Will Work 4 Mates Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 You know, I see it both ways. The older mates were classic with the simple styles and accessories. Helmet here, chest piece there, etc. But with newer, more detailed designers and ideas, it appears that the line has adapted to making changes to capture the essence of the character (i.e. Leader, Kilowag, etc.), rather than the essence of the block figure style (i.e. promo 2" mates, my personal favorite). I think the newer adaptations are an attempt to expand the toys mass appeal, for the most part, which is good, but there are obviously some people that appreciate the classics. I think of Minimates like this; I compare Symbiote Spidey to a 1961 Lincoln Continental (Isaac Hayes style), and the newer, more detailed mates like a new 2008 Mercedes Benz CL550. Some love classic rides, and some love the new technology. Me, I like them both. Rock On! WW4M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Customizer Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 To me, a perfect minimate that departs from the block figure basic is the new Cylon minimates-they are lots of add-ons attached to a spare block frame, without it being obvious that they are separate pieces. I 2nd that. It was a modification by Antacost and the Cyclon pictures that brought me into the fold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jad Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 I'll chime in here. I think sculpted heads are just fine, as long as they retain the basic cylinder style of the standard head. Two great examples are The Leader and the recent Doc Brown. To me, there's not much difference between a sculpted head and a standard head with a new sculpted hat/hairpiece. ... that is, EXCEPT for the upcoming Salakk, the 4-armed-pterodactyl Green Lantern thing. Now this is a freaky figure to begin with, but here they have just given us a straight up action figure style sculpted head. Along with Clayface, I wish AA would tone it back just enough so that you can recognize a cylindrical head on the figure. Now, I do LIKE these figures, and I'll gladly buy them, I just think the designs are pushing too far away from the block figure style. But even more than the issue of sculpted heads, I am bothered by sculpted torsos. It first started with BSG's sculpted blue uniforms. I always thought this uniform would be better realized as paint apps. Then we get into the second wave of BTTF. I just don't see how black-leather-jacket Marty needs a sculpted chestpiece, or even Future Marty for that matter. When I saw the sculpted muscles on Smart Hulk and the uber-detailed Gorilla Grodd.... well, I just don't know. It's not that I dislike the figures, I just can't reconcile them visually with the entirety of the rest of my collection. Damn me for being so nitpicky! Just look to Star Trek as a new line that has wholly embraced the classic Minimate style, while also providing just enough paint detail to match the modern 'mates. You can easily stand Kirk next to 1st release Spidey or BTTF guys (but not both together!), and nothing looks out of place. Maybe I just need to admit to myself that my beloved Minimates are growing up. Perhaps the days of simple, elegant comic character designs are behind us. Fujis noted the change with the X3 wave (http://minimateheadquarters.com/blog/2007/08/07/disparate-marvels/), and I can't disagree with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Customizer Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Does the Smart Hulk have an actual sculpted torso or is it a sculpted slip pver chest piece accessory? If its a sculpted torso (actual) ....how did i miss this ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omendreamer Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 As far as Gorilla Grodd and Clayface are concerned, my hope is that they will be built in a style at least somewhat similar to the modern Cylon 'mates, with a lot of add-ons to a basic block figure shape. It isn't readily visible on the Cylon 'mates, and for the promo figures made so far in advance they might have simply sculpted them in more solid/attached form for ease's sake. All of Gorilla Grodd's parts, excepting the hands and feet, could be attached to a large scale minimate frame. Clayface could also be this way-I'm assuming the head isn't completely attached to the torso, because if so, they are losing a major point of articulation and making it a lot less fun to play with. These are my hopes anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypno Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Just look to Star Trek as a new line that has wholly embraced the classic Minimate style, while also providing just enough paint detail to match the modern 'mates. You can easily stand Kirk next to 1st release Spidey or BTTF guys (but not both together!), and nothing looks out of place. Probably just me, but I've been skipping the Star Trek Mates because to me they seem a bit bland. I'll admit I'm not really a Trek fan (though I used to watch it as a kid and thought it was pretty good) on the other hand, I've bought all of the BSG mates thus far and have never seen an episode of that show. For me it's the coolness of the toy/the value for my money (in paint and sculpt detail, accessories) that sells me on a line more than the license of the line itself. For the DC mates though I love both the license and the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omendreamer Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Probably just me, but I've been skipping the Star Trek Mates because to me they seem a bit bland. It's not just you. For all that everyone raves about how well the character/actors are conveyed in such a simple manner, to me it's just not that impressive. As someone with only a minor connection to Star Trek, only the "Trouble with Tribbles" Kirk and the Spock character really look like they stepped off the screen (and were then shrunk). The others just don't have enough detail to really interest me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martycc Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 As I sit here looking at my minimate collection ( a modest 40 figures) I look at my favourites, Star Trek, Cap America, Supes, Wonderwoman and Iron Man. All of the traditional style in the basic form. And while I love Kilowog the extra mile bits just made them look overproduced and it really isn't needed. All I know is that I now have a justice league line-up (minus the manhunter) and hawkgirl looks really dumb with that chest piece of hers. I want the old style to come back as standard, with only rare sculpts when really required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecow55 Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 I cant believe anyone is complaining about mates at all after the big drought we had, at one point a fully sculpted mini would have been heaven because there was nothing, but now people sound a lil spoiled because someone thought they might like even more detail, look i like em both ways but i hate when the hair wont stay on some of my mates and i hate when hulk is the same size as spiderman if you can do it simple do it but you need some extra with some charactors, like simple wonderman sucks not done well and apocolypse would look so stupid with out extras so lets just pray that they dont close up the minimate pipeline again any time soon. I love minimates more than you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omendreamer Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 I love minimates more than you! I wouldn't go quite that far. I didn't mean to sound as if I don't love and adore minimates, I'm just trying to provide some constructive critism for them. Overall, I am in awe of the latest batch of minimates, and am head overheels over what is to come. TPTB hopefully won't interpret this thread as a hint to stop the flood anytime soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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