Admin Update: Comments

Yikes, all. My comments notification was tied to my old email and I only got them today! Everything should be fixed now and I've removed comment moderation. You should be able to post comments freely. So sorry everyone!

Magneto’s Review of the Missing: Toad

I, Magneto, supreme ruler of Minimate Headquarters and almighty Homo Superior, command you to heed my Review of the Missing. In this review I will demand the creators make my loyal henchman, Toad!

Why Toad has not been created in Minimate form remains beyond my comprehension, and it angers me greatly. I demand minions!

Was I not promised a Toad toady long ago? How dare the creators spurn me with their wicked lies! These aspersions will be punished…

Although it remains obvious, I announce my desire for a Toad Minimate because he remains a quality lackey. When a master says jump, a slave should jump. And my Toad jumps very high.

I grow tired of this witless banter! Make a Toad Minimate, or face the awesome wrath of the Master of Magnetism!

Off Topic: Museum of Contemporary Art

Occasionally I veer off topic to cover something arguably related to Minimates. In this Off Topic I talk about the current exhibit at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.

Yesterday I went to see the current exhibit at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) called Masters of American Comics. I was very excited because the advertisements featured the work of Jack Kirby who co-created with Stan Lee such Marvel mainstays as The Hulk, The Avengers, and The Fantastic Four. The exhibit runs through March 12th, so it ends about a week before the Wizard World Los Angeles convention kicks off.

I had a lot of high hopes for this exhibit. Imagine comic book artists finally getting the respected art treatment in a contemporary museum! I couldn't wait to go.

Unfortunately, the exhibit turned out to be a bust. While it did feature a lot of work by Jack Kirby and other early comic book artists, I found the entire exhibit to be very boring. The work displayed was primarily ink or pencil panels. Some were lettered, and none were colored save for an occasional reproduction of a Fantastic Four cover.

After viewing the exhibit I left thinking about the comic book art which inspires many of the Minimates I collect. The art form has grown and morphed so significantly (movies, merchandise, appareal) over the years that a sterile museum really doesn't give it justice. Comic book art is so alive and vibrant, a boring museum just isn't the proper place for it.

So if you find yourself in Los Angeles in March, I recommend skipping the MOCA exhbit and instead going to the Wizard World Los Angeles convention. Leave the sterile elitist museums to the Michelangelos of the world.

Eight Questions With Slipperyduckie

The “Eight Questions” column appears regularly at Minimate Headquarters. In it I interview minimate customizers and other fans of minimates. This interview is with Slipperyduckie, maker of the custom Archangel pictured here.

1. When you first started collecting Minimates, which one was your early favorite?
Spider-man. No question because it looked spot on and perfect, and it still does.

2. Of all the custom Minimates you’ve ever seen (or made), which one do you like the best?
I really like my New X-men Archangel I made. I was totally inspired by the poster for the new Darktide movie coming out. Plus hes always been one of my favorite characters.

3. Do you own a Santa Spidey?
Yep. I was lucky enough to buy one off Toywiz along time ago.

4. Which was the most difficult custom or custom design you’ve ever made?
My New X-men Archangel was pretty hard to make since I had to do the sanding and super glueing for the Pocket Superhero Hawkgirl wings he has. Then I had to make the silver parts on the chest really precise since it was using a really fat sharpie for it.

5. If all of the Custom Minimates in the gallery fought all of the official Minimates, who would win and why?
The customs probably since they would outnumber all of them. Plus they're are like two different versions of each custom character.

6. If you could have one new character made into Minimate form, which would you choose?
I would say Archangel, I love mine but I would like an official one made.

7. What is the most you would pay to get an official Minimate 3 pack containing WonderWoman, Green Lantern, and Aquaman?
Maybe $20 because I love all those characters. Besides, it would be a miracle to see anymore DC minimates made.

8. Batman or Wolverine?
Batman, I loved the character ever since I saw him in the old cartoon. He has all the gadgets and skill, and he would probably find a way to outsmart Wolverine anyday.

