Barry’s Blueprints of Hits and Heartbreak

[murderofcrows]

@Lobsterman 

should you ever decide to sell these please let me know, as i will need time to find chinese organ thieves to start selling kidneys to

 

[nandoninny]

damn!  those muppets!  and the spongebob ones look great! 

[Padrino]

On 9/2/2025 at 6:46 PM, cylonchaney said:

Maybe I'm dating myself here, but if Catwoman is going to make you a Batman fan, that Catwoman should be Julie Newmar. 😍 LOL I hope at least BHM is with me.

I love Michelle Pfeiffer, but she's my least favourite Catwoman to play the role.

https://www.cbr.com/thread/which-version-of-catwoman-truly-defines-the-character/

how timely this conversation is, lol

[Barry]

Here's the unused Wave 2 SpongeBob designs, plus some others from Wave 1 that were cancelled.  I believe all of these, except maybe the Jellyfishing SpongeBob, made it to factory prototypes.

Edited September 11, 2025 by Barry
Added Gary

[buttheadsmate]

That's a cute bunch of Minimates which IMHO would have sold well ........except perhaps 'Gary' ,sales would have been...er... sluggish   SORRY!

Seriously ...I have little idea of Spongebob etc. , I bought them (2015) & as I said they were cute but I'm guessing they didn't shell well ?  Just can't help myself .

 

 

Edited September 11, 2025 by buttheadsmate

[cylonchaney]

1 minute ago, buttheadsmate said:

except perhaps 'Gary' ,sales would have been...er... sluggish   SORRY!

Kind of a slimy thing to say.

[NerdyTrev]

20 hours ago, buttheadsmate said:

Seriously ...I have little idea of Spongebob etc. , I bought them (2015) & as I said they were cute but I'm guessing they didn't shell well ?  Just can't help myself .

Your comments put me all at sea.

[thereasonsy]

35 minutes ago, NerdyTrev said:

Your comments put me all at sea.

I’m just soaking them all up. 

[cylonchaney]

bhm is a little salty that the line didn't last longer. But if it had, he'd be drowning in waves of Sponge Bob mates.

(Barry, if you're not aware, we often sink to the level of punny replies around here.)

[buttheadsmate]

I've said it before (& this bit is serious) when I run out of superlatives for amazing pieces of work, such as Barry's SpongeBob Minimates , my mind descends into a pun-pit .

That's the serious bit over .

 

I am a little shellfish . 

[Barry]

X-Files Wave 2:

[Padrino]

Love these! That alien is 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[Padrino]

Hi Barry,

Did you work on the Alpha Flight set? Were there any unreleased figures from that set (i.e., Talisman, Diamond Lil)? 

Also, in the Infinity War set, was that Tony/Iron Man using magic? Man, I have to look into the rewrites on that movie!

[buttheadsmate]

Anything 'X-Files' gladdens my heart & as a Minimate fan these are great to see.   A comparison to the X-Files palz is still inevitable  ( for me )  & these designs are worthy rivals ....either way " I want to believe " that the Minimate releases were just ill-timed ?     

 

[Barry]

17 hours ago, Padrino said:

Did you work on the Alpha Flight set? Were there any unreleased figures from that set (i.e., Talisman, Diamond Lil)? 

Also, in the Infinity War set, was that Tony/Iron Man using magic? Man, I have to look into the rewrites on that movie!

I did work on Alpha Flight, but there were no unused designs.  It was specifically designed for 2 box sets with a TRU 2pk.

For Infinity War, my only understanding of it was somehow Strange got the armour and Tony got the cape, and that it would be toyetic.  You can see concept art and descriptions of it online from a number of different sources.  (I triple-checked that I was not revealing anything that wasn't already known.  Hot Toys did make Strange, so it's pretty known I would say!)

I will reveal this, since it was my design and my decision for the Minimate:  If you look closely at Tony’s camo, it’s actually made up of the letters S, T, A, R, and K.  Studios usually request generic camouflage patterns on products because real patterns are owned by the government.  I thought it would be more fun (and more Tony-specific) to create a custom design instead of the usual generic blobs.

 

16 hours ago, buttheadsmate said:

Anything 'X-Files' gladdens my heart & as a Minimate fan these are great to see.   A comparison to the X-Files palz is still inevitable  ( for me )  & these designs are worthy rivals ....either way " I want to believe " that the Minimate releases were just ill-timed ?

Thank you!  

In today’s market, every license has a brief sweet spot when interest peaks and everyone’s talking about it.  Once that moment passes, attention quickly shifts to the next big trend making product launch timing a real challenge.  We used to be able to stay relevant by aligning with big home-media releases six to nine months later, but that window has now shrunk to just a month after initial release making our timing nearly impossible.

Ideally you can still tap into nostalgia over the long term, but even that’s tricky.  Some properties have fan bases whose demographics aren’t as interested in collectibles anymore.  They might tune in for a revival media event but not stay long enough to fully reconnect with the original property.  With the way people consume media now finding that sweet spot to release the right product is harder than ever.

Edited September 16, 2025 by Barry

[Shanester]

That Stark camo is genius!

