There are very few toylines that are as versatile and adaptive as Diamond Select Toys ‘Minimates’ line! The line began as a series of 3″ figures back in 2002 and has gone through a number of changes over the years, but whether it was the scale (which currently resides at 2″ since around 2003), the level of sculpted detail, or the format in which they are released (hello blind-bags!), the one thing that the line has proven time and time again is that Minimates are here to stay!
This past week at New York Toy Fair 2016, Diamond Select Toys announced quite a few new waves of Minimates and showcased a few others that had been previously announced before the convention. Today we’re here to give you the full rundown of Diamond Select Toys Minimates lineup from New York Toy Fair 2016!
Star Trek
Just in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original ‘Star Trek‘ series, Diamond Select Toys is bringing fans a special new set of ‘Star Trek’ Minimates based on the U.S.S. Enterprise Crew from the original series! While the packaging on this set is not yet confirmed (it will either be a big box set or a series of figure 2-packs), the lineup itself consists of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura, Scottie, and Chekov! While these characters have all previously been released, these are all new updated versions!
Nightmare Before Christmas
What’s this? It’s a new series of ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ Minimates! For this third series, we are seeing a few repeats of fan favorites, as well as a few variant repaints alongside some all new figures! This set includes the usual basis Jack and Sally figures (which appear to be showing up in every wave), plus we are getting a new ‘Bug Covered’ Oogie Boogie, and ‘Glow In The Dark’ versions of Pumpkin King Jack and The Easter Bunny! As far as new figures go, we’re getting Melting Man, Mrs. Finklestein, and Pajama Jack Skellington!
iZombie
Diamond Select Toys has announced plans for Minimates based on The CW’s popular series ‘iZombie’! While the plans are currently limited to this one two pack featuring Liv Moore and Blaine DeBeers, if it does well we will hopefully see more from the ‘iZombie’ brand in the future!
Predator
The ‘Predator’ brand is still going strong and now we’re all set for Series 2 of DST’s ‘Predator’ Minimate Blind Bags! The latest series consists of characters from all three ‘Predator‘ films, with Mac and Hawkins from ‘Predator’, Harrigan (Dust Covered variant) and Keyes from ‘Predator 2’, and Noland and Hanzo from ‘Predators’! We also will see a Stealth Mode City Hunter Predator, and a new version of the Jungle Hunter Predator!
ALIEN
Diamond Select toys blew everyone’s minds when they first announced the ‘ALIEN’ license was coming to Minimates back in 2014. The line has continued to impress us more and more with each release in the series, so why should DST stop wowing us now? At Toy Fair 2016 DST had the all new ‘ALIEN’ Minimates Series 3 on display, which brings us back to the first film in the series to round out our set of the original ‘Nostromo crew’ and more! This set includes Spacesuit Dallas, Spacesuit Lambert, Nasrcissus Spacesuit Ripley, Narcissus Hypersleep Ripley (with Jones!), a Frozen Alien, and finally, we get the last member of the Nostromo Crew, the android Ash! For Ash, they are releasing a standard version as well as a variant ‘Battle Damaged’ version!
On top of that, Diamond Select Toys has answered the prayers of ‘ALIENS’ fans everywhere with the reveal of the new APC Vehicle! This is easily the largest Minimate vehicle ever produced, and it looks amazing!
The APC has a sliding door on the side for Minimates to enter the vehicle, then the top lifts open for you to see inside and manuver your ‘ALIENS’ Marines around inside! The APC fits four Minimates figures inside.
Gotham
We’ve got more ‘Gotham’ Minimates on the way! This set looks to be jam packed with villains from the Batman-less series set in the Dark Knight’s hometown! This third box set will include Theo Galavan, The Tigress, Barbara Kean, and Police Chief Nathanial Barnes!
Vinimates
Finally, we get to what we’re going to go ahead and call the next evolution of Minimates, which aren’t even Minimates at all! This is an all new line from Diamond Select Toys dubbed ‘Vinimates’, which takes the design aesthetic of Minimates and brings it to you in the form of a 3″ scale vinyl figure! If you’re a fan of some of the other vinyl figures currently on the market, and love Minimates, these are going to blow you away!
These new Vinimates are stylized, so they feature very limited articulation, but there is articulation at the neck and arms to give a mild range of motion. So far licenses announced for the new Vinimates line include ‘Back To The Future’, ‘ALIENS’, ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’, ‘X-Files’, ‘Predator’, and ‘Ghostbusters’!
So how excited are you for all of these new Minimates coming our way in 2016? What lines are you hoping to see join the brand in the future? Let us know in the comments below! Be sure to stay tuned to ScienceFiction.com all this week for all of the latest news coming out of New York Toy Fair 2016!
