Teams That Would Fit Perfectly In The Current Boxsets

[DSTZach]

I pitched at least one of those!

[buttheadsmate]

At my age it's OK to get confused ....so I always confuse the Serpent Society with the Sons of the Serpent . So ,first of all, I'd love a Serpent Society character or box set 

I'd also love a Sons of the Serpent army builder box set but it aint going to happen . Avengers #32 (1966) was fresh off the stands when I read it ,one of the first Marvel comics I had ever seen or read . Don Heck's artwork just sucked you in & this was dark stuff .....these were the KKK in different hats.   

 

 

 

Edited April 13 by buttheadsmate
sp.

[TheMinimateKing30]

10 hours ago, BuffaloDelorean said:

Maybe Electro, for the fifth slot? He was sort of the catalyst for that team, and he's the last un-updated Sinister Six founder.

Nah. If we're talking teams only, I'd rather it just be the heroes. I agree we need a new classic Electro, tho. The original one is still a beautiful figure, IMO, but as I said above about Torment Spider-Man; you have a better chance of finding a solid gold brick on the goddamn Moon than you do getting that figure for a reasonable price nowadays.

So fucking bogus we're only getting 5 figures a set from now on. At least throw us a bone with a Sinister Six box set or something.

[DSTZach]

1 hour ago, TheMinimateKing30 said:

Nah. If we're talking teams only, I'd rather it just be the heroes. I agree we need a new classic Electro, tho. The original one is still a beautiful figure, IMO, but as I said above about Torment Spider-Man; you have a better chance of finding a solid gold brick on the goddamn Moon than you do getting that figure for a reasonable price nowadays.

So fucking bogus we're only getting 5 figures a set from now on. At least throw us a bone with a Sinister Six box set or something.

The trick with a Six set is you really need to include Spider-Man.

We've released some of the Sinister Six semi-recently, Kraven, Vulture and Mysterio were 2019.

Doc Ock and Sandman were 2014, but we'll see one of those again soon.

Electro I believe we will get in the near future. 

 

[thereasonsy]

On 4/13/2024 at 3:26 PM, AFMcGill said:

The solution to army builders in boxsets is a boxset of exclusively army builders.

Like a S.H.I.E.L.D. themed boxset: with a SHIELD Agent (M and F chest piece), a HYDRA Soldier, an AIM Soldier, a Watchdogs Soldier and an ULTIMATUM Soldier. Or a space boxset with a Kree soldier (pink and blue heads), a Skrull soldier, a shi'ar soldier (M and F chest piece?), a badoon soldier and so on. There there's a bunch of uniforms that allow for this. 2000s era Guardians, a variety of X-Men, Fantastic Four. Sure, some require specific pieces (Star-Lord for example has a unique chest block) whereas others are actually simple add-ons or removals (a hula skirt on top of a female GOTG body for Mantis). Some off the road ones like Bug, Deathcry and Captain Universe could be squeezed into a GOTG boxset like that through alternate pieces for the base GOTG uniform body.

Eh, i hate this thread i started. They changed the format and so all the great suggestions of Thunderbolts, New Warriors, Inhumans... all these 6 figure sets... basically something that felt extremely likely due to fitting the 6-figure format, something like the New Warriors, is now like we're being explicitly told we are probably never going to get them because we're only getting 5 figures. 

I think if people were willing to compromise on one main Warrior being left out it could work across two packs released in the same year. We could do the 5 pack : Kid Nova, Nita, Thrash, Speedball, Firestar and then a fast follow GOTG with Vance (Two chest blocks and two heads), Marty, Yondu, Charlie 27, StarHawk with pieces for Aleta. 

[Chooch]

I love everything about the abovr post.

[NerdyTrev]

On 4/13/2024 at 2:26 PM, AFMcGill said:

Like a S.H.I.E.L.D. themed boxset: with a SHIELD Agent (M and F chest piece), a HYDRA Soldier, an AIM Soldier, a Watchdogs Soldier and an ULTIMATUM Soldier. 

I think a S.H.I.E.L.D. boxset based on the pop-art Steranko designs could be quite successful. Similar to the recent multi-pack Hasbro just did, but taking advantage of the mix-matching feature of such figures.


