News Archive 2004

Check the News Page for news after December 2004.

29th December 2004


  • Raving Toy Maniac have a Minimate competition up where you can win the entire Marvel Minimates waves 8 and 9 before they are released. Head on over to the competition entry page and give it a go.


    • 28th December 2004


  • It appears that Santa Spidey was a special gift to retailers from DST/Marvel. A couple more have popped up on eBay from people hoping to cash in. Action-figure.com had Santa Spidey as the 25th door on their festive action figure advent calendar. Check out the pictures here.

    In Minimates Central site news, check out part 2 of my Batcave progress here.


    • 23rd December 2004


  • A very interesting eBay auction has surfaced. Check out Santa Spidey here!


    • 20th December 2004


  • Minimates Central will be having some content added over the next few weeks. The start of this sees a new Rumours page begin. Enjoy!


    • 1st December 2004


  • Kirby on the Art Asylum Lord of the Rings Minimates forum has posted up pictures of the new wave 2 LOTR 'mates. Check out the thread here.


    • 22nd November 2004


  • A trailer for a CGI Batman Minimate animated short called "New Times" is available here. It's in Quicktime format and well worth a look. It seems as though "New Times" is a final student project that is fully endorsed by Art Asylum and has some great Batman-related voice actors. It's amazing what influence Minimates are having now! Thanks to Ivan for pointing this fantastic piece of work out in this thread on the Art Asylum forum.

    I must also give a huge thank you to Play Along, who have sent me the Batcave 2.0 parts within 3 days. As I am in the UK it's brilliant customer service to receive the parts so quickly.

    Finally, I can't resist plugging my Microman Catwoman review that Michael's Review of the Week has kindly published. Please check it out here.


    • 19th November 2004


  • 2 more Batman C3 sets have been announced at the Fall Toy Fair; a Spy Glider, and more interestingly, a "Gotham City Under Seige" playset with 3 villains! Check out the action-figure.com article here and the discussion thread on the Art Asylum boards here.

    Also it seems as though Lord of the Rings wave 2 sets are shipping now. Kirby on Art Asylum's Lord of the Rings Forum has had shipping confirmation from AFX, so look for these sets to hit retail very soon.


    • 18th November 2004


  • More pictures have been shown of the upcoming IndyMates, check out the TNI article here and the discussion thread on the Art Asylum boards (which first premiered the pictures) here.

    Also Mr Excitable has emailed me to say he has received his parts from Play Along to create the Batcave 2.0 (with greater structural support). Especially impressive because he is in the UK. This is great news for everyone who contacted Play Along for the new parts. Hopefully this second version of the Batcave will solve the flaws present in the first version.


    • 12th November 2004


  • It seems as though the C3 Mini-Flyer wave has been cut from 6 characters to 4, to allow Art Asylum to produce 2 waves. Check out the article regarding this change at TNI here.

    Toyfare #89 is out now and apparently has a lot of Minimates coverage, including pictures of the Marvel wave 8 & 9 chase figures, prototype/concept pictures of Batman Begins C3 figures... and the first look at Art Asylum & Diamond Select Toys IndyMates line, featuring Minimates licenced from independent comics!


    • 8th November 2004


  • More C3 information from Action-Figure.com has been revealed. Check out new pics of Lex Luthor plus more C3 wave 2 announcements here.


    • 2nd November 2004


  • There are numerous reports that the AFX-exclusive Prologue Elves are arriving in people's letterboxes. Check out some nice pics of this set taken by prozac on the Toy News International forums here.


    • 1st November 2004


  • Check out more Action-Figure.com pictures from the Fall Toyfair, this time of Lord of the Rings Minimates wave 2, here.


    • 29th October 2004


  • Another day, another Action-Figure.com Minimate article! This time we have pics of Brainiac and the first confirmation of a Green Lantern Minimate! Check out the article here.


    • 28th October 2004


  • Action-Figure.com continue their excellent run of Minimate news with 2 new articles from the Fall Toyfair. They have some nice pictures of the new C3 Batcopter here and some news (but no pictures) of what's in the proposed first wave of Batman Begins C3 sets. Check out the article (but beware of spoilers of characters/situations in the film) here.


    • 26th October 2004


  • Action-Figure.com have some more C3 shots from the Fall Toy Fair. See some great clear pictures of the Street Justice Batman and Man-Bat Minimates and the Batcycle here.

    Also, Online Action Figure Entertainment have reviewed the C3 Batcave set. Check out the comprehensive review here.


    • 25th October 2004


  • Toy News International have some great pictures of the Minimates which will be part of the new C3 Mini-Flyers line, as well as concept art for the rumoured Mr Freeze! Check them out here.

    Also, AFX have started taking orders for their exclusive Lord of the Rings Prologue Elves 2-pack. Check out the order page here.

    Finally, thanks to Xybot for posting this thread on the Art Asylum forum to let everyone know that the latest issue of PREVIEWS retailer catalogue has a cover dedicated to the Marvel Minimates. Check out the large (1.6Mb) cover image here.


    • 22nd October 2004


  • The Fall Toy Fair has been on this week as toy manufacturers desperately pimp their merchandise before the Christmas rush. Action-figure.com have pics of Art Asylum's C3 display from it here, which reveal an interesting possible future addition to the Mini-Flyer lineup; Mr Freeze!


    • 21st October 2004


  • Online action-figure retailer AFX have a poll up where you can vote for who you want to see as a Lord of the Rings Minimate. Check out the AFX page here, the poll is on the right hand side. Already fans are speculating that whoever wins will be the next AFX exclusive.


    • 19th October 2004


  • RTM have a picture up of the wave 8 and 9 Marvel Minimates, minus the chases. Check it out here. Add your comments to the discussion thread started by Zauriel on the Art Asylum forum here.


