stack32

I thought that the last Trek was sort of enjoyable, but really dumb. So I suppose my feelings about this will be influenced by whether Abrams brings in some of his usual collaborators to work on the film or not.

That's ridiculous, obviously the best part of the episode is the greatest Trek character ever created, Morn.

I was really looking forward to more SHIELD agents already, but the addition of a jet pack puts them over the top. That's awesome. As far as NFJ, I don't suppose Steve Rogers parts includes an energy shield?

I think the actual goal of the LCS waves is to make DST money. Having Wal-mart sell them, whatever the arrangement, certainly doesn't interfere with that.

I think you meant to type ugliest. It is very well-executed though.

I certainly didn't think it was better than any of the LOTR films. It definitely felt like they were stretching to fill up the entire run time. And Radagast... ugh.

Sure, and I don't mind a more comic-influenced color, I suppose I would just like to see it look a little more metallic and a little less like Doom's armor just got a coat of gray primer.

The only issues I have with this wave after looking at the tray photo more closely is the colors for Doom and Punisher. It looks like Punisher is blue-gray instead of black, which isn't necessarily that bad but I'd much prefer black with blue highlights than the reverse. The flat gray on Doom is probably going to keep me from army building Doombots, but maybe I'll change my mind when I see more photos.

Obscure to comic fans? Probably not. Obscure from a marketing or sales perspective? Definitely. That isn't a knock against the character since most of Marvel falls into that category. Based on what we've seen from DST and others, the A-list is very short: Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and Wolverine. The B-list is probably something like the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Deadpool (right now anyway), Punisher (maybe), Dr. Doom (maybe), Venom, Green Goblin, Magneto, and, after all the movie exposure, Loki. You could argue about adding or subtracting a character or two, but I think that pretty well covers the characters that anyone running a Marvel line feels confident will sell. Which is probably why we have three or more minimate versions of each of those characters.

That's how I understand it too. And I think DST did a terrific job making wave 2 appeal to hardcore collectors even if it isn't aimed at them. Heck, we just got a Venom four-pack and there's still reason to buy the Venom from these sets. There's a good chance I'll buy all of them. But expecting Spider-Woman, army builders, etc in a potential wave 3 is setting yourself up for disappointment. Gray Hulk, Leader, Doc Ock, and black costume Spider-man? That sounds about right. Do you think they're going to have multiple costumes of the same characters (IE Gray Hulk/Black Costume Spidey)? I don't. I think it's much more likely that they would do that than get more obscure with character selection, since that would defeat the purpose of a "Best of" wave. I suspect a third wave would look a lot more like wave one, even if those characters don't really need updates. I'd be up for a new Ock, not so much because of the availability of the previous one but because of the overall quality of the whole Friends & Foes boxset. I'm sure a new version would be much better.

That's how I understand it too. And I think DST did a terrific job making wave 2 appeal to hardcore collectors even if it isn't aimed at them. Heck, we just got a Venom four-pack and there's still reason to buy the Venom from these sets. There's a good chance I'll buy all of them. But expecting Spider-Woman, army builders, etc in a potential wave 3 is setting yourself up for disappointment. Gray Hulk, Leader, Doc Ock, and black costume Spider-man? That sounds about right.

I don't think people understand the point of the "Best Of" releases.

I thought I didn't need a Hall of Armors display. I see I was very wrong.

While I love this set, and purchased two, I think the loss of the tendril arms and large hands makes a huge difference for the Ann Weying minimate. For me, it's definitely the difference between putting it in a display and throwing it in a box.

You mean besides the superior sculpted parts and more detailed tampos? Not a thing. I have no argument about which is the better version ,the sculpted parts are indeed an improvement & her new face is more in keeping with current 'mates....................... We'll see. I see, I thought you were making a different point. I guess I am fairly satisfied to have a simple update of a basic character, like Daredevil or black costume Spider-Man. Other like Rhino (who I think is slightly overrated), Venom, and Carnage need more. Received my sets from Luke today. Venom Unleashed is fantastic either way you display him. Flash has some pretty impressive detail on the sculpted parts. Regular Venom is a nice update and a good alternative for those who don't like the fully bulked-up look. Ann Weying without the tendril arms and bigger clawed hands is kind of a disappointment.

You mean besides the superior sculpted parts and more detailed tampos? Not a thing. The recent art I've seen of Carnage all depicts him pretty differently from the source material the original minimate used. Lots of red, little black. If DST revisits the character a simplified tampo could actually do a good job of representing the current look.

I think the math says distribution varies widely with geography. Some specialty armors would be cool, but I'd be surprised if we see any in the movie. I am pretty curious about how many other versions of Iron Man will show up in the film though. I kind of hate to say it, but I wouldn't be against the idea of a redo of some of the previous armors (Mark III, IV, and VI specifically) with a shorter chest cap like the Avengers design. And of course anything else new.

I wouldn't be in favor of getting rid of the worst categories just to give DST another marketing tool, however, since Zach is on the boards and well aware of any issues the community has with certain minimates the worst categories probably aren't as useful as they might have been before. I guess that's a long way of saying I'd be okay with letting them go. I'm not a big fan of using separate "simple" versus "bulked-up" categories. I get the distinction, but it seems like a way to keep some popular minimates (i.e. Venom Unleashed and MODOK) from winning best minimate. And if they are different categories from best overall you're guaranteed to have one minimate win overall and either the "simple" or "bulked-up" categories. Not really a big deal, I'm just not sure it's the way to go.

Supporting characters would be great, but given the number major characters that appear to be in the movie I think it's far more likely we'll see another Stark instead of, say, Maya Hansen. Here are the looks I was specifically referring to, which might be the exact same costume:

Updated. Top 10: * Fat Cobra * Major Victory * Gladiator (Kallark) * Winter Soldier * Black Knight (Dane Whitman) * Iron Fist (Orson Randall) * Darkhawk * Drax the Destroyer (Guardians of the Galaxy) * Star-Lord (Guardians of the Galaxy) * Executioner (Has to come with an axe and two M-16s.)

Not to be too on topic, but I'd actually like a civilian Stark with the arc reactor showing through his shirt as he appears in a number of scenes from the trailer (and Avengers). Maybe throw in an armor glove and boot like the concept art, or a pile of armor pieces and rope like the last scene in the trailer. Of course I'd also be up for a Black Sabbath t-shirt version, or something similar, if that look shows up in the new movie.

I think for a significant amount of time Nova was ignorant of the exact source of his powers and most of the rest of the time he wasn't exactly active as a member of the Corps, at least not the same way GLs are presented by DC.

That helmet is ugly. While I'm excited at the thought of getting the GotG eventually, even if it takes until the movie comes out, I'm disappointed at the prospect of getting the new costumes instead of the red and blue uniforms. Star-Lord's costume in particular was much better.

Wasn't the Nova Corps always Marvel's version of the Green Lantern Corps? They weren't necessarily featured much, but I thought the idea was there. I'm also thrilled with the Nova Centurion since it can be a classic Rich Rider and has the extra head. I'm going to be looking for other heads to use, I know I have at least one Skrull available. Here's the link from the NYCC thread that had the concept art: http://imperialholocron.com/?p=2691

That snake needs claw hands, but otherwise these are looking even better than I expected.