thereasonsy

2 hours ago, luke314pi said:

Here's some good news for this line - the Series 2 Box Set is completely sold out for retailers. We just grabbed the last case this morning from Diamond. 

THIS IS AWESOME!!!

On 4/21/2023 at 11:45 AM, Padrino said:

I agree. Season 1 was ok. Season 2 was unwatchable. Loved Season 3.

I just made a Captain 7 custom with a Janeway body and a Barbara Kean (from Gotham) hairpiece

I wish we had more TNG Minimates. This will always be a crime against Toymanity to me. 

On 4/21/2023 at 5:00 PM, youbastards said:

Here’s a link to his YT channel, his collection is amazing.  

 

I will always regret not getting that Library.

I don’t recall seeing this on the thread but Hexbug JUNKBOTS sets look amazing with Minimates: 
 

HEXBUG JUNKBOTS Small Factory... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BBR4V6P?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

also ReKennect’s Weather Some has been really fun! 

https://rekennect.com/?fbclid=PAAaajN0WXpL8jt5sCmLmIIYx24Sbq8g35o0yyXu02-ihSZZILEr6sGmsrFEM

4 hours ago, DSTZach said:

This from a person that tries to get the hype going on Minimates on Instagram but blocks the company rep and refuses to get the company involved? Hey, all, I tried to provide prizes and publicity for March of Minimates, but "Minimated" did not respond to my outreach. I still can't see their posts. Un-effing-believable. I'll do it myself next year.

Hi Zach,

You wanted my attention, and you got it. However, you need to understand a very simple concept: how I choose to spend my time and with whom I interact is none of your business. Over the years, I have tried to be patient and kind and offer suggestions, but our communication styles do not gel. I don't find interacting with you in any way positive or helpful for either of us, so I chose to block you across all digital channels. That is my right, as I don't owe you anything. DST used my image without my consent, and I chose to block that too. Again, that is my right. Just because DST makes a product that I like doesn't mean I have to like the company, and it doesn't mean I need to follow or engage with either of you.

I'm not your brand ambassador or influencer. It's not my job, and I never claimed it to be. However, I am a significant volume of brand impressions for the toy line. If that makes you feel a certain way, last I heard you have a camera, access to the toys, and the logins to the DST account. You can shoot and make content to promote your brand and have it automated—just like me. Since you are a brand account, simply get your posts approved and scheduled into your favorite third-party scheduler or natively in the app. You can do it in batches or every day. Again, it’s your job. You figure it out.

I do not make a dime from my account. Instead, I use it as an expression of my art and my love for a toy line that you happen to work for. You are not the company, and you are not Minimates. If it bothers you that a fan account is driving the volume of impressions, change it. Do something and promote your toy line. Everyone else on here has been doing it, so maybe you should give it a try.
 

Let’s chat March Of Minimates. I don't need to get the company involved because, frankly, you should have been doing this on your own instead of engaging in back-and-forth on a message board all day. If you knew how to actually market and how to do a giveaway, you would realize involving DST would have made it have a different set of rules that would have been a change to an already launched activation. You can't change the rules midstream. You didn't reach out until AFTER the first week. There are laws for influencer marketing, and there are laws for giveaways. Just because you don't know them doesn't mean I don't. I followed them to the letter, and it was a very successful month. Thanks for your interest in it. I'm glad to see that you are finally doing it next year instead of having others do the labor.
 

I don't work for you. I'm not going to give you or DST, a company that makes revenue, a complete promotion that costs over 50K to execute for free so that you can do whatever it is you want to instead of doing your job. If you wanted to hire me as a consultant, no thank you, you wouldn't be able to afford me. I did it for the community of FANS. Fans are not people who get paid to do something the love. That’s why there was no entry limit. The prizes were specifically for a store that has cultivated the community for years, and I did so without Luke's knowledge or participation. I can buy a gift certificate to wherever I see fit and give it away to whomever I see fit. I'm glad to see that you are finally taking the initiative to do something that was started by a fan, that you participated in, and then let go until I resurrected it. Have fun doing it, and I hope you get a lot of entries.