    • 18th October 2004


  • Millionaire Playboy have reviewed the most expensive C3 set produced, the Batcave. Obviously got further than me in making it! Check out the very in-depth review with a load of great pictures here.

    Also wanted to add a big "Thank You" to Mr Excitable who sent me a Marvel Minimates case display. Cheers mate, it's most appreciated!


    • 12th October 2004


  • Altered States Magazine have a gallery up of the not-yet-released Marvel Cyclops and Dark Phoenix set. We still don't know who the exclusive is for, but check out some of the great pics here.


    • 11th October 2004


  • On their message board, Art Asylum have confirmed that there will be a Batcave 2.0 and that anyone who has had trouble with the original Batcave can get the new 2.0 parts sent to them soon:

    "we're putting together a set of extra pieces that will be availale in the 2.0 set that we can send out from play along for those that have the first set. it's costing us a pretty penny but we decided to go for it and soon, pa will have the extra pieces to ship out to all those that have the first batcave. and anyone hesitant about purchasing the cave now, pls give us a shot and we'll get out the new extra pieces to you in the next few months. i would say they will be in pa's hands probably in 2 months. sorry for the delay but we're going to fix this one way or another. thanks for the support as always".

    Also, I was very saddened to hear of the death of Christopher Reeve, who will always be remembered by millions of movie fans as being Superman in the films about the Man of Steel. Since being paralysed in a horseriding accident he had worked to promote spinal injury research. He will be greatly missed, and my thoughts are with his family at this terrible time.


    • 8th October 2004


  • Art Asylum have created a TV commercial to publicise the C3 line. Check out the Quicktime Movie of it here (you might need to use Save As, it's 5Mb in size). Thanks to Brandon from the AACC Newsletter.

    Also, Action-Figure.com has posted an article up concerning Lord of the Rings wave 2. Check out the new pics of the entire wave here.


    • 7th October 2004


  • The Toys R Us exclusive Marvel Minimate 10 pack has been sighted. Greatpandaonita has posted on the Art Asylum forum here.

    The lineup is:

    Silver Surfer
    Ultimate Spider-Man
    Battle Damaged Daredevil
    Yellow/Red Iron Man
    The Thing
    Ghost Rider
    Venom with Tongue
    New Wolverine
    Ultimate Green Goblin - EXCLUSIVE
    Mr Fantastic - EXCLUSIVE

    Just 2 new Minimates and the rest recently available (either in Wal-mart packs or in the last 3 waves of Marvel Minimates. It retails for $19.95

    Also, Toy News International have some pics up of the new additions from the Marvel wave 7. Check out their article here for pictures of Spider-Man 2099, Chameleon, and J. Jonah Jameson, who some fans are calling "Chameleon with mask" due to the fact that it's the same as the Chameleon figure.


    • 2nd October 2004


  • Millionaire Playboy continue their C3 reviews with a look at the large Batmobile. Check out the review here.


    • 1st October 2004


  • Tower Records have got their exclusive Clobberin' Time Thing and Super Skrull 2-pack listed as IN STOCK on their website at a superb price of $5.99! Check out the order page here. Many thanks to Steve Vaccaro for emailing me about this.


    • 30th September 2004


  • Online toy store Action Figure Express have a preorder page up for the upcoming C3 Mini Flyer sets. Check out the order page here. The page also has a link to a large picture of all 6 Flyers which you can see here. This shows in great detail all 6 sets.


    • 28th September 2004


  • On the Art Asylum Marvel Minimate forum, DST have clarified a few things about the upcoming wave 7 of the Marvel Minimates. The release dates are given as "West coast gets series 7 on the 29th and east coast the week following". So hopefully these should be out in comic stores on the West Coast tomorrow. Also the confusion over the lineup has been addressed. Wave 7 does not include Dark Phoenix/Cyclops, which is in fact "an exclusive that will be announced by end of year". Someone somewhere leaked that one on eBay out then! Thanks to DSTChuck for enlighting us as fan speculation was reaching rampant levels :)

    In other news, my Wizard/Toyfare exclusive Power Man/Iron Fist set turned up today. Also Malcolm Tait has emailed me to say that the Forbidden Planet in London is now selling them for £11.99, and they have been spotted in comic shops in the UK and US.


    • 25th September 2004


  • AA/Play Along have sent out images of the 2005 C3 sets to all the main action figure sites. Check out Millionaire Playboy and Raving Toy Maniac among others. These shots indicate some more complex designs for Batman costumes and give a better idea of what some of the Mini-Flyers will look like.

    Also, there have been a couple of interesting eBay listings recently. Check out Marvel Minimates Wave 7 offerings in the shape of Grey Hulk and Rhino and Spider-Man 2099 and Silver Surfer, both of which were listed as being in wave 7. But the seller also has Dark Phoenix and Cyclops. This is the first confirmation of who was going to come with Dark Phoenix and is the first shot of the packaging. Does this mean a change to wave 7? Does it now feature Dark Phoenix/Cyclops instead of Ultimate Spider-Man and Chameleon? Only time (or AA) will tell. Thanks to Spud405 for the heads up on the AA Marvel forum.

    Finally, those of you who ordered the Toyfare/Wizard exclusive Power Man and Iron Fist, these appear to be shipping now. Haven't received mine yet.


    • 21st September 2004


  • Today this site is a year old! I first started Marvel Minimates Central on 21st September 2003, and one domain name change later Minimates Central is still going strong with over 19,000 hits and complete reviews of Marvel waves 1-6 and LOTR wave 1. It seemed fitting that today was the day when my Batcave and Batwing arrived from the States to complete my collection of wave 1 C3, reviews of which are currently ongoing.

