sha_ckwave

Not in that costume we don't.

I'm guessing their legal department advised them against it, and that Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines would have had to be licensed names.

Iron Man vol. 1 #304 Was updated later as pointed out above. It came along lonnnnng before that boxy monstrosity. They picked the right version to make, no question.

You are correct... created in the mid to late 70's by Chris Claremont in the Captain Britain UK comics... as Betsy Braddock, Captain Britain's sister, born with psychic powers. First American appearance... She gets abducted by Mojo, fitted with cybernetic/bionic eyes, and put into one of Mojo's wacky shows. Pretty sure she gets the name Psylocke from him as well. The New Mutants save her, she remains with the X-Men and started to appear and help out right around the Mutant Massacre storyline. After this epic issue where she helps the X-men out with an attack from Sabretooth... ...she dons the armor and here we have her. I preferred her pre-Mandarin as well, but have to admit the whole Mandarin storyline was pretty good and I liked the whole idea of a hero getting changed into something else against their will. I agree though... turning a proper British girl with purple hair into an bodysuit wearing Asian-chick assassin... very out there... and kind of misses the mark.

Why is that humorous to you ? That's the whole point of the exclusives isn't it? Give people something they want that they won't be able to get anywhere else, draw them in to the store. (speaking in general to the board now, and no longer specifically to you...) And if you think having a MAJOR retailer on board carrying these things and ordering exclusive after exclusive is somehow a bad thing for the line... you're nuts. They get perks like exclusives and earlier releases because the amount of business they do with Diamond/AA is by far the largest of any buyer of the line they have. Now, myself personally, I buy the Diamond waves from online stores and supplement them with the TRU exclusive sets. Reason being, you get a good price online if you order an entire wave with variant set all together. It's worth waiting a little while longer to get the entire wave all together rather than to buy one or two sets from TRU when they come out, then try and find the other 2 sets (usually one of them a variant set) by themselves from an LCS or online... it's both cheaper and more convenient to wait for the etailer to get them in. I also would prefer to support an online dealer or LCS. But most of the time it's an online dealer... most LCS' in my area charge at least $2 more per set than you'll find online. I know of one chum who doesn't order much online... and he'll buy the TRU sets and supplement with the Diamond sets, because he can save himself some decent money off the price he pays at his LCS. We want to support small business as much as possible I'm sure... but at some point being a smart consumer will always trump that instinct, at least for me. Part of the problem here is the LCS' themselves and what they charge... and I'm sorry, but that's another discussion for another thread, because that issue goes a heck of a lot deeper than people just buying some sets from TRU rather than their LCS. The retail comic book and collectible industry (heck... many small retail businesses in and of itself) are facing a changing landscape from manufacturer to supplier to distribution, right on down to the customers. However, I think Luke's example of the Iron Man wave IS an example where Diamond/AA/TRU and BORDERS kind of fucked over the LCS' and online stores. In that case you had every one of the sets from the Diamond wave (including the happy variant) available at Borders and/or TRU (in some combination to complete the wave) a FULL MONTH before Diamond shipped the wave to the LCS's/etailers. In that case, with the entire wave available out there, and with exclusives to be bought at both stores, and with good coupons out there and available for both stores, a perfect storm of screwing happened, and people lost patience, bailed on their orders, and picked them ALL up for good prices locally. Diamond and AA need to be more aware of that in the future and try and get their LCS' their stock a lot sooner so people won't lose patience and do it again. However, the fact that that particular wave was tied to a movie and a lot of major promotions, that may be why the emphasis went to Borders and TRU so early. I still think having major retailers onboard ordering exclusives and carrying the regular line are anything but bad for minimate fans. But I agree there has to be a balance that protects the smaller retailers to SOME degree... although I think the Iron Man wave was more of an exception than the rule.

The Drone and Pepper set was the hardest for me to find at Borders... saw plenty of Happy/Drone but had to go to 3 different Borders before I found Pepper. Luckily there's three en route on my daily commute. I wonder if some kind of mix-up with the variant happened here like did with Angel a few waves back?

Between Borders and all their 33% and 40% off coupons, and one set from TRU, I ended up getting the entire 'comic shop' wave for a few dollars less than my BBTS pre-order. And usually I honor my pre-orders, but this 3+ week lag between when borders and tru got them, and now, and still no diamond wave release... I couldn't take the wait any more.

Yeah, it's like I've been saying, newer isn't always better. In the case of Marvel Minimates, it almost always is. Especially when you look at some of the mediocre to bad releases we got back at the beginning.

