356 replies to this topic

[WarOnTheShore]

I'm excited about the DST line only because it has a much better chance of success, especially commercially, compared to some of these others popping up. I love Minimates. I have the entire DC line and probably ~200 Marvel mates. I just find clear, colored figures ugly. I'll grab that gray one, though.

[NinjaBeast]

If anyone gets one of the promos and doesnt want it or gets extra's please let me know as I really want one! Dont reall want to spend eBay kind of money either.

[steelfrogSteve]

Sorry the countdown was a letdown for people. I thought the comic book announcement, a new promo figure, the ashcan comic giveaway, a new website (which WAS actually live a day early, due to a scheduling issue) AND an announcement of Series 1 with release date was worth a countdown. But I guess it just felt like more because I was helping make sure it all happened by the time the clock hit zero.

Also sorry you guys still aren't digging Minimates. I really think once you have them in your hands you'll enjoy the heck out of them. We did clear red for this promo because there wasn't time to do a painted version, and because we thought it would look cool. (See pic below, by youbastards over at the MMMV.) The grey version was to more clearly present the line concept to retailers attending the summit. But there will be new painted Beasts soon enough. Anyone attending the Minimates panel at C2E2 tomorrow will see some cool stuff. (No photos allowed, unfortunately.)

That's pretty awesome...

[tofudrifter81]

yah went to C2E2 and talked to Zack, awesome guy. But I arrived 17 minutes after the door opend and all that was on the table for give away was posters and IDW sneek peak comics. Zack did give a stack of posters of the comic artwork to pass out to all of us. but no figures were left. I walked around and noticed that alot of vendors had them or scooped up bags full of the figs before any of us true fans could get a hold of one. I went today and was super bumed about missing out. I even offered to buy one and had no luck. So....... DAMN i'm bumed.

[Ericnilla]

Yeah thats the same crap that happens at SDCC, all the crappy vendors pick up the good stuff to resell at their booths.

I always stay away from those types. I'd rather wait and get whatever when its way later and cheaper or when its officially released.

[DSTZach]

FYI, if a vendor had more than one red one, they either bought them from people or had multiple friends. If they had multiple GREY ones, then they had multiple staff members attending the retailer summit, as that was the only way to get that one. I at no time handed anybody more than one red Beast, and I looked at faces, so no one lined up twice. If any LRG members are at the show, come see me (look for the muttonchop sideburns) and I'll try to scrounge one up for you. No promises.

This figure will be offered painted later, so you will be able to acquire one that is not red or grey. These were really only to spread awareness among fans and retailers.

[DSTZach]

DSTzach..as someone that , generally speaking, bases my action figure purchases upon whether or not the figure in question has adequate articulation i want to say kudos to DST for these minimate Battle Beasts. They aren't exactly what i wanted from a Battle Beasts line but the fact that they allow for dynamic posing makes the drawbacks easier to stomach.

Not that i expect these suggested changes to take place but ..

* sculpted thighs would go a long way for me as a customer. A great example of this is Mega Bloks Marvel character assortment. The figures are cute and look closer to a "normal" figure than a lego or minimate figure. The Battle Beasts pictured above would benefit from having sculpted thighs

- I know they're going to be tweaking the sculpt to make it more poseable, but this is going to be a pretty heavily sculpted line, and since that is pretty much the ONLY part of the body that doesn't have sculpted parts, I think you're going to have to live with it. Other creatures will have even MORE sculpted parts, and we will cover the thighs when it makes sense for the design. (Our Hulk Minimates have thigh covers to make him look bigger, but few Minimates have entirely sculpted legs.) Keep in mind, it's easy to focus on the shapes when it's an unpainted figure, and you're only looking at the sculpt. But once it's painted, it's not going to bother you as much. And the fact that the Tarantula character will have four of them will bother you even less. Also, our snake Minimate has no legs, unlike other snake figures I could mention.

* DST utilizing a rounded torso for slip on sculpted chest pieces as opposed to the minimate square torso. This would reduce the chest bulk. The chest bulk and bulk in general of the gator minimate is precisely why i dont own one (the primary reason). A slightly sleeker profile would help.

- We actually have a longer, thinner torso we have used for figures in the past, and I'm sure we'll use it again if we get the chance, like for a lizard or something. But most of the creatures will be plenty bulky anyway. In fact, we'll need to bulk them up even further to make them look right. Anyone who saw the Gruntos or Scorpion control art at the panel knows what I'm talking about.

* The Ram above is a nice figure but it looks like, well, a custom made figure . I suppose in a manner of speaking it is considering it's built on a blank canvas minimate base. Ill be picking up one BB figure to see if the desire to customize one to reduce what i perceive as flaws might help but i would have bought many more without hesitation if the above issues had been addressed.