    I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has visited and made Minimates Central a success, also cheers to all those people who have emailed me to say that they enjoy the site (as it's good to get feedback on it), and thanks to the people at the Art Asylum forums, the LOG forums and the TNI boards who make those cool places to be.


    • 17th September 2004


  • Premier Batman fansite Legions of Gotham has exclusive first pics of the Batcycle packaging (and confirmation that Man-Bat is the second figure) along with concept art for a Minimate of "The Batman" on their forum, which they have allowed me to show here:







    I think they have done a fantastic job recreating the new-look Batman, and the Man-Bat figure shown on the Batcycle packaging looks amazing. I also love the new Batman face on the left hand side. Thanks to Matt and Jeff at LoG for the pictures.

    Update 8th October - AA have requested that the concept art images not be shown.


    • 1st September 2004


  • For those of you that are having difficulty in accessing Art Asylum's forum, use the following link:

    http://64.226.64.168/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

    This was explained on a pop-up on the Art Asylum website, but I'll bet there's a fair few people who have pop-up blockers these days and wouldn't see it. Thanks to NightCreeper on the TNI Forums for pointing this out!


    • 29th August 2004


  • Online Action Figure Entertainment continue their recent surge in Minimates coverage with a review of the Clobberin' Time Thing/Super Skrull exclusive set which you can see here. In other news, Tristan of the Art Asylum Collectors Club has posted up "technical"-style pictures of the upcoming C3 Batcopter and Batcycle. See the thread on the Art Asylum forum here.

    Oh, and hopefully the bandwidth top-up I bought will mean that the site will remain accessible til the end of the month. Looking at the stats it seems like it'll be a close-run thing, so of it goes down before then, please don't worry as it'll be back up on September 1st with 5Gb bandwidth for the month from then on.


    • 26th August 2004


  • A couple of new reviews to update you all on. Online Action Figure Entertainment has a review up of the Lord of the Rings Sauron Minimate which you can see here. Also Millionaire Playboy have a great review up of the Chemical Warehouse Battle with the usual fantastic pics here.


    • 25th August 2004


  • And I'm back! Due to my 3Gb monthly bandwidth being exceeded Minimates Central has been down for the last few days. I apologise for any inconvenience. I have bought some more bandwidth which should last til the end of the month and have increased my bandwidth allocation from next month.

    The first pictures of the next wave of C3 Minimates and construction sets have appeared in the latest issue of Previews magazine. The wave consists of:

    Batcycle with Batman and Man-Bat (or possibly Ras-al-Ghul)
    Batcopter with Tech Batman
    JLU Mini Starfighter with Martian Manhunter and Flash

    Also the Mini Flyers get mentioned. They come with 1 figure and mini jet vehicle: Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, Riddler, Superman and Flash.

    Thanks to Reddog for first posting about the new wave on the Art Asylum Forum, and also to gra007 who has posted the amazing picture from the Previews magazine which you can see in this thread here. These new Mini Flyer sets look great and should encourage more people into the Minimate fold.

    In Minimates Central site news, the C3 reviews section is now active with a review of the Chemical Warehouse Battle with Batman Vs Joker. I have also added a new pic-fic in the gallery as a result of taking the photos for the review, check out Batman Vs Joker.


    • 20th August 2004


  • As I haven't updated for a few days, there's various snippets of news to report. Wizard World Chicago provided us with a few more images of the same set of Minimates shown at SDCC. Check out the pic from TNI here. Also at Wizard World, the people at the Art Asylum booth showed how versatile their new C3 construction system is, making a Star Trek Enterprise model out of several Stealth Batwing sets. Check out Action-Figure.com's article about it here.

    OAFE have a review up of the Gaijin Wolverine and Mariko summer exclusive set, which you can check out here. TNI also have a gallery up of the new Power Man/Iron Fist exclusive set which you can see here.

    I contacted Play Along via email to ask them if C3 was getting released in other parts of the world. The response was "The items will be available in the UK in Spring 05 through Character Options and in Australia, they will be available by this Christmas through Funtastic".

    Finally, an interesting tidbit of info from Adam at Art Asylum on the Art Asylum message boards regarding the future of C3. He says "Our spring line has miniflyers that come with a figure for about the same price as a 2pk of marvel so we can do even more minimates (yes villains too) with small vehicles".


    • 15th August 2004


  • Wizard World Chicago has started, and with it some controversy surrounding the Wizard/Toyfare exclusive Power Man and Iron Fist 2-pack. Wizard are selling this at their convention stall, which is good news for attendees but not as good for everyone who preordered their sets months ago. Regardless, take a look at BOOBYTOY's galleries of both the Power Man/Iron Fist set and the AFX-exclusive Classic Iron Man/Silver Centurion sets which is also available at the convention. Check it out here. The exclusives are at the bottom of the gallery.

    In Minimates Central site news, I have a review up of the C3 Stealth Batwing convention exclusive which you can see here. I will be adding in a C3 section to the site hopefully next week, with a similar framework to the Marvel and Lord of the Rings sections.

    Finally, OAFE have a review up of the Battle Damaged Captain America and Punisher set, which you can check out here.


    • 13th August 2004


  • Play Along Toys, who distribute the C3 Minimates that Art Asylum create, now have a C3 website up and running. Check it out here. It has release information, pictures and most importantly PDF files of the instructions.

    Also just a quick note to say that Forbidden Planet in the UK have received their stock of exclusive C3 Stealth Batwings.


    • 10th August 2004


  • A couple of news snippets regarding the upcoming Classic Iron Man/Silver Centurion 2-pack. First off, the exclusive set will be available from Action Figure eXpress's stall at this weekend's Wizard World Chicago, which starts Friday 13th August. For more information and pics check out this article from Action-Figure.com.

