fwoosheyman Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 So now Star Trek & BSG are being added to the pile of minimate lines that ended early (DC, LOTR, Street Fighter, Rocky & 24) while Marvel Minimates is still going strong and approaching wave 30. what is it about marvel minimates that allows it to succeed while the other lines fizzle out quickly. Is it the popularity of the marvel universe itself? good character selection by DST/AA? Are the minimates themselves just better than the other lines? Is it a combination of these reasons or something else? what do you think??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massivecarnage Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Well, I guess it's because of how much Marvel merchandise, characters, and shows and movies they've make since the 1960's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trekker 42 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Well first off, DC Minimates never "Failed" per-se. They were a highly popular line with many of the waves selling out quickly. DC Direct did not believe they were worth producing in comparison to their other sources of revenue. The others, well, Marvel has a MUCH larger fan base than Star Trek, BSG, Rocky, or 24. I mean, how many Rocky fans go into comic stores or go to nerd shopping websites. Not enough to keep the line alive obviously. Rocky would have done MUCH better in mass market where the series fans can see them. Also, not many comic stores seem to get minimates that are not related to comics or some Sci-Fi, depressingly enough. So that kills Rocky and 24. Star Trek has a smaller fanbase and a lot of figures to produce. It is IMPOSSIBLE to give a Trekker every toy he wants. I am a big fan of TNG and TOS, and if the line focuses too much on another series, I do not get the figures, plain and simple. I bought the first four series, but never got the fifth nor do I plan to. I do not like DS9 and I don't care much for ST:TMP. So I do not buy that series. But there are Trekkers out there who absolutely love DS9 but believe that Voyager or TNG is a load of horse kidneys. They did not buy the last series unless they like TOS. So Star Trek's sheer scope and the pickiness of the fans probably killed it off. BSG. The show is over and the props are going on Ebay. As shown by pretty much every site having them on clearance, they haven't been selling like hotcakes. I don't know enough about the show to say why it's not selling, so I'll leave this to someone else. LOTR: The first set came out right as the last movie came into theaters. After that, the interest wasn't there. I LOVED the LOTR mates, they're some of the best designs AND they gave us the 2.5 inch Minimate. So what's not to like? But poor timing killed this line. Street Fighter: I don't know enough about it to comment. I'll let someone else do this too. Speed Racer (AHA! One you forgot) The vehicles were rather awful and Speed Racer's movie tanked (though I rather liked it.) But the movie has very little to do with the mates. It just made it definate that the line would never come back But Marvel. Marvel has a ton of fans with characters everyone knows and great company support (unlike DC). Marvel has fans in the main market for Minimates: Local Comic Shops. And Marvel has some of the best designed and colorful minimates out there. Marvel is a recipie for success my friends and THAT'S why it's hitting 30. Make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystery Man Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 I agree. I think DC could still be doing just as well as Marvel has been but decided that the trouble wasn't worth it. Which is too bad for us and too bad for them. We'd be happy and they'd have our money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nessex Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Something that i feel may have helped the popularity of DC 'Mates would be to theme the waves like Marvel have sometimes done. A Batman wave; a Green Lantern wave; a Teen Titans wave, etc. . . I never really felt compelled to 'collect' a whole wave, because each wave was just a bunch of random characters thrown in together. I know Marvel didn't give every-wave a theme, but when they do, i find it hard to pick and choose from the wave because they all 'go together'. Also - I think we could have used a few more core villains and heroes before we started seeing 'Battle damage Superman' & 'Battle Damaged Wonderwoman'. Where was Poison Ivy? Superboy? Mr Freeze? Doomsday? Donna Troy? Beast Boy? Two Face? etc. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdubya Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 I believe the primary reason is "support". Comics appeal to all ages, have a built-in fan-base (spanning over 50 years), are always available, and are constantly changing with the times (Marvel more-so than their main competitor). Comic stores feel a bit safer carrying lines that tie-in with their "bread-n-butter" (that being, of course, comics). Marvel has had a big boon with the success of their movies drawing fans that were not previously purchasing comics and has many recognizable characters. The past few years have been super-hero saturated (Hell, even fashion was taking cues!) and lines like Marvel Minimates have reaped the benefits. 'Nuff said! With all that said, I still believe that DC 'mates could have had as much longevity with the right support and management (yeah, I'm glaring at you Brewer!). Minimates biggest set-back has always been marketing/advertising (even with Marvel), but Marvel 'mates have survived due to the support and built-in fan-base of comic stores. Without this (and Diamond Previews), people would not even know that these exist (unless they were aware of this web-site, of course! ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinimateEspo25 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 constantly changing with the times (Marvel more-so than their main competitor). believe me, from my end, its the same old crap again and again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 (edited) Marvel Minimates succeed because of each Minimate character's ability to be recognised immediately by the people that follow the brand whether it be the comics or latterly the films. Edited January 20, 2009 by buttheadsmate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypno Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Going foward I'm having a hard time thinking of a license that will last as long as Marvel has. DC certainly has a strong chance to if the DC folks will ever make the license available. And Star Wars would be huge. Other than those I think we're just going to see a bunch of lines that creep along with just a series/boxset or two to their names. Very few properties have the characters or fan base to support multiple series. For every unexpected hit like BSG, there will be several lines like 24 or Rocky that just don't take off. I'm still supprised that the third Rocky set never made it out. Man that was a cool boxset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dio Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 No one can stop the Apocalypse! HE IS ETERNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndieMate Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 (edited) I think the main problem with 24 and Rocky was that it was all civillian characters. People want superheroes, not regular people. Expeccially with kids, what can you really do with a Jack Bauer figure? Spiderman and Wolverine can beat the crap out of each other, but a couple businessmen with guns can't do much. The problem with SF2 was too many variants of characters and not enough new characters. I don't really count Speed Racer as a line, since it only had 2 crappy figures. DC didn't have enough main characters and too many obscure characters. Star Trek just had too many Spocks and Kirks. How about some really crazy aliens? The only one I don't understand is BSG. That was a great line. :six: R.I.P. BSG 'mates Edited January 22, 2009 by Iowa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 So if DST could get away with adding Logan in a Starfleet uniform to the Trek line and a Spidey as a Cylon to BSG, we'd be golden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyd Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 So if DST could get away with adding Logan in a Starfleet uniform to the Trek line and a Spidey as a Cylon to BSG, we'd be golden. Well, it does work for Barbie... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthRaider Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Sheesh, first the Star Trek thread and now this? This is turning into the Barbie Multiverse... Oh, and, uh, Marvel rulz! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 (edited) Spyderlon, Spyderlon, He can do whatever a... ah, screw it. I think Marvel Minimates have succeeded because it is a diverse line that can be pretty easily marketed to Specialty Stores and Mainstream stores. Everybody in the world knows Wolverine, Spiderman, Captain America, the Hulk, and Iron Man. Frequently repeating these characters to please newcomers/casual buyers and adding in more obscure characters for the comic enthusiasts pretty much insures the line can sell anywhere. DC SHOULD have done so well, but C3 couldn't compete with other building toys and DCD seems to have the strategic thinking of a developmentally-challenged goat statue sculpted out of dog poo. With Star Trek, I think it could have lasted a little longer with a strategy other than multiple Kirk and/or Spocks per wave. Also I think it was a mistake to release the entire TOS bridge crew within the first two waves. DST kind of blew their load a little too early. That would have been ok if they had then started to seriously incorporate other series, but they didn't. Just more Kirk and Spock. Oh, and a variant of old man Scotty. That's exciting. Poor planning yields not too much excitement after those first couple of waves. At least on my part. I love that Picard and Borg, though. I need to pick that up. BSG I think may have died because of a timing error. If BSG wasn't quite living up to sales expectations, it probably was not a good idea to push THREE items (Boxset and 2 Waves) that would all hit retail relatively close to each other. If a retailer was willing to buy (and I'm just making up numbers now) 10 BSG units, it will now only buy three of each. Three isn't as much as ten, and suddenly the whole thing is not worth doing. A line should NEVER be competing with itself, and I think these final waves would have been. I also think Razor mates were a bit of a waste. Edited January 22, 2009 by Turtle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyd Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Spyderlon, Spyderlon, He can do whatever a... ah, screw it. Great, now I have the Spider-Man theme song stuck in my head. And a deep sense of curiosity at wondering what a Spider-Man Cylon would look like... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shup Dude Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Spyderlon, Spyderlon, He can do whatever a... ah, screw it. Great, now I have the Spider-Man theme song stuck in my head. And a deep sense of curiosity at wondering what a Spider-Man Cylon would look like... Do I smell a custom? ...well, it would be cool to see a custom, at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mav-man Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Part of the reason they do better is probably because they use the same parts & pieces over and over in different waves...which I am not a fan of. A couple times, ok... but seriously, how many times have a few of those hairpieces been used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rheul Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Is it the popularity of the marvel universe itself? good character selection by DST/AA? Are the minimates themselves just better than the other lines? Is it a combination of these reasons Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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