Lastly, I don't owe you any explanations as to why I do anything, since you are not my spouse, friend, or employer. The only interaction we have is that you work at a company where I spend a significant amount of money each year. That's it. However, you are a brand representative who has repeatedly spoken poorly about a customer on a public forum. Additionally, you have harassed other people about me even though I have made it clear that I do not wish to have any contact with you. This behavior is not a good look, sir. Seriously, yikes. 

6 hours ago, youbastards said:

Get a comfy chair and some coffee or tea for this one...

 

Okay, so these aren't "course correction" and clearly ARAH isn't selling well, but "TRYING these to see if it is Joe fatigue in general"?  So if these super obscure characters from 50+ years ago don't sell well or don't make it past solicitation, it's because nobody wants anything GI Joe related?  There is no GI Joe fatigue at the moment for the majority of the companies holding the license.  This is a uniquely DST problem.

While Star Wars Black Series and Marvel Legends are struggling with fans at the new price point, GI Joe Classified is one of the best selling toy lines out right now.  Hasbro just revealed like 12 new pre-orders last month while still waiting for previous solicitations to ship.  (hint hint).  While I don't have any, the Super7 Ultimates line has been generally well received and 3 additional waves have been solicited while the first wave just launched! (hint hint) Mezco has solicited 4 $100+ figures before even the first one has shipped.  (hint hint)  These lines have consumer confidence that "if I invest my money in this product and I like it, there is definitely going to be more product for me to buy down the road."

TRU died years ago and nothing is changing at DST.  I'm not talking about getting new big box or online retailers to support the line, but the stale mentality about how product is supported, advertised and marketed.  There's no creativity.  No thinking outside the box.  There is no congruity between lines for packaging or pricing.  Are Minimates $30, $40, or $50?  Are there 4 per pack?  5 per pack?  6 per pack?  Single carded or box sets? 

Looking at DST's own YouTube channel, I had to scroll back 8 months to even see a Minimates product video!

Of all the many DST/Gentle Giant Showcase emails I received this month, not a SINGLE one mentioned Minimates anywhere in the email so I never even bothered looking at the Showcase. 

Apparently DST/Gentle Giant has the Indiana Jones license now?  Guess what...no Minimates.  Looking at the advertised brands on the DST website...Pacific Rim?  No Minimates but D-Formz.  Cobra Kai?  Jem and the Holograms?  Cthulhu?  Mortal Kombat?  The Crow?  Avatar the Last Airbender?  Invincible?  John Wick?  Green Hornet?  Uncharted?  Lord of the Rings?

The reason many fans are upset is because we know what is going to happen.  We've seen it line after line after line.  Instead of changing anything about the how the line is produced, supported, or marketed or trying anything new to improve sales, it will eventually be ignored and swept under the rug, forever flaunting what could have been in the Minimates Database archives.  I believe the official response is something like "the line is on hold", but "never say never". 

- Star Trek Legacy

- Walking Dead

- Aliens

- Predator

- Nightmare Before Christmas

- Godzilla

- Halo

- Kingdom Hearts

- The Muppets

- Spongebob Squarepants

- TMNT*  (this is the only example here that has actually been "revisited at a future date".)

- X-Files

- Marvel MCU Minimates

- Marvel Animated Minimates

There is a pattern here.

We all know what is going to happen.

It's currently happening to GI Joe.  AEW is next.  Then MMPR.  Then Transformers.  Marvel 616 is on life-support.

 

This is one of the longest running toy lines, oh right....2022 was the 20th Anniversary.  What a celebration the line had.

 

Okay....rant over.  Now for some cheer-leading.

Look at what Hasbro and Mattel have done with official crowd-funding via their own websites.  Sure Hasbro has had some misses in the Star Wars and Marvel realm, but the HISS HasLab was funded almost immediately.  I bought 5 because I am insane!

