Minimates
Encyclopedia
Minimates are a block-styled
miniature action figure
originally created by Art Asylum
in 2002 and now released by Diamond Select Toys
. The basic Minimate figure design has a 2" tall body that resembles an extremely simplified human form with 14 points of articulation
, higher than average for block figures, and are primarily released to specialty retailers and aimed at adult collectors. The best-known and longest-running series of Minimates is based on Marvel Comics
, with over 40 waves of figures in existence, but lines of Minimates have been released for numerous other comic books, TV series, movies and video games.
Designed and produced by New York City-based sculpting and design house Art Asylum
, the Minimates line line began in 2002 with multiple lines of 3" Minimates based on several different licenses. These included Dark Angel
, Star Trek
, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
and the films of Bruce Lee
, along with a Rock
line featuring KISS
, Rob Zombie
, Ozzy Osbourne
and Alice Cooper
. The 3" Minimate Line also included several blank or promotional Minimates -- these usually bore the logo of a specific company and were used as giveaways.
Minimates came of age in 2003 when, following a partnership with Diamond Select Toys
, a range of 2" Minimates based upon the Marvel Comics
Universe was launched. The 2" Minimate body type began to be used for the promotional Minimates in place of the 3" body type, and it was announced that the 3" range would be discontinued. However, a Lord of the Rings
line produced by Art Asylum in 2004 added a third body type, which stood 2.5" tall, to further illustrate the size differences of the various races of Middle-Earth.
In 2004, Art Asylum and Play-Along
launched their Minimate-based C3 ("Create Construct Customize") construction sets, which could be used to build vehicles and playsets from the DC Comics
universe. Focusing mainly on Batman and the Justice League, the Lego
-esque line was moderately successful, but the license terms limited the selling of the 2" DC Minimates to the construction sets, and the line failed to gain a foothold in the market. C3 was discontinued, and in 2006 DC Direct
announced that they had picked up the DC Minimates line and would put out their own figures (in 2" and 2.5" scales) in partnership with Art Asylum. That same year, non-construction-set vehicles were introduced to the brand, in lines based on the Speed Racer
cartoon (from Art Asylum) as well as both the classic and modern Battlestar Galactica
TV series (from Art Asylum and Diamond Select Toys).
In 2007, Art Asylum became a division of Diamond Select Toys, and the Minimates body type has since been applied to dozens of licenses from TV (24
, The Real Ghostbusters
, Star Trek
again), movies (Ghostbusters
, Platoon, Universal Monsters
) and video games (Halo
, Marvel vs. Capcom 3). DST has also developed Minimates based on its own concepts, under the brands Calico Jack's Pirate Raiders and Minimates M.A.X., and are developing a line based on the name "Battle Beasts
" for an as-yet-unannounced date.
Due to license restrictions limiting all Marvel Minimates to the 2" scale, a range of four 8" unarticulated resin statues under the "Minimates Max" banner were announced for 2006, to represent larger-scale characters in the Minimate style. Unfortunately, because of the cost and unarticulated nature of the statues, the line was not well-received and eventually cancelled, with only two of the four announced statues released, Galactus and the Sentinel. (Wolverine and Spider-Man were unproduced.)
The Minimates Vehicles line features original ships and jets from DST's Pirate Raiders and M.A.X brands, alongside licensed vehicles from Terminator 2, Back to the Future
and Knight Rider
, each in their own individually branded packaging. DST also offers a variety of Minimate-scale Halo
Warthog vehicles in both markets, but those are packaged and released under the greater Halo umbrella line. A Scorpion Tank has been announced as forthcoming.
Diamond Select Toys has also produced a carrying case that holds up to 72 Minimates, and comes with an exclusive figure. The first edition came with a Battle Beast, and the second edition will come with a Pirate Raider.
, featuring computer-generated Minimate characters, as a class project. New Times features Batman, Catwoman and the Joker, and is notable for its all-star cast, including Adam West
and Mark Hamill
reprising their roles as the Batman and the Joker. Never intended for commercial release, New Times was released as a download on the DAVE School website and was available as a free DVD from DAVE School itself. As a promotional item, the Batman minimate from the Mini-Batmobile set was released separately in a Batman: New Time bag.
In 2006, an animated X-Men movie in the same style as Batman: New Times was produced under the name X-Men: Darktide. Released on DVD as part of a box set containing Minimates of Magneto, New X-Men Cyclops, New X-Men Wolverine and Juggernaut, the movie features those characters, as well as the debuts of Minimate versions of New X-Men
Storm, Beast and Archangel.