Saved By The Prototype!

Yesterday our heroes, JP1000 and Fake Gold Spidey, were trapped in Karaoke hell by the terrible sound of a singing Gorn. Thankfully, our heroes were rescued today by series of lucky events.

After a hundred and twelve grueling sets, Gorn was forced to give up the microphone to the next singer at Open Mic Night. But the next singer turned out to be no singer at all, but instead a superhero-to-be: Prototype 401k Man!

Prototype felt the urge, as he often does, to tell the crowd about the benefits of saving for retirement. As it often happens in office conference rooms across the country, everyone in attendance fell into a deep sleep.

Fake Gold Spidey was the first to awaken. "JP1000," he said groggily to his sleeping friend, "wake up."

Seeing him awaken, Protype approached. "What a beautiful paint job you have," Prototype said. "Please tell me how you got to be painted so colorfully!"

Fake Gold Spidey looked at him. "I'll tell you on two conditions. First, you help me get my friend, JP1000, out of here. And two, you never, ever tell me about my retirement options again."

Prototype beamed, "That's a deal!"

The Suffering Sound of Karaoke Gorn!

The daring duo of JP1000 and Fake Gold Spidey faced a terrible enemy today in the form of a singing Gorn. Lured into the nightclub by the offer of free beer and buffalo wings, the two heroes decided to take a short break from their quest to find the spring.

Little did they know, it was open mike night at The Big Sound, and a ruthless enemy planned to sing. After a few moments Gorn approached the stage. He tapped the microphone three times and said, “I’m gonna sing this one at my audition next week. I really think Simon, Paula, and Randy will send me to Hollywood after they hear this.”

The sound was excruciating. Never before in the world has such an awful sound been heard. JP1000 and Fake Gold Spidey grabbed their ears in pain. “For the love of all that’s holy and good, make it stop!” cried JP1000.

“Oh my God,” yelled Fake Gold Spidey, “I think he’s going to beat box now!”

Will our two heroes survive? Can anyone stop Gorn?

Street Fighter Packaging?

Action Figure Express is offering pre-ordering of another Street Fighter variant set. With so many variants, I'm losing track of my 'mates!

The above picture is from their website. It looks like our Street Fighter minimates will be packaged as above. Something to watch for in the stores!

Iron-Cow Prototypes Battlestar Minimates

The secret got out yesterday, as Iron-Cow Productions announced their involvement in the creation of Battlestar Galactica Minimate and vehicle prototypes for the new line. We should soon see more pictures and updates on their website and at the New York ToyFair. Way to go Matt, the figures look great!

Check out the announcement here!

X-Men 3 Minimates?

Diamond Select Toys announced yesterday the acquisition of the X-Men 3 movie license. This allows DST to produce Minimates based upon the characters of the upcoming movie. Speculation has these figures being the next wave of Minimates. Sounds like great news to me. Read all about it here.

More Darktide Minimate pictures are now available courtesy of the United Kingdom Toy Fair. View them here.

Oh, yea. And the Battlestar Galactica Minimates are pictured here!

Bootleg Minimates?

Issue #103 of Toyfare featured a funny article about bootleg Spiderman toys made in China called Spader-man. The article got me thinking about whether any bootleg Minimates have been made. I haven't seen any, but some collectors believed that the infamous Clear Spiderman Minimates were bootlegged.

However, the Clear Spiderman Minimates seemed to have been some production tests run by AA. You can read about them in Google's cache here. Unfortunately the picture was pulled so newbies like me are left to wonder what they looked like.

The Terror of Frosty

JP1000 and Fake Gold Spidey faced their most ruthless foe today when they encountered the dreaded Frosty the Christmas Decoration.

“Eeeeyaaaa,” screamed Fake Gold Spidey. “Who still has Christmas decorations out this late. For the love of humanity, it’s almost February!”

“Escape while you can,” yelled JP1000. “There’s no telling what he’s capable of doing at this point.”