[hellpop]

Barry, apologies if someone asked this and I missed it, but...

DC Minimates. Did we ever come close to a revival? I know you showed off a couple of DC movie 'mate designs, but what about the comics?

[Barry]

2 hours ago, hellpop said:

Barry, apologies if someone asked this and I missed it, but...

DC Minimates. Did we ever come close to a revival? I know you showed off a couple of DC movie 'mate designs, but what about the comics?

There was never a revival or a “new Wave 1” potential years later that I am aware of.  If anything was discussed, it was beyond my knowledge.  The four Dark Knight ones were the only DC-thing designed as a pitch, not counting DC-adjacent properties like Watchmen or iZombie.

After Wave 8 someone outside of AA, (and to be very clear here I don’t know who it was), pitched the idea of making more waves by recycling existing art to cobble together new characters.  Not just reused parts waves, but cutting together ALL art, like character A's eyes plus character B's mouth equals character C.  The goal was to avoid hiring the regular team of artists so they wouldn’t have to pay us for new work.  The idea that someone thought they could successfully pitch to a group of artists that they can easily be replaced is definitely... a choice.  Unsurprisingly, the idea never went forward and I don’t consider these “lost waves” or official designs.

It may not have resulted in more DC, but it did change how I handled my work.  I had only been at the company a few months when I realized some people considered me replaceable by someone with basic knowledge of Photoshop’s Edit menu.  From then on, I retained control of my full-sized and layered source files, only selling flattened, downsized, lower-res images.

As a side note, there were unused C3 character designs from before my time from comic books, Justice League / JL Unlimited, and Batman Begins.  Some of these are known, but more designs exist beyond what’s been shown, but all of these were shelved long before DC Waves 1 through 8 were produced.

[thereasonsy]

On 9/15/2025 at 5:07 PM, Padrino said:

Hi Barry,

Did you work on the Alpha Flight set? Were there any unreleased figures from that set (i.e., Talisman, Diamond Lil)? 

Also, in the Infinity War set, was that Tony/Iron Man using magic? Man, I have to look into the rewrites on that movie!

I’ve been working on a decal for Diamond Lil for about 6 months now and she’s a tough one to crack. May just stick to her Trisha look because of this. 😂

 

7 hours ago, Shanester said:

That Stark camo is genius!

It’s so freaking good. @Barry has done it again. 

[Padrino]

7 hours ago, Shanester said:

That Stark camo is genius!

absolutely! 

[hellpop]

On 9/16/2025 at 2:33 PM, Barry said:

There was never a revival or a “new Wave 1” potential years later that I am aware of.  If anything was discussed, it was beyond my knowledge.  The four Dark Knight ones were the only DC-thing designed as a pitch, not counting DC-adjacent properties like Watchmen or iZombie.

After Wave 8 someone outside of AA, (and to be very clear here I don’t know who it was), pitched the idea of making more waves by recycling existing art to cobble together new characters.  Not just reused parts waves, but cutting together ALL art, like character A's eyes plus character B's mouth equals character C.  The goal was to avoid hiring the regular team of artists so they wouldn’t have to pay us for new work.  The idea that someone thought they could successfully pitch to a group of artists that they can easily be replaced is definitely... a choice.  Unsurprisingly, the idea never went forward and I don’t consider these “lost waves” or official designs.

It may not have resulted in more DC, but it did change how I handled my work.  I had only been at the company a few months when I realized some people considered me replaceable by someone with basic knowledge of Photoshop’s Edit menu.  From then on, I retained control of my full-sized and layered source files, only selling flattened, downsized, lower-res images.

As a side note, there were unused C3 character designs from before my time from comic books, Justice League / JL Unlimited, and Batman Begins.  Some of these are known, but more designs exist beyond what’s been shown, but all of these were shelved long before DC Waves 1 through 8 were produced.

Thanks for all that detail! That clipart description is exactly how I used to make decals. 😬

[cylonchaney]

On 9/17/2025 at 11:55 AM, hellpop said:

Thanks for all that detail! That clipart description is exactly how I used to make decals. 😬

How I still do. LOL

[Barry]

LOL, no worries if that's how you make decals, since those wouldn't cost me my job.  (Unless that's currently why I'm unemployed...  Hmmm...)  🤔

[funkguerilla]

Barry, long time listener, first time caller:

I love all the work you've shared with us, it's as exciting as it is heartbreaking to see all the designs that never got past the concept phase.  I have two questions:

1- What's more challenging: Designing a fresh, never-made minimate (like, say Black Tom Cassidy) or finding a fresh take on an overly-made mate (like Spider-man)?

2- Were there any designs that you had to fight for?  Like, ones that you had to push for against general corporate hemming and hawing. 

 

Anyway, love seeing your stuff and I hope your stay in the unemployment void is short-lived. 

[cylonchaney]

52 minutes ago, Barry said:

LOL, no worries if that's how you make decals, since those wouldn't cost me my job.  (Unless that's currently why I'm unemployed...  Hmmm...)  🤔

My crap is not putting anyone out of work. LOL