- Sorry you perceive them as flaws. We will be sad to not have you on board. If it helps you to think of this line as a massive batch of affordably priced customs, knock yourself out.

I'll be buying the comic no matter what though. HANDS DOWN.

- ...Then you're probably going to buy the toys. Because the comic is awesome.

Edited by DSTZach, 15 April 2012 - 05:27 AM.

[ComradeCuttlefish]

Well, it's a beast that battles, but that's not a Battle Beast!

[jkaris]

I'll be buying the comic no matter what though. HANDS DOWN.

- ...Then you're probably going to buy the toys. Because the comic is awesome.

I think this is spot on. Once people pick up the comic and the characters start to grow on them, they will pick up the figures. I know I did similar in regards to the animated clone wars saga. I've cut my toy collecting down quite a bit from years past (but it's still pretty crazy) and there are quite a few clone wars figures that I picked up solely because of their characters in the cartoons. Had it not been for watching the series, I would have passed them up.

One thing I don't understand, is those of you who are not big fans of the minimate base, yet are super excited about the new Takara ones. Those are kind of blocky, too.

Myself, I think they are all pretty awesome! And they are all cheap enough to have small armies of them without breaking the bank. Think, one Skull Grotess or 40-50 new beasts. For me at least, that is an easy decision.

[Toxoviper]

I have no problem with them going the mini-mate route.

But these are not Battle Beasts.
The have no relation outside of being animals and owning the license to the name.

The original Battle Beasts are a Transformers Spin-off line, Cyber/Robotic Style armor.

This viking style with fur just does not cut it. They share no aesthetic similarity to the originals.

No rubs/orbs or anything similar.

I'm just not liking anything "Battle Beasts" that's been shown from Diamond.

[Ghost Lion]

I'm back from C2e2 and had a great time. I was lucky enough to meet DSTZach, grab a clear red Ram from the booth, attend the Mini Mates discussion, and buy a grey Ram from a vendor. Here is a quick review of the figure.


First of all these figures look great in my opinion. The detail is fantastic. The armor/costume of the Ram is very well done. A nice twist on the original Battle Beast theme. Yes, I know that these are a separate entity from the original Battle Beasts/Beastformers line, but that won't stop me from having them share a shelf in my toy room or be an evolution of the Battle Beast universe in my mind. I saw the concept drawings of other beasts: Walrus, Tarantula, Dragonfly, Scorpion, and Cobra. Some of them have more traditional armor then this Ram does. Some more shots:






Here is a comparison shot of the Gator and Ram.


Break down of the figure:


The figure breaks down very nice. The cape is removable, the sword fits perfectly in the sheath, and the head is awesome. Nice size, unlike the Gator, it does not fit over a Mini Mate head.
The figure is fun to fiddle with and stands and poses very well. My grey one is nice and tight and the weapons stay on well. The red one, however, has arms that are a bit loose and the forearm armor falls off pretty easily. The other bit of criticism I have is that the sword is made from a very flexible plastic. When hot, It was in my pocket for awhile, the red sword got pretty floppy and it resembled a piece of fruit roll up! Ha!
I saw the painted version during the slide show, no photos were allowed, and I have to say it looks fantastic. The Walrus is going to be amazing.
As a Battle Beast fan, I am going to support this line, as it will add to my army of beasts. I will probably add repro rubs on them where I can. Zach did mention that they are looking into a sort of gaming system to be included with the figures, but it won't have anything to do with elements.
A few more comparison shots

[lord]

Very nice review. I hope you had fun at C2E2.
The comparison shots are a great idea. The DST BB look like an evolution of the original series like the MOTU 200X were evolution from the vintage MOTU.

[Ghost Lion]

That's a great point, Lord. You are going to flip when you see the Cobra. No legs, but a nice Cobra tail. Tarantula and Scorpion has 4 legs each!

[lord]

You lucky man! I have to wait for about 3 months before being able to see those. Hopefully we will have them in hands before the end of the month.
How many sketches were shown during the panel ? DST said that they would be beetween 12 and 15 figures for wave 1 not counting the SDCC 2-pack exclusive.

[Ghost Lion]

Do not know what will be in the SDCC 2 pack, but I think one of the figures is the Ram with a different cloak. The concept drawings were Tarantula, Cobra, Dragonfly, Walrus, Scorpion, fully painted photo of the Ram. No drawing of the eagle that's in the comic book.

[cassel87]

holy shit. this battle beast is awesome. i hated the gator, but this ram gets the job done. i cant wait to see more now.

[Kingjaja]

I have all the gators, the two rams, the comic and a poster......consider me hooked.