Fake Gold Spidey cried in pain, “His eyes, his terrible eyes. They burn with hatred and loathing. We must leave this place and never return.”

Eight Questions With Fujis

The “Eight Questions” column appears regularly at Minimate Headquarters. In it I interview minimate customizers and other fans of minimates. This interview is with Fujis, maker of the custom Ash pictured here.

1. When you first started collecting Minimates, which one was your early favorite?
Spider-Man.

2. Of all the custom Minimates you’ve ever seen (or made), which one do you like the best?
Of the ones that I've made I like Ash the best. As for other customizers work FormerlyGnomeAs' INVINCIBLE is my current favorite. It's dead on.

3. Do you own a Santa Spidey?
No.

4. Which was the most difficult custom or custom design you’ve ever made?
CAPTAIN ULTRA was the most difficult design - working with that color scheme was not pleasant! Ash was the most difficult of the customs because of the painted chest detail and sculpted accessories.

5. If all of the Custom Minimates in the gallery fought all of the official Minimates, who would win and why?
I'd say the custom Minimates - the official Minimates are severely outnumbered.

6. If you could have one new character made into Minimate form, which would you choose?
Longshot. He was my favorite X-Men character when I was a kid.

7. What is the most you would pay to get an official Minimate 3 pack containing WonderWoman, Green Lantern, and Aquaman?
I'm not much of a DC fan but I do suffer from mild Completionist Syndrome so I'd probably pick one up. $15 maybe?

8. Batman or Wolverine?
Darkclaw!

The Quest Continues

Searching for the spring, the green JP1000 and the splotched Fake Gold Spidey struggle to avoid the many pitfalls of their quest. And as they travel, their friendship grows deeper.

The daring duo need the spring to unlock the metal cage that holds all of the heroes of Minimate Headquarters. Without the heroes to stop them, the notorious Magneto and his villianous henchman plot to conquer the world.

“Who falls into a giant frying pan?” badgered Fake Gold Spidey. “You are the most unluckiest dude in the world.”

“Well, I met you didn’t I,” answered JP1000. “I guess that confirms I’m the most unluckiest dude in the world.”

Fake Gold Spidey strutted, “I saved your life. Without me, you’d have been fried sunny side up.”

“Without you,” answered JP1000, “I wouldn’t have walked off a cliff to avoid hearing you yap.”

Admin Update: Custom Gallery

The February Update to the Custom Gallery has been completed. I have made changes based upon viewer's comments, and I've added additional custom images.

The next update will occur late Spring or early Summer. Enjoy the gallery!

Off Topic: 40 Years of Comic Books

Occasionally I veer off topic to cover something arguably related to Minimates. In this Off Topic I talk about the 40 Years of X-Men DVD-Rom.

The 40 Years of X-Men DVD-Rom was found by accident yesterday when I visited a comic book shop to purchase Toy Fare #103. I am relatively new to the toy-collecting world, and I recently learned that issues of Toy Fare appear at comic shops a couple weeks before the newsstands. As I was paying for the magazine, I casually asked the store clerk if he was aware of any upcoming comics on DVD-Roms. I had received a DVD with all of the Fantastic Four comic books for Christmas, and I loved it. As it turned out, he had the X-Men version.

What is the 40 Years of X-Men DVD-Rom? Basically, it is a DVD containing Adobe PDF versions of every Uncanny X-Men comic book through August 2005. This works out to be 485 regular issues plus all of the annuals. Wow!

These DVDs are so much fun, I highly recommend them to even non-comic book enthusiasts. So what other comic books are available on DVD-Rom? Right now, only the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. Spiderman was released on CDs, but it lacked the annual issues. A Spiderman DVD-Rom is expected in February, and it will include the annuals.

We should see the 40 Years of the Avengers in March. The Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, and Captain America will follow later in 2006. Sometime this year we should also see 50 Years of Mad Magazine.

Now, if I could just get 50 years of free time to read these things!

