Barry’s Blueprints of Hits and Heartbreak

[THE_CRIPPLER]

Barry was there ever talk about the mandibles on the Predators being sculpted instead of tampos? I love my Predator minimates, but think they would have looked so much cooler with sculpted mandibles.

[Barry]

On 8/28/2025 at 11:40 PM, Trekker 42 said:

Seeing those prototypes of Shane’s reminded me of the one Minimate prototype I’d get if I could. 

We were almost there. We almost had all the big ones…

I think I might have that somewhere.  Again, I have to dig things out at some point.

 

On 8/29/2025 at 1:08 AM, THE_CRIPPLER said:

Barry was there ever talk about the mandibles on the Predators being sculpted instead of tampos? I love my Predator minimates, but think they would have looked so much cooler with sculpted mandibles.

It was originally designed that way but not used.  There were concerns about tampo placement around the sculpted elements.  Using artwork for the face instead let us reuse the same head across multiple versions of the character as well.

Also, the shape of the mandibles would have most likely required the mouth area to be a separate piece.  If a part has an undercut, it can’t be pulled straight out from a mold, so it must be separated and glued together. For example, a hair piece with a ponytail that's not flush with the rest of the hair would need to be made in two parts.  So a tampo printed face only required one piece whereas a sculpted mouth area would have resulted in three - the head with the closed mouth, the head with the open mouth, and the open mouth itself.

[Barry]

Ant-Man and the Wasp:

[Padrino]

We almost had a Michelle Pfeiffer minimate?!?!?!

[Trekker 42]

Oh that Janet rules. 
I must admit I’m not too bothered by the lack of Scott’s Friends. Honestly Ant Man and the Wasp hit a lot of the important characters in that one box set. Janet would’ve made for a perfect run. 
Also @Barry if you’re not too attached to that Invisible Man…

Edited September 2, 2025 by Trekker 42

[cylonchaney]

Here is a great compliment to your talent Barry. I never saw Antman and the Wasp. Scrolling through the pics, I thought, wow that really looks like Walton Goggins. I looked up the movie and see that he played a character wearing that same tie. I was able to recognize the actor as a Minimate without knowing it was him in advance! Nice work.

[buttheadsmate]

I enjoyed the Ant-Man 'mates that made it to the market & those beauties would have complemented them .   

In one of my more bizarre moments ,once I'd seen the movie, I sourced & bought several  Hello Kitty Pez candy dispensers.  Bizarre ,of course, but I can tell you this ,that HK Pez* candy dispenser displayed next to an Ant-Man Minimate is priceless.

* there are many versions of a Hello Kitty Pez candy dispenser , finding the one featured in the movie is no longer that easy .

-buttatethecandymate 

[Barry]

4 hours ago, Padrino said:

We almost had a Michelle Pfeiffer minimate?!?!?!

Yeah...

At least I was able to get my Catwoman Vinimate of her.  She's the primary reason why I became a huge Batman fan.

 

2 hours ago, Trekker 42 said:

Also @Barry if you’re not too attached to that Invisible Man…

I've been struggling with figuring out just how attached I am to all of my samples.  Not really sure that band-aid can be ripped off right now, but as I'm still unemployed it might have to be.

 

1 hour ago, cylonchaney said:

I was able to recognize the actor as a Minimate without knowing it was him in advance! Nice work.

Thank you!  It was not always easy to get characters looking like actors with little detail.  Somewhat related, I know it was a sticking point to some that movie characters didn't have much in the way of facial expressions, but neutral faces were MUCH easier to get approved.

 

1 hour ago, buttheadsmate said:

In one of my more bizarre moments ,once I'd seen the movie, I sourced & bought several  Hello Kitty Pez candy dispensers.

That's the best thing about any Ant-Man collectible -they're all 1-to-1 scale.

[hellpop]

2 hours ago, cylonchaney said:

Here is a great compliment to your talent Barry. I never saw Antman and the Wasp. Scrolling through the pics, I thought, wow that really looks like Walton Goggins. I looked up the movie and see that he played a character wearing that same tie. I was able to recognize the actor as a Minimate without knowing it was him in advance! Nice work.

Would have been perfect for my Justified customs....😢

[hellpop]

On 8/28/2025 at 11:40 PM, Trekker 42 said:

Seeing those prototypes of Shane’s reminded me of the one Minimate prototype I’d get if I could. 

We were almost there. We almost had all the big ones…

Yeah that one was a real shame. I had plans for extra ones too.

My "one that got away" will always be the comics Spirit set. I think I cried the day they were cancelled.

[Padrino]

2 hours ago, Barry said:

She's the primary reason why I became a huge Batman fan.

Same!

[buttheadsmate]

 

[FightTheDead118]

Damn we almost got a Walton Goggins minimate? We could have finally finished the Predators cast! How were those supposed to be related? Walgreens or TRU wave alongside the boxset or something?

