| 6th November 2008 |
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Apologies for the lack of review updates to Minimates Central over the last few weeks. This has been down to some technical and personal issues which I shan't go into here but rest assured we're back and raring to go full steam ahead once more!
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| 19th September 2008 |
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I haven't been updating the news section since the relaunch but I couldn't let this bit of site news pass unheralded. Minimates Central began on September 21st 2003 and on Sunday it'll be celebrating its 5 year anniversary! Even though I have cut back on updating the other sections since relaunching the site nearly a year ago it has remained very popular, with more people visiting and maxing out more bandwidth than ever before. I thank everyone who visits and gets something out of the reviews despite the relative crudeness of the website itself - hey, I never said I was a web designer!
I also need to pass on a huge debt of gratitude to Rad Kerrigan who stepped up to the plate last year and bravely told me "I'll do the reviews, mate!". Without Rad, Minimates Central quite literally wouldn't be here today. The vast majority of the reviews since the relaunch have been his and I am so immensely grateful for him for picking up the torch and carrying on my legacy. I've still done some reviews here and there but he is the main man now. Also thanks to Lobsterman for providing the "For A Few Dollars More" review and pics. Five years is a very long time and to still be regarded as a useful source of reviews after all this time is gratifying, especially when there are fantastic sites out there like Minimate Multiverse with its fun and friendly forum community, Minimate Headquarters with its news, reviews and off-the-wall zanyness, and Minimate Database with its incredibly comprehensive database of pictures of Minimate licenses new and old.
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| 15th October 2007 |
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What can I say but Minimates Central is back! I am assembling a crack team of reviewers and tech-heads to ensure that Minimates Central can rise, Phoenix-like, from the ashes and destroy whole star systems... or at the very least, review the flood of Minimates that have been released since early summer! First reviewer for your reading pleasure is Stewart Kay, who will be reviewing Marvel Minimates waves 14 and 16; the X3 and Avengers waves. I hope you enjoy his reviews and pictures and will welcome him as we witness the start of a bold new chapter for Minimates Central!
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| 3rd July 2007 |
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Hi everyone. I am sorry to say that Minimates Central will no longer be updated. As you can tell with my lack of reviews and news, the site isn't being updated anywhere near regularly enough. My enthusiasm for the hobby has waned in the last few months and I do not have the desire or motivation to continue. I have run this site for nearly 4 years, not a bad stint for one person, but now the time has come to draw it all to a close. The site will remain and hopefully still be a valuable resource for Minimate fans. I would like to thank everyone for their support over the years, the site has been a big part of my life and the community aspect of it has been fantastic. Special mention and thanks go to Timbo, Amazing.JL and AdyCarter, without whom Minimates Central would have been very difficult to maintain. Those of you who need your fix of Minimates news and gossip, you could do a lot worse than visit the Minimate Multiverse and also Minimate Headquarters, they're both invaluable sites. Thank you once again for making Minimates Central such a big success. Take care everyone and I wish you all happiness.
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| 15th May 2007 |
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Diamond Select have announced in their E-Spectrum newsletter a Previews exclusive 2-pack of Rocky and Adrian taken from the first Rocky movie. If you don't subscribe to the email newsletter (and if not, why not) then have a look at the thread started by Infallible on the Minimate Multiverse here for links and discussion. The email also confirms that we will be getting a Minimate 2-pack exclusive for the San Diego Comic Con. Speculation in this thread suggest a Battlestar Galactica Roslin/Zarak 2-pack, but I'm hoping it's JL and one of the Wurlies.
DST also have pictures of the second Rocky boxset, taken from Rocky II, in their Product Debut section of their website here. In other news I missed before, Star Trek Wave Two was announced in DST's Radical Confidential newsletter. It's Battle Damaged Kirk and Gorn, Mr Spock and Uhura from "the Cage" and Sulu and Chekov with the chase being a swashbuckling Sulu. Thanks to Jeff of the Minis for spotting this. Remember, if you see a newsworthy story you think I've missed, let me know!. Or just check Minimate Headquarters, they're usually better with the news than I am these days.
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| 14th May 2007 |
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Toy News International are reporting that Diamond Select Toys have just acquired Art Asylum! DST have partnered with Art Asylum on many Minimate projects over the last few years including the very successful Marvel line, so it doesn't come as much of a shock. It'll be interesting to see if it has any impact on Art Asylum's other licensees though, such as DC Direct. Thanks to Fujis for spotting this, have a look at the discussion on the Minimate Multiverse forum here.
