DSTZach

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.

I refuse to divulge any additional information, because I've been waiting for this reveal for months and I've been setting up this countdown for days. (Okay, days isn't as impressive as months, but still, there was planning involved.) Regardless of whether the answers are RIGHT, I've been enjoying seeing the widely disparate reactions to what the wave appears to be. As a forum noob, it's fascinating. I knew there were different likes and dislikes, but everyone here has their own unique vision of how the line should be laid out. I thought this wave would be a homerun or a bomb, but reactions may end up perfectly split. I wonder what everyone would say if I told them that TRU Wave 13 shares zero figures with this wave? Oh, and four of those blacked-out figures are Spider-Men. One is wearing a dress.

I haven't seen it yet, but the four-pack Stay-Puft will be translucent. Not sure if they'll all be angry, or if the same error will happen, but I'm assuming the former for now. I will post photos as soon as I have a factory sample in hand.

Hrm. Looks like we might have a very widespread factory error on our hands... There were never supposed to be angry Stay Pufts at TRU. Just happy. Keep reporting in, if you don't mind. Curious of the extent of it. Also curious how the four-pack will end up looking.

Between the movie Ghostbusters line, the Pirate Raiders line (skeleton on the way!) and the upcoming zombie line, I think we've got most of that wish list covered already.

Cyclops unmasked:

Wanted to make sure you guys saw this pic I took of Morg. He's kind of my favorite character in the set now. And I've never read a comic with him in it.

Please, I certainly don't want people bowing and scraping when I say something. Sure, Butthead's comment was a shot at our quality control while I was in the virtual room, but he has every right to say it. Sorry if there have been some casting mismatches in the past. When you're mass-producing pieces in multiple tools, you sometimes don't get the chance to spot something like that before the full run is underway, or even finished.

[Zach Oat deflates noticeably, pierced by barb, and leaves thread.]

I think they just wanted to make the team, and when he was on the team, Champion dressed like Deadpool, simple as that. One thing it is is a mediocre Dirty Harry sequel. I saw it a couple weeks ago for the first time. You ask yourself, "Clint and Liam Neeson going at it? Jim Carrey lip-syncing and gyrating to a Guns N Roses classic? What could go wrong?" Well, if you waste your time with that POS movie, you'll find out. Hey, The Dead Pool is a great movie. Murder by R/C car!

I wrote a Headpool bio at the last minute, but I guess they didn't have time to add it. Here's the text, and I think it's pretty accurate. (And I'll let the "inaccurate" dis slide, since I wasn't writing the packaging copy until a few months ago -- although Marvel has ALWAYS approved our text, as far as I know; they certainly took me to task on my lack of Age of X knowledge): Deadpool Wade Wilson, the merc with a mouth, is good at three things: violence, not dying and being a bit funny in the head. So when he was found to be the only one immune to the consciousness-destroying Awareness, he had to team up with his alternate-reality counterparts to form... The Deadpool Corps! Lady Deadpool An alternate-reality Deadpool from Earth-3010, Wanda was a rebel, fighting against a fascist American government spearheaded by General America. In addition to Deadpool's slippery brain, she also possesses his deadly abilities with pretty much any weapon known to man. Championpool Born shortly after the Big Bang, the Champion has fought thousands of aliens on thousands of worlds, mastering every form of combat in the galaxy, and has become virtually unbeatable. So when he found out the comically ragtag Deadpool Corps was going to save the universe, he wanted in. Kidpool On Earth-10330, young Wade Wilson was a student at the Xavier Orphange for troubled boys along with young versions of Cyclops and Wolverine. Recruited by our Deadpool to save the universe, he brought along a pair of energy swords he stole from his reality's Danger Room. Headpool
 Headpool is Deadpool's disembodied head from an alternate universe where everyone is a zombie. 'Nuff said.


