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DC Minimates


asu928

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CW shows are showing up as DLC for the Lego DC video games. That ship has probably sailed already.

I'm with BHM, sometimes you have to know when to quit.

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  • 1 year later...

Well it’s time again to necro this thread and dream about the possibilities of DC minimates. All over the internets this morning is news that Spinmaster has the “DC boys action” license starting in 2020. Only that part of the DC license not the master license.

There’s also talk the Batman v Aliens line from NECA will now be released with Mattel no longer involved.

Is this the break we’ve been waiting for? Licenses now a days get split up into so many sub-licenses could it actually be possible???? Pleaseeeeee ?

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1 hour ago, DSTZach said:

Lego has DC. Likely why this is not a master toy license. And why Minimates are unlikely.

Which is totally unfair. They don't do anything with it anymore. The first two or three waves of the revamped Super Heroes line was sweet! Core league members and classic villains. Now what do we get? Expensive sets with Batman, Batman and more Batman. Did I mention they only care about releasing Batman? Minimates, while inherently more niche, offer more of the character variety that collectors are looking for. I know I'm not the only fan distressed with the lack of variety Lego has. Most collectors care more about the figures than the bricks themselves. Minimates is a much better investment for those people. The fact that DC doesn't realize that bothers me.

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4 hours ago, NerdyTrev said:

Which is totally unfair. They don't do anything with it anymore. The first two or three waves of the revamped Super Heroes line was sweet! Core league members and classic villains. Now what do we get? Expensive sets with Batman, Batman and more Batman. Did I mention they only care about releasing Batman? Minimates, while inherently more niche, offer more of the character variety that collectors are looking for. I know I'm not the only fan distressed with the lack of variety Lego has. Most collectors care more about the figures than the bricks themselves. Minimates is a much better investment for those people. The fact that DC doesn't realize that bothers me.

Wow. Preach it. This is the primary reason I collect a lot of Lego Star Wars. Sure, some of the builds are nice but the characters are much more valuable and fun to collect. Wish I had a more price effective, small, well-articulated option to divert my attention in the realm of Star Wars; but that's definitely the reason I look to collect Marvel, DC, Lotr, and other minimates instead of the Lego counterparts. And I completely agree that it is frustrating in the DC case that what Lego releases is pretty pitiful nowadays, just rehashed mechs and other various vehicles paired with money-grabbing minifigures. 

Edited by OvenproofBug6
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Still don’t understand how LEGO prevents DC minimates but not Marvel.

And how DST was able to get Gotham because no one wanted it (?) but they can’t/won’t get Young Justice/Titans and other streaming DC shows. Shows that are costumed heroes/villains and Gotham was nothing but civilians when DST produced product. Young Justice itself has a huge chunk of the DC universe in it.  

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You guys seem to be illustrating quite well why Lego wouldn't want DC minimates to come back. As for the difference between DC and Marvel, it's easier to hold back a line that doesn't exist than to cancel a successful one that does. Think Hasbro and Marvel Select.

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I suppose what I'm ultimately getting at is, if Lego wants to focus its energies into only producing Batman related products (which they've done amazingly with in the past), then why should they get the entire DC license? Perhaps something like the TV deal that was made to accommodate Batman being both in his own cartoon and Justice League Unlimited at the same time. Lego can retain the right to produce Batman and Batman universe merchandise and DST can use select Batman characters in the minimates line.

I've thought that a fantastic comeback of DC minimates would be a Challenge of the SuperFriends series. Three waves of a classic (with one or two of the PC SuperFriends) Justice Leaguer paired with some of the most classic foes. God I want that right now. 

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They are using the other characters, just not as much as Batman. In the the 2019 sets they've showed so far Aquaman and Flash are included. Superman, Lobo, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, Firestorm, Cheetah, Cyborg, Reverse Flash, Killer Frost, and OMAC were all in 2018 sets, plus a few others in Lego's impossible to obtain promos. I get that it's not ideal for collectors but for Lego it is ideal to be the only place you can go to get your DC block figure fix and they are no doubt paying handsomely to make that happen. I have no doubt there's some way to work a license so that DST could make DC minimates again but in the end it's probably not worth it to DC if it makes Lego unhappy.