Eight Questions With Cloneme

The “Eight Questions” column appears regularly at Minimate Headquarters. In it I interview minimate customizers and other fans of minimates. This interview is with Cloneme, maker of the custom Scarlet Spider pictured here.

1. When you first started collecting Minimates, which one was your early favorite?
As much as I love Spider-Man My Favorite was actually Daredevil. He had his billy clubs and it was so small and awesome. To tell you the truth I think I carried it around in my pocket for like a week...until I almost lost it at a bar.

2. Of all the custom Minimates you’ve ever seen (or made), which one do you like the best?
It's kind of like picking a favorite child.....I really like my Scarlet Spider customs. It keeps true to minimate form, simpleness and detail. As you'll soon see, it keeps getting better and better.

3. Do you own a Santa Spidey?
Who wants to know?....Yes.

4. Which was the most difficult custom or custom design you’ve ever made?
My 8" Maximate was the most difficult. trying to make sure everything moved and fit together like it's 2" counterpart. Challenging. Just the way I like it.

5. If all of the Custom Minimates in the gallery fought all of the official Minimates, who would win and why?
Custom minimates. Hands down. DST doesn't have the balls to make some of the oddball characters or fan favorites that we[customizers] have.

6. If you could have one new character made into Minimate form, which would you choose?
ooooooh. Scarlet Spider. But one I haven't done yet: Task Master or Apocalypse.

7. What is the most you would pay to get an official Minimate 3 pack containing WonderWoman, Green Lantern, and Aquaman?
Retail? $25

8. Batman or Wolverine?
Dark Claw.

The Quest Begins

“The Blue Candle,” explained JP1000, “holds the key to our salvation. There we will find the spring that will free the heroes from Magneto’s evil trap.”

Fake Gold Spidey leaned forward. “And the heroes would forever be in our debt if we saved them!”

“I couldn’t care less,” said JP1000. “They just need to take care of the guys who keep beating me up.”

“Lead on my friend,” motioned Fake Gold Spidey. “Let us find the spring and free the heroes.”

And so the unlikely duo marched forward, on their quest to save the entire Minimate Headquarter’s universe.

Most Wanted Contest

If you haven't done so yet, you should head over to Minimates Central and enter into the Most Wanted Competition. It is easy and open to everyone in the world.

For a chance to win free Minimates, what's not to love?

Dirty Little Secret

A mysterious guest named Good Clean Fun announced on Friday a new custom exclusive to be distributed to select members of the Minimate forums. The exclusives will address a long taboo subject among Minimate collectors. Specifically, it will address the fact that Minimate collectors do not bathe.

The new exclusives are Minimates that have been completely encased within a bar of soap. The mysterious guest explained he wanted to “give something back to a big group of people that give so much to everyone including myself”. No other gift can better address the dirty little secret of Minimate collectors. At a minimum, it is speculated that collectors will clean their hands as they attempt to remove the soap from the entombed Minimate.

It should be noted that this is not the first attempt to get Minimate collectors to address their hygiene problems. In 2003 ADV Films released the Otaku Bar, which contained a 3” Minimate inside a bar of clear soap.

Eight Questions With Lurch77

The “Eight Questions” column appears regularly at Minimate Headquarters. In it I interview minimate customizers and other fans of minimates. This interview is with Lurch77, maker of the custom Samus Aran concept design pictured here.

1. When you first started collecting Minimates, which one was your early favorite?
The set that caught my eye and got me started collecting Minimates was the Grey Hulk / Ultimate Spider-Man set. But my early favorite and still one of my tops is Symbiote Spider-Man.

2. Of all the custom Minimates you’ve ever seen (or made), which one do you like the best?
My favorite has to be Antacost's Apocalypse, best custom ever!

3. Do you own a Santa Spidey?
Yep

4. Which was the most difficult custom or custom design you’ve ever made?
Most of the customs I make are Quick Customs, so those aren't that difficult. But the design that I've spent the most time on is Samus Aran, hopefully one day I'll be able to bring her to life.