Edit: Is it wrong to keep these guys in the package? any creative ideas on how to display them whilst in the plastic? >_<

Edited by Kingjaja, 15 April 2012 - 11:49 PM.

[NinjaBeast]

Anyone have a spare red or gray Ram? Let me know!!!!!!

[Bermuda Mohawk]

I think this is spot on. Once people pick up the comic and the characters start to grow on them, they will pick up the figures.

But the comic has to be good to get people to buy toys they don't want. I haven't read anything from IDW I've been blown over by. It's typical sub-standard fare from a 2nd tier comic company. We'll see.

I definitely see improvement already on the part of DST in developing Battle Beasts. The ram is leaps and bounds better than the gator. So I'll be excited to see where the line goes.

[mca19]

Does anyone have a copy of the comic they want to scan in? I loved that some members did this with the originals, I wish someone would do it with the annuals

[fourth_heir]

Sorry the countdown was a letdown for people...

Fear ye not, m'lord - 'twas not a let down for us all I swiftly added the comic to my standing order at my friendly neighbourhood LCS and I must say I'm more excited by Vorin than I am the two protos that have shown up in the Takara thread - if the rest of your figures are up to his standard you have an assured customer here

[cassel87]

I definitely see improvement already on the part of DST in developing Battle Beasts. The ram is leaps and bounds better than the gator. So I'll be excited to see where the line goes.

yeah... that ram is on a different planet. i didnt even pay attention after i saw the gator. reminded me more of a little childs toy. this ram is sexy, all pouring out the top of its bathing suit. im actually kinda excited now. slowpoke sloth is poking back into my heart.


by the way... is it possible that the negative reaction on this forum caused the change from master-gator to the hot ram-cam?

Edited by cassel87, 16 April 2012 - 04:18 PM.

[adam16bit]

Does anyone have a copy of the comic they want to scan in? I loved that some members did this with the originals, I wish someone would do it with the annuals

Diamond beat us all to it! They posted this last week and while not perfect, it's readable if you zoom a bit.

[Articulationnut]

yeah... that ram is on a different planet. i didnt even pay attention after i saw the gator. reminded me more of a little childs toy. this ram is sexy, all pouring out the top of its bathing suit. im actually kinda excited now. slowpoke sloth is poking back into my heart.


by the way... is it possible that the negative reaction on this forum caused the change from master-gator to the hot ram-cam?

^More or less this

I cant imagine that the reaction * didnt * cause the designers to rethink their approach. The gator was , well, ridiculous (imo). Seeing images of the Ram next to it only serves to accentuate it's drawbacks. The Ram design on the other hand has taken many steps in the right direction even if i find the slip on chest piece off putting. There is only so much you can do if you adhere to the Minimate core body design and the Ram maximized the potential of that core design well . I'm trying really hard to get past the slip on chest piece visually though.

Basing my opinion on images that have been provided DST should have nothing to fear from Takaras Beast Saga figures (or any other beast lines). I might be missing something but pose ability and quality sculpting trumps shooting sugar cubes out of ones chest on squat swivel legs all day to me. The Rise of The Beasts designs trump them all though in my opinion.

[buttheadsmate]

First of all...Hello.

I've been lurking around this forum since DST announced their Battle Beast line a few years back &, probably like many of you here, have waited to see how things would turn out with this line. I knew very little about the original BB line but I have seen the passion that you all have for them ,I'll nail my colours to the mast by saying that I'm passionate about Minimates ....it wasn't always so! Some of the less positive comments I've read here over the months would ,at one time, have mirrored my own . Things changed for me when I eventually saw them in the 'flesh' ,I defy anybody who handles a Minimate for the first time to not start bending the legs & arms,swivelling the head & then posing it ......that's when the fun starts. I'm perhaps 'conservative' in my views on how far a minimate should deviate from its original block-concept & my views don't always win me friends on one of the friendliest forums you'll ever find.... the Minimate Multiverse. When the BB Alligator promos were announced it became obvious (to me) that things were going to change.....things always do.....& I braced myself for... moulded heads You see I'm a Minimate 'purist' & it's been a leap of faith for me to embrace Battle Beasts in the same way you guys might be stalling on embracing Minimates. The moulded heads became a necessity almost immediately,purely because of scale issues.....as in scale-size rather than scale-nasty slimy skin on a Crocodile ....a huge decision for DST & a brave one. It was also the right one because the Ram promos look superb .....even without paint!! Can you imagine what these 'mates will look like when painted ? I can.

So what's my angle ? None at all,I just wanted to say that the Minimate universe has just embraced Battle Beasts ,c'mon join the party .

Edited by buttheadsmate, 17 April 2012 - 02:21 AM.