Nick Fury (in standard blue/white S.H.I.E.L.D. fatigues)
Dum Dum Dugan (in funky orange & yellow)
Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine (in black "Femme Force" attire)
HYDRA Agent
AIM Agent

Packed with alternate heads for Gabriel Jones, Clay Quartermain, James Woo, Sharon Carter, basic Male/Female Agents and filled to the brim with an arsenal of weapons and armor pieces to fill out your ranks. 




I feel like I'm channeling a different franchise here. . .

[TheMinimateKing30]

On 4/13/2024 at 11:08 PM, DSTZach said:

The trick with a Six set is you really need to include Spider-Man.

I'm sorry, but HARD disagree. ESPECIALLY given how many Spider-Man Minimates we've gotten as of late. I imagine most people who collect Minimates have at least ONE figure of the classic Spider-Man suit.

Unless we're talking an Ultimate Six box set, I actually think a regular Sinister Six box set would BENEFIT from a lack of Spider-Man. Just have it be the villains.

The novelty of it being an instant collection of some of Spidey's most notable enemies ALONE, I guarantee, would be an AUTOMATIC lure for people.

[Freaqualizer]

7 hours ago, TheMinimateKing30 said:

I'm sorry, but HARD disagree. ESPECIALLY given how many Spider-Man Minimates we've gotten as of late. I imagine most people who collect Minimates have at least ONE figure of the classic Spider-Man suit.

Unless we're talking an Ultimate Six box set, I actually think a regular Sinister Six box set would BENEFIT from a lack of Spider-Man. Just have it be the villains.

The novelty of it being an instant collection of some of Spidey's most notable enemies ALONE, I guarantee, would be an AUTOMATIC lure for people.

Even though there is a very passionate, dedicated fan base for Minimates, the sets still need to appeal to kids/new collectors. It would be a hard sell for kids to pick up toys that only have villains with no heroes to fight. I don’t know if 10 year old me would’ve been thrilled to only have the baddies with no one to fight; current me who has been buying minimates for almost 20 years would be on board. 
 

I do hope that we will get more outlets for minimates so that we can get more collector themed offerings, while still having the mass appeal offerings to keep the lights on.

[DSTZach]

10 hours ago, TheMinimateKing30 said:

I'm sorry, but HARD disagree. ESPECIALLY given how many Spider-Man Minimates we've gotten as of late. I imagine most people who collect Minimates have at least ONE figure of the classic Spider-Man suit.

Unless we're talking an Ultimate Six box set, I actually think a regular Sinister Six box set would BENEFIT from a lack of Spider-Man. Just have it be the villains.

The novelty of it being an instant collection of some of Spidey's most notable enemies ALONE, I guarantee, would be an AUTOMATIC lure for people.

See above post, casual collectors will want to make Spidey fight the Sinister Six. But since we are now doing five-packs, the point is moot, a six- OR seven-pack would need to be a (more) deluxe release. 

Luke did an all-villains box set, and I'm not sure it was a success for him. And that one had CARNAGE in it. If a box set of JUST B-level Villains was a sure thing, we would have done the Wrecking Crew ages ago. Ironically, with a five-pack, the Wrecking Crew now becomes feasible.

Full disclosure, we've planned a Spidey set for down the road that has Spidey (yes, that Spidey) and some Sinister Six members for him to fight. But just like a Spidey-less Sinister Six set would assume that the collector already has a Spidey, this set will assume that the collector already has other Sinister Six members. But even if they don't, they can still set up battles between the heroes and villains in the set.

[thereasonsy]

10 hours ago, TheMinimateKing30 said:

I'm sorry, but HARD disagree. ESPECIALLY given how many Spider-Man Minimates we've gotten as of late. I imagine most people who collect Minimates have at least ONE figure of the classic Spider-Man suit.

Unless we're talking an Ultimate Six box set, I actually think a regular Sinister Six box set would BENEFIT from a lack of Spider-Man. Just have it be the villains.

The novelty of it being an instant collection of some of Spidey's most notable enemies ALONE, I guarantee, would be an AUTOMATIC lure for people.

It must be the apocalypse… I disagree and we have numbers to prove that Z is right. Look at the Deadly Foes of Spider-Man set that Luke made. That thing was and is a love letter to the line and to fans. It wasn’t an instant success and that was in the prime years. You need an anchor character to get interest from casual fans and new ones. We would need at least two box sets to get all new Sinister Six figures and there would be a Spider-Man in both. Perhaps a battle damaged one.

