After getting inspired by a swashbuckling pirate movie last night, I took the Pirate Raiders down to the lake this morning, and shot some pictures of Calico Jack and friends (and foes) surfside. Next time, I’m bringing the ship. Check out the gallery here, then hit your local Toys “R” Us to pick up a set! Only available in TRU stores!

Get regular DST updates on Facebook and Twitter! And pick up an exclusive pirate here!

100 feet of angry marshmallow mascot can really ruin your day. Luckily we at DST have shrunk the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man down to a much more manageable size — 7 inches! Not only that, our mini-statue version lights up, to add a pleasing glow to your collection at night. Isn’t that much nicer than stepping on churches? Check out out new in-package pictures below, plus a pic of the upcoming Statue of Liberty light-up statue! Look for Mr. Stay-Puft in July and Miss Liberty in October!

Get regular DST updates on Facebook and Twitter! And see more of our Ghostbusters merch here!

It’s hard to believe that Darkchylde has been around for 15 years! It seems like only yesterday that cursed teen Ariel Chylde first spread her demon wings against the creatures of her nightmares. But 15 years it has been, and we’re celebrating by immortalizing Darkchylde in our Femme Fatales statue line! Sculpted by Sam Greenwell and designed by Darkchylde creator Randy Queen, the over-9-inch-tall PVC statue will join fellow comic-book legends Dawn, Tarot and Lady Death, as well as fellow lost souls Alice, Little Red and Snow White. Look at some in-progress artwork and photos here, then look for the final product this winter!

Get regular DST updates on Facebook and Twitter! And see more Femme Fatales here!

We had an early set of Marvel Minimates Wave 11 (exclusive to Toys “R” Us, although it shares some figures with Wave 41), and so we decided to pair them up with some earlier Minimates — as well as the upcoming Beta Ray Bill — to show how they fit in to the Minimate universe. We also took off their jackets, removed their helmets and switched out their hair pieces to show how customizable they were all by themselves. Enjoy the gallery here!

Get regular Minimate updates on Facebook and Twitter! And check out the rest of our Marvel Minimates offerings here!

It’s mostly Minimates, and some miscellaneous at the end in this week’s Q&A. You better jump in after the break!
(more…)

The Wolfman and the Creature have had their day in the sun, and now it’s Dracula and Frankenstein’s turn! Granted, the sun may not be the best place for Dracula, but you’ll want to check out his upcoming Minimates set in a good light, as well as the series he’ll share with Frankenstein’s famous monster. Look for four two-packs to show up at Toys “R” Us in September, including:

- Dracula and Dr. Van Helsing
- Frankenstein’s Monster and a Villager (exclusive)
- Henry Frankenstein and the Bride
- Black-and-white Frankenstein’s Monster and Dracula (both exclusive)

Additionally, two specialty and comic shop-exclusive sets will hit that same month:

- Dracula, Dr. Van Helsing, Mina (exclusive) and Renfield (exclusive)
- Henry Frankenstein, the Monster, the Bride and Elizabeth (exclusive)

Collect them all!

Get regular Minimate updates on Facebook and Twitter! And see more Universal Monsters Minimates here!

Having made hundreds of Marvel characters into Minimates, not to mention dozens of video game characters, for Diamond Select Toys to take on Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, it was, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t also a lot of work. There were over a dozen different characters in the game that the DST had never tackled before, and the ones they had done often looked very different. I sat down with product manager Robert Yee and artists Uriel Caton and Barry Bradfield to see what sorts of challenges they faced in putting together this highly anticipated line. (Scroll to the bottom for larger versions of all the pictures, plus a few extra.)
(more…)

In Greek mythology, Medusa was usually portrayed as being pretty gruesome: Half-snake, snakes for hair, and a face that could turn anyone to stone if they looked directly at her. That was reason enough to shield your eyes, but even seeing her reflection would give you the dry heaves. On the other hand, the Femme Fatales version of Medusa, from Diamond Select’s 9-inch PVC statue line, is just begging to get looked at. Art Asylum’s Uriel Caton came up with his eye-popping new Medusa design by starting as far away from the famous Medusa as possible. (Check out larger versions of the images at the bottom.)
(more…)

With the second wave of Minimates vehicles hitting stores soon, there are a dozen different ways for Minimates to get around, and they certainly do get around in style. Each Minimate vehicle, be it an adaptation of a famous conveyance from television, movies, the newspapers or the history books, takes the original design and adapts it to accommodate the blocky little bodies of multiple Minimates. So how does Minimatization happen? It’s a multi-step process, but we talked to project manager Robert Yee and vehicle artist Mark Wong to find out how much is planned and how much is just a series of happy accidents. (Larger pictures at the end)
(more…)

Like our Clone Trooper Star Wars bank? Then you’ll love our Commander Cody version! It takes everything that’s awesome about the first bank — exacting detail, an affordable price tag, the ability to put money in it — and adds all the bells and whistles that makes Cody such a great Commander. Plus, he’s orange! Whether you’re a fan of the movie prequels or the animated Clone Wars series or both, you need to own this credits-containing clone. Shipping out in October.

Get regular DST updates on Facebook and Twitter! And see more Star Wars banks here!