Not surprised to hear disappointment about Galactus and indifference about Morg, but I'm really, really surprised to hear that there are people here who not only don't CARE about Terrax and Nova -- two pretty major characters from Marvel lore -- but don't even know who they ARE. Granted, I didn't realize until now that Nova was killed shortly after I read about her adventures in Silver Surfer, but she has a direct connection to the Fantastic Four, and Terrax has fought EVERYBODY and still pops up pretty frequently. Plus, they have great costumes. I hope the set does well at TRU. And while I'm actually not an Airwalker or Firelord fan, those will be some good-looking 'mates when we inevitably get to them.

Has my two-post 'Make Grizzly!' campaign finally paid off? I'm surprised DSTChuck hasn't slated more goofy Spidey villains before now. The only reason I can think of is that Grizzly would need a fully-sculpted, bulked-up body. But where's the Kangaroo?

Two things: 1. I never said that the wave Miles Morales was in was a "Spider-Man wave," or that the corresponding specialty wave was also Spider-Man-themed. If Miles and his pack-mate are a TRU exclusive, then those figures are very often unrelated to the rest of the wave. ...That said, there IS that wave Chuck mentioned that has a mix of new versions of major characters (which people DO want, and which the line DOES need, both for sales and to match what's come since) and all-new characters -- some of which people have asked for, and some of which you would have never thought you'd see. Very, very curious to see what you guys think of it. Waiting to hear if it will be shown at NYCC. 2. AREN'T we the biggest representation of the Marvel Universe? Has Marvel Universe overtaken us already in terms of the number of different characters? I don't think Legends has, and I'm not counting Heroclix, that's for sure. I should probably do this research myself, but if someone's already done it, let me know.

Sorry for the Gideon joke, guys. I came on here to see what exactly people didn't like about the set, and the Gideon stuff made me laugh. If we make Gideon before Kang, you have permission to get mad at us. Although Rob Liefeld seems to like this set on Twitter, so who knows what partnerships may result! We do pay attention, really, and we've got some Marvel figures coming up that blow my mind, and will hopefully blow yours. But 3" Marvel Minimates will never happen, Miry. Best not to think about it.

Just told DSTChuck you guys were "giddy for Gideon," and we're gonna try to build a wave around him. Fingers crossed!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Chuck misspoke. The movie line was one we'd thought about expanding, but couldn't make it work. It's a separate license from Marvel Comics, you see. There's no reason to take the comic Beast off the table, since we can do him whenever. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

I can't imagine an accessories identifier would have ever made the cut, but we were trying to think of things that would make Minimate shopping easier. Obviously, a game would have wider appeal, and a Minimate-Me app was something we were considering. Keep the ideas coming!

Hey, all, Zach here. DST is thinking about getting an application developed for mobile phones and devices, but we weren't sure what kind of app collectors would use. I've put up a few ideas we had to get some feedback, but let me know if you have any other ideas. Obviously, we're thinking about Minimates-themed games, as well, so if you have any ideas there, jot 'em down below.

Chuck and I need to discuss NYCC, which is still over two months away, but once we do, I'll hopefully be making an announcement or two or three. - Z

Considering I have the both packaged versions of the two-pack here, and they both say "Hulk," I don't think Mega Rage is coming back. But maybe I'll get to use it again someday, on another giant, very angry Hulk figure. And Facebook is all well and good, but anything that doesn't get answered here, Ask DST at the artasylum.com page. Chuck has all the answers.

Porridge? Beef Jerky. I have expensive tastes.

I came up with Mega Rage! He seemed like he needed a special name. But they'd just been calling him "Hulk," so I guess they went off an earlier list of names when creating the packaging.

Just wanted to stop in and say hello before the live chat tonight at 9 PM EST. I'm Zach Oat, Marketing Supervisor for Diamond Select Toys, which means I run our Facebook, Twitter, Minimates.com and the ArtAsylum.com blog, and I also write a lot of the packaging and Previews text now. I've only been with the company for a couple of months, but I covered DST products for years as an editor (later THE editor) at ToyFare magazine (1999-2008). I used to write and shoot Minimates strips in my TF days, so it's been a real treat to do shoots with the early painted samples and to write scripts for our stop-motion animations. I just gave the animator our Pirate Raiders script, and the storyboards look amazing. Again, DSTChuck and I will be doing a live chat tonight, so tune in.