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| 19th April 2007 |
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Art Asylum are running a cool mail-away offer with Target stores. If you send a receipt in to them from a Target 2-pack purchase, you will get sent a promotional Minimate, could be one of the many event-specific promo blanks or even one of the Holiday ones. Check out the full details of the offer on the Art Asylum forum here.
Also, this week DC Minimates wave 3 came out! Check out some great pics courtesy of MINI-MYTE here on the Multiverse Forum, and don't forget Minimate Headquarters has some more pics here.
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| 1st April 2007 |
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Minimates Central is back! Thanks for your patience during the time I had exceeded my bandwidth allowance.
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| 29th March 2007 |
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Diamond Select Toys finally have the full waves for the Spider-man 3 Minimates showing on their website store, including our first look at Battle-Damaged Spidey. Check out wave 17's full lineup here and wave 18 (with BD Spidey) here. Thanks to ARE-JAY on the Minimate Multiverse boards for the spot!
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| 22nd March 2007 |
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The latest reveal of Spider-Man 3 Minimates pics, this time courtesy of Wizard Universe has shown us Transformation Spider-Man, Venom and Sandman, check them out here.
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| 21st March 2007 |
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As part of this week's reveal of Spider-Man 3 Minimates, the Minimate Multiverse forum have pictures up of Peter Parker, Eddie Brock and Transformation Venom here. Awesome stuff!
And the deluge of Minimates recently continues, as wave 2 of the DC Minimates are released. Check out the discussion about these figures here.
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| 20th March 2007 |
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There's been a lot of news in the last few days, and I haven't been able to post it all up when it happened, my apologies. Instead, I shall have to do a bit of a summary, so here goes:
In a similar way as the Marvel wave 16 announcements, Diamond Select Toys have decided to stagger revealing pictures of Marvel Minimates waves 17 and 18 (the Spider-Man 3 waves) so that various action figure websites get different reveals. Each day this week, new Minimates will be revealed through a different web site. On Monday, the Art Asylum forum showed pictures of Black Spider-Man (half-masked), Mary Jane and Gwen Stacey here. Tuesday saw Raving Toy Maniac show off Flint Marko and the New Goblin here. I am very pleased to see that the Minimate Multiverse forum will be showing off the Wednesday announcement. Wizard Universe will reveal the final Minimates on Thursday, and on Friday, the Diamond Select Toys site will be showing off the entire wave together. Find the discussion thread about the new pictures at the Multiverse here. Also, DC Minimates march on with the announcement of Wave 6: Wonder Woman (Battle Damaged) & Cheetah (Modern) Bizarro & Supergirl S.T.R.I.P.E. & Stargirl Sgt. Rock & Blackhawk Check out Toy News International for the concept pics here. I've always loved the design for Stargirl and so am really chuffed she is going to be a Minimate!
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| 13th March 2007 |
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Diamond Select Toys have made a special announcement of an upcoming Marvel Minimates set and revealed who is the first Minimate in it, in their Radical Confidential. Check it out here. You have to sign up to become a Radical, but it is free and DST reveal some cool stuff as seen in this announcement and others in previous months. Thanks to Reideen1313 at the Multiverse for posting about this here.
In other Marvel news, Storm 1:08 has indicated that Marvel wave 14 (the X3 wave) will be appearing at West Coast comic shops this Wednesday. So BSG wave 1, Marvel wave 14 and then DC wave 2 next week, adding up for a busy time for Minimate collectors! MINI-MYTE on the Multiverse boards has posted up a picture taken from a DST catalogue, showing Battlestar Galactica wave 3, check that out here.
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| 5th March 2007 |
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And now we know what the deal is with the 2 Spider-Man 3 movie Minimates from the last news piece. Diamond Select Toys have announced the first proper convention exclusives of the season for Wizard World LA - you guessed it, those Spidey Minimates! Check out their announcement. Thanks to newaddict at the Multiverse for posting the discussion here.
In other news, dockingbay97 is reporting that the first wave of Battlestar Galactica Minimates are hitting the West Coast comic shops this Wednesday. Hopefully I will be able to confirm that nearer the time. Also DST are showing off wave two in their product debut section. Thanks to MMC's good friend Amazing.JL for that spot.
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| 2nd March 2007 |
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The first pics of the movie-styled Minimates from Spider-Man 3 have appeared on Entertainment Weekly's website - check out how cool the two Spidey figures look here and have a look at the discussion thread started by Samwise Gamgee at the Multiverse here.
