Everyone already knows that Minimates make great stocking stuffers, but what if you have a lot of Minimates, and want a fun new way to show them off to your friends and relations? Well, we’ve got an idea — why not trim the tree with them? Due to the interchangeability of Minimates, it’s actually pretty easy. Here’s how you do it:

1. Remove the Minimate’s head.
2. Clip the loop end of an ornament hook onto the exposed neck peg. (In a pinch, you can also unfold a paper clip into an S shape, and wrap the smaller end around the peg.)
3. Place the head back on, as well as the Minimate’s hat or helmet.
4. Bend the hook/clip upwards, so the hook can be seen over the Minimate’s head.
5. Place on tree.
6. Repeat.

At about $7 for a pack of two, that’s cheaper than most ornaments, and you can show your love of Marvel Comics and movies, Capcom games, Halo, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Universal Monsters, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, pirates, fireman, policemen, SCUBA diving and much more! Beat that, Hallmark!

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2001 is a special number. It’s the year the original Halo game, Combat Evolved, first graced our Xboxes, but it’s also the number of “likes” Diamond Select Toys recently passed on Facebook! And just as Microsoft recently re-released Combat Evolved in an updated anniversary edition, we wanted to celebrate the number 2001 in our own way. So we’re giving away a copy of the new game, Halo: Combat Evolved… plus a set of Halo Minimates Series 1 prototypes! This Halo two-pack and four-pack come in preliminary mock-up packaging, with unpainted test-shots in the trays, and we’ll even throw in a mocked-up test package of the Warthog boxed set — which actually contains a production-model Minimates Warthog with driver! Simply “like” this posting on our Facebook page and you’re entered, but “like” it soon, because this contest ends Monday at 5pm PST!

This year may be the tenth anniversary of Halo, but next year is the tenth anniversary of Minimates, and we’re kicking off the year with a flashback line of Halo Minimates to celebrate the recent release of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary! The January 2012-slated Toys “R” Us line-up includes four 2-packs:

Master Chief (Mark V Armor) & Cortana w/Holo Chip
ODST Rookie & Spartan Hayabusa Armor
Prophet of Mercy & Arbiter (Dark Silver Armor)
Gold Chieftain & Rtas Vadum

Additionally, a box set released to comic shops and specialty stores at the same time will include Cortana, Master Chief, Jacob Keyes and the Prophet of Truth! Look for them all in January 2012!

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

Since Diamond Select Toys and Art Asylum are based in the American Northeast, we’ve been waiting for an opportunity to play with the Halo Minimates Arctic Warthog in the snow since it came out this past summer. Luckily (unluckily?) a freak blizzard blanketed the region just before Halloween this year, and we took it as a sign to get the A-’Hog out in its intended environment. Each Arctic Warthog comes with a 2-inch white Spartan figure, and they’re available now at specialty stores, comic shops and many online retailers.

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

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Halo — the first game, Halo: Combat Evolved, came out in November 2001 — Diamond Select Toys has announced a commemorative set of Halo Minimates! The Series 4 box set will include two-inch block figures of Cortana (with data crystal chip base), Master Chief (with his own tiny Cortana and data crystal chip), Jacob Keys and the Prophet of Truth, and will be available at specialty stores, online retailers and comic shops this winter. Each Minimate mini-figure stands two inches tall, but packs in 14 points of articulation for endless poseability. Pre-order your set today!

To see more of our Halo offerings, check here, then sign up for updates on Facebook and Twitter!

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!

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!

Our Minimates photo contest is over, and we got a ton of great entries! Over 50 shots from around the world, featuring Marvel, Halo, Universal Monsters, Pirate Raiders, Ghostbusters, Minimates MAX, Back to the Future, Terminator and Playstation characters! While we loved them all, only one could win, and that was Les Koting of the Philippines. He’ll be getting Minimates from every line we make for his shot of Captain America and the Red Skull brawling, above! We’ll also send swag to the three runners-up — Don Brosius, Philip Mailloux and Brad Martin — but there were so many great shots we had to share some of them here!

Check ‘em out in the gallery, then head over to Facebook to enter our Marvel and Universal Select Photo Contest, starting soon!

If you haven’t been keeping up with the regular waves of Halo Minimates at Toys “R” Us, Diamond Select Toys is gonna make things easy for fans of Noble Team. They’re sending TRU two boxed sets in August, and each one will contain three Noble Team members and one Warthog (which conveniently seats three Minimates).

Jun, Carter and Kat will come with the standard Warthog, and Jorge, Emile and Noble-6 will come with a Warthog with a Gauss cannon, the first one of its kind DST has released. The sets will cost $19.99 each, will include a different weapon for each team member, and will only be available at TRU. Minimates stand two inches tall, with 14 points of articulation each, and each Warthog stands 4 inches tall.

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

We have a lot of fun taking pictures of our toys, and we know you do, too. We’ve seen the evidence. Which is why we’ve decided to have a photo contest! Take your best shot of a Minimate — or a group of Minimates — post them to our Facebook wall, and you could win a Minimate 2-pack, 4-pack or vehicle from every line we currently produce! Here’s what you have to do.
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