AGENT 88 KICKSTARTER MINIMATES

[hellpop]

I think Zach, Chuck, and everybody else at DST are trying to stay as far away from this as they can.

[TM2 Dinobot]

I don't blame them. This isn't their fault. Chuck didn't want to do this. He thought it was a terrible idea, but went against his better judgement and helped out anyways. Now the worst case scinario may be coming true. I'd want to put some distance between me and my mistake as well.

Honestly? I'm more worried about Corner Store Comics and Luke than I am about y'all. They shelled out a lot of money to carry those blanks, money they most likely will not be seeing back. I hope they both can stay afloat.

[youbastards]

I feel bad dragging Zach into any of these discussions, as Chuck would be the only one at DST who could possibly answer our questions, yet I don't think these types of questions really fall under the "Ask DST" category. I'm hoping Chuck will be at C2E2 (he wasn't there last year), so I can ask him about this personally.

Yeah, Luke has close to $5,000 invested in store exclusives, and which $1,500 "Hot Pink" Minimate exclusive did CSC back, the Hot Pink Agent 88 or the Hot Pink Heavy Metal? Both?

[luke314pi]

Ok I got a few answers from Digger via text. These have been delayed at the factory level because a higher priority was assigned to other DST products. The new release date is early summer. But they are all definitely still coming.

[youbastards]

Thanks for the update, Luke.

[Mattallica]

I think Zach, Chuck, and everybody else at DST are trying to stay as far away from this as they can.

yeah its not them that took our money, and I dont hold them responsible but Its still a DST product, they could at least let us know whats going on.

[UK Collector]

Thanks for letting us know Luke.

[Onyx_6]

Probably Iron Man 3 and Peter Pan took priority. And probably not in that order.

Glad they are still coming.

[Shanester]

Early summer now? Luke, we are never going to see these pal.

[Minimatetastic]

Early summer now? Luke, we are never going to see these pal.

I would think that's the case now. DST's usually very kind to give us information on releases and delays, and Zach hasn't said a word here. I think Digger's making up his own timetables on this one.

[monkeycrumb]

Early summer now? Luke, we are never going to see these pal.

I would think that's the case now. DST's usually very kind to give us information on releases and delays, and Zach hasn't said a word here. I think Digger's making up his own timetables on this one.

To be fair, DST never gave much info on release dates for things like Goth Girl & Chef Duff minimates, but then those were long before Zach joined us here, and they were made under different circumstances. I think this is a situation where nobody from DST *should* get involved, because this is totally Digger's thing and nobody from DST should get dragged down if things go bad with this particular deal.

I don't want to defend Digger here, but Luke's update should be sufficient for those still on board for these. Toy manufacturing has never been something we ever got daily updates on before, and delays are frequently the norm. I really hope everything works out well for you guys. Of course, BHM's statement about the math not working out is concerning, but one would hope that the Kickstarter isn't 100% of the total funding involved here. I just hope nobody here loses their shirt over this deal.

Of course, I'm far more interesting in hearing about Luke's Marvel exclusive set that's been teased a few times

[Minimatetastic]

Why should Luke's update be sufficient when Digger's had multiple release dates for these? First it was October, then December, then late March, now Summer. I'm willing to take one or two changes, but this will be the 4th release date. Let's say "Early Summer" is June, then still 8 months later than we were first promised they would be released.

I wouldn't normally get bent out of shape about a Minimates delay, but considering it was more of a preorder to make them, it should have been more solid.

Good on you if you can still think there isn't something fishy going on here, but I guess I'm a lot more jaded.

[murderofcrows]

it is easy being an armchair quarterback, especially when i didnt invest into this, but if I had, I would think an official statement of "hey thanks again, and dont worry we are going to make these, just not in the original time frame" would help calm my nerves. Not, a text message....

[buttheadsmate]

Call me old-fashioned but I would never take anything too 'serious' from a guy who wears sunglasses on the top of his head.

[monkeycrumb]

I've thought this whole situation unpleasant from the get-go. However, Digger has yet to prove to us that he's Geoff Beckett's Second Coming. If Luke is vouching for him, then I'm saying it's not 100% a lost cause. Ship dates slip *all the time*. We've only had Zach here for a fraction of the time that the Multiverse has been around, and I think we're spoiled on the near-instant updates Zach gives us.

Do I trust Digger? No. Do I think this is being handled poorly? Absolutely. Do I think Digger is lying to Luke? Anything is possible.

But the fact that Luke feels reassured should give you folks a shred of hope. I think this whole situation is "fishy", but I really don't want to see the community get burned, so I'm hoping for the best for you guys. And if it weren't for Luke's update, I'd be encouraging those who paid in to grab their pitchforks and demand some answers. But I prefer to hear it from Luke instead of the shameless self-promoting Digger. I'd rather listen to Luke tell me his grocery shopping list than listen to Digger pitch any of his projects.

I hope everyone comes out okay from this, but consider your passions if throwing money at a snake-oil salesman pitching a demented old lady as a "Wolverine-level assasin" and featuring the convention circuit has-beens including the surly Peter Mayhew who snaps at kids even after they pay him $30 for an autograph sounds like a good investment. It sounds more like an idea even Stan Lee would have rejected, and he's had some real stinkers these past few years.