Since the fall of TRU and the immediate gut punch of years of COVID uncertainty, adult toy consumers have proven one thing, they are more than willing to get creative to work with companies to get the product out there that they want, more so if they have a healthy history of toy manufacturing.  Capitalize on what DST does right.  You have all of the means of production to make it happen, DST isn't a dude with an idea on Kickstarter trying to make a shitty Kill Bill rip-off.  (It still stings...)  Try it, see if it works.  The word of mouth alone in the GI Joe community for a box set of the Original 13 Joes as Minimates would be insane.  Price it at $100-$150 and see what happens.  That's 4-6 Classified figures!  3 Super7 Ultimates!  One Mezco One:12! 

But don't cut corners, figure out a solution and include the backpacks.  Make the box set sturdy and the figure cards re-closable with a slip out backing card.  Make the unique weapons.  Make the weird helmet attachments like Short Fuze and Flash's visors, Steeler's binocular-thingy, Breaker's headset.  Give the figures helmet-less hair pieces. Use the correct color variations for each green shirt.  Maybe it's time for Minimates arms to get "Swivel Arm Battle Grip", specifically for the Joe line to help connect with fans.  Give Snake-Eyes his Timber, Mutt his Junkyard, Croc-Master his Fiona.  None of the pets need articulation, just like the vintage line.

Imagine the possibilities of crowd-funded box sets of all the characters released each year of the 1980's series.  If crowd-funding works, see if Hasbro would let you crowd-fund Minimates VAMPs and HISS Tanks.  Maybe a Dragonfly, or Rattler, or Whale.  Terrordrome!  You could actually pull it off in Minimates scale and make it affordable in today's high-end collectibles markets.  Offer a monthly payment plan option like Partial.ly or Affirm and you will bring in more customers willing to take the jump knowing it isn't hitting their wallet all at once.

Dream big with this license!  Go all in and make GI Joe the Minimates flagship license and you will bring in new customers that may pick up other lines as well.  Don't just let it wither away because of a rocky start.

 

[Zach - I speak purely out of frustration at the state of the brand.  I have massive amounts of respect for you and what you have done for both the brand and my collection over the years.  In January I purchased four of the recent box sets (TMNT/MMPR/Transformers/GI JOE) and sent them to a YouTube reviewer that I enjoy, in hopes he might do an unboxing, but I never heard anything back.  I just messaged him to see if he plans on doing anything with them and will let you know.  If he asks, can I give him your email?]

Youbastards gets it. And I stand in a glass house when I say this: it’s exhausting that the majority of the brand support comes from FANS and not the Company itself. Hire a bloody marketing consultant and a PR agency because this has passed pathetic into laughable. Happy 20th.

1 hour ago, Trekker 42 said:

Netflix Kingpin was pretty damn killer too and works very well as a comic black suit Kingpin if need be. He was my first choice to drop and I stand by that being the right choice. 

Amen.

On 2/22/2023 at 6:39 AM, cylonchaney said:

You might find this page interesting. A former multiverser I believe and I think there are a couple of unreleased designs there.

https://www.ironcowprod.com/plastic/professional/

Ah yes! These should be made into a book. 

7 hours ago, buttheadsmate said:

No argument .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the years I would say there were a few DST “exclusives” like Westworld where a figure was an “exclusive” but then released to another store just “slightly different”. Hell, I have two “exclusive” Vampire Willows from toyfare in two different packages from two different stores. Not to mention the number of LCS that got burned by the TRU same figure debacles. 
 

And yes, there were a few changes to the FCBD figures but they were fairly cosmetic. I have sympathies for the rollout of anyone trying to get something out of China during the pandemic but I’m not surprised these didn’t do well. It was a 3 year debacle with minimal promotion. 

11 minutes ago, Nessex said:

A JRJR Iceman would be EPIC! 

