stack32

I can get behind that just for Darkhawk.

Does anyone collect these that didn't have them originally? I don't see the appeal outside of nostalgia.

If the pop-up KB stores actually materialize it's hard to imagine they'd be stocked with anything other than major brands and cheap toys.

I didn't think to miss the building until you mentioned it, that would have been awesome.

If it were still the old days when we got a full movie assortment instead of an overpriced boxset I think the slots could easily have been filled. Luis, Bill Foster, phasing Ghost, Janet, or even flashback Ant-Man and Wasp all would have been worthwhile.

8 hours ago, thereasonsy said:

They literally gave us what we claimed to want with Most Wanted (Tigra etc)...

Most Wanted was a nice collection of characters that made an awful wave. The minimates are all good but none of them are great. Putting two Blizzards in the wave was a mistake and that should have been obvious to everyone involved ahead of time. The army builder was a great choice that ended up mediocre because it's a cobbled together mess of existing parts, the best thing about it was the Coulson head and SHIELD mug. Maybe a comic wave like this wouldn't succeed anyway but it definitely won't if DST doesn't bring their "A" game.

That's the first time I've seen someone say something good about those subscription services.

Does anyone really believe that another niche property, dioramas, or generic product is going to make a difference? I think you all know better.

Nessex is right. Two or three awesome Marvel comic waves and this malaise would disappear. Right now things seem tentative and safe, like the line is dying.

2 hours ago, thereasonsy said:

I remember once interviewing Eric Ripert and asking him about specials at restaurants he told me “ a special has to be special or else it’s just an item you left off of the menu”. I think that’s the same philosophy to have with exclusives. Look they may be annoying to get and to find but at the end of the day they need to be exclusive and a bit challenging to find but also special.

Why? The funny thing is Scarlet Witch, a minimate people wanted, is basically a character that was left off the menu.

That's better than being restricted to SDCC. If the set was more appealing it wouldn't be an issue.

Given licensing issues I don't think we can really fault DST for not including a Pez dispenser.

The day I have to ask a manager to special order minimates so I have a chance to buy them is the day I quit collecting minimates.

Yeah, if Walgreens is becoming the retail home of minimates it's better than nothing but not exactly good news.

I thought we already knew there were no exclusives but maybe I was thinking of that quote? Disappointing and not a great sign for minimates in general but not surprising.

Last year many Targets stocked the ML Groot BAF wave from Guardians of the Galaxy when Vol. 2 came out. My local Wal-Mart, after finally getting rid of the Absorbing Man wave, restocked with the Sandman wave instead of the new Spider-Man wave. Everyone is bad at this, Walgreens is just a little worse.

It's definitely a major part of the problem, it's also something every major retailer does. I'm not sure why it's hard to assign unique SKUs to different waves but obviously there's some issue with it.

I agree, Doctor Aphra and the droids look like they would be bad fan fiction but are actually enjoyable characters.

"Interesting" is one way of putting it. Making collectors subscribe to a digital service to be able to buy these is such a bad idea even Mattel would be offended. If this holds up I'm done with DCC permanently.

Or they could do five variants like the other Predators.

Which is nice, but I care more about the droids.

I recognize the characters and $50 still feels steep.

I guess I'm not terribly sentimental about this even though my local stores have been pretty good to me overall. Are they marking things down any further in the last few days?

EDIT: Answered my own question. Yes, but good luck finding anything.

Haven't Thor, Black Panther, and the Infinity War waves come pretty close together compared to other Walgreens assortments? The current issues seem like the predictable result of running a lot of product through a retailer that isn't set up to turn things quickly.

I managed to snag a Black Knight from Amazon when it was available briefly and it arrived today. I really like the figure. The right hand has a trigger finger which makes it a bit tricky to get the sword to stay just right and the chain mail inhibits the shoulder articulation somewhat but otherwise it's a great figure. The best part is Dane comes with three helmets: regular, winged, and a Sir Percy helmet. It's too bad DST couldn't manage the same thing with the minimate because it is awesome to have the display options.

That sounds like an excellent way to get Walgreens to overhaul their return policy.

2 hours ago, Nessex said:

I think the 75 vs 76 debate relies heavily on your age.

And here I thought it was good taste vs. bad taste. ?

31 minutes ago, Heinous said:

Quake and shriek aren't big draws, but I think it's more about getting a figure that typically wouldn't be given a slot as opposed to getting a bigger figure(or a figure with more tooling), like marvel legends 

I definitely agree we aren't going to get ML-style BAFs, though I notice many people think otherwise in their wishlists. I'm not sure either character has been one DST definitely wouldn't do otherwise. I'm not yet sold on the idea that an additional character is worth losing out on extras for others but time will tell.

A few thoughts on the second Walgreens wave:

Falcon, Drax, and Gamora: Nice enough 'mates but not much new here. The facial expressions are all new and I do like having an angry Drax. Falcon still doesn't have correct guns. Gamora's knife is an excellent accessory but she doesn't get her sword.

Steve Rogers: Obviously not a lot new here either. The head looks good. Is the hair new? If it's a reuse I can't place it. The glove/shield accessories look really small compared to what was in the movie.

Cull Obsidian: This minimate is probably a great match for the reference material was given but he's definitely off compared to the movie. The sculpted chest, left upper arm, and head are all nice pieces and make for a better looking figure. The face is printed slightly off center. The weapons are nice enough but fit pretty poorly in his hands. Since they didn't make it into the movie I may display him without or find a suitable replacement. It's too bad because if this figure was more accurate it would be the star of the wave.

War Machine: Finally, a new War Machine. He's good but not great. The chest is a new piece, partially sculpted and partially printed, and it seems pretty accurate compared to what was onscreen. The cannon is new and seems generally correct though I'm not 100% sure. It seems like he could use another weapon on his back. The gauntlets are a reuse from the previous versions which isn't awful but they feel like they could be improved. The belt appears to be a new piece. He has new upper arms which have a bulkier shoulder and look excellent, these would be great pieces to reuse on other Iron Man figures. The helmet is a slipcover instead of a sculpted helmet which I don't think looks as good. It also has a small spacer sculpted at the base of the peg so it won't slide down far enough to completely cover Rhodey's head. This makes for a very tall head and hurts the overall appearance. The previous helmets will barely fit but the colors don't match. The whole figure has a subtle camouflage pattern (which I don't remember from the movie but looks to be accurate) that is pretty impressive. The tampo work overall here is very good. The figure uses normal minimate legs with no boots so his legs seem skinny compared to the bulkier upper body.