I'd be happy to take orders now on my new project, Captain Bedsore! He's a 90 year old Jedi-level assassin who gets stronger with every bedsore he develops! He lays in his own filth to increase the size of his bedsores, enabling him greater powers! I'm working on a TV series featuring 3rd Ensign from the left in one episode of classic Star Trek (his elbow appears in the episode "Deadly Years"), and someone who once rode in an elevator with Samuel L Jackson! And Peter Mahew's cane appears on the shelf in the first episode! Or, you could just print out some stickers and customize your own if you really must. Sorry, I know that was just mean, but I feel like no matter what happens, y'all got fleeced! Except for Luke's cool ninjas, which it would have been better it he'd had them unlicensed and didn't have to pay into the Agent 88 concept.

[TM2 Dinobot]

That essentially sums up my feelings quite well.

I've thought this whole situation unpleasant from the get-go. However, Digger has yet to prove to us that he's Geoff Beckett's Second Coming. If Luke is vouching for him, then I'm saying it's not 100% a lost cause. Ship dates slip *all the time*. We've only had Zach here for a fraction of the time that the Multiverse has been around, and I think we're spoiled on the near-instant updates Zach gives us.

Do I trust Digger? No. Do I think this is being handled poorly? Absolutely. Do I think Digger is lying to Luke? Anything is possible.

But the fact that Luke feels reassured should give you folks a shred of hope. I think this whole situation is "fishy", but I really don't want to see the community get burned, so I'm hoping for the best for you guys. And if it weren't for Luke's update, I'd be encouraging those who paid in to grab their pitchforks and demand some answers. But I prefer to hear it from Luke instead of the shameless self-promoting Digger. I'd rather listen to Luke tell me his grocery shopping list than listen to Digger pitch any of his projects.

I hope everyone comes out okay from this, but consider your passions if throwing money at a snake-oil salesman pitching a demented old lady as a "Wolverine-level assasin" and featuring the convention circuit has-beens including the surly Peter Mayhew who snaps at kids even after they pay him $30 for an autograph sounds like a good investment. It sounds more like an idea even Stan Lee would have rejected, and he's had some real stinkers these past few years.

I'd be happy to take orders now on my new project, Captain Bedsore! He's a 90 year old Jedi-level assassin who gets stronger with every bedsore he develops! He lays in his own filth to increase the size of his bedsores, enabling him greater powers! I'm working on a TV series featuring 3rd Ensign from the left in one episode of classic Star Trek (his elbow appears in the episode "Deadly Years"), and someone who once rode in an elevator with Samuel L Jackson! And Peter Mahew's cane appears on the shelf in the first episode! Or, you could just print out some stickers and customize your own if you really must. Sorry, I know that was just mean, but I feel like no matter what happens, y'all got fleeced! Except for Luke's cool ninjas, which it would have been better it he'd had them unlicensed and didn't have to pay into the Agent 88 concept.

[groundhog7s]

I'm not sure if I expect anything out of this or not any more, but I do enjoy hearing people talk badly about Geoff Beckett whenever it happens. It's not really bad-mouthing, it's cautioning others.

Maybe Digger should have done Agent 88 Shockinis instead...

Edited April 1, 2013 by groundhog7s

[Shanester]

I wouldn't say Luke is vouching for anyone. I took it that he was passing along info. Info that I suspect was something to tide us over until the next release date gets made up. I did invest and did it for the Minimates.

[monkeycrumb]

I wouldn't say Luke is vouching for anyone. I took it that he was passing along info. Info that I suspect was something to tide us over until the next release date gets made up. I did invest and did it for the Minimates.

I didn't say Luke was vouching for him, only that he was reassured. If this deal goes south, nobody should hold anything against Luke. I also feel he's just passing along the info.

I guess the simplest way I should put it is if Luke isn't panicing, we should try to refrain as well. (however, on a personal note, I fully expect the new ship date to slip as well!)

[hellpop]

I think we should probably avoid speculating about what Luke's state of mind is in regards to this topic. He did at least get a response from Digger, which is good.

[Nessex]

Wow - not a lot of hope in this thread.

Kickstarter surely has some sort of measures written into it's contracts to see that those who use it make good on the packages they intend to deliver.

I have invested in this one, and i am one of the many here who did it more for the minimates than for anything else. I don't know much about Digger or his past (i think he'd long since left DST by the time i started collecting) - but he's made some promises and i expect him to keep them. Or is that genuinely too much to assume?

[Mattallica]

I found this on the Kickstarter website:

Is a creator legally obligated to fulfill the promises of their project?

Yes. Kickstarter's Terms of Use require creators to fulfill all
rewards of their project or refund any backer whose reward they do not
or cannot fulfill. (This is what creators see before they launch.) We crafted these terms to create
a legal requirement for creators to follow through on their projects,
and to give backers a recourse if they don't. We hope that backers will
consider using this provision only in cases where they feel that a
creator has not made a good faith effort to complete the project and
fulfill.

Edited April 1, 2013 by Mattallica

[Nessex]

yeah - that's what i was talking about. I was sure i'd seen something like that around.

[TM2 Dinobot]

Yeah, but there's no time limit. So if he says "I'm working on it" and shows footage from A88, there's not much legal room to stand on, cause he IS working on what he said. Albeit, not what we want.

[youbastards]

The simple truth is that Digger should be proactively communicating the status of the rewards, delays in production, updates to the Kickstarter project, etc... to ALL of the people that helped fund his project, not just replying to the single person that happens to text him. I couldn't tell you the last email I got regarding the Kickstarter project, but it had to have been months ago.