If the goal is to get an Electro, maybe focusing on a storyline that he’s heavily featured in. Like Untold Tales’ Shock before Shock. We could have Electro, Eel, Spider-Man Ditko, and any other two characters from that run. We could even have Amazing Spider-Man 422-425, The Rose, Electro, Spider-Man, Nate Grey,  and the female Doc Ock. 

 

[NerdyTrev]

1 hour ago, thereasonsy said:

Amazing Spider-Man 422-425, The Rose, Electro, Spider-Man, Nate Grey,  and the female Doc Ock. 

 

This would be my choice. I love those Skroce issues.

[Scorpion]

I think Spider-man should be in a Sinster Six box set. Just so we can get a unique costume. But I don't think we necessarily need an anchor character just so customers can recognize the characters. If Minimates were sold in retail stores like Walmart, Target, and Walgreens, I would get that. But aren't Minimates only sold at online toy websites or comic book stores now, where the customer probably is going to be more familiar with comics.

[thereasonsy]

1 hour ago, Scorpion said:

I think Spider-man should be in a Sinster Six box set. Just so we can get a unique costume. But I don't think we necessarily need an anchor character just so customers can recognize the characters. If Minimates were sold in retail stores like Walmart, Target, and Walgreens, I would get that. But aren't Minimates only sold at online toy websites or comic book stores now, where the customer probably is going to be more familiar with comics.

During the peak time, Deadly Foes, a four pack containing more accessories than a Deluxe Classified, featuring Doc Ock, Carnage, Sandman, and the Lizard  was a peg warmer. So as much as it pains me to say this Z has valid points and I think he’s right. It’s a bitter pill to swallow but the fact is that you need an anchor even for LCS/online. Also, LCS are not in a boom. There’s under 3K in North America if that.  They don’t want to hold on to inventory as that costs them money. They want to quickly sell out and make their profit while moving on to the next thing. The line needs guaranteed hits so I suspect we will always have a redo of a hugely popular figure in every box set go forward. Even Elektra as Daredevil with Bullseye and Kingpin wasn’t enough to get Stride of Pride DD knocked out of the boxset. Unless DST pivots on their crowdfunding positioning or an economic boom occurs the days of Alpha Flight Box Set 1 and 2 are over. At this rate we are lucky to get A con exclusive. 

[buttheadsmate]

I understand the need for a Spider-Man in a SM box set packed with SM villains , I rather think we all do 

I would however have to say that now that we are coming towards our 100th. Spider-Man there are an awful lot of not-so -good versions . Of course there are some superb versions but from a completist's viewpoint not enough .

In a nutshell if Spider-Man is essential then let's have a beauty rather than a beast . 

Regards the 'Deadly Foes' set , I bought many & I wish I'd bought more 

 

 

[thereasonsy]

2 minutes ago, buttheadsmate said:

I understand the need for a Spider-Man in a SM box set packed with SM villains , I rather think we all do 

I would however have to say that now that we are coming towards our 100th. Spider-Man there are an awful lot of not-so -good versions . Of course there are some superb versions but from a completist's viewpoint not enough .

In a nutshell if Spider-Man is essential then let's have a beauty rather than a beast . 

Regards the 'Deadly Foes' set , I bought many & I wish I'd bought more 

 

 

I own 6 lol. And I agree I’ve had my fill of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain America, and Iron Man. At this point I am ready to put them as a set in plastic baggies and donate them to a store.

[buttheadsmate]

Re : Alpha Flight #1 & #2 .......I bought many ....many more when they were discounted ......I wish I hadn't 

[NerdyTrev]

I think that the Spider-Man we're about to get in the next "wave" could be the most definitive since the original from more than twenty years ago! Of course, the final verdict will have to wait until they are in hand. 

I think proximity to other releases is an important, often overlooked factor here. If we're getting ALL these Spider-Men now, then maybe a set of just friends and foes isn't so absurd?

The TRU waves often felt like mismatched assortments of random characters because they were the place the essential figures went that did not otherwise have a home. Why is Fantomex packed with Mr. Negative? Because there wasn't a fifth slot available in the Uncanny X-Force box set! Vindicator and Box exist in a non-Alpha Flight related wave because the two Alpha Flight box sets had just released and it made sense for them to be available concurrently. Same for the Outback versions of Havok and Storm to line up with Series 47. 
 

