Raving Toy Maniac

Action Figure Xpress Brings New Thundercats and Alpha Flight Minimates to NYCC

October 2012 - Visitors to the Action Figure Xpress booth at the San Diego Comic-Con were treated to two unprecedented Minimates box sets: the first Minimates of the Marvel super-team Alpha Flight and the first Minimates ever for the original Thundercats cartoon! Well, response was so strong for those sets at SDCC that AFX is continuing those two lines at New York Comic-Con!

NYCC attendees will have the chance to pic up an entirely new Alpha Flight-themed Marvel Minimates box set at the show, featuring Sasquatch, Aurora, Snowbird and Shaman. In addition to the SDCC set's Guardian, Puck, Marrina and Northstar, the Canadian superteam will also get a two-pack of Vindicator and Box at Toys "R" Us this fall.

New Walking Dead and Universal Monsters Banks to Debut at NYCC

October 2012 - With New York Comic-Con falling just two weeks before Halloween, Diamond Select Toys wanted to have some special horror-themed product to offer visitors to their booth. So they took three of their upcoming vinyl bust banks -- a Walking Dead zombie and Universal's Frankenstein and the Creature from the Black Lagoon -- and made black-and-white editions based on the original source material!

Diamond Select to Hold Battle Beasts Signing at New York Comic-Con

October 2012 - The Battle Beasts have invaded San Francisco in the pages of IDW's comic book mini-series, and now they're invading Zoo York! Diamond Select Toys will hold a Battle Beasts signing at their booth at New York Comic-Con with Brooklyn-based artist Ulises Farinas, the artist behind the wraparound cover (and the SDCC exclusive cover) for Battle Beasts #1 from IDW Publishing. Farinas will sign free full-sized posters featuring the wraparound cover's detailed battle scene from issue #1, and will also sign Battle Beasts comics for fans at no charge. The signing will take place on Saturday from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm at the Diamond Select Toys booth, #2156.

Diamond Select Toys Announces Minimates 10th Anniversary Event at NYCC

September 2012 - In celebration of ten years of Minimates, Diamond Select Toys will be holding a 10th Anniversary Minimates celebration in the toy line's birthplace, New York City! Reed Exhibitions' New York Comic-Con will host the event October 11-14, and the festivities will include an exhibit, a panel, a signing and three separate Minimate giveaways!

Located in room 1B02 of the Jacob Javits Center, the exhibit will showcase Minimates, artwork and animation from throughout the line's 10-year run, from their rock-and-roll beginnings at the NYC-based Art Asylum in 2002 to their multi-brand empire with Diamond Select Toys today. It will be open during Comic-Con show hours all four days, and attendees will receive one free promo Minimate from the company archives, while supplies last. (One per person for the weekend.)

On Sale This Week: Street Fighter X Tekken Minimates Series 1

September 26, 2012 - A new arena has been unlocked! It's your local comic shop, where DST is unleashing its newest assortment of video game Minimates: Street Fighter X Tekken! This Wednesday sees the debut of the line at comic shops and specialty stores, and each two-pack pairs a Street Fighter with a Tekken tussler! Each Minimate stands 2 inches tall and features 14 points of articulation for maximum combat action.

The specialty assortment includes four different two-packs -- Ken vs. Steve, Sagat vs. King, Cammy vs. Nina, and Poison vs. Lili.

The ladies are only available in the comic shop assortment, and not at Toys "R" Us, so check out the figures in packaging below, and pick up a set at your local store!

Announcing Street Fighter X Tekken Minimates Round 2!

September 2012 - The first series of Street Fighter X Tekken Minimates will be arriving in stores on Wednesday, but Diamond Select Toys is already hard at work on Series 2! Coming in January 2013, some of the most iconic characters in Street Fighter will face off with some of the biggest names in Tekken, as seen in the recent crossover video game! Check out the line-up!

After the new year, comic and specialty shops will get the following two-packs:

Ryu vs. Yoshimitsu
Abel vs. Kazuya
Rufus vs. Julia (exclusive)
Chun Li vs. Hwoarang (exclusive)

Around the same time, Toys "R" Us will receive:

Ryu vs. Yoshimitsu
Abel vs. Kazuya
Hugo vs. Heihachi (exclusive)
Rolento vs. Kuma (exclusive)

Pre-order the specialty figures today at your local comic shop, and pick up Series 1 on Wednesday!

In Stores This Week: Ultron, Silver Surfer and the Battle Beasts!

September 19, 2012 - If it's Wednesday, it must be New Toy Day! Diamond Select Toys has a couple of new products shipping to comic shops this week -- both of them Marvel Comics-based -- and there's also an actual comic book they want you to check out! It's not Marvel, but it's quite possibly the awesomest comic you will read this week. Let's see what's coming out!

Marvel Select Ultron

It's Fleet Week! Star Trek is Back with New Electronic Ships from DST

September 2012 - Art Asylum has been making electronic Star Trek ships since 2001, when they first made toys for the TV show Enterprise, including an electronic NX-01. Since then, Art Asylum has moved on to other Star Trek shows, including The Original Series and The Next Generation, and even feature films, and their miniature Starfleet now includes ten different models, all with lights and sounds. Lately, the line has been on hiatus, but AA partner Diamond Select has undergone a refit and is ready to start producing new ships again! The next two to be released are movie ships -- the Enterprise-B and a Klingon Bird of Prey!

Interview with the Sculptor: Marvel Select Venom's Jean St. Jean

September 2012 - The toy collecting community was thrown for a loop recently when Diamond Select Toys unveiled their upcoming Marvel Select figure of popular Spider-Man foe Venom. Instead of a decorative display base -- a common accessory to most standard-sized Select figures -- the early 2013 figure will come with a variety of interchangeable parts to re-create several of the anti-hero's more popular looks over the years. With 72 different display configurations, it's the most versatile Select action figure ever made, and each combination of parts is a masterpiece in its own right. The sculptor behind the figure is frequent DST collaborator Jean St. Jean, and he took some time out of his busy sculpting schedule to talk to us about the method behind the Madness.

Street Fighter X Tekken Minimates Series 1 is Almost Here!

September 2012 - The battle for Minimate supremacy continues! Hot on the heels of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 comes a brand new line of video-game inspired Minimates -- Street Fighter X Tekken! Each SFxT Minimate two-pack pits a Street Fighter superstar against a Tekken legend, and the battles will come fast and furious when they reach stores later this month! But Diamond Select Toys has pictures of them in action right now!

DST took SFxT Minimates Series 1 and staged a series of battles in different locales, based on the following two-pack combinations:

Ken vs. Steve
Sagat vs. King
Cammy vs. Nina (comic shop and specialty store exclusive)
Poison vs. Lili (comic shop and specialty store exclusive)
Zangief vs. Balrog (Toys "R" Us exclusive)
Guile vs. Raven (Toys "R" Us exclusive)