My 2 cents.... One dollar off what BBTS charges is not "so much cheaper". And for me, saving ONE dollar isn't worth it when you factor in Cornerstore's ridiculous practices of charging people a 15% "Re-stocking fee" to cancel PRE-orders, where with BBTS you control your own ordering system and can make changes whenever you'd like to. That, and Cornerstore was responsible for one of the biggest breaches of credit card numbers among collectors that the toy collecting community has ever seen. Then there's the whole 'not filling pre-orders' thing. I'll never shop with CSC again unless I absolutely have to.

How exactly was the Gleek debacle their fault? It's not, i just hate how Mattel only offered it to them, and the Fwoosh VERY graciously accepted. Being a toy forum, and knowing what Mattel often pulls, you would figure the head honchos at the Fwoosh would have said to send them to those that had purchased Gleeks. Do i know how Mattel would have gone about that? No, and it's not my job to. But i just find the whole thing sickening. I'd be okay if it were like 3 Gleeks, but it was a WHOLE box. That is just unfair to those that were told "Sold Out." Sounds a bit like Jay C's TNI sour grapes rant. Granted, Mattel botched it, there's no denying that. But how were they going to send them to people who were at SDCC and didn't get one? Its not like they had access to a list of attendees, or buyers, or names and addresses, or a list of who got them and who didn't. Would spreading them across several sites and a more widespread fanbase been a more fair way to do it? Probably. But Fwoosh has cultivated good relationships with the Horsemen and the Mattel guys, much like the peeps here have with the DST/AA guys. While a guy like Jay C has done nothing but burn bridges and piss people off. I just don't see how its Fwoosh's fault here... they were offered a give-away for their members, they accepted and did so. I don't think anyone with a toy site/forum would have handled it any differently. Translation : I think they get a bad rep for Mattel's screw-up and are somehow guilty by association, when in reality all they did was what any other site would have done... accepted, and helped their site through a give-away. If you can honestly tell me you think there's a toy site out there that would refuse the extra Gleeks as a giveaway, or tell them to give them out to other sites too, then I don't think we'll agree on this one. Anyway, sorry for the thread hijack, I just think they get a bad rep for something that wasn't their fault, and a lot of it can be traced to TNI's pouting column. Bring on Wave 35 / TRU's / Borders sets !!!!

How exactly was the Gleek debacle their fault?

Soo.... box set #3 ? Any idea when that will be released? Its currently holding up my BBTS pile o loot. Has there been any update on it since their original release date they put out back in January?

Let me start by saying that this thread's intention is not to promote another site or an e-tailer that doesn't advertise. It's to promote the fact that there could be another Marvel 4-pack on the horizon and your input is wanted. Anyway, over on thefwoosh, a guy who owns an online shop is asking for input and ideas on a potential new Marvel 4-pack. Thread here: http://www.thefwoosh.com/forum/viewtopic.p...=96&t=64875 The guy is Scott, a very collector friendly owner of a shop called Enchanted Toy Chest. He's been debating whether or not to take a shot on an exclusive 4-pack (details in that thread) and wanted people's input. You'll notice in that thread where I direct him to come over here for input, being that this is one of the larger concentrations of minimate fans on the 'net, but Scott did not want to step on any toes and just sign up and start posting at a place where he doesn't advertise... because that's just the type of guy he is. So I'm posting it for him, hopefully you mods will bear with me and understand I do this for the greater glory of marvel minimates, not for the glory of any other sites. Anyway, I plan on dropping a link to this thread in the original thread on the fwoosh and directing Scott to the input here. So if you've got an idea or ideas for a potential 4-pack, by all means, make with it ! So far on Fwoosh, THE WRECKING CREW seems to the emerging favorite. Classics seem to be more favored than moderns. Lots of Avengers love so far too.

Mine started out ALL backordered. Then the Egon changed to 'located in stock' and shipped... then the Ray set... then the Peter set. The Winston and Lewis sets remain 'Back-Ordered' for me, but I hope their status will change soon too. If not, it appears I'll be hunting this week as I don't believe they hit up here in MA yet.

My order status update: Ellen/Simon... shipped. Athena/Cylon.... changed from Back-Ordered to 'Items located in Stock' Tory/Anders... remains as 'Items located in stock' Chief/Mortar and Tigh/Six... remain 'Items on hold until release date'

So my Anders/Tory set and Ellen/Simon sets are 'located in stock'. My Athena/Cylon set says 'backordered' - anyone else get that ? And the other two sets say 'on hold until release date'. Looks like I might have to find that Athena set in stores. Lousy army builder collectors.