    Also, TheSporq emailed me to say that ToyWiz have an order page up for this set which you can see here. It is unknown if they have got their stock from AFX, or whether this isn't exclusive to a specific online company.


    • 7th August 2004


  • Art Asylum have given the fans a news update on their forum:

    On Lord of the Rings Minimates:-
    "LOTR minimates finally made it into stores and seems the response has been better even then we had hoped. Sales have been surprisingly excellent and TRU is already out of their initial order with more to come. The 2 packs should be out in force now as well and coming up AFX's exclusive Elvin Warrior 2pk as well as wave 2 which should be hitting in October (ugh, i wish sooner too). We're working on wave III now and hoping to incorporate some parts of C3 in with LOTR, at least the hopes of buildable beasts and go from there."

    On Marvel Minimates:-
    "Marvel minimates are going strong and now with the addition of Walmart where they are hitting NOW, we should really see what we have with this line when it hopefully gets in the hands of the kids. Target has come on board now too and they should have product in their stores this Fall of minimates. Exclusives from Toyfare, Tower, AFX are all on the way and turned out great."

    On C3:-
    "C3 is really on the shelves.....I can't even believe it myself, seriously, I can't believe we got this line to market, it was about the most difficult thing I have ever gone thru in my life....Maybe trig/calc classes in highschool were the only things that gave me more fits then C3. But it's here and despite a few problems, it seems to be making people happy and that's what counts!!! Some of the issues i've seen from you we totally know about and are in the process of fixing and making running changes. We're also getting up a support site now where we can get you missing pieces and help so you dont have to take product back which doesn't bode well for us and was a major issue I heard with the downfall of BTR. So PLEASE, give us a lttle time if you can, we have ALL the parts that just arrived at Play Along's offices and we're working out the details now to make this easy for everyone. Thanks for hanging with us here, it's been a hard road and we knew things wouldn't be perfect from the get go but we're trying like mad to do it right for you. The Batcave has some tough spots when putting together the 2nd level, we've built a ton of them so that is an issue and not easy to get right, but it can be done. don't give up! The hair pieces are an issue too and that's being fixed now and we made all new tools for the upcoming waves so that should be gone soon. we're getting the new C3 site up sometime this week hopefully, It will have tons of ways to help build and help trouble spots and show you new techniques for making new items out of the one's you have or combining. We'll be introducing our "brick master" soon who can help and bring more to our line as a fan and master builder. I just got back from Toronto as well where we filmed our first ever TV commercial for C3 and it's AWESOME. i just got the rough cuts back and when approved, we'll be debuting it on our site at the collector's club first. so again, thanks so much for your support on C3, and keep us in the loop about stores, trouble spots, etc. seriously, we read all this, your help is amazing and so appreciated, pls understand that, we're HERE!!!!!"

    Read the update in its entirety here.

    Also, Toy News International have an entertaining review of the two Marvel Minimate SDCC exclusives here, and Action-Figure.com have a gallery up from SDCC showing off the C3 Mini-Batmobile which you can see here.


    • 5th August 2004


  • Mr Excitable has very kindly sent me pictures of the case display used by comics stores to show off their Marvel Minimates. Check out the following pics:
    Front flap of case display showing off Marvel super heroes
    Close-up of front
    Side of case display with more Marvel super heroes
    The display in action

    Also, Michael's Review of the Week has a review up of the C3 Chemical Warehouse set. Check out the review (and the superb pics) here. Thanks to Buttercup for the email heads-up!


    • 2nd August 2004


  • Lots of new reviews and pictures of more C3 Minimates to report on today. Firstly, Online Action Figure Entertainment has a nice review of the summer convention exclusive C3 Stealth Batwing here. Also, Toy News International have a gallery of Stealth Batwing pictures here. Finally, Millionaire Playboy have reviews up of the Batglider and normal Batwing. Check out the review and lots of great pics here.


    • 1st August 2004


  • Dark Knight has got lots of pictures up of the newly-released C3 Batcave, which he got at a Canadian Wal-Mart. Check them out in his gallery here. Additionally I have linked the home page of his site in the Minimates Central Links page.

    There are a few reports of the Marvel Wal-Mart 2-packs hitting the shelves, so keep your eyes peeled.

    Finally, I have just added the final Lord of the Rings wave 1 review to the site today. Check out the reviews of all 4 of the new figures - Gimli, Wormtongue, King Theoden and the Uruk-Hai Swordsman. Please stay tuned for more upcoming reviews - next week will see reviews posted of the two SDCC-exclusive Marvel packs; Wolverine with Mariko and Battle Damaged Captain America with Punisher.


    • 29th July 2004


  • The full release list for the Wal-Mart Marvel Minimates sets has surfaced. Look out for:

    Hulk and Thing
    Iron Man and Dr. Doom
    Kingpin and Ultimate Spider-Man
    New Wolverine with Phoenix
    Ultimate Cyclops with Ultimate Wolverine
    Logan with Peter Parker/Spider-Man
    Captain America with Rhino
    Unmasked Spidey with Doc Ock
    Battle-Damaged Daredevil with Bullseye
    Battle-Damaged Spidey and Venom (with long tongue)

    Check out this discussion thread about this on the Art Asylum board here.

    Also on the Art Asylum forum, Kirby has posted up some pics of the Tower-exclusive Super Skrull and Clobberin' Time Thing set which you can see here.

    Finally, click the link here to check out Michael's (of MCWToys.com) review of the Lord of the Rings Minimates.