There isn't a straight answer here. I totally understand why a set of Spider-Man characters without Spider-Man is a total bummer move. However, if there were to be a hypothetical release of solely Spider-Man villains, would it not be beneficial to put on the back of the box advertisements for the other Spider-related minimates? Seems like we're getting TWO in the very near future. That's already ten additional Spider-characters collectors can look out for.

Minimates used to have a "Collect Them All!" mentality (corroborated by the back of older boxes showcasing droves of characters and even saying the words), but now it feels more like "eh, get em if ya see em."

[thereasonsy]

Just now, buttheadsmate said:

Re : Alpha Flight #1 & #2 .......I bought many ....many more when they were discounted ......I wish I hadn't 

Lol I bought so many I put heads on Vindicator/Guardian bodies to give them team uniforms. 

 

20 minutes ago, NerdyTrev said:

I think that the Spider-Man we're about to get in the next "wave" could be the most definitive since the original from more than twenty years ago! Of course, the final verdict will have to wait until they are in hand. 

I think proximity to other releases is an important, often overlooked factor here. If we're getting ALL these Spider-Men now, then maybe a set of just friends and foes isn't so absurd?

The TRU waves often felt like mismatched assortments of random characters because they were the place the essential figures went that did not otherwise have a home. Why is Fantomex packed with Mr. Negative? Because there wasn't a fifth slot available in the Uncanny X-Force box set! Vindicator and Box exist in a non-Alpha Flight related wave because the two Alpha Flight box sets had just released and it made sense for them to be available concurrently. Same for the Outback versions of Havok and Storm to line up with Series 47. 
 

There isn't a straight answer here. I totally understand why a set of Spider-Man characters without Spider-Man is a total bummer move. However, if there were to be a hypothetical release of solely Spider-Man villains, would it not be beneficial to put on the back of the box advertisements for the other Spider-related minimates? Seems like we're getting TWO in the very near future. That's already ten additional Spider-characters collectors can look out for.

Minimates used to have a "Collect Them All!" mentality (corroborated by the back of older boxes showcasing droves of characters and even saying the words), but now it feels more like "eh, get em if ya see em."

I whole heartedly agree with you and grieve TRU often. The reality is we are getting 15 full sized minimates a year (with the 3 smaller characters potentially) so we have to be realistic. I never in my life expected to own a Vindicator action figure I after the ToyBiz one. She’s still a proud possession. So getting a Minimate of Heather was unreal! We really had it good then and hopefully will have it good again. Ideally, if we were stuck in this model of 3 Marvel releases a year I would hope DST started a crowd funded option to drive buzz. For me a four pack Acolytes Vs X-Men that featured a male/female character in both suits with additional heads to make all the Acolytes and maybe parts for larger ones or  more costumes ones like Senyaka paired with the “New X-Men” X uniform that Moonstar was released in as a Marvel Legend would be EPIC. Add in a Green costume Jamie Maddrox with different heads and I’m in heaven. I just don’t think they are open to it if we can’t even get a GI Joe Army Builder Pack. Yes, different companies, different contracts, different yadda. But the message I’m getting is crowd funding is off the table.

[buttheadsmate]

The 'mismatched assortments of random characters' between LCS , TRU Waves & box-sets was contrived & a deliberate marketing decision by DST to encourage collectors to buy from differing sources . 

 

[DSTZach]

3 hours ago, Scorpion said:

I think Spider-man should be in a Sinster Six box set. Just so we can get a unique costume. But I don't think we necessarily need an anchor character just so customers can recognize the characters. If Minimates were sold in retail stores like Walmart, Target, and Walgreens, I would get that. But aren't Minimates only sold at online toy websites or comic book stores now, where the customer probably is going to be more familiar with comics.

We still get casual buyers at comic shops and toy stores, and we still get parents shopping for kids in online stores. But they are certainly not impulse items at checkout anymore, which can affect these things. Either way, we want them to be more accessible, and putting a main character in a set makes it accessible. 

Crowdfunding is not off the table, it was discussed fairly recently. 

And I think BHM will like our next Spidey, it is very detailed.

