Minimates get some wheels!!! (and jets and robots)

Those poor Minimates never knew what they were missing.. until now!!!

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Battlestar Galactica takes over the Q&A this week! DSTChuck fires at your questions after the break!

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I rarely share any behind-the-scenes things with you prior to completed (and usually approved) sculpts.  But then I realized that it wasn’t really fair to the creative team that brings my insanity to life, plus I’ve had a few of you come to me in San Diego wondering what (if any) logic was behind my development choices.  So, here’s a look into what ultimately becomes the Femme Fatales Alice PVC.

To begin with, I have NO artistic ability whatsoever, outside of being able to draw some mean stick-figures (no, literally, I draw stick figures with mean expressions and that’s about it).  That being said, it really isn’t important if my piece is going to be based on a specific piece of art or a comic cover.  The problem comes when I need an interpretation of something.  Thank goodness for the interwebz.  Once I have an idea, I comb the web looking for images that contain the elements I need to convey.  What you see here is a collage of less than 1/3 of what I sent to the sculptor and painter for Alice.

I’ll spare you the tedium, but not only do they get bombarded with jpegs, but for each image there is a chunk of text to explain what I saw in the picture that I want incorporated (or what should be avoided) in my product.  I’m not sure if the finished items are a credit to my ability to convey what I need or to the freelancers’ ability to translate Schaff to English.  Let’s just call it a team effort and move on.

…you’ll find a great AI.  Meet Cortana, the UNSC Artificial Intelligence that helped Master Chief throughout the Halo game series (although she did get herself into a spot of trouble for awhile there).  When DST first started looking at the Halo property, we thought of many of the normal categories, but I have to confess that my goal all along was to get Cortana for the Femme Fatales line of PVC statues.  I did it!  Microsoft had an image they called “Reaching to be Rescued” and I chose that for the basis of the pose.  I wanted something that showed the full form and strength of the character but also implied some vulnerability.  The base differs from that in the source image because, even though it is technically not game-accurate for the scene, I felt her chip was both the perfect setting for her AND the proportions are more in line with the rest of my Fatales.  Sadly, a lot of the tweaks that were done as this piece developed are not readily obvious unless you were in on every update, so trust me when I say that a HUGE pat on the back goes to sculptor Bill Mancuso for being so tolerant of all of my adjustments to the piece.  Painted images coming soon.

Two different Tarot Statues!

Not only do we have Tarot the Witch of the Black Rose,
but we have a special Tarot in White as a 2010 SDCC exclusive!

See it first here and get it only in San Diego!

SDCC Exclusive Minimates to your hearts content!
We have two, yes two! SDCC Exclusive “X” Box Sets! (more…)

It’s Minimates Week in the Q&A! DSTChuck tackles all your questions inside! (more…)

How about a sneak preview?
Well, since you asked nicely:

Ooooo… I spy a Blue Minimate and a Ghostbusters Logo Minimate!
It’s gonna be a great convention!

Everyone loves Deadpool these days (except me, but what do I know).  It’s obvious from all of his appearances in virtually every mainstream Marvel comic that is being published.  That means everyone wants to have their very own Deadpool figure, right?  And what could possibly be better than a Deadpool action figure?  A really BIG Deadpool action figure.  Welcome to the world of Ultimate Quarter Scale Marvel.  Yes, the 19″ scale we used for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, and Terminator 2 is now being applied to Marvel Comics.  Kicking off the new branch is the Merc with a Mouth, Wade Wilson.  I included a little pre-prototype collage for you but the eye-catcher is the fully-assembled prototype.  And, for those of you who want more, you’ll just have to wait and see additional details later (like the painted unmasked head and the weapons).  Now, giving credit where it is due, let me thank the team that made this possible - Bill Mancuso (heads), Kathy Grilli (outfit), Rudy Garcia (hands, boots, belt), Gentle Giant (weapons), Adam Smith and Irish Joe (castings), and Eddie Wires (paint).