Big changes are afoot for Marvel Minimates 2-packs starting with series 41! That’s right, from now on out, Marvel Minimates will feature all-new packaging! Check it out, we think it’s a big improvement over the old style. Look for the wave in comic shops and specialty stores now!

This Christmas, you’re getting a car. Not just any car — the Knight Industries Two Thousand, or “KITT” to his friends! That’s right, our third assortment of Minimates Vehicles will include not only a new Pirate Raiders pirate ship and a Minimates MAX Armored Personnel Carrier, but also KITT himself, star of the Knight Rider TV series in the 1980s along with some guy named Hasselhoff.

The 4-inch-long vehicle will come with a two-inch Michael Knight, with opening doors and room for a passenger, and it will only be available at Toys R Us in late November, along with Robert Deal’s pirate ship with Undercover Anne Bonny. But, since KITT needs his nemesis, we’re also releasing the evil KARR with Garthe Knight in that wave’s specialty-store and comic-shop-exclusive assortment, along with a British Navy ship with officer! Order both through your local retailer!

And if that’s not enough? A special-edition version of KITT, featuring his Super Pursuit Mode transformation, will be available a month later, just in time for the new year and only through Diamond Comics Distributors’ Previews catalog. Which means you should tell your local comic book shop to order it in! Don’t get left in the dust!

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Because our Minimates photo contest was so successful, Diamond Select decided to spread the love and invite collectors to participate in a photo contest of a… different scale. Instead of two-inch Minimates, you were now shooting 7-inch-and-up Select figures, and while it was originally pitched as a Marvel AND Universal Select photo contest on our Facebook page, the overwhelming ratio of Marvel Select figures to Universal Select figures was reflected in the entries. (There were a couple of Universal entries, and they were good, so we’re going to throw a purely Universal-themed contest in time for Halloween.) Check out the gallery of entries here (not all of them, but some of the best) and congrats to Ogun Ryu for winning with his blacklight shot of Gambit, as well as runners-up True Believer (for Captain America), Ryan Dickinson (for Iron Man) and The One Cam (for Juggernaut)!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the next contest, and pick up some of the winning Marvel Select models in our web store!

“OK, so, she’s a dog.” While not Dana Barret’s finest moment, we all fondly remember the time when the two dogs perched on either side of the steps waiting for the arrival of Gozer. Now, Diamond Select Toys is giving you the chance to recreate that moment in your home with the Ghostbusters “Terror Dog” light-up statue. Here are some in-progress pictures, including the finished Bill Mancuso sculpt, and the great job painter Jason Wires did of capturing the look of the beast. As of this writing, the factory is getting the electronics finalized, but since I was blogging anyway, I thought I’d share a shot of the light-up feature taken for review purposes. Enjoy!

We showed you the Toys “R” Us exclusive assortment of Universal Monsters Series 2 figures, but here are their specialty-store counterparts! Frankenstein has a different paint scheme and comes with his lab table as an accessory, while Dracula has a new head sculpt and comes with a wolf and a new base! They’ll both come in the larger Select packaging to accommodate their new pack-ins, but will hit around the same time as their non-Select friends — October! Just in time for Halloween!

Pre-order them here, and get regular DST updates on Facebook and Twitter!

Wondering where you can get a high-quality Captain America movie collectible? Well, wonder no more! Now that the Marvel Select Captain America is out in stores, and the Red Skull is set to arrive on August 31st, you can re-enact the climactic battle around their combined Cosmic Cube diorama. These figures feature all of the articulation and detail you have come to expect from Marvel Select figures, and they even come in the same, roomy, artfully designed packaging. Look for Cap in a specialty store near you, and await the Skull’s arrival next week!

If you’re in Seattle, Washington, this weekend for PAX Prime, then we encourage you to stop by Halo Fest, the biggest live Halo experience ever held. And while we won’t be there in person, we’ve tried to send some goodies out for all the Halo fans in attendance. Not only will the Official Halo Store be selling Halo Minimates and Spartan banks, we’ve donated a ton of Spartan banks to be included in the prize packages. So if you’re there, you might just win one!

How do we fit all of the stuff that comes with each MAX two-pack in a tiny blister card? We have no idea, but here they are, fit to bursting, with two Minimates in every pack, but enough clothing and accessories for three. Look for them at Toys “R” Us in September!

You’ve seen them out-of-package, and in the classroom, but here they are in the box! These four all-new Marvel Minimates — Angel, Cyclops, Iceman and Marvel Girl — are based on their appearances in the X-Men: First Class comic books. Look for them in comic and specialty shops in September! Pick them up with that new Trapper Keeper you’ve been eyeing.

To see more of our Marvel box sets, check here, then sign up for updates on Facebook and Twitter!

The deadliest series of Halo Minimates ever is in stores! To track them down, center your targeting scope on these packaged examples of the Toys “R” Us-exclusive Warthog sets, as well as the specialty-market-exclusive Series 3 box set!