My hunch is that TRU didn't order these in that big a quantity, wanting to see how well they did. Now that Minimates seem to have clearly sold pretty well (the two TRUs I visit regularly went through a full allotment), I think they'll probably make a bigger commitment.

DST's blog on the Art Asylum page has some info on the Godfather 'mates. There's a gallery with turnarounds and sculpts in production. Vito, Michael, Sonny, and Fredo Corleone. Honestly, I'll just be happy if we get a decent black tux out of this so I can make my Alfred custom at long last....

http://www.artasylum.com/blog/2009/03/a ... -shotguns/

Also, there's a recent AskDST that has some very interesting things to say about Star Trek Minimates.

Oh, one more thing: updated shipping dates from DST. I'm cutting and pasting the Minimate ones (the rest of you DST collectors are on your own):

03/18/09
The Spirit Movie Minimates Box Set
The Spirit Movie Minimates PX Spirit & Sand Saref Two-Pack

03/25/09
Marvel Minimates Heroes Box Set
Marvel Minimates Villains Box Set

MAY 2009
05/06/09
Marvel Minimates Series 25 Asst
Marvel Minimates Series 26 Asst

05/13/09
Terminator 2 Minimates Series 1 Asst
Terminator 2 Minimates Singles Display

07/29/09
Ghostbusters Minimates Series 1 Box Set
Ghostbusters Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Bank
The Spirit Comic Minimates Box Set
Marvel Minimates Wolverine Through the Ages Box Set

Don't write these in stone... I've seen Diamond change the ship dates the week things are set to ship. I'll bet you all my custom Mon-El that all those things don't ship on 7/29.

Also, no word on the TRU sets, since this is just the Diamond list. But I would expect them soon, right around the 3/25 date.

MY BANK!!!!!!!!!! i have been waiting for the GB minimates and the stay puft bank for a long time. 2009...the year of the ghostbuster

DSTChuck's latest askDST column is all about minimates....

http://www.artasylum.com/blog/2009/03/ask-dst-qa-29/

Kinda weak questions from the fanbase this time around. Interestingly, Chuck seems to be unaware that AFI has let the cat out of the bag about the Champions box set.

One other thing I found interesting is that the Heroes and Villains box sets are DM-exclusives. Since these sets were designed as starter sets, they seem perfect for TRU. I know that these are all coming out as two-packs at TRU, but having box sets permanently in stock makes more sense to me. But I guess TRU wasn't interested in that route.

Shipping Updates! Note that Ghostbuster box 1 was actually moved up a few weeks.

03/25/09
The Spirit Movie Minimates PX Spirit & Sand Saref Two-Pack

04/01/09
Marvel Minimates Heroes Box Set
Marvel Minimates Villains Box Set

05/06/09
Marvel Minimates Series 25 Asst
Marvel Minimates Series 26 Asst

05/13/09
Terminator 2 Minimates Series 1 Asst
Terminator 2 Minimates Singles Display

07/01/09
Ghostbusters Minimates Series 1 Box Set

07/29/09
The Spirit Comic Minimates Box Set
Marvel Minimates Wolverine Through the Ages Box Set

Thanks for the updates! I have the heroes & villains box sets on pre-order at BBTS, which I think I will wait to ship until my NHL Sports Picks are ready to ship as well, which should also be soon. Love the Pile Of Loot option!

The TRU wave is starting to show up; along with the Wondy/UJ set and the Heroes and Villains figures is a Punisher/Jigsaw movie pack, which I may end up picking up as well (I figure Jigsaw's gotta be pretty close to comic accurate, right?). There's pics over at the Minimate Multiverse here:

http://www.minimatemultiverse.com/index ... ntry103201

Art Asylum posted some big pics from their April Diamond solicitations:

Wave 27 (the Ultimates):
http://www.artasylum.com/blog/wp-conten ... imates.jpg

Wave 28 (Wolverine):
http://www.artasylum.com/blog/wp-conten ... verine.jpg

The Godfather:
http://www.artasylum.com/blog/wp-conten ... her_mm.jpg

Can't say I'm blown away by the Ultimates; Hulk looks pretty terrible (as have the last three or four Hulks they have made), and the rest are nice enough but nothing to write home about. The Wolverine set, on the other hand, looks fantastic. I know a lot of people have been waiting to get Gambit, Psylocke, Deadpool, and Sabretooth for a long time (I don't even like those characters, and even I thought they were long overdue), but it was worth it to get versions as nice as these.

Yes, the Wolverine Set does look fantastic! The Ultimates is interesting. I like the two Caps and Iron Man. Thor is okay. The rest? Eh. I will probably see what I can cherry pick from this set, if I decided to get any at all.

I love, "The Godfather" and II (GF3 still doesn't exist in my world). But I have no desire for any toys from the movie. Michael would be good for a custom though.

That's the thing about the Movie Mates (and movie collectibles in general); even if you're a fan of the property, do you really want to own an action figure of that? Ghostbusters is the perfect license for them to pick up, and something like Hellboy would also be smart. Star Wars, of course, is the Holy Grail.

I picked up the TRU Exclusive Wonder Man and Union Jack last night. Last one on the pegs! I really need to get off my butt and get my displays up again, especially now that I have an idea for displaying some of my minimates without the fear of my kids knocking them down!

I'd love to know what that idea is!

Just bought UJ/WM and the Punisher/Jigsaw pack about an hour ago. They are all awesome. UJ is definitely going to be one of my favorites for the year, with the only drawback being that he didn't come with Spitfire, so she becomes pretty unlikely (I'm scheming up a custom as I type this!). WM will, I'm sure, look great with the Secret Invasion Beast. I, however, have not bought that set because I refuse to pay the extra four dollars for some useless Skrull heads. And the set has Jewel. If they had made some characters that are, y'know, WANTED BY COLLECTORS as well as INTEGRAL TO THE STORY like Yellowjacket and Captain Marvel, no problem, but Jewel? Forget it.

This is actually only the third Punisher figure I've ever bought (the first being the very first Toy Biz figure way back when, the second the last Punisher Minimate); I hate the character, but he's too cool to pass up. The armor is just really neat. And he comes with a villain, so that I can fill out my sorely lacking villains box a little bit.

So I decided, with all the new Marvel announcements, to update my Top Ten list. What's amazing to me is how little it's changed over the last few years; I first made the list around about the time Waves 19 & 20 came out, and here we are, ten announced waves later, and they've only knocked a few guys off my list. Sure some of them (like Quasar) are long shots, but what about the Black Panther? Much as I love Marvel Minimates, the variety has been depressing. Anyway, my Top Ten, in no real order:

1. Black Knight
2. Black Panther
3. Captain Marvel
4. Captain Britain
5. Quasar
6. Adam Warlock
7. Kang
8. Yellowjacket
9. Guardian
10. Moon Knight

Hey, just found some more news: DST announced their Marvel Minimate SDCC exclusive. I'd give you a drum roll, but I'm so damn disappointed that it's not worth it at all. We're getting a Dark Avengers box set, with Iron Patriot, Marvel Boy, Daken as Wolverine, and Venom as Spider-Man. Oboy, more Wolverine, Iron Man, and Spider-Man Minimates.

Okay, it's not a terrible idea. But the point of comic con exclusives is to make figures of characters that would not do well at retail. You don't need to worry about appealing to the casual buyer, because they are not there. If you're going to do the Dark Avengers, at least give us more unique characters. Just stop rehashing the same four or five characters ad nausium!!!!!!

Also, AFX (on their blog) claims that they will also have a box set that will be the "perfect compliment" to the Dark Avengers. Unless it's got Mar-Vell in it, I can't say I'm all that excited.