[cylonchaney]

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.

[Padrino]

5 minutes ago, 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.

Julie Newmar is certainly a standout. I saw her once at NYCC maybe 15 years ago and she was absolutely stunning. 

I did like Eartha Kitt's voice a lot as Catwoman. It was the rolling "R's" for me.

Michelle's Pfeiffer's take was a total reimagining and I thought was pretty fantastic. And I had a huuuuuge crush on her from the Fabulous Baker Boys.

[TBT!]

Oh Wow, this is a really cool thread! - It's cool to see you sharing some inside baseball Barry.

T.

[Chooch]

If we only ever get 1 Walton Goggins Minimate I want Uncle Baby Billy.

[cylonchaney]

25 minutes ago, Chooch said:

If we only ever get 1 Walton Goggins Minimate I want Uncle Baby Billy.

No more misbehavin' from you Chooch.  

[THE_CRIPPLER]

7 hours ago, TBT! said:

Oh Wow, this is a really cool thread! - It's cool to see you sharing some inside baseball Barry.

T.

Hey TBT. I was just wondering the other day if you still lurked around on here. I don't think I have seen you post anything in years. You had some cool customs back in the early days of minimates. Glad to see that you are still around.

[buttheadsmate]

10 hours ago, 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.

Julie Newmar  meant quite a lot to an 11 year old in 1966 but Michelle Pfeiffer meant a whole lot more to a 37 year old in 1992.   The Batman TV series coincided with me reading my first ever US Marvel comic , good times .

[Barry]

I'd argue that, to some degrees, you can't go wrong with any of the live-action Catwomen.  (Even the disaster that was Patience Phillips was realized through Halle Berry's oiled-up abs.)

 

15 hours ago, FightTheDead118 said:

How were those supposed to be related? Walgreens or TRU wave alongside the boxset or something?

The breakdown was:

Walgreens:  Ant-Man & Ghost, Wasp & Bill Foster, Flashback Ant-Man & Flashback Wasp, Luis & Roommate Ant

TRU: Ant-Man & Ghost, Wasp & Bill Foster, Scott Lang & Flying Ant

Specialty:  Ant-Man, Ghost, Sonny Burch, Quantum Realm Hank Pym

Exclusive:  Stealth Ant-Man & Janet Van Dyne (not designed)

 

 

14 hours ago, TBT! said:

Oh Wow, this is a really cool thread! - It's cool to see you sharing some inside baseball Barry.

I'm glad I'm able to share, but I do wish it was under better circumstances.  Good to see you here!

[Chooch]

14 hours ago, cylonchaney said:

No more misbehavin' from you Chooch.  

Sometimes when I'm by myself I'll just say out loud, "Baby Billy's... Bible Bonkers."

[Trekker 42]

Oh right I forgot to ask this.

@Barry what about the rest of the Universal Monsters? The little prototype said there was to be a boxset for Invisible Man. Was it designed? And were Phantom or Jekyll going to happen? Universal Monsters was damn near complete I'd say as far as the monsters go (though a set based on The Creature Walks Among Us could've been fun) despite missing a few key humans. (Praetorius, Igor, Fritz, Harker, Seward, Lucy, John Talbot, etc.) I'd love to know what was supposed to happen with that line once the last major Universal Monsters got sets.

Edited September 3, 2025 by Trekker 42

[buttheadsmate]

The UM line, for me, had its highs & lows , the highest point was Dracula which is amongst my most favourite Minimates. The Sarcophagus was also amazing & the line was generally excellent . The low points were ,as usual IMHO, the black & white versions . I totally understand the commercial reasoning but seriously ?   Interesting that Medicom produced 14 UM characters whilst 31 UM Minimates were released , there were 2 Invisible Man variants , a Quasimodo* , a Mole Man & a Metaluna Mutant . 

No Invisible Man Minimate was transparently an error.

* I'm never quite sure whether Quasimodo is considered to be the same character as the Phantom ?

[cylonchaney]

41 minutes ago, Trekker 42 said:

Oh right I forgot to ask this.

@Barry what about the rest of the Universal Monsters? The little prototype said there was to be a boxset for Invisible Man. Was it designed? And were Phantom or Jekyll going to happen? Universal Monsters was damn near complete I'd say as far as the monsters go (though a set based on The Creature Walks Among Us could've been fun) despite missing a few key humans. (Praetorius, Igor, Fritz, Harker, Seward, Lucy, John Talbot, etc.) I'd love to know what was supposed to happen with that line once the last major Universal Monsters got sets.

Knowing DST,

• "Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein" Frankenstein
• Battle Damaged Wolfman
• Visible Invisible Man
• Phasing Invisible Man
• etc.

 

I have to say, I did love the angry villager with pitch fork and torch.