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| 21st February 2007 |
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The hotly-awaited DC Minimates wave 1 have hit comic stores across America! Check out the moist anticipation and drooling discussion in this thread at the Multiverse. No pics as yet, but I'm positive someone will get them in there soon.
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| 20th February 2007 |
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There has been a recent storm of speculation regarding the much-rumoured Spider-Man 3 Minimates, with Wizard posting up some wave information which didn't seem to gel with what we already knew was coming out and when. However now Previews have solicited wave information, and it looks like this:
Marvel Minimates Wave 17: Spider-Man 3 Red Spider-Man and New Goblin Black-Suited Spider-Man and Sandman Peter Parker and Eddie Brock Chase: Venom Marvel Minimates Wave 18: Spider-Man 3 Transformation Spider-Man and Venom Battle Damage Spider-Man and Sandman Unmasked Black-Suited Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy Chase: Mary Jane There is also a "Classic Spider-Man" boxset coming out which will be a Previews exclusive, which we saw pictures of at Toy Fair. It includes: "Torment" Spider-Man Powerhouse Venom Melee Symbiote Spider-Man Powerhouse Sandman exclusive Minimate version of Hydro-Man (never to appear outside this set) Check out the discussion in this thread and see a nice silhouette of the two waves in this thread, at the Multiverse.
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| 15th February 2007 |
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Toyfare have revealed yet another upcoming Battlestar Galactica exclusive - Baltar in a lab coat. Check out the discussion and pictures in this thread at the Multiverse.
Also the Speed Racer line isn't dead. Toyfare are reporting 4 new figure to be released, Trixie and Captain Terror from the classic Speed Racer line, with Racer X and Speed Racer Sr. from the modern line. Check out the discussion and pictures here. Minimate Headquarters has an extensive roundup of all the relevant Minimates news to come out of Toyfair the show, and Toyfare the magazine over the last week. Well worth checking it out here.
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| 13th February 2007 |
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And you thought we were done with Minimates announcements? Pffft! The latest Toyfare magazine has details of a Spider-Man wave hitting Targets in the Spring: "Torment" Spider-Man and Powerhouse Venom Melee Symbiote Spider-Man and Powerhouse Sandman "Civil War" Spider-Man and Transformation Venom Web Armor Spider-Man and Unmasked Green Goblin (w/removable mask) Toyfare also has some pictures of several of these upcoming Minimates, check out the discussion at the Multiverse here.
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| 12th February 2007 |
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Anyone remember the white Toyfair blank from the 2005 show? Well in a move no-one saw coming, there is a 2007 Toyfair exclusive Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica! Check out the pics and discussion thread at the Multiverse here. I don't usually add editorial content to the news pages, but I will just say that I think unless it's handled well (like the DC John Stewart giveaway) that this could be something that really annoys the fans. I know DST want to get the hype going for their upcoming line, but a promo 'Mate with the BSG logo on would have done that without being a "proper" figure.
Something I didn't link to earlier (mainly because there were lots of other links to pictures of REAL toys) was a gallery of movie posters done in the Minimate style. I thought it was a cute novelty, nothing more. How wrong I was. It appears that these are active licenses for DST! Check out Playthings Toy Fair 2007 report which states that "New MiniMates licenses for 2007 include: 80s Madonna film Desperately Seeking Susan, Rocky, 24, Star Trek, Back to the Future, Ghost Rider and A Few Dollars More". Thanks to Mr PL for highlighting this info at the Multiverse.
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| 11th February 2007 |
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As Toyfair kicks off properly the big action figure sites scramble to put up galleries upon galleries of pictures up. The very dependable Figures.com have a load of Minimates pictures, covering upcoming lines. Check out their Battlestar Galactica pictures with the Multiverse discussion on them here. They also have Rocky pictures with the Multiverse discussion on them here. As well as some more 24 pictures with the Multiverse discussion on them here. Wizard also have an article on the 24 Minimates which you can find here. There have also been pics of the Star Trek Minimates and Action Figure.com has a Marvel Minimates gallery showing X3 packaging and also a new Spider-Man boxset which appears to be movie-themed if not actually branded "Spider-Man 3". Check out the Multiverse discussion on this here. Action Figure also have more Battlestar Galactica pics and more Back To The Future pics. Finally, don't forget to check out Minimate Headquarters who have some excellent coverage of the Toyfair as well. It's much better presented than this page, that's for sure.
