Tag: Minimates Page 1 of 3

Sightings > Santa Claus Pirate Ship

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On August 8, 2012

In Sightings

“Ho ho ho and a bottle of peppermint schnapps!”

There are few things I love more than Santa Claus toys (especially ones that aren’t based on any specific property). So I’m pretty excited about this Minimates Santa Claus Pirate Ship from Diamond Select Toys. Due in November, it’s available for pre-order at BBTS for a mere $12.99. Here’s what DST has to say about it:

Christmas is coming, but it’s not coming in a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. No, this year Santa Claus is on a boat! DST’s 2-inch Minimates mini-figure of ol’ Saint Nick comes with his festively painted pirate ship, which is packed with opening hatches, extending planks and removable sails (not shown). It’s the perfect stocking stuffer for the Minimates fan in your life, or for anyone who likes boats and Christmas.

Interview > Diamond Select’s Zach Oat on Battle Beasts

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On July 30, 2012

In Interviews

One of the most talked-about toy lines of this year is Diamond Select’s Battle Beasts. There’s been a lot of speculation about this line, how it came to be and where it’s going, but the buzz is growing: a new comic book from IDW based on the property is already in stores.

I got in touch with Zach Oat, Marketing Supervisor at Diamond Select Toys, to find out more about what the future holds for Battle Beasts.

1.) Let’s start with the obvious: what led Diamond Select to pick up the Battle Beasts trademark, and were you concerned about the fact that you would not have the rights to the original toy designs?

We were brainstorming new concepts for toy lines, and we started thinking about similar toy lines that had experienced success in the past. Battle Beasts came up, so we did a little research and saw that the trademark was actually available. It’s such a great name, and it went well with our Minimates mini-figures, so we acquired it. The name was what we thought had the most value; we already had a lot of ideas for what we could do with the fighting animals concept, and the original toy line was known more for its gimmicks than for its characters and storylines, so we weren’t too worried about not having the rights to them.

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Diamond Reveals Their Plans for Battle Beasts

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On April 12, 2012

In News

The new Battle Beasts website has gone live. Highlights:

  • There will be a new comic from IDW,  written by Bobby Curnow (Godzilla Legends, Night of 1000 Wolves) and penciled by Valerio Schiti (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Donatello, Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron)
  • At San Diego Comic-Con, DST will unveil the first full wave of Battle Beasts Minimates, which will be in stores in late fall of 2012. The first wave of two-packs will focus heavily on characters who appear in the comic, and will have a gameplay element, as well. DST will also have an exclusive two-pack of Battle Beasts for sale at the show.

So it looks like the figures will indeed be Minimates in the style of the previous con exclusives, and not the fully-sculpted action figures we saw prototypes of a while back. That’s disappointing, but the Minimates style is very popular with collectors and kids alike, and this will allow Diamond to offer the kind of variety and character selection the original Battle Beasts line was known for. It’s probably a shrewd move.

Pic of the Day > Firefight by ajayinthelife

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On January 27, 2012

In Photos

Firefight

Toy Aisle Trolls > Mini…Mortal…Bat…Star…man ah forget it.

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On December 8, 2011

In Toy Aisle Trolls

Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items. If you find a ruined package, a stolen figure, a swapped-out figure, or any other such acts, take a photo (cell phone photos are fine if they’re not blurry) and email them to poe AT poeghostal.com.

Poester HA sends along not one, not two, but three TATs found at two different TRUs in our friendly northern neighbor, Canada. Well, friendly except that they apparently also have douchebags who steal toys.


Pic of the Day > the wolf man by schveinmachine

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On October 25, 2011

In Photos

the wolf man

Pic of the Day > The Creature from the River Esk by R D L

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On October 24, 2011

In Photos

The Creature from the River Esk

Odds ‘n Ends > October 19, 2011

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On October 19, 2011

In Odds 'n Ends

Today’s Odds ‘n Ends is sponsored by the letter Ω, who surprisingly had a PayPal account.

