Walking Dead Minimates!

[Zak Katz]

He said that they will try to come out with characters involved in the current story, but that would mean no Axel in the future.

[Zombie Shakespeare]

We need Ezekiel with a tiger as soon as possible!

[Zak Katz]

Didn't that come out today?

[hellpop]

Zach, I want trying to be too critical, but the reality is that Glenn #2 won't be more numerous than Glenn #1. Unless demand drops (or overall production increases) I don't see any reason to expect Glenn to be any easier to find. And it's worth pointing out that production numbers and availability aren't the same thing. I've had zero problem getting the lcs short packs. They're easily available. The TRU exclusives, however, were much more difficult to find despite their higher numbers because of TRU's own in-house issues.

So... what are you arguing, that Glenn won't be easier to find, or that Glenn won't be more numerous than an LCS figure? Because I only said he would be more numerous, and that is reality. I'm sorry you think he won't be easier to find. Hopefully people who bought the first Glenn won't buy the second Glenn, and you will have a better shot.

Out of curiosity, Zach, and I understand if you can't answer this, but: has TRU increased the order for future Walking Dead waves? My assumption has been that the problem has basically been that neither you guys nor they anticipated just how popular these would be when planning things out. And I don't think anyone is to blame, really, though I understand the frustration some people have felt. But is it safe to say that future waves will have higher product runs, so the chances of such wide sellouts is not as great?

[MasterFisto]

...can anyone else think of other important characters unmade from early on?

Although this isn't from early on in the book, but I would really like to see an Abraham figure (most wanted), and possibly Rosita. Heck, I'd even hunt down a set with Donna and Allen in it. From the prison, Axel is an easy choice. Not sure if they'll get around to Carl given the height differences. Martinez is a great option; and I'd love to have Gabriel, Aaron and Jesus. Also, any variant of Andrea would be most welcome.

I'd even take a Lilly figure so that I could set her up...

blowing the Governor's head off.

[buttheadsmate]

hellpop :

Wave 1 TRU WD was released 5 months ago & Wave 2 was released 3 months ago , TRU.com still has those waves minus exclusives readily available .

Any speculation as to whether production numbers should be increased ought bear that in mind .

I'm not trying to 'put down' a fantastic line I'm just saying.

I'll also add that many more individual collectors would have been better served if TRU.com actually knew WTF they were doing .

[DSTZach]

Out of curiosity, Zach, and I understand if you can't answer this, but: has TRU increased the order for future Walking Dead waves? My assumption has been that the problem has basically been that neither you guys nor they anticipated just how popular these would be when planning things out. And I don't think anyone is to blame, really, though I understand the frustration some people have felt. But is it safe to say that future waves will have higher product runs, so the chances of such wide sellouts is not as great?

Is anyone's store actually SOLD OUT of Walking Dead Minimates? I don't know that anyone here is seeing the current sell-through as a problem -- I think everyone wishes all Minimates would sell through like this. We made plenty, and if TRU wanted more we could give them more, but they seem to still have a few of the shared packs -- it's just the exclusives that seem to be gone. Series 3 will refresh Rick and Glenn at TRU, and Michonne will be back in Series 4 with the Governor (and another Rick, I think). I think we'd rather do it this way then have a ton of both assortments hanging around not moving.

[Zak Katz]

Could DST just make new exclusives to supplement TRU.com? TRU probably haven't asked or don't really care

[TENIME_art]

Every store but one that I've been to recently has sold out of Wave 2 (Wave 1 sold out a WHILE ago), and that one only has a few Pirate Zombies left.

[DSTZach]

Could DST just make new exclusives to supplement TRU.com? TRU probably haven't asked or don't really care

New exclusives would come with new shared figures. Like I said, I think we're just moving forward.

[Zak Katz]

Moving forward, DST can't make one set out of a wave? Zach can we please get some picks of wave three? Pretty please?

[hellpop]

Out of curiosity, Zach, and I understand if you can't answer this, but: has TRU increased the order for future Walking Dead waves? My assumption has been that the problem has basically been that neither you guys nor they anticipated just how popular these would be when planning things out. And I don't think anyone is to blame, really, though I understand the frustration some people have felt. But is it safe to say that future waves will have higher product runs, so the chances of such wide sellouts is not as great?

Is anyone's store actually SOLD OUT of Walking Dead Minimates? I don't know that anyone here is seeing the current sell-through as a problem -- I think everyone wishes all Minimates would sell through like this. We made plenty, and if TRU wanted more we could give them more, but they seem to still have a few of the shared packs -- it's just the exclusives that seem to be gone. Series 3 will refresh Rick and Glenn at TRU, and Michonne will be back in Series 4 with the Governor (and another Rick, I think). I think we'd rather do it this way then have a ton of both assortments hanging around not moving.

