.

And isn't anyone going to complain about two previous variant figures being re-released int his wave? I know someone is ready to pounce on this...

I really want to, but honestly, what's the point? You guys know it, Chuck and Zach aren't listening, and I've already resigned myself to buy the whole wave as usual, so really I can't seem to muster up the energy the fight off corruption stupidity lazy whatever.

\ :sad:

Thanks for pointing out the packaging error, Minifiend. That Cap bio is actually correct, but the Kirby Thor is certainly mislabeled, and I'm nervous to look at the rest of the boxes now.

And before you guys dismiss Civil War Cap, I'd just like to say that he comes with the standard mask, the WWII-style helmet with mask and an extra pair of non-leather-jacket arms.

And, unfortunately, I don't think we'll have them at NYCC. I was totally misreading a ship date when I said September. I believe November is the most recent ship date.

1. I was joking about the five Spider-Men.

2. I MIGHT be joking abut a Spider-Man in a dress.

3. This is NOT the Miles Morales wave. He's in a TRU wave.

Also, no matter what storyline this set is from, the Death of Jean DeWolff is definitely a great read. Any Spidey fan should read it. It's collected in Wizard's Spider-Man Masterpiece Edition, among others.