As 2011 winds to a close, we thought kick off a new feature called Art Asylum Archives. In it, we show off a toy from the design studio’s fabled history, and for the first entry we thought we’d go back a full decade to the release of the first (and only) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon figures.

At the 2001 New York Toy Fair, Art Asylum showed off a series of figures based on the recently released Ang Lee film, and the overall quality of the line (paired with elaborate bases and some great packaging design) was a sign of what was to come from the company in subsequent years. The 7-inch scale figures were available with and without their elaborate bases, and most were highly poseable, although the line offered a more statuesque take on the bandit Lo. Soft rubber costume pieces allowed for a wide range of movement, a necessity when paired with the interchangeable hands that gave the characters various martial arts moves, as well as Green Destiny-holding options. Ten years later, no other toy company has tackled the film that revived Asian cinema in America, but fans who loved the movie can still track down the Art Asylum figures online, along with their cute Minimate counterparts, which debuted the following year. Happy hunting!

Next time on the AAA: Dark Angel!

Hitting comic and specialty stores today are a ton of Diamond Select Toys products, from brand-new Minimates to back-by-popular-demand Marvel Select figures! The offerings include:

- Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Minimates Wave 1 (specialty assortment), including Iron Man vs. Arthur, Deadpool vs. Dante, Dormammu vs. Trish (specialty exclusive) and Phoenix vs. Morrigan (specialty exclusive)!

- Marvel Minimates Age of X Box Set, including Magneto, Gambit, Rogue/Legacy and Cyclops/Basilisk! A specialty exclusive!

- Real Ghostbusters Minimates Series 3 Box Set, featuring the spectral Anti-Ghostbusters! A specialty exclusive!

- Marvel Select Red Hulk Action Figure, back by popular demand!

- Marvel Select Thanos Action Figure with Death, back by popular demand!

Look for them at your local comic shop, specialty store or your favorite online retailer! You can find your nearest comic shop at comicshoplocator.com! And get regular DST updates on Facebook and Twitter!

Most people will tell you that adults don’t need night lights, but we say they do — to make the night more horrifyingly spooky! No bunnies or butterflies here, our light-up Ghostbusters statues are all about the ghosts! Based on the blockbuster movies, there are two 7-inch statues in stores now, with a third on the way. Pick one up for your friend’s apartment on Central Park West, or for your own personal containment unit!

Slimer
When the Ghostbusters were summoned to save a hotel from a focused, non-terminal repeating phantasm (or a class 5 full roaming vapor), they encountered this little guy, a floating blob with arms and a mouth who does nothign but eat, eat, eat. From the moment he slimed Peter Venkman in the original film, he would go on to be one of the most popular characters in the franchise, appearing in Ghostbusters 2 as well as the animated series The Real Ghostbusters – later retitled Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters. Packed in a full-color box with a numbered certificate of authenticity and matching base, Slimer is limited to 1,984 pieces. Batteries included. Available now!

Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man
One stray thought is all it takes to choose the form of Gozer the Destructor, and in that form Gozer will lay waste to your world and everyone in it. Ghostbuster Ray Stanz thought he was making a smart move by thinking of marshmallow company mascot Mr. Stay-Puft, but Gozer manifested as a 100-foot-tall marshmallow man and made a beeline for the Ghostbusters, not caring what religious structures stood in his way. It took total protonic reversal — generated when the ‘Busters crossed their proton streams — to close the door to Gozer’s dimension and reduce the Destructor into a mass of white, fluffy goo. Featuring a Ghostbusters-themed base and a full-body light-up effect, this 7-inch statue is limited to 1,984 pieces (in honor of the film’s original release) and hand-numbered with a matching box and certificate of authenticity. Batteries included. Available now!

Terror Dog
Standing guard on the roof of 55 Central Park West in Manhattan for nearly 60 years, the ancient creatures known as Zuul the Gatekeeper and Vinz Clortho the Keymaster awaited the return of their master, the godlike entity Gozer the Gozerian, a.k.a. The Traveller, a.k.a. The Destructor. When the time grew near, they shed their stone shells and descended into the building below to possess human hosts and bring about the end of the world at the hands of Gozer. Featuring a Ghostbusters-themed base and light-up eyes, this 7-inch limited edition statue is hand-numbered with a matching box and certificate of authenticity. Limited to 1,984 pieces. Batteries included. Coming in February!

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

By now, you surely have the first Femme Fatales Minimates box set, but we know that just four Femme Fatales is nowhere near enough! Luckily we have the perfect solution to that problem: a brand new set of Femme Fatales Minimates, featuring characters from the world of fairy tales and pirate adventure! This set features Alice, Little Red, Anne Bonny and Medusa, who not only look great with your existing Femme Fatales and Pirate Raiders Minimates, but look great displayed with your Femme Fatales PVC statues as well.