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4 minutes ago, NerdyTrev said:

How many of those sets used Batman as an anchor? I always see dumb Batman vehicles and machines overshadowing the rest of the core DC characters and it bothers me. 

I'd actually love to see the percentage break down for this, because like you I think there is a very very small percentage of sets that don't include Batman. Take away any sets based on properties that never had a Batman appearance in the first place and that percentage gets even smaller

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LEGO is not the same category as Minimates. LEGO has the construction toy category.

Back when nobody had that category, Art Asylum partnered with Play Along and founded C3 just to be able to offer DC Minimates as accessories to the vehicles and playsets. Now LEGO has that category but they're not the ones keeping DST from offering standalone DC Minimates.

The issue is Mattel and Mezco. They both offer 2" poseable DC action figures – Mighty Minis and Mez-itz – for mass and specialty respectively. Ostensibly they each stick to their own market. (They don't.)

Minimates needs to have a category that allows the figures to be sold separately with a minor modification, like a keychain or a hook through the head to make it an ornament. (Both those categories are also taken.) Otherwise we're waiting for a more appropriate category to become available for some reason.

Hard to believe Mezco's line is still doing well with figures that have half the articulation at twice the price. Dang.

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  • 1 month later...

I feel like the Charlie Brown of Minimates..  Every year I get so excited for Toy fair hoping that they will announce the DC license and every year I see DC making so many cool figures that I just don't have space for.

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In the absence of Predator and Alien Minimates ?, I’ll now have a little more disposable income for DCC’s Animated figure line.

Aside from Marvel, there aren’t any other lines of Minimates I’m that interested in collecting. I may pick up a random 2-pack here or there from Luke’s but this looks like it’ll be my lightest year in a very long time. 

You know, unless DST brings back Star Trek or Terminator. 

Edited by MisterPL
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On 2/17/2019 at 9:25 PM, MisterPL said:

You know, unless DST brings back Star Trek or Terminator.  

You really wanted to smack me in the face with that one didn't you. I will just never get a TNG Minimates Crew and will FINALLY have to concede that OG Star Trek is the best Trek.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Once again, the LEGO group holds a monopoly on all things DC and doesn't use it. Batman, Batman and more Batman. They've even done away the "LEGO DC Superheroes" imprint all together and now have gone back to simply labelling them as "LEGO Batman" sets. It doesn't matter if they're including Flash or Aquaman or Captain Marvel in their kits to cash grab on another character's success and popularity, they clearly don't care nor believe in their marketability on their own.

Thus ends another chapter in Trev's Lonesome Lamentations on the Legitimacy of LEGO's. Thank you for indulging me one. last. time. 

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  • 9 months later...
9 hours ago, MisterPL said:

DST knows. We need to convince retailers. If a big box retailer goes to DST and WBCP and says, "Hey, we've been getting a lot of interest in DC Minimates. We want to start stocking them," it'll happen.

Which retailer should we target?

I would think anyone that carries Vinimates would be low hanging fruit as that shows they have a business relationship with DST.

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I'm thinking we should go after retailers with more buying power than FYE (206 stores), BAM (250 stores), Barnes & Noble (627 stores), Best Buy (997 stores). 

Plus, if for any reason these vinyl vendors have had poor sell-through with Vinimates, I wouldn't want that impacting their decision to carry Minimates.

Target has 1,868 stores. Walmart has 4,759. They've carried Minimates in the past.

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3 hours ago, MisterPL said:

I'm thinking we should go after retailers with more buying power than FYE (206 stores), BAM (250 stores), Barnes & Noble (627 stores), Best Buy (997 stores). 

Plus, if for any reason these vinyl vendors have had poor sell-through with Vinimates, I wouldn't want that impacting their decision to carry Minimates.

Target has 1,868 stores. Walmart has 4,759. They've carried Minimates in the past.

Normally I would agree with you but sadly it seems like DST can't get people interested in the line. If I had my druthers Target would be the target.

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