5. If all of the Custom Minimates in the gallery fought all of the official Minimates, who would win and why?
The Custom Minimates would win easily, there's just too many of them. And who's going to take down Vader, seriously. No contest

6. If you could have one new character made into Minimate form, which would you choose?
Apocalypse

7. What is the most you would pay to get an official Minimate 3 pack containing WonderWoman, Green Lantern, and Aquaman?
$20

8. Batman or Wolverine?
Batman

A Friendship Is Born

The evil Magneto has captured Minimate Headquarters, and all of the heroes remain trapped inside a metal cage. With the heroes gone, the supervillains have run wild, terrorizing anyone in their path.

The primary victim of this terror has been JP1000, the Minimate built by Dr. Richards and Dr. Banner to test scientific theories. He has been bullied and beaten for days at the amusement of Rhino, Juggernaught, and Sandman. Fortunately, the evil-doers recently became bored with torturing JP1000, and decided to take a break to get some ice cream.

The other Minimates have shunned Fake Gold Spidey, a Minimate created for the purpose of deception, since his arrival at Minimate Headquarters. He was not invited to the Holiday Party and avoided being captured along with the other heroes.

As fate would have it, Fake Gold Spidey stumbled upon JP1000 at the perfect moment.

"Whoa! What happened to you," said Fake Gold Spidey as he looked down on JP1000's broken body.

"What's it look like, Einstein? I've been beaten savagely," groaned JP1000. "You need to help me get out of here before they come back."

"Do you want to be friends?" asked Fake Gold Spidey.

JP1000 moaned. "What?"

"I don't have any friends," explained Fake Gold Spidey. "And I was wondering if you wanted to be my friend."

"Look buddy," explained JP1000, "I don't have many options here. You get me out of here before those villains get back and I'll be your friend, your best buddy, your pal, your sidekick, or whatever you want. I'll be your wife if that's what your into. BUT GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"Wahoo! I just made a friend!" exclaimed Fake Gold Spidey as he picked up the broken body of JP1000.

Admin Update: Email Lives Again!

My email lives again!

jatta.pake@yahoo.com

Nostalgic Properties

The newest issue of Toyfare (#103) features an interview with Art Asylum's Vice Presidents Adam Unger and Robert Yee. The article contains numerous tidbits of interesting information, including: identifying new upcoming Battlestar Galactica and Speed Racer Minimates; hinting that comic 4-packs may be coming our way; and signaling a desire by Art Asylum to minimate other classic toy licenses such as G.I.Joe and Transformers. Read the entire article here (and be sure to buy a copy when it hits newstands).

My initial reaction to this article is great excitement. The answers to the questions indicate a desire by Art Asylum to expand the Minimate line into other new and exciting areas. I especially liked the question about customization. Minimates are inherently customizable, and that property makes them unique.

I hope this article brings new collectors into the Minimate addiction. They are such fun little guys.

Admin Update: Email Dead!

I got a nasty surprise while trying to check email tonight. Apparently SBC cancelled by email account. I don't have any details, but my helpful customer service representative from India told me, "You wife is breaking up!"

With this cancellation, I've also lost my jatta.pake@sbcglobal.net sub-account. So if you've sent me mail today, or tried to post a comment, you will need to re-try when my new email is up and running again.

Since SBC changed to lowercase at&t, I'm guessing this cancellation was some sort of result.

I have a billion online accounts tied to my email, so this nightmare is only beginning for me. (My work email is thankfully not affected). But I will let you know my new account as soon as possible. I apologize for the interruption, but you can post comments to me in the AA forum. Any reliable email suggestions are welcome! I'm going to look at Yahoo and Gmail.

Eight Questions With ThatBlokeTimbo

The “Eight Questions” column appears regularly at Minimate Headquarters. In it I interview minimate customizers and other fans of minimates. This interview is with ThatBlokeTimbo, maker of the custom Vision pictured here.