The only Walking Dead set that I've seen at a TRU in ages is the one with two zombies, and that's not exactly pegwarming. I agree with you, that it would be great if all Minimates sold this way. The big mistake, it seems to me, was in shortpacking the TRU exclusives, if that's what you guys did; honestly, I haven't been paying enough attention to this line to know if you followed the 4-4-2-2 pattern of the Marvel waves, or stuck to 3-3-3-3. Anyway, that would be the big change I'd suggest going forward: make sure the TRU exclusives aren't quite so exclusive.

hellpop :

Wave 1 TRU WD was released 5 months ago & Wave 2 was released 3 months ago , TRU.com still has those waves minus exclusives readily available .

Any speculation as to whether production numbers should be increased ought bear that in mind .

I'm not trying to 'put down' a fantastic line I'm just saying.

I'll also add that many more individual collectors would have been better served if TRU.com actually knew WTF they were doing .

Interesting that the waves do seem to be long gone, but some sets linger on TRU.com. My entirely unresearched hunch is that this line has done very well with the casual buyer, as an impulse item, and those kind of shoppers are much less likely to purchase online. But we collectors are looking specifically for the exclusives from TRU, but in many cases we've bought the shared packs via other outlets. So collectors ordered the exclusive sets, but left the shared ones, which is why they remain. Anyway, there definitely seems to be a supply and demand problem; I just hope DST and TRU can figure out how to get the supply part right so demand doesn't turn to frustration.

[DSTZach]

Moving forward, DST can't make one set out of a wave? Zach can we please get some picks of wave three? Pretty please?

TRU doesn't order that way, that I know of. Which is why we're putting a new Glenn in Series 3. Shane, you may have to dig for.

Do you mean action pics, or prototypes? We showed prototypes a month ago, no in-hand samples yet. At least, none they gave me.

http://www.artasylum.com/2013/02/walking-dead-minimates-series-3-will-rise-this-spring/

[monkeycrumb]

Thanks for the pics, Zach!

A few things to point out:

1) There's a Survivor in each pack, no Zombie 2-packs this wave.

2) Zombie Cop & Riot Gear Rick as a shared exclusive is genius! With the zombie cops, they're basically an army builder with the prison theme, and the riot gear makes for a simple headswap with any extras we own to make new characters. I know people wanted more riot gear, so this is a great move.

3) Not bad having the second shared pack having a convict, so more head swapping can occur. So for that it's forgivable there's no zombie 2-pack

As for the whole Glenn issue, I think people would prefer he show up in either a Specialty or shared pack, so those who missed out can still get one. I know you say the production numbers are higher on TRU packs, but the main point is that specialty packs can be preordered and are guaranteed, so there' no dealing with scalpers on Ebay for marked up prices. Personally, I still want more of his baseball hat to customize other figures, and the difficulty in finding them is offputting.

And, for Los Angeles, waves 1 is gone from almost every TRU, and wave 2 is mostly gone, save for some stores have one or two Michonne packs. I'd really love to see TRU go to ratios of 3-3-3-3 of each pack. It boggles my mind that TRU is literally cornering the market on these exclusives, yet fails to order sufficiently to take advantage of that fact.

It would make more sense for TRU to have 4 of each exclusive and 2 each of the shared per case!

[DSTZach]

Hellpop (sorry, I can't figure out how to edit quotes without blowing up my browser), this line WAS being treated the exact same way we used to treat Marvel at TRU and specialty, and how we still treat Marvel movies. TRU is 4-4-2-2, with the heavy packs being shared at specialty, which is 4-4-3-1. Yes, that seems counterintuitive, since those are packs you can get elsewhere, but that's why we generally put big name characters and army-building zombie packs there, since we figure those will appeal more to casual buyers. If they linger, it's not a big deal.

Marvel TRU exclusives are hard to find, as well, even if they usually don't sell out in stores. In this case, maybe it was overall popularity of the show that made them all disappear so fast. Or the huge fan base for Glenn. Or the popularity of Shane, who, despite a short run in the comics, was big in the show for two seasons. But I think we're seeing it less as a supply and demand problem and more like, "Great, that assortment did well. How can we make future assortments do equally well?" Because the better a series sells at TRU, the more TRU wants to make.

We'd already planned Series 2 to have the same template. Lori, another major character, and Michonne's pets made those exclusive sets pretty popular. But for Series 3, we ditched the zombie two-pack and put in another character, who could also be an army-builder if he had to. I don't know if their order increased, but hopefully we'll finally do away with peg-lurker zombie two-packs. I'm sure Glenn and Carol will be hard to find, but I'm sure you'll all be able to track them down somehow. You won't be able to army-build baseball hats, but hey.

Series 4 ditches a LOT of zombies for characters. Specialty has what, one? And TRU might have two. It also tweaks the format a little. The two shared packs are not identical. Once that happens, we'll see how sales of the heavy packs are affected at TRU.

I appreciate the difficulty you guys are having, I just don't know if going back to having half the assortment hang out on the pegs is what they want. We'll see.

[Shanester]

My local TRU and one not far from me are both sold out of ALL Walking Dead minimates. The EX sets usually go in the first week, all other sets usually take about 4 to 6 weeks to disappear. As of right now, there are NO WD minimates at two of the closest TRU locations near me.

I got one each of the series 2 EX sets this go 'round. I was able to get extras of the wave 1 EXs when they were released, but quickly traded them off. All from stores, not the website. I never get anything I order from that website they run.