Frenzy would ALSO be amazing. I know I've harped on it MANY times before, but if you gave us a Fatal Attractions box set where two of the characters were Frenzy with alt parts for Scanner/Vought/Unuscione and Fabian Cortez with alt parts for Senyaka/Chrome/Milan and I will buy at least 4 sets. LOL

I join you in the choir

37 minutes ago, buttheadsmate said:

Anybody remember the AFX ,Web-Armor Spider-Man exclusive ?   November 2007 & you could only get that exclusive minimate by placing $$10s worth of orders with AFX .

June 2009 & Web-Armor Spider-Man was available in Marvel TRU Wave 3 . 

My biggest DST pet hate: exclusive does not mean exclusive. 

1 hour ago, fwoosheyman said:

Amen.

I’d actually look at how the FCBD and Ninja Force sold to see the health of the line since those were more in line with what the collectors were expecting from price point and collection consistency.

I liked the footlocker in execution but still hated it from a strategy standpoint. It’s an irregular box, so that adds more to the production costs as does the single carded figures. It also was blamed for delays. Maybe it’s the villains in one set/heroes in another. I’d hope that someone is doing market research. Either way it was a beautiful experiment and we’ve learned the mainstream fan base doesn’t want it. 

I’m a broken record but the coms and marketing for this, and several lines, really let it down. Perhaps I’m the pettiest but I’m still irked I went into the FCBD box set thinking and being told it was my only way to get these characters to find out a year later that wasn’t the case. 

12 minutes ago, buttheadsmate said:

IMHO it would be a tragedy to regress from where we are now . 

 

It would be but if you think about it those margins have to be slim. I don’t recall them increasing their prices on two packs greatly over the last twenty years. Even the Walgreens two packs came with some accessories and they were under 10 bucks. The company needs to make money to continue to survive and that means increasing profit margins. So something has to give. 
 

I just wish they communicated to the masses better or figured out how to create a rhythm for interested people that aren’t diehards that come here. Finding out we have two sets coming on the same day without much notice is frustrating for fans of the line. 

3 hours ago, Swarm198 said:

RIP GI Joe Minimates.

I think this is a wee bit premature. I mean, Let’s get this straight. They didn’t sell through the toys they announced 2 years ago that were a significant price jump AND deviation from format so they are going to put the next two waves of one aspect of the property on hold so that they can make their decision by focusing on two box sets that mainstream audiences don’t know about. What could possibly go wrong?

Given it’s the 60th Anniversary of Avengers AND X-men, it would have been nice to have two boxsets for Blood Ties each more focused on their own heroes but a potential Army Builder in both.

Avengers: Crystal, Exodus, Senyka (Parts for other acolytes) Hercules, Vision.

X-Men: Jean Grey, Bunny Wolverine, Frenzy (parts for Female acolytes) Bulked out Iceman, Crossing Costume Quicksilver. 
 

Sure the Bunny and the Crossing aren’t exactly Bloodties but it’s DST, details don’t always matter. Yes, I’m still salty over Lockjaw and Psylocke. 

2 hours ago, Swarm198 said:

Still on the fence about this set. Losing a character doesn't seem like a wise decision, but I agree with others that it definitely shouldn't be Mary.

I feel like its crazy to have seen these in October and still not have a confirmed solicitation. DST should look into Kickstarter FFS.

It’s a sad state of affairs. It’s almost like they announced too soon or it’s taking too long. Really wish we could get into a rhythm for releases across the totality of the line. It always seems to feel like feast or famine. 