    • 28th July 2004


  • Pics of one of the new Marvel Wal-Mart 2-packs have surfaced on eBay. Check out the Iron Man/Dr Doom 2-pack auction. AA said that once the Marvel Minimates hit Wal-Mart, there might be different packs to what DST originally offered in their 2-packs, and if this is anything to go by, they were right! Thanks to Minivenom for posting the link on the Art Asylum Marvel forum.


    • 24th July 2004


  • Another day and yet more news in what's proving to be a busy (yet very cool) time for Minimate fans.

    From the San Diego Comic Con, LordoftheRingsGuide.com has a great Lord of the Rings Gallery up, check out shots of figures that should form wave 2 of the 2-pack sets.

    Millionaire Playboy now has a review up of the Mini-Batmobile and Throne Room Battle, complete with the usual excellent pics.

    DarkKnight has compiled a very thorough gallery of several of the C3 sets, including pics showing all the different parts that come with each set. Well worth a look here if you're interested in what comes with what set.

    Additionally, NightCreeper from the TNI Forum has taken some nice pics of the BatGlider which you can see here.


    • 23rd July 2004


  • And so the San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC) starts, and lo there were lots of cool new pictures to salivate over.

    Toy News International has a Marvel Minimates Gallery and a small C3 Gallery.
    Figures.com also has a Marvel Minimates Gallery and a C3 Gallery.

    After taking some great pics of the first 2 C3 sets, NeoLego on the Art Asylum board has a second review page of the BatGlider and the Chemical Warehouse sets. Check out the review and pics here.

    Meanwhile, Montrossx has taken some nice pics of the BatWing and Pilot Batman which you can see here.


    • 22nd July 2004


  • Looks like the promised summer Minimate release bonanza has started. Reports of the C3/DC sets (the 4 smaller sets AND the Batwing set) hitting K-Marts abound, and the LOTR wave 1 2-pack sets are now appearing on eBay UK. In addition to this, Marvel Minimates wave 6 came out to comic stores on the west coast. Ivan, who regular readers will know from the Art Asylum forum, has put pics up of wave 6 in this thread.

    Also, the San Diego Comic-Con starts today, so good luck to everyone who's going (hey kirby!) and hope you all get the exclusives you want. Don't forget the Stealth Batwing! That's the one Minimate piece I think might be harder to get after the show. Would love one of those myself ;)


    • 20th July 2004


  • UPDATE - More C3 pics from the other 2 just released sets - the Batglider and Chemical Warehouse - can be found on this thread on the TNI Minimusings forum, thanks to Montrossx.

    NeoLego on the Art Asylum Forum has pictures up from two of the new C3 sets that are just becoming available. Check out his excellent pics and review of the Mini-Batmobile and Darkseid's Throne Room here and the discussion thread about them on the Art Asylum Forum here.

    Hong Kong Lad from the TNI Forum has very kindly sent me bigger pictures of the back of the Lord of the Rimgs Packaging. Check out the pictures of Saruman with Wormtongue, Gandalf with King Theoden and Frodo with Uruk-Hai swordsman.

    Also, thanks to Jason who has emailed me to say that the Wolverine and Marilo Yashida SDCC-exclusive Minimates are available to order now from AFX. Check the link out here. It says they will ship in 4-6 weeks, which means they will be sent after the convention, which takes place in a few days, but it's a way to get them if you aren't going to the convention.


    • 13th July 2004


  • The new issue of Toyfare is out tomorrow, and with it comes some Marvel Minimates wave information.

    It confirms that Wave 8 comprises:

    Mr Fantastic & Human Torch
    Invisible Woman & Big Chest Thing
    Cut-Face Thing & Brown Costume Wolverine
    Wave 8 chase is clear Invisible Woman

    It also gives the lineup for Wave 9:

    Blade & Punisher
    "Patch" Wolverine & Lady Deathstrike
    New X-Men Cyclops & White Queen
    Wave 9 chase is clear White Queen

    The Toyfare article also has pictures of some of the upcoming Minimates, including Mr Fantastic. Check out the post by murderofcrows on Art Asylum's message board here.


    • 12th July 2004


  • Millionaire Playboy.com has a review up of the wave 1 Lord of the Rings 2-pack sets. Check out the article, with the usual MPb high-quality combination of pics and prose here.


    • 7th July 2004


  • A poster called Hong Kong lad has got the first in hand package pics up of one of the 2-pack sets. Click the link here and navigate to LOTR on the menu. I think they look great, kinda like the old Marvel style bubble with the LOTR 4-pack artwork. Link taken from this post on TNI's forum.

    Also, I have just added the second Lord of the Rings 4-pack review - check out the Aragorn, Saruman, Legolas and Twilight Frodo review.


    • 28th June 2004


  • Online toy store Action Figure eXpress have announced their latest Minimates exclusive. It will be a Lord of the Rings themed 2-pack of Prologue Elven Archers. Check out AFX's order page here, and there's also an article, with a very cool picture, on the Action-Figure.com website here.

    Also, I have just added my first Lord of the Rings 4-pack review - check out the Gollum, Gandalf the White, Frodo, Beserker review.


    • 23rd June 2004


  • Art Asylum have announced an upcoming Toys R Us 10-pack of Marvel Minimates, which will include exclusive figures of Mr. Fantastic and Ultimate Green Goblin as well as the highly sought-after Venom with tongue. Check out the post by Art Asylum on their board here.

    In other news, I managed to get hold of the 2 Lord of the Rings 4-packs, which are fantastic. I will be reviewing these figures shortly. In the meantime, check out some great pictures of them from the ever-reliable Ivan on the Art Asylum forum here.


