Battle Beasts Minimates

[Lobsterman]

Dang. I just dug some of my old Battle Beasts out of storage, and now I'm starting to poke around on eBay...

Anyone else getting the itch?

[buttheadsmate]

I lost out on a Battle Beasts lot a week or so ago....it was for the best.

[Lobsterman]

Between Minimates and Hasbro Squads, I seriously cannot afford another obsession...

[Cappy]

I don't care enough to register and post on LRG, but I find it interesting how much debate, prophecy and bad karma is being generated from a single beta concept figure that hasn't even been officially labeled a Battle Beast. These guys have no idea what DST plans on doing with the license. Sure, the company said there are 'mates being planned, but that doesn't mean DST won't generate other figures. Again: a awful lot of crap flying around based on no concrete plans. Bad karma, kids, don't get sucked into it.

As for bulkier arms, I can understand desire for the beefier characters. (Meaning the current arms are fine for joe standard human.) To visualize, snap a pair of legs onto a 'mate instead of arms. Trim that down a bit, add fists the size of Thing hands... sweet and simple upgrade for Hulk, Ares, any armored figure.

[sylvain]

As a long time BB collector I have to say that I really like the new Minimate Gator figure I have seen so far. I certainly am a minority in the BB collectors group but this group is already a minority. Look at the poll LRG has about the re-release. Just 20 members have entered their vote. This is enough for me to be able to say that a new line with hardcore BB collectors in target is not a good move and will certainly be a failure. So I think that the DST move (Minimated BB) is a very good idea. The Minimates line is still here after years. With this new BB DST's target is bigger than just releasing figures with the old vintage look. Look around the net and you will see plenty of positive feedback after the SDCC. The only complaint that really should bother DST is the lack of secret symbol. I hope they will ear this one and add such a gimmick in the new line. Even a simple one like a sticker on the torso hidden under the armor would be great.

PS: The reaction of the majority at the LRG board is a well known reaction and as a name in the Transformer Universe. They are the BB's GEEWUNNERS

[EricM]

I had a few of these as a kid. I remember the one that was my favorite was a bulldog with black armor. I think he was fire.

[super spider piggy]

I'd love to see "Slag King" :biggrin: :

http://www.toyarchive.com/STAForSale/NEW20...KingLoose1a.jpg

[Twisted Two-Face]

New picture:

[captain_cbecker]

New picture:

The legs/feet look reversed - it looks like the big toes are on the outside of the foot

[super spider piggy]

I hate to say this, but it looks like this line might go the of I,Robot.

[Bob Harris]

OK, don't get me wrong, but I guess these have far too little relation to Minimates in my eyes. I mean, I really like all these details and new sculpted parts on the most recent waves, but this Battle Beast thingy? Hands, head, feet, everything is sculpted, and I wouldn't even recognize it as a 'mate. Sorry, not my cup of tea.

[captain_cbecker]

Yeah... it's also hard for me to get excited about these. In my opinion Battlesbeasts reminds me of some of the more dodgy premises that came out of the 80's cartoon-product tie-ins. Sure, the idea paid off for GI Joe & Transformers, but other licenses (like Battlebeasts) held no interest whatsoever.

I agree with Bob Harris - these don't don't seem minimate-like to me either.

[buttheadsmate]

I actually like the concept but to placate the Battle Beast fans ....I think there are about a dozen (only joking guys...simmer down )............. & me, fundamental changes need to be made to the design of the concept(?) figure we are seeing. Battle Beasts all have the same stature which is 'bandy-legged' & 'beefy-bicepted'..very similar to the way that the 'Hulk' & 'Thing' should always have been portrayed as Minimates. Two areas that have rarely changed with the original Minimate design are their arms & legs * so if these mods are made then we are in for a roller-coaster ride with a whole new world of updated figures in all the 'mate lines! The head-sculpts aren't a big deal IMO & can only help us Marvel die-hards with 'Howard' ,'Man- Thing' & the 'Lizard' for example.

I personally dislike most of the changes to the concept of the basic minimate ...duck-feet ,diapers & to a lesser degree chest pieces & crotch enhancements don't work.......but I have accepted that Minimates are evolving & I am trying to embrace these changes . Ghostbuster's ghouls are hardly 'Minimate' but they work & are fun so I embrace the change .......although slip-on masks still suck !

* No prize for naming legless Minimates........

P.S. No ..... not Tony Stark !

Edited September 20, 2009 by buttheadsmate

[dr baghead]

* No prize for naming legless Minimates........

legless minimates? Isn't there one in the Lord of the Rings series? *ba dum dum* THANK YOU, that's my time tip your wait staff and if you're drink drive fast so you're not on the road as long!!