1. When you first started collecting Minimates, which one was your early favorite?
About a year and a half ago, my early fave was Ironman from the first pack I ever picked up.

2. Of all the custom Minimates you’ve ever seen (or made), which one do you like the best?
Hmm difficult to say as there are so many guys out there making great stuff, If I had to narrow it down to one or two it would be Antacosts Huntress, a fig I've been thinking about doing for ages but never quiet worked up the nerve to do.

3. Do you own a Santa Spidey?
Yes, I actually traded him for a pair of prologue elves way back when he first came out. So I kind of lucked out!

4. Which was the most difficult custom or custom design you’ve ever made?
Probably the first one I made, Vision... Everything was new to me and I was still trying to work out how to do things, If you look you can see my inexperience he's kinda of a bit messy. I must remake him sometime in a clear version.

5. If all of the Custom Minimates in the gallery fought all of the official Minimates, who would win and why?
Customs would win... They have everyone form Anakin Skywalker to optimus Prime... the comic mini's would get serious whippin.

6. If you could have one new character made into Minimate form, which would you choose?
The sensible answer would be Thor...It's a complete mystery that they havent made him yet... But I'm going to prompt for Capt Britain.... he'd look so awesome in genuine mini form.

7. What is the most you would pay to get an official Minimate 3 pack containing WonderWoman, Green Lantern, and Aquaman?
My Grandma...actually both Grandma's... Both Grandma's, my uncle and a goat...

8. Batman or Wolverine?
Batman... Everytime.

Minimate Headquarters Declares War on Minimates Central!

With Minimate Headquarters firmly within the grasp of Magneto, the supervillain announced a bold plan today to conquer Minimates Central.

“Minimates Central will be crushed by my onslaught,” vowed Magneto. “I will teach those fools at Minimates Central to give me a 10 out of 10 review, when I clearly deserve an 11 out of 10 rating.”

Magneto also vowed to make Divebomb pay for pointing out his “arrogantly smirking mouth.”

“I’ll teach that puny human to show respect to his ruling mutant masters,” promised Magneto, “as soon as I figure out how to get inside this computer.”

Supervillains Beat JP1000 Mercilessly

Without the heroes from Minimate Headquarters to keep them in check, the supervillains ran wild today attacking anyone in their path. Their lone victim appeared to be JP1000, who was beaten without mercy for several hours.

Despite his agonizing shrieks of pain, the supervillains appeared to enjoy the assault on JP1000.

“I’m not certain what it is about him,” mused Juggernaught, “but he has such a satisfying crunch when you pound on him. Kicking, stomping, headbutting – it’s all really enjoyable. You just don’t want to stop.”

Added Rhino, “I figured he wouldn’t be much fun to bite, but it turns out that’s a lot of fun too. Later this afternoon Sandman is going to come over, and we’re gonna to burn him and stab him. I’m really looking forward to it.”

With the heroes of Minimate Headquarters trapped by Magneto in a metal cage, JP1000’s gut wrenching moans go unanswered.

Gandalf Asks JP1000 to Retrieve Spring

Appearing as a ghostly specter, Gandalf today asked JP1000 for assistance to free Minimate Headquarters. With the heroes locked inside a metal cage by the evil Magneto, Gandalf explained that only a unique spring could pop open the lock.

"You have got to be kidding," exclaimed the shocked JP1000. "You want me to free everyone so your sicko scientists can do more torture experiments on me? Forget it!"

"You must go to the Blue Candle," commanded Gandalf. "There you will find the spring. The one spring to free us all!"

JP1000 laughed. "Forget it buddy. As far as I'm concerned, you guys belong behind bars."

"You are our only hope," Gandalf said with desperation. "We won't last much longer in here. Wolverine has terrible BO, and the Silver Surfer just lost a contact lens. Please get that spring and free us."

"Nope. No way. Not a chance," said JP1000. "I've been drowned, electrocuted, chopped, eaten, digested, and frozen by your crazy scientists. And I don't have to put up with it anymore."