    • 17th June 2004


  • The lineup for Marvel Minimates Wave 8 has been published in the E-Spectrum newsletter, which you can view if you sign up (for free) to become one of Diamond Select Toys's Radicals. Check out the DST website here. For me, it's the usual hit-and-miss Marvel wave really. Some good figures that are sorely needed in the Marvel Universe along with some new versions of older characters.

    In addition, Action-figure.com have an article about the Tower Records exclusive Clobberin' Time Thing and Super Skrull set, check it out here.


    • 16th June 2004


  • Due to the great success of Marvel Minimates Central, which has now had over 6400 hits, I have registered www.minimatescentral.com as the domain instead of the terribly unwieldy one I was using.

    To celebrate this, the site has undergone a little bit of an overhaul. It's now Minimates Central, as I do intend to get more Lord of the Rings Minimates as well as obviously featuring the Marvel Minimates. The Reviews page has been modified to reflect this. There is now a Marvel Minimates Review page and a Lord of the Rings Review page. Both pages have been updated with the latest release information.

    Please bookmark www.minimatescentral.com today!

    12th June 2004


  • GrendelMate on the Art Asylum Lord of the Rings Minimates forum has put up some pics of the figures from the new TRU-exclusive LOTR 4-packs. Check out his great pics in the thread here.


    • 11th June 2004


  • Lots of news to report today, starting with some UK news. After I reported last month that Forbidden Planet had listed the 2 TRU-exclusive Lord of the Rings sets in their Exclusives section, I emailed them and they said they would be receiving them in June. After the sightings of the TRU 4-packs in the States yesterday, I emailed them again and asked when in June they would be getting them in. Unfortunately they are now not getting these packs in, as they have "now been cancelled by the manufacturer" so I guess it's off to eBay for me.

    Toy News International have had a real run of Minimate articles in the last few days. They have different shots of the Battle Damaged Captain America/Punisher set which can be seen in this article, and new pictures of brown costume Wolverine/Mariko in this article. I do hope Punisher comes with some guns, he's one figure that needs a lot of weaponry, and it would be cool to get some Minimate scale guns to go with the knives and sais we have already.

    Finally, TNI have some shots of the DC/C3 Stealth BatWing, which is yet another summer convention exclusive. Check out the article here. Quite why a toyline that isn't out yet needs an exclusive is beyond me. I don't understand why they did it with Sauron in the LOTR Minimates line either. Still, it looks like it comes with a Bruce Wayne figure as well as Pilot Batman, so that's a plus.


    • 10th June 2004


  • According to this sighting on the new Art Asylum Lord of the Rings Minimates forum, the new Toys R US 4-packs of the LOTR Minimates are out. Keep your eyes open for the 2 sets; one has Gollum, Gandalf the White, Frodo and hidden beserker Uruk Hai, the other pack has Aragorn, Saruman, Legalos, and hidden twilight (clear) Frodo.


    • 9th June 2004


  • Wizard have pics of the new San Diego Comic Con exclusives available this summer. The Brown Costumed Wolverine/Mariko set can be seen here and the previously rumoured but until now not confirmed Battle Damaged Captain America/Punisher set can be seen here.


    • 5th June 2004


  • The Green Dragon has an intriguing bit of information posted on their site. It seems as though the Toys R Us Lord of the Rings 4 packs could be hitting the States in early July. This corresponds with online store AFX, who also have Marvel waves 6 and 7 listed for July aand not June, as previously thought.


    • 1st June 2004


  • Premier Lord of the Rings website The Green Dragon has some great large pics of the LOTR Sauron Minimate in their LOTR Minimate image archive. See the shots here.


    • 31st May 2004


  • Michael's Review of the Week has a review of the recently-released Lord of the Rings Sauron Tower exclusive Minimate. Check out the review here and see the great pics Michael has included.


    • 29th May 2004


  • Diamond Select Toys have answered some fan-asked questions regarding the future of the Minimates line in a Q&A session. Informative and in places quite funny, it's well worth a look. See the post here. These Q&A sessions might well become a regular thing - keep an eye on the Art Asylum Marvel Forum for more info.


    • 25th May 2004


  • The first Lord of the Rings Minimate, the Dark Lord Sauron, is in stock and available from the Tower Records website. See the order page here. I have ordered mine, hope international shipping doesn't take too long as I can't wait for it!

    Ivan has posted on the Art Asylum Marvel Forum to say that he has got his Sauron Minimate from Tower Records already, and has supplied us with some great pics of the figure which you can see in his post here. Lucky Ivan!

    The latest rumoured exclusive 2-pack (yes, another one!) is a set that contains a Battle Damaged variant of Captain America and also a Punisher Minimate. This could be a really cool addition to the ranks of the Marvel Minimates but it's still only a rumour until confirmed by AA or DST. See the thread started by Ballzo on the Art Asylum Marvel Forum here.


    • 22nd May 2004


  • After a fantastic 2-week vacation in Orlando, it's time for me to round up some of the news from the last couple of weeks that I have not been around to report on - and there's been a lot going on.

    The main Diamond Select Toys website has updated with an exclusives rundown which you can see here. It lists and pictures 3 upcoming exclusive sets; the Toyfare exclusive Power Man and Iron Fist set, the Silver Centurion/Classic Iron Man AFX exclusive, and a not-previously announced "Clobberin' Time" Thing and Super Skrull Tower Records exclusive.

    Speaking of the Toyfare Power Man and Iron Fist exclusive set, you can now preorder it online at the Wizard store here. Thanks to Mr O for emailing me about this information.

    In addition, it's been announced that the San Diego Comic Con 2-pack exclusive will be brown-costume Wolverine with his love interest Mariko.

    Toy News International has a very handy picture gallery of all the announced 2004 exclusives so far, which can be found here.