For this new blister card, I made use of design elements that I had created for the statue packaging and ads, including each Femme’s individual logo. Shooting the Minimates for the packaging is actually quite a challenge, in that prototypes are usually in a fairly early stage at that point, and require a lot of Photoshop work to look the way they’re supposed to. Even then, things tend to change once the actual production materials are used. Hope you like it! Look for them at your local comics retailer or specialty store in January!

Get regular DST updates on Facebook and Twitter! And check out the rest of our Femme Fatales here!

Looking for something new to park in your Minimate-sized garage, or perhaps your tiny boat slip? Diamond Select Toys has a fresh new line of Minimates vehicles for the 2012 model year. New road-going choices include KARR (Knight Automated Roving Robot) with Garthe Knight and the Previews-exclusive Super Pursuit Mode KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand) with Michael Knight from the classic Knight Rider TV series! For those of you who prefer the boating lifestyle, we have a new addition to the Calico Jack’s Pirate Raiders line, The Vendetta with Undercover Anne Bonny! All of these exciting new vehicles come on a blister card and will be available at a comic shop or specialty store near you in January. You won’t even need a test drive!

Get regular Minimates updates on Facebook and Twitter! And to see them all, visit Minimates.com!

We all remember where we were when first saw Back to the Future, and we all remember the joyous feeling of watching that movie for the first time. Well, Diamond Select Toys has brought that feeling back… to the future! The second assortment of Minimates Vehicles is in stores now, and not only does it have a new, customizable MAX Tech Stealth Jet and the first highly detailed Pirate Raiders pirate ship, it also has a time machine! Featuring hover-mode wheels and the Mr. Fusion modification in the rear, the new Back to the Future II car comes in regular and “phasing” versions, and can glide across the floor like it’s flying! The regular version comes with Doc Brown and is exclusively at Toys “R” Us, while the phasing version is at specialty retailers and comic shops, and comes with the first-ever Jennifer action figure! While each car seats two, we managed to get Jennifer to sit on Marty’s lap, for emergency trips to the year 2015. Check out our gallery of BTTF Minimates photos, and pick one up today!

Get regular Minimates updates on Facebook and Twitter! And see more of our mini-vehicles here!

Minimate Q&A. What else do we need to say? Jump in!
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With the Avengers movie fast approaching, Avengers mania is at an all-time high, and we’re recruiting some of the team’s most famous members for an all-new wave of comic-based Marvel Minimates! As we first saw yesterday on Marvel.com. the 44th wave of two-packs includes:

- Iron Man (Heroes Return armor) and Captain America
- Hulk (Pantheon) and Thor (Heroes Return)
- Ant-Man/Giant-Man and a Kree Sentry
- Ant Man II (Scott Lang) and a Kree Sentry

Wave 44 will be exclusively available at specialty stores and comic shops in the spring of 2012. Each Minimate stands 2 inches tall with 14 points of articulation and a variety of removable and interchangeable parts and accessories.

Get more DST updates on Facebook and earn more about Minimates at Minimates.com!

As revealed yesterday on Kotaku.com, Diamond Select Toys is heading down the rabbit hole! Eleven years after her first adventure, American McGee’s Alice is back in Wonderland, looking for the villain who has corrupted the realm once again, and this time Diamond Select Toys is there to capture the game’s fiendish designs! Based on the game American McGee’s Alice: Madness Returns from EA and Spicy Horse, this assortment of 7-inch-scale figures includes Alice, the Cheshire Cat and a Card Guard, and each figure is fully articulated and comes in oversized collector packaging. All figures are in scale to each other, and Alice comes with her Vorpal blade, Hobby Horse and Pepper Grinder weapons as accessories. The figures will only be available in specialty stores and comic shops, and DST has made a special variant figure of Alice in Hysteria mode for Diamond Comics Distributors’ Previews catalog. Painted to re-create the invincible berzerker state she enters in the game, Hysteria Alice also comes with uniquely painted Vorpal blade, Hobby Horse and Pepper Grinder weapons. Look for them this summer!

Get regular DST updates on Facebook and Twitter! And order your adorable Alice Minimate here!

In the past, Diamond Select Toys has delivered great assortments of Minimates for the Marvel movies Thor, Iron Man, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk. Well, this summer they’re taking everything they’ve learned and they’re assembling the most awesome line-up of Minimate heroes ever! Hitting stores this spring, there will be two assortments of figures, one exclusively available at Toys “R” Us stores and on toysrus.com, and another only at comic book shops and specialty stores, but both are packed to the gills with Avengers!

Marvel Minimates Wave 45 (Specialty stores/comic shops)
- Captain America & Thor
- Iron Man MK7 & Hulk
- Nick Fury & REDACTED (exclusive)
- Maria Hill & REDACTED (exclusive)

Marvel Minimates - The Avengers (Toys “R” Us/toysrus.com)
- Captain America & Thor
- Iron Man MK7 & Hulk
- Hawkeye & Black Widow (exclusive)
- Loki & REDACTED (exclusive)

Check back soon for pictures of the entire wave!

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