The subject of today’s missive is toys…particularly small action figures type toys (as I’m currently packing a few away until their new home is ready)…so those of you with no interest…see ya next time…

If you’re still around…

There’s an amazing array of block-type mini figures that have been hitting the market over the last two years and I’m going to take a look at a few of them today.

The block figure craze can be traced back to Lego and Playmobil as both companies have had small figures in the market (with various types of playsets) for a long time. The Japanese took the concept of the Lego figure and started applying it to licensed properties. Called “Kubricks” (I’m unsure why), they stand about 2 ½ inches tall and have some removable parts that suggest some interchangability, but in practice the concept is kind of limited.

Medicom, the company that makes most of the Kubricks, has picked up numerous licenses over the years and have produced mini-figures from things like “Reservoir Dogs”, “The Great Escape”, “Planet of the Apes”, “The Matrix”, “Star Wars”, “TRON”, “The Muppets”, “Minority Report”, “Back to the Future”, “Alien” and various animated Disney films. They’re all cute figures with about 8 points of articulation (legs, waist, wrists, shoulders and neck). Unfortunately, they are expensive as they need to be imported. On top of that, some of the lines come in box sets (so you can get all “The Usual Suspects” in one shot) and others come individually boxed in mystery packages. You can buy a box containing one figure from “The Matrix” but you won’t know who it is until you open it. And some figures in these lines are rarer than others. In fact, some aren’t even pictured as being part of the line and are extremely hard to find (like the Keymaker from “The Matrix” series…he had a pack-in ratio of 1 in every 96). This can make the pursuit of a complete line rather expensive.

While Kubricks have some cool line ups, the coolest right now are the two more “advanced” concepts.

Art Asylum has created their Mini-Mates line with 14 points of articulation (ankles, knees, legs, waist, wrists, elbows, shoulders and head). When the line started, they were 3 inches tall and the licenses included Bruce Lee, some Rock n Roll artists (KISS, Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden to name three), “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Dark Angel” and “Star Trek”. While all of these figures were really cool, Art Asylum wasn’t able to get too deep into any of these lines for a variety of reasons. When they picked up the Marvel Comics license, things really took off.

Marvel Mini-Mates contain the same 14 points of articulation as the rest, but they are only 2 inches tall (licensing issues that Marvel has elsewhere prevented using the larger size). But this size has allowed Art Asylum to package two figures together with a few accessories and so far we’ve gotten nine waves of 6 figures per wave. Unfortunately, in order to entice major retailers on board, there have been a plethora of variant Spider-Mans, Wolverines, Daredevils and Things. But we’ve also gotten a good number of cool characters in the process. There have also been a number of different Iron Man figures, each with a removable helmet and an extra hair piece for displaying Tony Stark with the helmet off. My favorite so far is Battle Damaged Captain America and his swollen eye.

Unfortunately, in order to get everyone who’s been released, that has involved getting doubles of others. The nice thing is that parts are swappable and with a bit of paint and other art supplies, you can customize the extras into new people (I’ve made a few very obscure characters like Rachel van Helsing and Quincy Harker from the old “Tomb of Dracula” comic as well as a couple of DC characters like The Question and Captain Atom from extra people and parts).

What would keep this line alive right now is a bit more breadth of the Marvel Universe. There are still a good number of major characters missing. Dr. Strange, Thor and a few other big name Avengers and the original X-Men lineup are all absent right now. And there is a distinct lack of villains. We’ve got Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Venom, Carnage, Kingpin, Bullseye, Chameleon, Dr. Doom, the Leader, Absorbing Man and Magneto and that’s all. While the “missing” heroes could easily be caught up in three waves, the villains will take much longer to get a better variety. Somewhere along the way most toy companies got faulty research that bad guys and females don’t sell. I don’t quite believe that as kids like to have villains to fight their heroes.

Art Asylum realized they had a hit on their hands and have started to branch this smaller Mini Mate into other licenses. The one that made the most sense to sit on a shelf along Marvel Comics was DC Comics. Unfortunately, in order to work around the fact that DC had been producing their own version of small figures (Pocket Heroes) Art Asylum had to come up with something else to offer the figures with. They invented a Lego-like construction set known as C3. These are really cool as they combine the small figure factor into a small playset environment. Unfortunately, the figures are the coolest things about these sets for the most part. The first wave of sets hit in late fall just in time for Christmas shopping and while the biggest and coolest is the Batcave, it’s plagued with structural problems (took me 4 hours to put together and I had to use some glue). The smaller sets that aren’t vehicles are a bit lackluster…the Chemical Warehouse and Darkseid’s Throne Room have the coolest figures (Batman & Joker and Superman & Darkseid respectively) but they’re not very interesting to look at. And like larger figure lines based on DC Comics characters, there’s an inordinate amount of Batman figures. Luckily, they’re not as horrid as some of Kenner’s day glo colored figures and at least make some sense based on the construction set they come with (I’m specifically thinking of Stealth Pilot Batman who comes with the Batwing).