Good stuff... mass produce 'em and we'll buy 'em ! Or at very least, please eventually provide us with the photoshop/illustrator files so we can make 'em ourselves. So since you're a GB board transplant... help us out here. These minimates... are they a big deal among GB fans ? Are you finding that people who wouldn't normally buy toys or collectibles are interested in these ? Certainly seems that way... I don't think I've ever seen demand like this for a minimate property... they're selling like hotcakes.

well from the looks of it, when my friend checked the computer system at toysrus. it looks like they didn't order many of the ghostbuster minimates. a week after they started shipping to the south east, they warehouse is empty and looked like none are on order. Damn, I suspected as much seeing how fast they sold around here and online. Way to underestimate demand guys ! (see my rant a few pages back)... Got my wave 2 sets pre-ordered... not risking it.

This line just keeps getting better. And the way they've been packing army builder type figs with the variant sets is a really cool move on their part. No more extra/unnecessary mates.

'44 Kravens' sounds like an awesome name for a band. Also, only 1 out of 3 TRUs in my area (50 mile radius) got the latest wave, and by dumb luck I went to that one store the day it hit and got the only Moonstone/Bullseye set. Can't tell you how much time I would have wasted by now if I hadn't gotten lucky.

Argh ! I hate you for suggesting that ! Now I must do it too ! Of course finding two more of those sets may prove tough. And now, an open letter.... Dear Art Asylum, Diamond Select and Toys R Us, Don't ever.... ever, ever, EVER!... underestimate the popularity of a 25 year old nostalgic and geeky property that hasn't had decent merchandise put out for it in over decade again. EVER! And don't throw Terminator at me... there's been an endless flow of Terminator merchandise for awhile. And don't throw Back to the Future at me either... not as popular as the 'Busters IMO, and that property does not lend itself to super cool minimates like these are. They hit up here in MA today... called at 4PM to my local store... "got 'em last night, but there is nothing left on the pegs but Winston and his dog." Called another... got a stoner teenager who put me on hold for 10 minutes, came back and told me they had none and weren't getting them... a blow-off lie. Third store... "Yeah we got them last night.... day crew just put them out about 1/2 hour ago." Finished work at 6, went right to that TRU and got there by 7:15... already gone in that time were all 3 Venkman/Slimer sets and one of the Washington Square/Courtroom Peter sets. Picked up the three sets I still need (Washington Square, Exploding Stay-Puft and Librarian sets)... as I'm about to leave a collector in a 3 piece suit who looked like he was a Wall Street tycoon comes around the corner, sees me holding three sets and eyeing the rest and yells out (and I mean YELLS... in a Toys R Us no less)... "Awww FUDGE !!!!" but just like 'A Christmas Story', he didn't say FUDGE. I say "You're not totally too late... you can still grab three out of the 5 sets, but the Slimers are gone already and I'm buying this last Courtroom Venkman set." He was peeved, but happy to get at least some of them.... he had gone to one other store before this and found nothing but the Winston set. We chatted for a bit and it turns out he's not really a collector of much, but grew up on the 'Busters, saw the minimates previewed on a 'Busters blog, and had to have them for his desk at work. He had already bought the 4-pack at a local comic/pop-culture shop a week ago, and he had seen the insert and couldn't wait for 4-pack #2 to come out. . I told him "a collector is born !" I also turned him on to series 2... which he didn't know about, and he vowed to pre-order them so he didn't have to 'chase them down' like he did with these. So yeah... I think this might be the hottest minimate property to come down the pike in awhile... and judging by the rate these sold out online, and are selling out in stores, unless there's a ton more stock yet to ship out to stores, the demand appears to be severely underestimated at this point. Shame too if you can't find 'em... these things are AWESOME. I'm definitely pre-ordering wave 2 to avoid hassles. Signed, A Minimate Fan first, Ghostbusters fan second... but you guys forgot about a lot of people who are Ghostbusters fans first... and will buy these because its their favorite property first, and the fact that they're cool toys second... and there hasn't been a lot of cool 'Busters stuff to buy of late.

I've been watching BBTS - they seem to jump the gun on a lot of these things and don't wait for Previews Heh. Me too. Well, regardless... whomever spots 'em up for pre-sale first... post it up !

If these will be offered through Previews, I wonder when we'll see some pre-orders?

Anyone in the northeast from Pennsylvania on up spot the TRU sets yet?

yup, i got mine on tuesday (7/7) Details... please? Where are you located?