Joe Hill

Personally, I thought it was a wonderful addition to the Indiana Jones series. Indy is back. He may have aged (both physically and mentally), but he is still the same Indy. I loved how Marion was back too, stronger than ever. Shia LeBeuf's Mutt Williams was a little different, but necessary to show the difference between the 30's culture and 50's culture.

I read that so many people were disappointed by this movie, while others thought it was awesome. I left very satisfied. It was different, sure, but it didn't stop me from enjoying it. There were a few parts that were a little ridiculous (vine swinging) and out of place (fridge explosion). But there were other scenes that I felt were excellent (quicksand). Like any other Indiana Jones movie, you have to suspend belief just for a while.

What did you guys think? What were your favorite and least favorite parts?

This "the world wilol end in 2012" thing is crap, absolute crap. The mayan calender is ending, not the world. Plus you have to think they were doing this calender in lik 400 B.C.

I agree. What if the mayans never even finished it...

Haha! Seriously! Maybe the Mayan Calendar Maker got distracted and never completed into the next era. Of course everything got embellished over the last thousands of years and now people are taking it as a sign of the apocalypse.

I'm a big Indy fan, but I would just hold on to your set. This new set is nothing to write home about, seems like they are just trying to cash in on the hype of the new movie. I am happy with my set still and have no desire to "trade up."

Hmmm...

How about...

Gambit

Deadpool

Mr. Sinister

Red Skull

Okay, they don't really go together, but these are the last 4 minimates I want most to finish my collection. Can we make-up a storyline for these four to satisfy my minimate cravings?

I wish my Apocalypse was that sturdy, my wire broke off in the arm, and just hung there. I ended up just taking them off.

Nope, the minimate hair is a little poofy-er.

Joe thanks for the comparisons. I actually kind of like the Hulk and Abom mates better because they actually are good likenesses of the CGI Characters. As ugly as they may be.

You're welcome. I'm just trying to make people not hate this line so much. It really isn't that bad.

PHOTOSHOPPED

Basically, I tried my best to give Bruce Banner a forehead, while also maintain the look DST gave. I'm not sure if it helped or not.

I actually think that looks way better. I can at least start to see Norton there. As it stands, he just looks like a generic civilian. Your minor tweaking helped enough that I'm thinking a more recognizable face is possible. Regarding Roth, I'm now thinking that getting the likeness might be more problematic, as he has a very distinctive nose. No noses on Minimates makes getting a recognizable Roth or, say, Walter Matthau, problematic (though we did get a fair Burgess Meredith. . .).

Yeah Roth has a nose that definitely defines the rest of his face. I remember when the Buffy Palz came out, the Buffy likeness was always off since Sarah Michelle Gellar has a distinct nose. In fact, an old neighbor of mine is a plastic surgeon, and he was saying how the nose defines the face more than any other feature. I guess most people think it is the mouth and eyes.

Some people here are into likeness (which is understandable), so I decided to look over some photos of the actors/characters and see where the minimate likeness has diverged.

The ones I mainly notice that are a little off are Bruce Banner (Ed Norton), Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), and The Hulk himself. I studied their faces a bit to understand why.

BRUCE BANNER/EDWARD NORTON

The problem here, is that Edward Norton has a long narrow face, with a tall forehead, as seen here:

Unfortunately, that is hard to capture in a minimate, being a short blocky head. So I tried to do a little work on it to see if it is possible to capture Ed Norton:

OFFICIAL

PHOTOSHOPPED

Basically, I tried my best to give Bruce Banner a forehead, while also maintain the look DST gave. I'm not sure if it helped or not.

EMIL BLONSKY/TIM ROTH

Similar to Norton, Roth too has a big forehead. But he also has wide cartoon-like eyes. As seen here:

So I worked on Emil's minimate, added a few strands of hair, widened the eyes.

OFFICIAL

PHOTOSHOPPED

Again, I'm not sure if it is possible to capture a long narrow face on a short block head... but I tried.

THE HULK

This guy is problematic due to a few things. The first I feel is preference. Many hate the big feet, with big crotch, and rounded chest. Therefore they are going to hate this mini right from the start. However, if a person looks past that, the next problem I feel arises in Hulk's expression. It isn't Hulk. He looks mildly irritated, not so pissed off he wants to destroy the world. Look at the following Hulk photos:

Now compare them to the minimate:

We need a little more emotion in that Hulk. And maybe some power gloves like Abomination.

