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.....such as Thor's hammer.

Bravo hellpop ! I had typed a much longer post last night(here) which I edited which included Thor's hammer as the #1 example of an accessory/part that would be deemed a no-go area but I don't feel there are many. I'll continue by saying that certain iconic character's parts ....I choose The Thing's fists as the example...could be used & would be unrecognisable as The Thing's fists if they were painted a different colour (blue?) My hypothetical examples may be difficult to follow but I hope I'm making sense.

Dinos somewhat obscure "Carnage" post leads nicely into what I consider the most interesting info leaked from Chuck..... almost....ever. He mentioned recently that paint application is in many respects the most expensive part of the Minimate process :ohmy: I don't know about you guys but I always assumed the fabrication (moulding)process would be by far the biggest stumbling block ;) , not so!!!

I had always thought Carnage ought to have been a fairly simple Minimate to produce but it would appear he comes under the heading 'expensive to produce' because there are only two visible surfaces unprinted/unpainted surfaces.....the soles of his feet! The top of his head is printed,his inner thighs & calves (moo :unsure: ) are printed,his hands are printed ,his accessories are printed.

I think you probably get my point now ......keep the paint minimal & choose the base colour carefully.

Bob Harris : Having grown up(?) reading WW2 stories in British comics of the 1960's & 70's my grasp of the German language was sufficient enough to allow me to be almost fluent when I have visited Austria over the years ,skiing. "Achtung Spitfeur" shouted at any group of snowboarders laying in the middle of the piste WHO ARE IN MY WAY seems to work well ,as does "Achtung" , "Mein Gott" & "Teufel" . I know that I'm fluent because they always return the greeting with a friendly wave & the words "Englander dumkopf". Taking time out to learn a few words of German has served me well :whistling:

edit: A great thread . Question : How many Minimates have the tops of their heads painted ? I don't know.

Edited by buttheadsmate
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Top of their head printed?

US Agent, Shield Agent (Ultimate), Wolverine Movie blob all have short Buzz cuts on their headblock.

*EDIT* smashmaster posted as I was typing so he wins the "no prize" :)

T.

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You might not have seen it yet, but the new Gabe Jones figure has a painted crewcut as well.

I was also surprised at the revelation of the cost of paint vs. sculpted parts, particularly since, in most cases, those sculpted parts need painting as well. It couldn't have been less expensive to sculpt and paint those intricate Thor movie chest pieces then it would have been to just make a tampo, could it? Well, I certainly prefer the extra detail, so I'm not complaining.

The other thing I remember about that statement of Chuck's was that Spider-Man was actually among the more expensive figures to produce. I'm sure we all thought the same thing: "so why not stop making so !@#$ many of him?" Yes, I assume we all thought out exclamation point, at symbol, number sign, dollar sign. Sorry, my coffee hasn't fully kicked in yet... :unsure:

Edited by hellpop
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Whether you would actually save any money by doing so is a different matter because DST aren't numpties, they'll charge for a mould whether it exists or not :yes:

That's a good point which might make every other thought irrelevant. If that's the case, there could be a big problem, because a lot of the Midnightmen really need sculpted parts to give them their pretty iconic look.

Bill, I read the preview of your series and I really enjoyed it. The art is pretty amazing, the characters seem to be very interessting and the plot is pretty good so far. I didn't expect the cliffhanger at the end. Well done, you already got me hooked! :thumbsup:

Something else. I think it's a great idea to let the Nazis speak actual German in your comic. I really enjoy it when comics or movies do stuff like this and pass on Gibberish. Tarantino did a great job there lately. But they should speak proper German, right? And there is a little problem. Some of the stuff they are saying is, ehm, not so good. :mellow: (I don't want to make fun of you, please don't get me worng, but to give you an impression: on page 6 they're actually saying: "They have a!", "I will him!" and "You not can all shoot at us!") So if you really like to continue this - and I think it's a cool idea -, you might want to ask someone speaking fluent German to give you a hand. :whistling:

Who this man could be I just don't know. :unsure:

590_dreamcoat_artists.jpg

Bob!

Edited by TM2 Dinobot
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WOW!!! Lots of info here. It seems to me that the DC parts on in the table, but I guess I'll really have to find out from DST. It's very interesting to hear that the pant-ops/tampos are a big cost, I figured those would be pretty cheap..I guess it depends on how many tampos you need. Most of my figures are just the chest and heads, especially the 4 that Luke is mocking up now.

It's too bad DST didn't work out a deal to re-use the Marvel parts..or keep the rights to reuse the molds there is such a catalogue out there that it seems like a waste to not reuse them to other lines.

...Oh and Bob...thanks for the heads up on my German....I'll make sure to work on it. :)- Glad you dig the book!!!.

Edited by freshmonkey
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An interesting thing I just realized. Understand that there are some parts that it is implicitly understood they will be customized. Kraven's Big Chest vest is one of those. he has a little flesh showing through with the exact same tampo on the chest block underneath. One exoknife latter and you have a true vested Kraven.

I don't know why I'm bringging this up.

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I love all the figure designs, and just seeing them made me take a look at the comic.

I'd probably buy all of them, they're just a cool idea, even without the awesomeness of an independent line. The indie idea of your own line makes it all the sweeter.

Also, a sticker set might be a good way to sell a few designs at first, if you want to gain support. People really seem to love the sets Luke makes.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Bill, those designs look very cool and I'm sure, if they will ever happen, a lot of 'versers will buy them!

Something else I wondered when browsing through your websites is, are you planning to tell the Midnightmen stories from now on in Minimate-desgin, like this? I really hope not! Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the designs a lot, but one of the coolest things in Minimates is imho, how they look like the real characters they do represent. Same with your guys. When I look at Count St. Cross in your comics, I just love how cool he turns out as a minimate. (And yeah MoC, a lot of people would use his parts do customize a Dr. Horrible!) But to really enjoy your great story, you shouldn't switch to minimate-like characters. :unsure:

Please say you won't. :mellow:

____

Edit: Oh, and please say your story continues VERY soon! Can't wait to read the next issue! :yes:

Edited by Bob Harris
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Thanks everyone. I'll keep posting the progress.

@Bob H - We're not planning on rolling over The Midnightmen to minimate style exclusively....I think it might be fun to do both. Part of my pitch to DST is to tell stories in minimate style to go along with the toy line, but we're still going to tell regular stories as well. That is if I can find an artist that doesn't flake out on us...but that's another story. :)

@Customizer..I just shot you a mail....

Also here is a "In Progress" design pic of one of the main villains ULTIMA THULE...this is the 1st pic EVER of what he looks like. I hope you enjoy it.

post-1921-0-47188200-1308935163_thumb.jp

Edited by freshmonkey
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Posted a bunch of new artwork, along with minimate designs that Luke did to the Mini Midnightmen website. The Dax one is attached here, but there are more on the site.

The comic book pitch is almost done, then is off to DST...

Let me know what you think.

http://www.minimidnightmen.com/

Also check out the Facebook page and become a fan, I'll be doing a BIG push once the comic pages are done, but the more FB fans I have the better support I'll have with the pitch.

post-1921-0-66254200-1312950180_thumb.jp

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