    More pictures of the AFX exclusive Silver Centurion/Iron Man set can be found at Lee's Toy Review's article here and a presumed mock-up of the box art can be found at Action-Figure.com here.

    Also at Action-Figure.com there is information on how to get the Lord of the Rings Sauron Minimate on the 25th May. Check out the article here.

    Finally, Ring of Collectors is reporting that wave 7 will now not contain Thanos. Instead, he is to be replaced in the Silver Surfer 2-pack by a Spider-Man 2099 Minimate. Check out the article and pictures here.


    • 4th May 2004


  • Kirby has posted on the Art Asylum Marvel Forum about the latest AFX exclusive. It will be a 2-pack of Classic Iron Man and Silver Centurion Iron Man. Check out the thread here and concept artwork here.


    • 3rd May 2004


  • A larger update than usual as I try to round up some of the Minimates goings-on from the last couple of weeks. First off, some site news. Marvel Minimates Central has now had over 4000 hits, which is fantastic. I have also had emails from people all over the world that have found the site useful, so thanks to you all for visiting constantly and helping make Marvel Minimates Central a successful review and news resource site which everyone can use. Please email me if you have any comments or suggestions about the site, I am always grateful to receive any kind of feedback.

    Also, the last remaining review of wave 5 has gone up today, Unmasked Doctor Doom - Chase Figure for Wave 5. This review completes waves 4 and 5, and means that the Reviews page now has reviews for every single commercially available Marvel Minimate produced so far, from wave 1 to wave 5 and all of the retail exclusives. The groupshot on the index page has been updated to show all 50 different Marvel Minimates.

    I received the latest Forbidden Planet home shopping catalogue (for April 2004 to June 2004) the other day, which has some very interesting listings UK-wise. In the Exclusives section, they mention 2 Lord of the Rings Minimates sets, one containing Saruman, Aragorn and Legolas and a special unseen figure of Twilight Frodo, and the other containing Gollum, Gandalf and Frodo and a special unseen figure of Battle Uruk Hai. They say that these 2 sets have been "done for the US retail market only" and that they "have a small quantity available". Are these the TRU exclusive 4-packs which AA have said will arrive before the 2-packs? Anyway, as I don't believe these sets have even made it to US retail yet, I have emailed FP asking about their availablity in the UK, as their wording indicates that they have them in stock.

    They also have listings for Marvel Minimates waves 4-7, the DC Minimates range (including the Batcave), and the Lord of the Rings Minimate 2-packs. Pricing seems to be fairly competitive, although the Batcave IS £48 (!!). These all appear on their website too, apart from the LOTR 2-packs.

    In other news, MillionairePlayboy.com has reviewed the Giant-Size X-Men set and the Magneto/Professor X 2-pack. Check out the review and the usual display of awesome accompanying pictures here.


    • 13th April 2004


  • Toy News International has a new article with many large, hi-res pics of upcoming DC/C3 sets. These promotional pics make the sets look awesome. Check them out here.


    • 29th March 2004


  • Toy News International has an article containing many superb pics of Marvel Minimates from wave 5. Check it out here.


    • 22nd March 2004


  • MillionairePlayboy.com has a review and many cool pics of Marvel Minimates waves 4 and 5, all done in their usual style. Well worth checking out here.


    • 21st March 2004


  • Today is the 6-month anniversary of the launch of Marvel Minimates Central. This week the site got up to 2000 hits so a big thank you to everyone who has visited and therefore made this site a success. I have updated the Reviews page to take into account the latest wave information, and also updated the Links page with more links, so please take a look. Waves 4 and 5 of the Marvel Minimates should be on their way and so should be reviewed in my usual in-depth style in the next week or two.

    In other news, TNI have a quick roundup of shots showcasing Marvel Minimates waves 6 and 7. Check it out here. They also have pictures of the just-available wave 4 figures here.

    Action Figure.com also continue their look at the new DC/C3 Minimates with features on the Mini Batmobile with Batman and Robin, the Batwing with Pilot Batman and the Justice League Javelin with Flash.


    • 11th March 2004


  • LordoftheRingsGuide.com have more new shots of Lord of the Rings Minimates. Check out the article here to see pics of a different Gollum (with no seperate hair piece) and the first look at Grishnakh.


    • 9th March 2004


  • Action-Figure.com have another fantastic Minimates article, this time concerning Lord of the Rings, containing new pictures of Gimli, King Theoden and Grima Wormtongue along with the just-seen images of the 2 Orcs. Check it out here. Theoden looks great, not too sure about Gimli's beard but the helmet is nicely detailed.


    • 8th March 2004


  • Action-Figure.com are rounding up their C3 Toyfare coverage. First off are articles on the Superman Vs Darkseid Throne Room Set and the Batman Vs Catwoman Batglider Set. The really interesting tidbit of news in the articles is the expected July 2004 release date, which is a lot sooner than the Autumn date given previously. At this rate we'll see these before Marvel Minimates Wave 4!

    And on a more personal note, Michael's Review of the Week has very kindly published my review of Toybiz's Mecha Hulk from the new Hulk Classics line. Please take a look here.


    • 7th March 2004


  • The online collector website AFX have new promotional images of the Lord of the Rings Minimates. As well as the figures we've seen before, they have a pictures of Gollum as well as 2 different Helms Deep Orcs. Check out the pictures here and here.


    • 26th February 2004


  • The latest issue of the Previews magazine has hot-off-the-press information about an upcoming Toyfare Marvel Minimate exclusive 2-pack of Power Man and Iron Fist. Check out this post here on the Art Asylum Forum for more info and a picture.

    Also, as part of their coverage of Toy Fair, MillionairePlayboy.com have posted really clear pictures of the Marvel and Lord of the Rings Minimates here and pictures of the DC/C3 Minimates here.