BETTY and THE GENERAL

I like these two, and I am completely satisfied.

But, here are some photos for fun:

I like them.

THE ABOMINATION

I think he looks cool too, my only suggestion would be to add some detail on the power gloves, to keep in line with the rest of the body.

All in all, this line isn't so bad. It just needs a few tweaks here and there, and it is okay. Definitely not as bad as everyone is making it. But maybe it would work better as a boxset, instead of a whole line?

I like moviemates a lot. I loved the X-Men 3 mates, as well as the Spider-Man 3.

But, maybe moviemates should be boxsets? Also, Hulk is not the most diverse looking hero. It looks like DST was trying to capture the darkness of the new movie, and made the mates kind of dark too.

Honestly, I don't think they are quite as bad as everyone is making them out to be. Gen. Ross and Betty look good. Enough to where I can tell what characters they are. Bruce looks a little off, but I think that is the look they are going for in the new movie. The "monsters" are okay, but as I said, Hulk is not too diverse. Seen one Hulk, you kind of seen them all.

Plus, many are complaining about likeness... but these are minimates! Likeness isn't always possible.

Although I actually prefer the Emma Frost hairpiece it just depends on the character. But that the beauty of Mates you can always swap and paint if you don't like the hairstyle. I just can't wait until my BSG Mates get here so I can get rid of the 60's do Sue Richards came with. Sorry but I hate that with a passion...

Yeah the 60's hair on Sue dates her. No wonder no other minimate has ever used that hairpiece.

Personally, I am a little tired of the Phoenix/Black Cat/Ms. Marvel hairpiece. Mostly in wave 10 when all 4 of the females had the hair. It was overkill. Although it looks good on Ms. Marvel, I think it is time for some new styles.

I do feel that the Storm/Rogue/Emma hairpiece is underused, I like that one. The Dark Phoenix/Shadowcat/Firestar one has never appealed to me.

I agree, I used to love the 90's Spider-Man and X-Men cartoons, but after rewatching them, I no longer have that nostalgic feeling towards them. The animation is poor, the acting is monotone, and the movement is slow.

I think 'Wolverine and the X-Men' looks good. Terrible idea having Wolverine be the leader... it makes no sense. That has always been Cyclops' role. Hopefully this will be explained in the cartoon, and not just be assumed that Wolverine is best fit due to his popularity. The writers seem pretty knowledgeable about the comics and characters, so I am sure they realized many fans will not agree with Wolverine's leadership. I am betting it has something to do with Xavier's premonition of the future.

I really like your custom. I always really liked that costume for Jubilee. Nice work on it so far. How did you do the sleeves?

Thanks! I liked this uniform for Jubilee because it made her more part of the team. Before, when she would just wear the jean shorts and t-shirt, she seemed like a tag-a-long. Plus I really like the movie-universe X-Men attire, and I felt this one sort of matched to what the movieverse X-Men student would wear. Her sleeves are a thin strip of sculpy, I forgot to put that in the recipe.

In case anybody was curious, the dull coat worked on the hard plastic pieces, but the rubbery pieces (as TBT! said) are still somewhat sticky. Luckily I think the custom is salvageable, but I definitely learned my lesson the hard way (the "I just wasted $40" hard way )

Oh well, now I know what not to do for my upcoming Gambit and Psylocke customs.

I'll definitely have to check it out. I understand the producers reasoning for making Tumnus younger, some things just can't transfer well from book to movie, and would be perceived wrong by the audience.

Ouch! yeah I did that once, enamels and minimates are not a happy mix! ( esp the more rubbery parts)

Depends on how thick the paint is & if you're coating or fine lining...

My gut feeling is 'scrap' if it's thick, thinner lines can be wiped til it dries then painted over.

Can I ask who/ what you were customizing? Cost of original mini will mean a lot to how you move forwards.

one other thought is if you are really happy is to try to clear coat it 'as is', it might just work!

T.

Thanks for the reply!

Enamel Paints really should come with a warning:

"Keep out of reach of Minimates"

Alright, I'm a dork.

Anyhow, I was customizing an X-Men Jubilee Mate, I based her look from the X-Men Legends Video Games.