Currently, Diamond Select Toys is producing stop-motion animation for its MAX and Pirate Raiders brands using actual Minimates, and posting it for free online.
Block-style figures
Block-style figures are a type of collectible toy action figures marked by a generally simplistic representation of the human form, usually made of block-shaped appendages and torsos. Generally, the block-style figures are no bigger than two to three inches in height.The first widely produced...
miniature action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
originally created by Art Asylum
Art Asylum
Art Asylum is a New York City based design studio and toy company.Originally started by Digger Mesch and Donna Soldano in 1996, Art Asylum was initially just a work-for-hire sculpting studio which designed various action figures, busts and statues for numerous toy companies such as ToyCom and...
in 2002 and now released by Diamond Select Toys
Diamond Select Toys
Diamond Select Toys was founded in 1999 by sister company Diamond Comics Distributors to create collectibles for children and adults, and has since licensed a variety of pop culture properties, including Marvel Comics, Star Wars, Star Trek, Transformers, Ghostbusters, Halo, G.I. Joe: A Real...
. The basic Minimate figure design has a 2" tall body that resembles an extremely simplified human form with 14 points of articulation
Joint
A joint is the location at which two or more bones make contact. They are constructed to allow movement and provide mechanical support, and are classified structurally and functionally.-Classification:...
, higher than average for block figures, and are primarily released to specialty retailers and aimed at adult collectors. The best-known and longest-running series of Minimates is based on Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, with over 40 waves of figures in existence, but lines of Minimates have been released for numerous other comic books, TV series, movies and video games.
History
Art Asylum
Art Asylum is a New York City based design studio and toy company.Originally started by Digger Mesch and Donna Soldano in 1996, Art Asylum was initially just a work-for-hire sculpting studio which designed various action figures, busts and statues for numerous toy companies such as ToyCom and...
, the Minimates line line began in 2002 with multiple lines of 3" Minimates based on several different licenses. These included Dark Angel
Dark Angel (TV series)
Dark Angel is an American biopunk/cyberpunk science fiction television series created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. The show premiered in the United States on the Fox network on October 3, 2000, and was canceled after two seasons...
, Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen...
and the films of Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
, along with a Rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
line featuring KISS
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...
, Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
and Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
. The 3" Minimate Line also included several blank or promotional Minimates -- these usually bore the logo of a specific company and were used as giveaways.
Minimates came of age in 2003 when, following a partnership with Diamond Select Toys
Diamond Select Toys
Diamond Select Toys was founded in 1999 by sister company Diamond Comics Distributors to create collectibles for children and adults, and has since licensed a variety of pop culture properties, including Marvel Comics, Star Wars, Star Trek, Transformers, Ghostbusters, Halo, G.I. Joe: A Real...
, a range of 2" Minimates based upon the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
Universe was launched. The 2" Minimate body type began to be used for the promotional Minimates in place of the 3" body type, and it was announced that the 3" range would be discontinued. However, a Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
line produced by Art Asylum in 2004 added a third body type, which stood 2.5" tall, to further illustrate the size differences of the various races of Middle-Earth.
In 2004, Art Asylum and Play-Along
Play Along Toys
Play Along Toys is a Florida-based toy company, and a wholly owned division of Jakks Pacific.In 1999, the founders of Play Along chose the Britney Spears Doll line as the first licensing venture with their new company...
launched their Minimate-based C3 ("Create Construct Customize") construction sets, which could be used to build vehicles and playsets from the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
universe. Focusing mainly on Batman and the Justice League, the Lego
Lego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
-esque line was moderately successful, but the license terms limited the selling of the 2" DC Minimates to the construction sets, and the line failed to gain a foothold in the market. C3 was discontinued, and in 2006 DC Direct
DC Direct
DC Direct is the collectibles division of DC Comics, the Time Warner subsidiary that publishes comic books and licenses characters such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Batman, Batgirl and Hawkgirl. DC Direct produces statues, props, replicas and prints for the direct market, a...
announced that they had picked up the DC Minimates line and would put out their own figures (in 2" and 2.5" scales) in partnership with Art Asylum. That same year, non-construction-set vehicles were introduced to the brand, in lines based on the Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Speed Racer is an English adaptation name of the Japanese manga and anime, which centered on automobile racing. Mach GoGoGo was originally serialized in print form in Shueisha's 1958 Shōnen Book, and was released in tankōbon book form by Sun Wide Comics, re-released in Japan by Fusosha...
cartoon (from Art Asylum) as well as both the classic and modern Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica TV series in 1978, and was followed by a brief sequel TV series in 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games...
