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!

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!

The new Halo Rocket Warthogs are hitting Toys “R” Us stores soon, so we thought we’d take one out for a test-drive! I loaded a Rocket Warthog and a regular Warthog up with some Wave 2 Halo Minimates (in TRU now) and some figures from the upcoming specialty store-exclusive Wave 3 four-pack, took them out to the beach and did some donuts. That’s some sweet handling. Check out the gallery here!

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

Back to the Future II Hover Mode Time Machine

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)
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After the Fourth of July weekend, what better way to celebrate your independence than by a building an army? In early July, Toys “R” Us will also get the MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket Systems) Warthog with a red CQB, and specialty and comic-book stores will also get the Arctic Warthog with an exclusive white Spartan Mark VI. Then, in August, Toys “R” Us gets a new wave of Halo Minimates two-packs:

- Spartan ODST (white) with Brute Stalker (active camouflage)
- Spartan Mark VI (blue) with Elite Combat (blue)
- Carter with Kat
- Spartan CQB (green) with Brute Stalker.

At the same time, comics and specialty shops will get an exclusive four-pack of reinforcements: CQB (khaki), Rogue (cobalt), Jackal Sniper and Elite Combat Armor (gold). Just in time for Halo Fest on August 26-28! That place is literally gonna be a war zone.

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