  • The Spawn Message Board was taken down last Friday. Rustin Parr of OAFE has written an excellent obituary here. His comment that the Spawn Board was the birthplace of the online toy collecting community is only mildly hyperbolic–I certainly got my start there, and many other well-known online toy personalities, such as Michael Crawford, congregated there in the late ’90s. I invented the pseudonym “Poe Ghostal” for that board, way back in 1999. Of course, I hadn’t visited the board in years–ever since McFarlane Toys began its long slide into sports and statuism after the Spawn lines of the early 2000s (with the one positive blip being Halo)–but the board’s demise is still worth some brief reflection.
  • Diamond Select has created a rather awesome “Mini-Mation” video starring their pirate-themed “Calico Jack” Minimates.
  • ItsAllTrue.net has a great review of the TRU-exclusive 1970s-style Arkham City Batman (it comes free with a purchase of the game at TRU, or, like me, you can buy it separately for $14.99). Of course, the actual 1970s game skin is a completely unique model, not just some new graphics over the regular suit…
  • BigBadToyStore has two major new exclusive G.I. Joe 7-Packs: Slaughter’s Marauders and the Dreadnoks. You can save $10 if you buy both sets together. The sets include a mix of new figures and repaints.
  • Bandai let me know they’re having a Ben 10 Sweepstakes. Kids can enter the contest by submitting codes from Ben 10 toys to helpben10.com. The winner gets an all-expenses paid trip for three to London to ride the Ben 10: Ultimate Mission roller coaster at the Drayton Manor Theme Park in Tamworth, Staffordshire — plus the winner will have a bonus chance to win $10,000 on top of the grand prize. So if you’ve got a child, grandchild, or nephew or niece who’s really into Ben 10, be sure to mention it to ’em.

Odds ‘n Ends > September 6, 2011

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On September 6, 2011

In Odds 'n Ends

  • Without going too much into it, my reviews on PGPoA are going to be a little different from now on. I’ve come to recognize, like the man who invented Mr. Phipps Pretzel Chips (I think it was Mr. Phipps) that my favorite part of the pretzel, er, the review, is the part where I discuss the character or history of the toy or toyline rather than the paint & sculpt stuff. The photos tell most of that story, and I’ll point out the articulation. For those who want a true breakdown, you can find more traditionally-formatted reviews on other sites–there is no shortage of toy reviews these days. While some of you may be a bit disappointed, trust me when I say it was either this or no more PGPoA at all. (Seriously–it was this close |–|.) I have over seventy unopened toys at the moment, going back to before Christmas, and the thought of having to do a standard review of each one makes me want to quit the blog and never look back.
  • So, in essence, moving forward I’m writing what I want to write about, not what I feel obligated to write about. This blog has felt way too much like work lately. It’s odd how that can creep up on you.
  • You’ve probably all seen Mattel announced that Club Infinite Earths (CIE) is indeed moving forward. I’m happy I get my Poison Ivy, but as a Bat-fan I do hope I get at least one more Bat-character, preferably an oversized Killer Croc. Also, Metron unsurprisingly won the fan vote contest. They’re also considering briefly re-opening the subscription window, which of course led to a round of MOTU fans wondering the MOTUC sub should also be re-opened. I suspect this has to do with the opt-in option that will be offered for the anniversary figures–since that’s already in the works, maybe they’ll just re-open CIE at the same time.
  • Diamond Select will be expanding the Minimates world even more with a new line, Maximum Zombie. The first figures will be a NYCC exclusive set featuring a Biker Zombie & Surgeon Zombie. I’ll be at NYCC this year, so you’re damned right I’m getting these.

Odds ‘n Ends > August 24, 2011

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On August 24, 2011

In Odds 'n Ends

  • Here’s the first comment I’ve seen from Mattel on the DCUC subscription results: “The final tally was around 60-62% (I’ll need to ask the DC team for an exact number). We are literally reviewing the numbers to see if their is anyway to go forward now that we are under 100%. It may take another week or so before we will know an answer. Fans have been so passionate, but in the end it comes down to whether their are enough of them to move forward with this program!” I had been beginning to suspect late last week that a non-100% subscription rate might not mean an immediate cancellation of the sub. One idea a poster on the Fwoosh had was to raise the price of the non-sub sale day figures from $15 to $20 (while subscribers still pay $15). I think that’s a good idea. Had I not subscribed, I’d have happily paid $20 for Poison Ivy and not thought twice about it.
  • Mattel also posted a lengthy explanation for Battleground Evil-Lyn on their Facebook page. I’m still not sure how I feel about BGEL. Initially this was exactly what I had expected a Millennium Evil-lyn to be (proof here and here). I had been expecting more only after this post by ToyGuru last year. So without that post by ToyGuru, I might not have been disappointed at all. I can certainly see why a lot of fans are unhappy. And I’m a bit confused by the tooling explanation: “[…] we felt that it would be better to go with this simpler version rather than sink a lot of tooling into a version that didn’t have waist articulation, better hip function, etc. If we used up the tooling now, it may have killed the chance to do a version that 100% satisfies all of the fan requests. Now that the 2.0 body has been created and worked into the line, the door is open to do this version in the future.” Which I think raises a significant question: why do a Millennium Evil-lyn now at all, instead of waiting to use the 2.0 body with new tooling? What’s the rush? I’d happily have taken, say, a minicomic Trap Jaw instead.
  • Here’s a fantastic NECA-style Dutch from Predator custom using NECA Duke Nukem and Terminator parts.
  • I need to get more into Minimates–check out the Previews-exclusive Knight Rider KITT with Super-Pursuit Mode parts.

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