[Cappy]

It will be interesting to see how the Battlebeasts change the Minimate landscape. Looking at existing block figure lines, both Kubricks and Lego have "subspecies" that are heavily sculpted, much the anguish of some purist collectors.

I can accept a license that drifts away from the minimalist essence, as long as it doesn't change the basic definition of Minimates.

[Bob Harris]

.......although slip-on masks still suck !

I'm a big fan of those!

However, I'm with most of the points you mentioned BHM, and I think that there is a development - or even an evolution? - of nowadays 'mates. But since I sort of "grew up with" 'mates produced since early 2008 - jap, I still am a newbie - I'm pretty used to most of those sculpted parts and don't have a deep bond to the vanilla 'mates.

But, and that's a pretty big but in my eyes*, there still is something to let you recognize a mate on the first glance. I think movie Iron Man was the one 'mate so far reaching the limits of being a mate at all the most. (Is that propper English? I don't think so, but I guess you know what I'm trying to say.) This BB concept (?) however exceeds these limits: aside from it's main body parts - which are hard to recognize at all - it doesn't have a lot in common with what I think 'mates usually look like. There is something like a "family likeness": although some details change from one 'mate to the other - like duck feet, fingers, and all that stuff BHM already mentioned - there still are these likenesses you realize when browsing through your huge collections. And I think that little guy just loses it. Or to use Cappy's term: I think he already changed (my) "basic definition of Minimates". I guess that is my problem. But of course, that's only my problem, and that on the other hand, shouldn't bother anybody else, right?

So, if you're in love with this little bugger, enjoy him! (And there is no irony in that sentence!)

____

*: no, it would not be funny to read it as "there's a pretty big butt in my eyes"!

Edited September 20, 2009 by Bob Harris

[captain_cbecker]

I think the GB ghosts fit perfectly into the Minimate Landscape - as I "define mates", I think the caricature nature of the likenesses is one of the most defining characterisitcs, and to the degree that GB mates are block-y likenesses of the real thing, as they are for ST, BSG, Marvel and everything else, they fit perfectly.

It's my opinion that Battlebeasts are just forcing some of the BB attributes onto mini block figures and really overlooks some of the elements that defined the original BB's like the stance and overly muscular build and the heat-change elemental doo dad

[Lobsterman]

One of the biggest problems I see with him: how are you supposed to pose him with all of that kibble? Between the huge shoulderpads, wrist guards and big ole' diaper piece, it looks like he's going to have about 10 degrees of movement clearance on any given joint!

[buttheadsmate]

One of the biggest problems I see with him: how are you supposed to pose him with all of that kibble? Between the huge shoulderpads, wrist guards and big ole' diaper piece, it looks like he's going to have about 10 degrees of movement clearance on any given joint!

Perhaps that's a question for the NFL thread?

C'mon you Saints!

[maxcarnage]

bulky pieces? i hope you guys are talking about the actual beast here. the human is just a re-make; shield solder helmet, war zone punisher breast plate, and thor's boats.

as for the beast i think it looks great! granted i will not be getting them due to the price point. i can reasonably send $25 on 2 figures, yeah the play set is not doing it for me. i am looking forward to the rest of the line i think it will be cool!

[buttheadsmate]

bulky pieces? i hope you guys are talking about the actual beast here. the human is just a re-make; shield solder helmet, war zone punisher breast plate, and thor's boats.

Thor's boats were both missing from my 2 pack ....although I did have extra katanas I emailed DST Matt about the boats & he sent me a pic of the guys at the Asylum trying to find one ..........or both!

Still no reply to my email though

[sinchicken]

I had a bunch of Battle Beasts when I was a kid and, regretfully, sold them them a few years back.

I for one can't wait for these to come out. Hopefully we'll get at least a few waves. I like that they seem to have the look of the originals but with the better minimate articulation. They may not look to bad standing next to some of the Transformers Classics figures.

[vbpanizzi]

So anybody notice that the playset and thus the two figures attached to it are no longer on the shipping list nor are they TBD. Looks like another bust for a playset, license, and mates.

[buttheadsmate]

I wouldn't be surprised about the playset but I would be very surprised & disappointed if the BBs were cancelled .

[minimadman]

I wouldn't be surprised about the playset but I would be very surprised & disappointed if the BBs were cancelled .

I can't see them canceling the BB. DST owns them right? Not just the license but the property? Am I wrong? I remember reading that somewhere. As for the playset I think that for the $ they were going to charge it would need to be a lot better than merely a few pieces of card stock paper put together. To be honest I thought the Ghostbuster firehouse that MiniJoeShmo made is more impressive than the Minimate Lab.

Edited October 30, 2009 by minimadman