Art Asylum has some neat workarounds planned to try and get more figures into the market place for DC. First up this year are their mini-flyers which give you a figure with a few blocks to create a small flying machine that’s themed to the character (we’re getting Flash, Nightwing, Riddler and Batgirl in addition to a new Batman & Superman in the first wave). And there are some larger “Batman” themed sets to revolve around the hype for the new movie in June…but the first wave didn’t do so hot at retail, so this line may not make it much further. Supposedly, Art Asylum is talking to DC about doing the figures without the construction sets in conjunction with the comic company’s toy arm since the Pocket Heroes did so badly (and yet have more variety than anything Art Asylum’s done yet…go figure).

The last major license that Art Asylum’s acquired for the Mini Mates is “Lord of the Rings” and they are using both scales of figures plus a new middle size to keep the various characters in scale. The hobbits and dwarves are in the 2 inch scale, the humans and elves are in the new 2 ½ inch scale and people like Sauron are the old 3 inch scale. So far there have been about 13 figures done with only two characters repeated (Frodo and Aragorn have variants, but they make sense).

Rumor has it that Art Asylum may re-release their “Star Trek” mini-mates in the smaller scales and as box sets in an attempt to put some life into their licensing agreement before it lapses.

Just before Christmas, Palisades Toys entered this arena with a new brand called “Palz”. These 2 ½ inch figures have the same articulation as Mini Mates, but have a crap load of accessories and some other neat features as well. The first license out the door is based on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. The first wave consisted of 6 individually sold figures (Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Darla and the Master), one in case repaint (Darla) and two store exclusives (Angel via comic shops and Vampire Buffy via Wizard Magazine). Palisades plan is to base each wave on a season of the show, so all these figures resemble (in the cartoonishly cute block figure way) the looks of these characters during the show’s first season. The cool thing is that each figure comes with extra parts to transform them to a different look. Turn Darla’s head around and she’s now a vampire. You can do the same with Angel (who can be dressed in a number of different combos as well…with jacket, without jacket, shirt on, shirt off…most of the figures come with secondary outfits) and Vampire Buffy (regular Buffy just has a different expression on the flip side of her head).

A second series will arrive in April consisting of Buffy (she’ll be part of every wave), Spike, Drusilla, Oz, Cordelia and Jenny Calendar. Oz gets to be the in case repaint as well. Each figure will also come with a piece of the Judge, so you’ll get a seventh figure if you collect the whole wave. There will also be a few exclusives as well. Palisades Direct (the company’s online store) will be selling Kendra the Vampire Slayer (complete with Mr. Pointy) and a three pack of Monsters (this is the first of many Monster sets and includes Marcie Ross, Der Kindestod and the Annointed One – who is going to be scaled down to be the correct size). AFX, an online store, also has an exlcusive four pack of the main “Scoobies” (Buffy, Willow, Cordelia and Xander) to transform into Halloween costumes they wore during the show.

Before this second wave of “Buffy” appears we also get treated to a first wave of “The X-Files”. The first wave consists of 8 figures without the cool “transformation” feature, but plenty of accessories. Look for Mulder, Scully, Lone Gunman Frohike, Deep Throat, Conundrum (from the episode “Humbug”), Donnie Pfaster, a Gray Alien and the Flukeman (with a Port-O-Potty). There will be three in case variants as well…Demon Donnie Pfaster, Captured Scully (these were supposed to be a two pack exclusive, but that changed) and Man In Black Mulder (not from any specific episode, but a cool looking figure anyway). A second wave will arrive if this one’s successful (we’ve already seen workups of Agent Krycek and Marita Covarrubias).

And just announced from Palisades is another Palz line based on the “Die Hard” trilogy. The first wave looks like it will consist of two versions of everyone’s favorite cop John McClane, his estranged wife Holly Gennaro, Sergeant Al Powell, Hans Gruber and Karl. Can’t wait to see what these look like at Toy Fair in February.