A very special and spooky (not really) AskDST Q&A this week tackles some pressing Minimates questions with DSTChuck this week - so buckle your seatbelt (rule #4) and find out what new vehicles might join the BSG Mini-Flyers in your collection, discover what’s up with Anti-Venom’s chest-piece and look for secret clues which may or may not even exist!

Chris Cramer:
I was wondering if you guys know if anymore Series 28 of the Marvel Minimates will be produced and/or shipped out?

DSTChuck: Sorry Chris once we make and ship a wave of figures that wave is retired, its possible the figures or characters could come back in another form but we do not do straight re-issues.

Julian Martinez
hey i have a couple of questions
1.will you guys ever try to make minimates shorter?
2.what happened to the whole AVP minimates rumor?
3.is there gonna be more through the ages sets?
4.are you looking to many popular franchises that you know us minimate addicts will love?

DSTChuck:
1.  Nope, Minimates will (as much as I can control) stay one size forever.
2.  Not sure about the rumor since it would be just that, a rumor. Currently we do not have rights to either franchise and from a past ASKDST I think we’d wait until the re-boots got going before we looked into either.
3.  We’ve had some fun with those. There are none on the schedule at this moment but we do actively look in that direction when we plan box sets.
4.  We are almost always looking at older as well as upcoming properties that we can apply Minmates to.

Eric Lam
The just announced Third (or really Fourth, I suppose) Ghostbusters Minimate Box-Set is amazing enough as it is, but is there any way you could include with an extra “Gooey Peter” head or at least a Peter hair piece with a white dob on it?

DSTChuck: Eric something that that COULD be possible.

Jay Kenoyer
We were just checking out the site and forgot to mention a couple more for your “ARMY BUILDERS” sets.  (Remember, 2 and 4 packs of duplicate figures so we can build armies of minimate minions?)  Are you frickin kidding?!  Sentinels???!!! Yeaah! Make those 6 packs!!We are in the minimate loop and talk with other kids who collect.  Unanimously, they would all buy “Army building” sets if they could.Thanks!

DSTChuck: Jay to date we have not done a Marvel army builder single pack display but yes its something that might be possible. As we expand the line and the exposure to the line there will hopefully be more and more demand for one. We’ve had mixed results so far with the displays so we’ll go forward slowly.

Jon Winkler
Hey guys! I’m a long-time fan of your products (especially Minimates).
As you may know, “Tron: Legacy” (the long-anticipated sequel to the classic “Tron”) was confirmed at SDCC this year, and will be premiering 12/17/10. I’m sure that a few companies will be producing merchandise for this release, but it occurred to me that a “tie-in” line of Classic Tron Minimates would be a good idea.

DSTChuck: Yes we’re aware of the new movie but to date we’ve not been able to crack into Disney and I think they already have a Kubrick deal so it might not happen for some time.

Brian Panizzi
I love all the new minimates coming out, especially the Phoenix Rachel. So I buy mates regularly and I open all that I buy, which means I have to through away all that packaging.  I was curious if you had looked into using recycled or recyclable packaging especially the insert trays?  I love these guys but I feel guilty every time I throw away the packaging cause I can only recycle the boxes.  Thanks for doing these Q&A’s and making the best toy out there!

DSTChuck: Brian its interesting you would ask that, when I was in a panel at SD someone in the audience asked about making toys more “green”. Up until then I’d given it no thought, it’s something we might discuss, but in the mean time, we put the inner trays in our platic/can aluminum recycling box, so I suggest all other collectors do the same if they can.

Leroy Maxwell
Hi guys,Massive fan of minimate’s and the marvel ones in particular, My question is what are the chances of having some of the TRU ‘mates available through previews or your own little slice of the web ala Matty collector?
I only ask because like many fans I come from the land down under (Australia) and we don’t get many minimate’s available through brick and mortar stores. I do buy mine through bbts but I really want to show full support for the line buy buying from a direct source rather than the secondary market.  Look forward to an answer.

DSTChuck: Leroy, right now it’s not a TRU or DST issue, it’s a demand (or perceived demand issue). None of our international distributors want to carry Minimates. There is a testing fee required of DST and that means since we can’t afford to ship them in smaller qty, we’d need a distributor to place a larger order to offset that cost, and to date none have.

