Raving Toy Maniac

The New Fan Poll for Marvel Minimates Series 50 is live!

June 7, 2012 - For the past two weeks, Marvel fans have been voting on who they want to see in the line-up for Marvel Minimates Series 50. Coming in 2013, this assortment will celebrate ten years of Marvel Minimates from Diamond Select Toys, and DST wants the fans to pick who they wanna see! The third poll is up at Marvel.com now, and it features eight major villains, most of whom have not been seen in Minimate form before: Abomination, Apocalypse, Baron von Strucker, Baron Zemo II, Mojo, Onslaught, Vengeance and the Wrecker. They're all competing for the chance to battle their heroic counterparts in Series 50, so head over to Marvel.com and vote today! The top vote-getters will be made in that assortment next summer! Plus, the other two polls are still there, in case you haven't voted for your most-wanted heroes!

Poll is here:
http://marvel.com/news/story/18697/update_marvel_minimates_10th_annivers...

June 6, 2012 - For many poor souls, Wednesday is the worst day of the week -- right in the middle of a dreary five days of work. If only they were comic book fans -- then Wednesdays would be the high point of the week! After all, it's the day comic book junkies can hit up their local comic shop and be guaranteed a ton of new comics and toys! Speaking of toys, Diamond Select Toys has two new products shipping to comic shop and specialty stores this week, and they're both pretty awesome.

First up is DST's first four-pack of Minimates based on the action-movie extravaganza The Expendables! With tiny, two-inch versions of Lee Christmas, Hale Caesar, Mr. Church and Tool, this set is your first step towards building the Expendables team!

The Expendables Minimates Are On a Mini-Mission!

June 2012 - Hitting comic stores this week is the first set of Minimates based on the action-movie franchise to end all franchises, The Expendables! With Lee Christmas, Hale Caesar, Mr. Church and Tool, these 2-inch collectible action figures are ready to engage in covert operations... on your desk! They come packed with an arsenal of weaponry, and thanks to their small size they should be able to get in and out of your cubicle without anybody noticing, causing a minimal of collateral damage. (Sorry, your stapler is fragged.)

Look for the set in stores on Wednesday, and look for the Toys "R" Us-exclusive set -- featuring Barney Ross, Trent Mauser, James Munroe and Paine -- to hit soon. In the meantime, check out these pictures of the toys in action!

June 4, 2012 - It's almost that time of year again... the time of year when Diamond Select Toys hops on a plane across the country to attend the biggest pop-culture convention in America! San Diego's Comic-Con International 2012 will run from July 12-15, and DST will have a ton of fun events for you to attend, including a Minimates panel, a Battle Beasts signing, our Build-a-Minimate station and some cool, cool giveaways. But this year will also be a huge year for DST's exclusive toys! In partnership with Diamond Comics Distributors and the Previews catalog, DST will have the following exclusive items available for sale at their booth this year, and there's something for everyone!

AVX: Avengers Vs. X-Men Marvel Minimates Box Set

May 31, 2012 - Two weeks ago, Diamond Select Toys and Marvel.com announced their first-ever fan poll to decide a full series of Marvel Minimates. Through a series of four polls, Marvel fans get to choose the entire line-up of Series 50, which will hit in 2013 and mark the 10th anniversary of the line.

Last week's poll had fans choosing between eight new versions of the biggest Marvel heroes, but it's a new week, and there's a new poll up at Marvel.com! This week, the poll offers up eight supporting heroes, many of whom have never been made as Minimates -- Winter Soldier, Songbird, Black Knight II, The Falcon, Gladiator, Banshee, Luke Cage and Commander Steve Rogers. You can vote for your two favorites, and the highest-polling characters will be made in Series 50!

New Action Photos of Amazing Spider-Man Minimates!

May 29, 2012 - Diamond Select Toys' Amazing Spider-Man Minimates are scheduled to arrive in comic book shops and online toy stores on Wednesday, and the Toys "R" Us assortment has started to trickle out across the country. With product in hand and the movie still a month away, DST has taken the opportunity to re-create some of the coolest-looking scenes in the movie using Minimates! Check out their shots above (and below) the streets of New York City!

Visit comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest comic shop, and get regular DST updates on Facebook and Twitter!

Amazing Spider-Man Minimates Pack Big Action into Small Packaging!

May 24, 2012 - The Amazing Spider-Man movie is still a month off, but Spidey fans will be able to get their hands on great Spidey merchandise as early as next week! That's when Marvel Minimates Series 46 hits comic shops and online retailers, with the movie versions of Spider-Man, Peter Parker and the Lizard, plus exclusive figures of Aunt May, Uncle Ben and some Spidey-hunting SWAT Troops!

If that's not enough for you, Spidey and the Lizard will also be showing up soon at Toys "R" Us stores and toysrus.com, along with TRU-exclusive figures of Gwen Stacy, Captain Stacy, Curt Connors and Vigilante Spider-Man! Collect them all, and check out the packaging for both assortments below!

May 23, 2012 - The year 2013 marks the 10th anniversary of Diamond Select Toys' Marvel Minimates line, and will coincidentally see the 50th consecutive series of figures released at comic shops and specialty stores. To celebrate, DST wants to do something to recognize the fans who have supported the line over the years. And since there are so many fan-favorite characters who have yet to be made in the line, they're going to give those fans the power to decide the line-up for Series 50! This series will only be available at comic shops and specialty stores, and will be entirely composed of fan-voted characters!

May 9, 2012 - It's new comic day at comic book stores nationwide, and for many stores that means it's also new toy day! With Marvel's The Avengers movie still smashing box office records, Diamond Select Toys thought this was the perfect time to roll out their Avengers movie product to comic book shops. The 45th series of Marvel Minimates (designed by the folks at Art Asylum) hits stores this week with four two-packs: Iron Man and Hulk, Captain America and Thor, and the specialty store-exclusive Chitauri Footsoldier and SHIELD agent Maria Hill, with a rare variant set featuring the Chitauri General!

And if you need something bigger than two inches tall, check out the Marvel Select Avengers Movie Hulk action figure. At well over 9 inches tall and with 16 points of articulation, this massive, specialty-store-exclusive figure (designed by Gentle Giant from the movie's digital data), will fit in with any Avengers movie toy collection.

May 7, 2012 - You've seen the movie, now buy the Minimates! For those of you looking to assemble your own team of Earth's greatest superheroes, Diamond Select's Minimates mini-figures have everything you need to initiate your own Avengers! Available at Toys "R" Us as well as comic book shops and specialty stores, 2-inch Minimates are available in six packs of two, with new two-packs hitting this week! Here's the distribution:

Toys "R" Us and toysrus.com:
- Thor and Captain America
- Iron Man and Hulk
- Hawkeye and Black Widow (exclusive)
- Nick Fury and Loki (exclusive)

Comic book shops and specialty stores:
- Thor and Captain America
- Iron Man and Hulk
- Maria Hill and Chitauri Footsoldier (exclusive)
- Chitauri General and Chitauri Footsoldier (exclusive rare variant)