19 minutes ago, hellpop said:

So yesterday I was in Ollie's Bargain Outlet, looking mostly for cheap graphic novels, but of course I also took a look at the toys. While there I found a set of GI Joe Lego knockoffs; it wasn't Kre-O but something else they released. This set included Snake Eyes and a little vehicle. It looks pretty small, but I figured it was worth the eight bucks to see if it would fit in with Minimates. Unfortunately, this is undoubtedly the shoddiest Lego wannabe that I've ever seen. The design has none of the structural support safeguards that a real Lego release builds in, which is especially problematic in this case as the bricks do not lock in as they are supposed to. I had the thing mostly built but the roof wouldn't stay, and while I was fiddling with that the front assembly fell off. I ended up just boxing the whole thing back up. The sad thing is that it does look like a Minimate would fit in rather well, better than a Lego, but I'll never know. Anyway, if you see one of these sets in the wild don't bother, unless you want to glue the set together or something. At least I got an official Snake Eyes minifig out of the whole thing!

The entire line is horrible and not really a good fit for our Mates. It was heart breaking. 

On 3/16/2023 at 6:34 AM, AFMcGill said:

Typhoid Mary is the only one I am remotely interested in (and even still I have to kitbash her with Jean DeWolff legs and a different arm to get her close to what she actually looked like).

If she's gone, that's 3 "waves" in a row with ZERO for me.

You skipped the FF?!? 
 

On 3/16/2023 at 6:38 PM, Navaan said:

Same. No Mary, no buy. I'll pick up Echo from a second hand seller some time, as I already made a decent one, custom. If Mary and Echo are that, it gets enough of my attention to buy the set and hold the rest for potential customs.

Mutant Rights! MUTANT RIGHTS!

So are we getting wave 3 or 4 or is it safe to assume we should start back up the Joe customizing journey? 

On 3/18/2023 at 3:49 PM, buttheadsmate said:

Clever stuff  

 

I was going to suggest Firestar as a 'yellow donor' , I thought it would be a cheap,plentiful eBay item, not so now it seems 

Yeah, I made mine from a Nova with Balder Boots and Beast hands (he has claws) with a cut Batgirl mask and Jewel belt. Surprised we didn’t get a Patsy at some point.

8 hours ago, Padrino said:

Me too. She is the best of the 3 villains in the set

Mutant and PROUD. They got to have her and her hubby in the same set. 

17 minutes ago, elhonez said:

Oy, I will be bummed if Typhoid Mary dropped. 

Same. Bullseye is the weakest if we can’t drop Stride of Pride DareDevil. Kingpin would have been great for a Leland Hellfire Club version.

21 hours ago, elhonez said:

Poking in to offer an observation:

It seems to me that most DC lines these days really focus on modern narratives, which are rife with overly-designed, flash-in-the-pan, kewl "re-imaginings" of classic characters that last for a few issues before their costumes are redesigned again. [Get off my lawn!!]

What are missing are truly classic offerings, like what the old DC MiniMates line focused on. Batman '66 notwithstanding -- I know of at least five distinct modern lines that have dipped their toes in those waters (including Mezco, Mattel, MacFarlane and Funko), but it's the exception.

I was initially very excited to see McFarlane bring back Super Powers, but the designs all skew modern, and the character selection has been uninspiring. Can you imagine a Super Powers-branded MiniMates line? With the latest packaging innovations DST are delivering, a series like this would rock.

THE DREAM. Who knows now that Dc Direct is gone and it’s been a decade maybe they could get it approved. 
 

————————————

@Minimated on IG.

17 hours ago, Trekker 42 said:

And Johnny could be Spider-Man if I gave him a black suit head.…

shitballs you’re right. 

I usually am… I used smaller slippers from Puck on my Val and Frank if that helps.

On 3/12/2023 at 1:22 PM, Trekker 42 said:

Price increases happen. Eventually there’s gonna be a set I skip. It was almost YA but ya got in the pizza dog and my girl Kate, so I had to. 
But for now the representation of the characters have been spot on, the accessories continue to be pretty baller, and the most annoying thing about the FF set was that I couldn’t just buy another Reed two pack to make him even longer. 
Make good stuff, I’ll give you money. I’m still in a place I can indulge this and my Lego hobby. Hopefully will be for a while. 

Welllllll… if you did buy a second set you could make a Val and Franklin….