Joel Fenster
With the Marvel Minimates doing so well and the Ghostbusters doing just as well, what are the chances of a set of Marvel Monsters that can bridge both? The Marvel versions of Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster would make a nice set with Werewolf By Night, N’Kantu the Living Mummy and/or Tales of the Zombie’s Simon William Garth (of course he could also be a great pairing with Doctor Voodoo (or Brother Voodoo — I’ll take both). Keep up the great work. Keeping my fingers crossed for Godfather & Beverly Hills Cop to make it out and looking forward to new announcements on new licenses (still hoping for an Untouchables set). Thanks. Joel

DSTChuck: Joel, back when we did resin for Marvel we did do a few of those characters so its possible but I think one issue might be the amount of exclusive tooling that we’d be required to do, the door is not shut - but nothing is happening right now.

Doug Wolford
Will TRU ever restock the first wave of Ghostbuster Minimates? I can’t find them and many other collectors are having trouble locating Egon/Library Ghost as well ;_;

DSTChuck: Doug I think last time I checked they did have a FEW that had not made it to stores yet so keep your eyes out the next couple weeks. We’re also in talks with the buyer to find a way to get more GB out to fans as soon as possible.

Rob Shofner
Does the Disney purchase of Marvel change anything for the minimates?  Would it be easier to pull off a Howard the Duck minimate?  I’m not sure if there would have been any legal concern with his resemblance to Donald Duck that may have prevented Howard from being made.

DSTChuck: The Disney deal is not “final” so currently nothing has changed and I can’t imagine much will… As for Howard back in the day we did a resin statue without much difficulty so I’d “ASSUME” a MM would be possible.

Ron S
I would like to start off by saying the Ghostbusters minimates are great, only thing i have not liked is the multiple stay puft and slimers in the series thus far. Would have like to seen other ghosts Scolari Brothers, Vigo among others. I also wish that you guys could some how make a ecto 1 and or ecto 1a these would amazing along with a firehouse in future box sets, these sell fast and seem to be a great seller when im at the stores please keep them coming !

DSTChuck: Ron glad you like the line, hopefully we struck a nice balance between the four Ghostbusters and Slimmer and Staypuft as the “main” cast and others that make the movies so much fun. As we go forward hopefully more of what we envisioned for the line will make sense and keep collectors happy.

Mike Spengola
I’ve been collecting minimates since the early days of the Marvel line, and my love for them just keeps growing!Anyway, I just recently got a look at the photo releases of Marvel wave 33, which look exciting! But I have to ask, why did you feel the need to give Anit-Venom a big chest piece? I absolutley LOVE the basic look of minimates, and I think the chest pieces and other bulk-up accessories like the waist extensions only work for certain things (such as the BSG modern Cylons). The original Hulk and Venom figures are still (imo) the best ever releases for those characters. All the bulked-up redesigns just look bad, honestly. and now you’ve given Anti-Venom a big chest piece… even if the character was as large as regular Venom (which he isn’t), I would still be disappointed. Is it at all possible for you to scale back how often you use the extension pieces? Personally, I think they should be done away with altogether - they detract soooo much from the iconic and perfect look of minimates.
But other than that, I applaud everything you’ve been doing (esp. recently) with minimates! You’ve been cranking out some wonderful new releases lately (and the army builder idea is raucous!) You guys all ROCK!

DSTChuck: Mike to be 100% honest the Anti-Venom chest piece debate is still raging in the office - so not sure where we are going to end up with it. I will say I like the chest piece and it has its place. When Digger and I first came up with it (it was his idea) fans I think really dis-liked it but it’s found it’s place I think and the design folks have done some really cool stuff with it.  Question now is which one if any works for this character…

Justin Brushett
I am just loving the Ghostbusters Minimates that are coming out…
I was curiouse if you are planning on releasing an Ecto-1 or Ecto-1A for them and a Ray & Winston with Slime Blower packs in place of the Proton Packs

DSTChuck: Justin, we also think there would be demand for an Ecto-1, we’ll just have to see how the vehicle line performs.