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| 10th February 2007 |
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The start of the Toyfair mayhem begins... Yes! Yes! Yes! The most off-beat and amazing miniseries of last year now has Minimates to go with it. What am I talking about? Only Marvel Zombies! Thanks as always to Ady for the spot. In more Toyfair announcements, Wizard have shown pics of Back To The Future Minimates! I think those are some great likenesses. Also check out the discussion on the Minimate Multiverse forum. Also, Wizard have pics of DST's new Battlestar Galactica 6" line, which you can see here. I know, it's a non-Minimate link, but I am really excited about this line and may well cover it in a similar style to MMC. Finally DC Direct have pics up of DC Minimates wave 5, check thsoe out here. Thanks again to Ady.
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| 9th February 2007 |
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The US Toyfair is nearly upon us, so expect a mass rush of pics from the big sites in a few days, with me providing links to as much of it as possible like every year! But what's this? Oooh, Battlestar Galactica and 24 pics courtesy of EW.com? Looking good! Thanks to Ady spotting this, check out the discussion on the Minimate Multiverse forum.
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| 24th January 2007 |
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We finally get a massive picture of the Rocky box-set, courtesy of TNI, it looks really good, especially the side of meat! Also check out the DST site for more pictures of the Rocky Minimates plus the promised group picture of Marvel wave 16.
Also Action-Figure.com has some early pictures from the UK Toyfair (never as exciting as the US one, but still...). Check out more Battlestar Galactica Minimates shots here, as well as concept art for the just-announced Battlestar Galactica 6" action-figure line, which I am very much looking forward to!
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| 18th January 2007 |
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And Minimate Multiverse have revealed the identity of the final two figures in Marvel Minimates wave 16, who are the much-requested She-Hulk along with Wonder Man. Check out the post featuring giant-size pictures of them in Thursday's announcement! What an amazing wave it's turned out to be! Tomorrow it's back to DST for a group picture.
In other news, a Rocky box-set has been solicited, containing Workout Rocky, Mickey, Adrian, and Boxing Gear Rocky. Check out the incredibly small picture.
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| 17th January 2007 |
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More Marvel Minimates wave 16 goodness announced, this time by Raving Toy Maniac. This time, we get superb pics of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch! This is shaping up to be an absolutely killer wave! Remember to keep it tuned to Minimate Multiverse for tomorrow's reveal!
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| 16th January 2007 |
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Another day, another piece of the Marvel Minimates wave 16 lineup revealed. Art Asylum had the scoop today, check out the new Lockdown to see pics of Bearded Thor and his nemesis Loki, plus the previously Radicals-only Star Trek Minimates picture.
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| 15th January 2007 |
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DST had an announcement set for Monday, and whilst it isn't another new license (like the recently announced 24 and Star Trek properties weren't enough) it is a very cool! Check out the Minimate Avengers Assemble! announcement and pics on the DST website. Marvel Minimates wave 16 is the Avengers! We finally get the most-requested Minimate since wave one! Thor all the way!
Interestingly, the press release also states how the rest of the wave is to be announced, as different action figure websites will get to reveal different figures in the wave. Very proud to see Minimates Central's official forum Minimate Multiverse has the exclusive on Thursday! Huge respect to my good friend Ady and the staff at MMMV! Meanwhile check out the MMMV discussion of the announcement here. But that's not all! In a massive day for Minimates new, DC Direct have revealed DC Minimates wave 5! Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel Hawkman and Hawkgirl Guy Gardner and Kilowog Red Tornado and Ma Hunkel For pics of all 8 Minimates, plus discussion, check out the thread on the Multiverse here. Phew. 2007 is shaping up to be a tremendous year for Minimates!
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| 13th January 2007 |
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In an announcement that won't be much of a surprise, given that they'd managed to spoil it themselves a few days ago, Diamond Select Toys will be making new Star Trek Minimates, as confirmed in the Radical's Confidential which you can sign up to on the DST site here. Go there, see the wave information and the very cool picture, and rejoice!
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| 8th January 2007 |
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Diamond Select Toys have announced another new license which will be getting the Minimates treatment - the hit TV show 24! Check out the announcement here and the discussion thread about it on the MMMV forums here. Not much in the announcement itself, but hints of further stuff to come... Check out that particular speculation-fest here. For my money, Ady's JL and the Wurlies guess is spot on. I'd be blown away if it was!
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Check the Minimates Central Archives for news before January 2007.
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