Edited April 15 by DSTZach

[TheMinimateKing30]

23 hours ago, Freaqualizer said:

Even though there is a very passionate, dedicated fan base for Minimates, the sets still need to appeal to kids/new collectors. It would be a hard sell for kids to pick up toys that only have villains with no heroes to fight. I don’t know if 10 year old me would’ve been thrilled to only have the baddies with no one to fight; current me who has been buying minimates for almost 20 years would be on board. 
 

I do hope that we will get more outlets for minimates so that we can get more collector themed offerings, while still having the mass appeal offerings to keep the lights on.

I completely understand that, but then it really wouldn't be possible at all to get a proper Sinister Six box set. A Sinister Syndicate set, sure. That's doable. But unless Diamond would be willing to bump up the count from 5 to 7 to accommodate Spider-Man, why even bother?

It really does blow how our options are much more limited now.

[TheMinimateKing30]

20 hours ago, DSTZach said:

See above post, casual collectors will want to make Spidey fight the Sinister Six. But since we are now doing five-packs, the point is moot, a six- OR seven-pack would need to be a (more) deluxe release. 

Luke did an all-villains box set, and I'm not sure it was a success for him. And that one had CARNAGE in it. If a box set of JUST B-level Villains was a sure thing, we would have done the Wrecking Crew ages ago. Ironically, with a five-pack, the Wrecking Crew now becomes feasible.

Full disclosure, we've planned a Spidey set for down the road that has Spidey (yes, that Spidey) and some Sinister Six members for him to fight. But just like a Spidey-less Sinister Six set would assume that the collector already has a Spidey, this set will assume that the collector already has other Sinister Six members. But even if they don't, they can still set up battles between the heroes and villains in the set.

Definitely a fair point. Releasing a set including Spider-Man and Sinister Six members without it being the whole team probably does benefit from the fact that we still have those fairly-new releases of Kraven and Vulture from a couple years ago that are still relatively cheap.

On the point of it being a deluxe set, tho... maybe make it a Comic-Con exclusive box set? IDK. It's just an idea. I feel that it might create more of a lure for collectors if it were an exclusive, and one of figures that everybody actually wants. But then again, I don't work in the toy industry, so I could be wrong on that.

Like I said; it just feels like a wasted opportunity with the format since it rules out the possibility of us getting a lot of teams instantly without having to buy two-packs individually. Just have all the members right up front. That's the main reason I got the Fantastic Four box set, was so I didn't have to buy separate two-packs just to complete my set of the team like I had to do with the TRU wave 8 Fantastic Four.

I get that marketing has to be taken into account, but yeah. That's just my two-cents on it. I understand that the appeal of an instant fight between hero and villain will always be a primary lure for any Minimates set, tho.

[TheMinimateKing30]

20 hours ago, thereasonsy said:

It must be the apocalypse… I disagree and we have numbers to prove that Z is right. Look at the Deadly Foes of Spider-Man set that Luke made. That thing was and is a love letter to the line and to fans. It wasn’t an instant success and that was in the prime years. You need an anchor character to get interest from casual fans and new ones. We would need at least two box sets to get all new Sinister Six figures and there would be a Spider-Man in both. Perhaps a battle damaged one.

If the goal is to get an Electro, maybe focusing on a storyline that he’s heavily featured in. Like Untold Tales’ Shock before Shock. We could have Electro, Eel, Spider-Man Ditko, and any other two characters from that run. We could even have Amazing Spider-Man 422-425, The Rose, Electro, Spider-Man, Nate Grey,  and the female Doc Ock. 

 

Oh, God, not a Battle-Damaged Spider-Man. That's giving me MAD Friends and Foes box set flashbacks 💀

Honestly, the goal is to not only get a new Electro, but just get new looks for most of the classic villains that don't rely on the animated stuff to do so. I cannot BEGIN to describe to you how EXHAUSTED I am in seeing the classic Green Goblin design in the comic book releases and ONLY that version. A Marvel Knights or Thunderbolts Goblin, IMO, would go HARD. Hell, I'd take a Final Chapter-styled Green Goblin if it meant we had just a BRIEF break from the classic design.

[BuffaloDelorean]

As a Thunderbolts fan, a Sinister Syndicate set would be pretty great, and the Wrecking Crew with a better classic Thor also seems like it'd be a good fit for this format.