TV series (from Art Asylum and Diamond Select Toys).
In 2007, Art Asylum became a division of Diamond Select Toys, and the Minimates body type has since been applied to dozens of licenses from TV (24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
, The Real Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters is an American animated television series based on the 1984 film Ghostbusters. The series ran from 1986 to 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television, DiC Enterprises, and Coca-Cola Telecommunications. "The Real" was added to the title after a dispute with...
, Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
again), movies (Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
, Platoon, Universal Monsters
Universal Monsters
Universal Monsters or Universal Horror is the name given to a series of distinctive horror, suspense and science fiction films made by Universal Studios from 1923 to 1960...
) and video games (Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
, Marvel vs. Capcom 3). DST has also developed Minimates based on its own concepts, under the brands Calico Jack's Pirate Raiders and Minimates M.A.X., and are developing a line based on the name "Battle Beasts
Battle Beasts
is a line of small 2" tall action figure toys, in the form of an anthropomorphised animal with body armor and a unique weapon. Several figures have their left hand replaced by a weapon of some kind...
" for an as-yet-unannounced date.
Minimate Product Types
Today, most of the 2-inch Minimate lines are sold as two-packs in Toys "R" Us, and as four-packs (with the occasional single-packed army-builder assortment) on the specialty market, including comic book shops and the Disney Store. Retailer-exclusive four-packs are common, and those are often timed to the major pop culture conventions.Due to license restrictions limiting all Marvel Minimates to the 2" scale, a range of four 8" unarticulated resin statues under the "Minimates Max" banner were announced for 2006, to represent larger-scale characters in the Minimate style. Unfortunately, because of the cost and unarticulated nature of the statues, the line was not well-received and eventually cancelled, with only two of the four announced statues released, Galactus and the Sentinel. (Wolverine and Spider-Man were unproduced.)
The Minimates Vehicles line features original ships and jets from DST's Pirate Raiders and M.A.X brands, alongside licensed vehicles from Terminator 2, Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
and Knight Rider
Knight Rider
Knight Rider is an American television series that originally ran from September 26, 1982, to August 8, 1986. The series was broadcast on NBC and starred David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight, a high-tech modern-day knight fighting crime with the help of an advanced, artificially intelligent and...
, each in their own individually branded packaging. DST also offers a variety of Minimate-scale Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
Warthog vehicles in both markets, but those are packaged and released under the greater Halo umbrella line. A Scorpion Tank has been announced as forthcoming.
Diamond Select Toys has also produced a carrying case that holds up to 72 Minimates, and comes with an exclusive figure. The first edition came with a Battle Beast, and the second edition will come with a Pirate Raider.
Minimates Media
In 2005, animation students at the DAVE School produced Batman: New TimesBatman: New Times
Batman: New Times is an animated CGI film. The CGI models used for the film are based on Art Asylum's Minimates toyline.-Cast:* Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman* Joshua Adams as Robin/Dick Grayson* Alan Shearman as Alfred Pennyworth...
, featuring computer-generated Minimate characters, as a class project. New Times features Batman, Catwoman and the Joker, and is notable for its all-star cast, including Adam West
Adam West
William West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...
and Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...
reprising their roles as the Batman and the Joker. Never intended for commercial release, New Times was released as a download on the DAVE School website and was available as a free DVD from DAVE School itself. As a promotional item, the Batman minimate from the Mini-Batmobile set was released separately in a Batman: New Time bag.
In 2006, an animated X-Men movie in the same style as Batman: New Times was produced under the name X-Men: Darktide. Released on DVD as part of a box set containing Minimates of Magneto, New X-Men Cyclops, New X-Men Wolverine and Juggernaut, the movie features those characters, as well as the debuts of Minimate versions of New X-Men
New X-Men
New X-Men was a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics within the X-Men franchise. After the end of Grant Morrison's run on X-Men , titled New X-Men, the title was used for a new series, New X-Men: Academy X, serving as a continuation of the second volume of New Mutants...
Storm, Beast and Archangel.
Currently, Diamond Select Toys is producing stop-motion animation for its MAX and Pirate Raiders brands using actual Minimates, and posting it for free online.
Current Minimates Lines
|
Past Minimates Licenses
|
External links
- Minimates Home Page
- Art Asylum Home Page
- Diamond Select Toys Home Page
- Minimate Database comprehensive reference site
- Minimate Headquarters fan news site
- Minimates Central fan review site
- Minimate Multiverse fan forum community
- Minimate Factory customization reference site
- Cappy Space Block Figure Line-up Interactive Block Figure Reference Guide