[DSTZach]

Monkeycrumb:

1. I know.

2. I know. (You are talking to me, right?)

3. I know! Wait, are people angry at us for not making an zombie two-pack? I thought people would be happy.

And you don't need to explain to me what a scalper is. I have been in this industry for almost 15 years, and collected for even longer. If we produced toys to make sure there was no perception of rarity -- the only way to make all the scalpers stop buying them -- we'd make collectors stop buying them as well. If you knew you could buy every single MM whenever you wanted, at any time, how long would you wait? A month? More? We're not trying to milk anybody, we're trying to keep a line selling at mass.

Toys "R" Us orders what they order for their own reasons -- they have brick-and-mortar stores to support as well as an online store -- and their orders make this line possible. So if you think it's an evil, it's a necessary evil. Without TRU, you get zero Glenns, or (more likely) Glenn doesn't even show UP until Series 3.

Glenn is where he is in Series 3. Ratios are staying the same. I'm sorry you can't find more baseball hats.

Edited March 15, 2013 by Zach Oat

[monkeycrumb]

Not trying to complain. I'm down for whatever is best for the line

It's just from a retailer standpoint, wave 1's exclusives were pretty major characters, and TRU could have sold more As much as I want to "army-build" baseball hats, I'm not expecting that to be catered to me That just would have been a side benefit for more Glenn's available. Again, not complaining, just tossing it out there that if you want to re-use that part more in the future, no complaints will be made from me

Very curious to see how wave 4 does with the new change-up. Have the wave 4 TRU exclusives been announced or shown yet?

[monkeycrumb]

EDIT: Posted before I saw your reply Zach. I was trying to make general points because others read what I say too, and I wanted to hear everyone's thoughts too. Personally, I'm not mad about the loss of a Zombie 2-pack, just pointing out the change to spur conversation. And as I said, I think the changes as I mentioned were fantastic!

Zach, a lot of what I say is intended to provide feedback for DST, in addition to spurring conversation among my fellow enthusiasts. I love Minimates. I love them with a passion greater than any other toy or collectible on the market! But I also understand that companies also like to get feedback, so I try to keep my comments constructive in that regard. I do not speak for everyone but whenever you can use whatever feedback you can glean from the board I think is good for the company. I do not expect you to do anything I say or ask, I'm just putting the feedback out there for you to use as you wish

Minimates: I've been there since the beginning, and I'll stick with you til the end!

I'm not mad about TRU. I wish I had an easier time of finding certain ones, but again, whatever is best for the line gets my support! I can track down a figure on the secondary market FAR easier than I can customize a satisfactory one, so my choice is always what gets the material out there in the first place! I just enjoy the armchair-quarterbacking and discussing the "why" of line planning decisions - it actually really fascinates me!

TL;DR, Zach, *never* take anything I say as a personal insult! I really, really, *really* appreciate having you here and participating with us! Anything negative I say is meant as constructively as I can. I apologize if I ever come across as insulting.

That said, If I may recommend: For the next shared 2-pack that isn't 2 zombies, how about a "white" guy Convict for an army builder (Axel?)? Maybe with another version of zombie prison guard? I don't expect zombie 2-packs in each wave, and I love your army building approach. (But damn, do I love those zombies!)

[karamazov80]

Did I ever mention how happy I am that I'm not collecting this line? Sounds like a nightmare trying to get these guys.

[hellpop]

You know, I feel kind of guilty that I bought a Glenn pack just to use his baseball hat for a Lady Jaye custom. Oh well!

My one piece of feedback is that I wouldn't use the same case packout strategy for WD that I would for Marvel. WD is more of an ensemble cast, so I don't really think there's "major" characters outside of Rick and Carl the way there are major Marvel characters. Some very important characters (like, as you pointed out, Zach, Shane) don't actually last all that long in the comics, while there's some characters that hang around in the background for years without really doing much of anything. Let's just all agree that it's a tough balance, and it hasn't been perfected yet. Any chance you might do a "best of" wave, as was done for Ghostbusters? That would be a good way to get more HTF figures into people's hands while still maintaining the uniqueness of Series 1-2.

[Colonel America]

They've done a pretty good job of anchoring each wave with a "major" character. Wave 1 had Rick, along with three huge supporting characters (even if Shane's fame is more thanks to the show). Wave 2 did well to feature Michonne, Andrea, and Lori, all of whom are important. I think having more Rick/Glenn and Michonne/Lori is a smart move for waves 3 and 4, made even better thanks to the inclusion of Hershel, the Governor, and others.

I can't wait to see Carl help anchor a wave (hopefully wave 5!).

[MiniL]

We need Ezekiel with a tiger as soon as possible!

yes we do like now

[hellpop]

Let's hope Carl doesn't end up as an exclusive, either at TRU or comic stores. I think he's likely to be the most popular figure in the whole line, since I'm sure a lot of customizers will be snapping him up to get the smaller arms and legs. Some of us have Power Pack customs to make!

[boyd]

Nothing but a Michonne pack and several of the sailor zombie packs left at my local TRU.