Click Image to Enlarge

Recipe:

Head: SF2 Morrigan

Hair: Ultimate Jean Grey (Painted/Sculpted Sunglasses)

Torso: Ultimate Jean Grey

Arms: Ultimate Wolverine (Painted/Sculpted Sleeves)

Legs: New X-Men Wolverine

Accessories: Robin Gloves (Painted)

I think I'll try clear coating it and seeing if that helps. It couldn't hurt, right?

So I blanked and completely bough the wrong paints (Testors Enamel). I just finished my first minimate custom, and of course it is sticky and tacky. So my question is.... if I painted it over with Games Workshop paints, will it cover-up the tackiness, or did I just doom this custom.?

Thanks for the help!

--Joe Hill

Just got back now. the verdict.....a massive sigh of relief. Usually When a movie gets this much hype it can be disappointing but not this baby oh no. finally Marvel have their own Batman begins and by that a comic movie that seems to be held in such a high regard by both fans and non fans alike.. I CANT WAIT FOR THE MATES NOW

Agreed. I was worried I would enjoy it less due to all the hype. Thankfully I was wrong. I loved every minute of this movie, and the two+ hours flew right by!

Now the last two movies I need to see this summer (in theaters) are The Dark Knight and Indiana Jones!

What? No Hulk or Narnia love?

Haha! Hulk has love, but as a college student, he doesn't have my movie theater love. I have already seen Hulk on the big screen. As for Narnia, I never got around to watching TL,tW, & tW... which is odd cause I read the books when I was young.

Indiana Jones movies are pretty much my favorite ever, and Batman is my favorite DC superhero.

I know there is a lot of X-Men characters already but I was thinking how come the most popular costumes haven't been made into mates. I'd love to see a Jim Lee Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Gambit and Jubilee set or even just a few of them.

I know what you mean. Although it is hard to say what costumes are the most popular (everyone's opinion differs, I like the New X-Men), it seems weird that the Jim Lee era has been a little ignored. No Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, or Storm. The Rogue from that era seems incomplete without the jacket. Plus there is no Jubilee, Psylocke, or Gambit.

However, since the X-Men change their costumes as often as they change their underwear, it can be hard for DST to choose a certain look.

Just got back now. the verdict.....a massive sigh of relief. Usually When a movie gets this much hype it can be disappointing but not this baby oh no. finally Marvel have their own Batman begins and by that a comic movie that seems to be held in such a high regard by both fans and non fans alike.. I CANT WAIT FOR THE MATES NOW

Agreed. I was worried I would enjoy it less due to all the hype. Thankfully I was wrong. I loved every minute of this movie, and the two+ hours flew right by!

Now the last two movies I need to see this summer (in theaters) are The Dark Knight and Indiana Jones!

I might be the minority, but I like that Hulk.

I don't like the Gold Iron Man. And I have never really liked Henry Pym or Wasp.

So anybody want to give me an extra Hulk from their sets?

This is my ideal line-up (and the one I have on display).

1. Captain America

2. Iron Man

3. Thor

4. Hawkeye

5. Scarlet Witch

6. Quicksilver

7. Vision

I have never been a huge fan of Henry Pym, Wonder Man or Wasp. For some reason I associate She-Hulk more with the Fantastic Four, and I think of Ms. Marvel as more of a loner hero.

I do like the idea of Spider-Woman being an Avenger though. Her character has always interested me.

For the best, I always liked the New X-Men look. I thought it was cool how they were all similar, uniting the X-Men as a team. Plus they blended in as everyday clothes.

As for the WORST, I will have to go with Psylocke when she entered the X-Men.

The sleeves are ridiculous.

Hi, I'm new here, but if you want another set of Nightcrawler legs, I have a pair (minus feet). They're yours if you want them.

Hey,

I'm somewhat new here. I'm just glad there are others out there that love minimates like I do!

Anyhow, I'm a huge X-Men fan, so I would love to see:

Gambit

Psylocke

Toad (classic or ultimate)

Pyro

Blob

Avalanche

Sabretooth (classic)

Angel (feathered wings, non-blue)

After those, I would be a happy camper.

As far as non-X-Men, my biggest request is:

Red Skull. Too important of a bad guy to be missed out on.