    • 18th February 2004


  • Legions of Gotham.org, a Batman fansite, have some great clear pictures of upcoming DC Minimates. Check out the gallery here to see the pics, including a great pic of Bruce Wayne which is now one of my most anticipated Minimates.

    Also, as part of their comprehensive coverage of Toy Fair, Toy News International have now added a page specifically for the Minimates seen at Toy Fair, which can be found here.


    • 16th February 2004


  • Take a look at more shots from Toy Fair via Lord of the Rings Guide.com, this time of the Lord of the Rings Minimates and (different) mockup packaging. Check out the gallery here to get the pics.

    In addition, Raving Toy Maniac now has a page for Day 2 of Toy Fair, which has a pic of the Thanos Minimate due in Wave 7. Check it out here.


    • 14th February 2004


  • The all important Toy Fair has begun in the US, where toy companies show upcoming products which will be out later on in the year.

    Figures.com have a massive gallery of both upcoming (waves 4-6) Marvel Minimate pictures and some awesome shots of the new C3 line, which is the DC Universe Minimates and construction sets. Check out both those galleries here.

    Raving Toy Maniac has a sample page from Day 1 of Toy Fair, which among other things has pics of some of the DC Minimates and their construction-block vehicles and playsets. Check out the page here to get the pics.


    • 11th February 2004


  • Issue 80 of Toyfare magazine has confirmed who will appear in Wave 7. It appears to be a "catch-up" wave consisting of:

    Chameleon & Ultimate Spider-Man
    Grey Hulk & Rhino
    Silver Surfer & Thanos

    While completists will be pulling their hair out, the fact is that former "exclusive" Minimates (Ultimate Spider-Man, Grey Hulk, Silver Surfer and Rhino) will now be more readily available to all, along with 2 new figures so that it's not a complete bust for people who already own them.


    • 10th February 2004


  • The next issue of the Wizard-published Toyfare magazine (Issue 80) will have a Marvel Minimates Visual Price Guide, with loads of pictures and info. To celebrate, they are also running web-only Big Shot pictures, one a day for 3 days. Check out the Toyfare page here to get the info and pics.


    • 9th February 2004


  • Diamond Select Toys reveal more exclusive info to their Radical members with packaging pictures from waves 4 and 5 as well as a look at the chase Maskless Daredevil Minimate. Sign up to become a Radical at DST to get the info!


    • 4th February 2004


  • Today this website reached a bit of a milestone as it has now received over 1000 hits! My thanks to everyone who keeps visiting Marvel Minimates Central, especially as there haven't been any figures to review recently. I have just added an in-depth review of the first 3 figures in the Giant-Sized X-Men boxset: Cyclops, Storm and Colossus.

    Keep an eye out for the second part of that review featuring the other 3 figures in the set (Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Thunderbird), along with a review of the Magneto & Professor X AFX-exclusive set.

    Thanks again for your support!




    • 1st February 2004


  • Have a look at some more pictures from Action-Figure.com's UK Toyfair coverage. Check out their pictures of most of the wave 4-6 Marvel Minimates here and more pictures of the new Lord of the Rings Minimates including Twilight Frodo here.




    • 30th January 2004


  • As part of their extensive UK Toyfair coverage, Action-Figure.com have some pictures of the new Lord of the Rings Minimates and mock-ups of the packaging, which shows a nice resemblance to the Toybiz packaging. Check out their article and pictures here.




    • 28th January 2004


  • Due to some US retailers not keeping the line on the shelves, premier MOTU fansite He-Man.org has started a petition to show Mattel how many fans the revamped 80s property has to try to save the line from cancellation. Click the banner below (or on the main site page at the bottom) for more info.



    This is not directly related to Minimates, but as I love the new Masters Of The Universe line of figures, I wanted to publicise it.




    • 25th January 2004


  • Reviews and pictures of the new Giant-Size X-Men set are surfacing all the time. Check out Michael's Review of the Week's in-depth review here, and also take a look at TNI's article here which has some great comparison shots.




    • 22nd January 2004


  • LordoftheRingsGuide.com have more clear pics of the new LOTR Minimates. Check out Frodo (with the Ring!), Saruman, the excellent Bezerker Uruk-Hai and Sauron, who looks awesome. Check out this article here and their gallery here.




    • 19th January 2004


  • Action-Figure.com have news of Minimates finally hitting normal retail stores in the UK with the release of the Lord of the Rings Minimates in May. Check out this article which has a release list (can't wait for Boromir!) and also new pictures of Gandalf, Legolas and Aragorn which surfaced a few days ago.




    • 17th January 2004


  • Toy News International have a promo picture of the new Lord of the Rings Minimates here which again show how cool these new additions to the Minimate world will be.


    • 13th January 2004


  • RTM have pictures of the new Lord of the Rings Minimates, and they look incredible! Gawk at the pictures here and try not to have too big a smile on your face after seeing these little wonders.


    • 12th January 2004


  • Art Asylum have published pictures of 2 more of the figures in their forthcoming DC Minimates line - Pilot Batman and Darkseid. Check out the pictures as seen in this article at Action-Figure.com.


    • 8th January 2004


  • Looks like the long awaited Giant-Sized X-Men boxset has made it out (in the States at least). The set contains 6 Minimates; Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Thunderbird, all in their 1970's costumes. Check out this article at TNI for a great picture of the set.


    • 3rd January 2004


  • A Warner Bros press release concerning the new Batman and Justice League Minimates has been issued to action figure sites, including Action-Figure.com. Check AF's article here for the full details, including some great pictures of the new Minimates like Hawkgirl.


    • Check the News Archive for news before January 2004.


    Back to Minimates Central Home