Review: Diamond Select Battle Beasts Minimates Shadow Merk

If you were one of the first people to the Diamond Select Toys booth each day at Comic-Con this year, Shadow Merk could be yours for free. (Also, if you went to the right parties, maybe you got one there too with a side of chicken wings.) Last year we were treated to about a dozen flavors of Vorin, and this year we're getting polybagged Merks. Interestingly, the figure seems to hold together better than the painted counterpart and looks really good - I think it even made me like the previous versions more. It's a rising tide raising all the other ships.
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SDCC 2013: Battle Beasts Minimates

One of my first stops at Comic-Con 2013 was to see the Diamond Select Toys team and, specifically, Battle Beasts.  My pictures didn't turn out great but you can see them all here, including a Maori Shark, a cow, and the two promotional figures given away at the show.

Click here for the full story and a gallery!

Battle Beasts at SDCC: Off-Site Event, Hot Wings Merk Promo

If you liked Shadow Merk, you're going to love Hot Wings Merk!  This is Diamond's second San Diego Comic-Con 2013 exclusive Battle Beasts Minimates figure, and it looks pretty fantastic.

Taste and Thirst on Fourth (715 4th Avenue) will be converted to Minimates Headquarters starting Thursday, July 18 at 10:00 PM and the exhibit will be open until 2:00 AM.  It will also be open Friday at 11:00 AM and Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 AM.

In addition to the promotional Hot Wings Merk figure, 10 years of Minimates figures will be on display spanning numerous licenses and a very large number of releases from comics, movies, music, and television.

Coupons for food at the venue will be distributed at the Diamond booth, #2607.  Click here for additional information.

Battle Beasts Minimates at San Diego for Comic-Con International 2013

The battle isn't over!  Today we received an email from Diamond Select Toys about the return of Battle Beasts Minimates.  They say:

"Now, with Series 2 in development and a new comic in the works, Diamond Select will be giving away a new promotional Battle Beast at this year's show!

"Shadow Merk is a new figure of Merk, the deadly falcon who forms one-third of the band of Beast heroes at the forefront of IDW's comic book mini-series. Cast in translucent purple plastic, the figure will be given out each morning at the Diamond Select Toys booth, #2607, in a sealed plastic bag. A limited number will be available each day (but not on Preview Night), so make the DST booth your first stop!

"Also, be sure to pick up Series 1 in the store at the DST booth, check out a few Series 2 prototypes in the DST display cases, and come learn more about what's next at the Minimates panel on Saturday at 1:30 in Room 8!"

Thanks for the heads-up, Diamond!  Naturally, we'll be there with a camera and many annoying questions.

Review: Diamond Select Battle Beasts Minimates SDCC 2012 Gold Vorin

Since his mold was done first, it seems Gold Vorin is the go-to mold for exclusive Minimates this year. At Comic-Con 2012 in San Diego, blue clear figures were distributed to fans at the Diamond Select Toys booth and I'm not 100% sure everywhere this version ended up. There was an industry party for Heavy Metal Magazine (and others) which had some Battle Beasts involvement, and this was in the sack of goodies at the end of the night along with, awesomely, old Archie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures and Mighty Mutanimals comics. I loved those as a kid, but I digress. Gold Vorin! So far seemingly a party exclusive.
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Review: Diamond Select Battle Beasts Minimates SDCC 2012 Vorin & Zik

Before I got Vorin and Zik in my hands, I thought what we were getting was old molds with new paint-- I was wrong. While mostly cobbled together from existing parts, Diamond actually gave Vorin a new torso mold so it isn't the same as the previous 4 one-color promotional versions of the figure. And for this, I am happy. This item was a Diamond Select Toys exclusive, which means it was available to their clients-- so some online stores had these for preorder, and a few other stores at the show had them at their booths. I like this. I'd like to see Hasbro and Mattel do this, mostly because I think it does a bang-up job to discourage scalping and flipping at the show, plus it makes things easier for the rest of us.
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Toys R Us Exclusive Bat vs. Moose Battle Beasts Minimates

If you were in meetings for most of the weekend in San Diego, you may have also unfortunately missed the Comic-Con 2012 Minimates panel.  Thankfully, the great folks at Toy Ark captured the whole thing and now you can see all sorts of exciting things.

The big takeaway for you guys: Toys R Us will get a Battle Beasts Minimates 2-pack of a moose and a bat, recreating the ongoing struggle that takes place in nature every night.  Both sport weapons and look like they're going to be fun and just ugly enough to be awesome.

SDCC 2012 Battle Beasts Gallery Update

Just a quick update: we added more pictures!  Check out Diamond Select Toys Battle Beasts Minimates coverage at 16bit.com for over a dozen new, clearer, and better pictures of the new toys due out at the end of 2012.

Battle Beasts Minimates: SDCC Gallery

In the interests of cranking out something quickly, check out the 16bit.com Battle Beasts gallery.  I got a few quick shots today and will go for more later-- but I wanted to get up something!
[ READ THE GALLERY ]

SDCC 2012: Exclusive Battle Beasts Vorins

While I don't know if this is everything, it turns out at least two versions of Vorin were made for Comic-Con 2012 by Diamond Select Toys.  A clear blue Vorin showed up at their booth this morning, and I found a golden Vorin in a swag bag from a party held by the Heavy Metal magazine people.   More as I have it!

I can safely say that the gold one is absolutely beautiful in person, and the blue one looks very nice.  (It's dark and late, it might be incredible but I'm in a dark room right now.) Update: Yeah, the blue one is awesome too.

Battle Beasts Packaging: Minimates SDCC Exclusive

Some supremely snazzy Battle Beasts Minimates Packaging has been revealed by Diamond's own Zach Oat at the Minimates Multiverse board.  Nice!  It's got a monster logo and big character art of the three main characters, plus a big colorful Minimates logo.  There have been numerous styles of packaging for the Minimates over the years and I gotta say I'm digging it.  Visit their board for more!

You'll be able to buy these at Comic-Con in San Diego this week or, failing that, you can order yours online at Entertainment Earth.

SDCC 2012 Battle Beasts Schedule

Also from the Art Asylum Blog, here are the dates to write down for San Diego's Comic-Con International in a few weeks.

Thursday July 12, 2012 - The Diamond Select Toys booth #2607 will be handing out 200 promotional Battle Beasts Minimates figures.  (This will repeat each day of the show, so get there early.)  A contest for a Battle Beasts Guitar and Case will be ongoing as well.  The Exclusive Vorin and Zik 2-pack will also be on sale.

Friday July 13, 2012 - The Diamond Select Toys booth #2607 will host a signing for the IDW comic book with Bobby Curnow (writer) and Ulises Farinas (cover art).  Free posters will be available for signing, and the SDCC #1 comic variant will be for sale.

Saturday July 14, 2012 - Minimates Panel at 1:30 PM, meeting room 8.  While nothing specific is confirmed, it is expected that new figures will be shown here, possibly in addition to items already on display at the booth.

More surprises generally pop up along the way, so stay tuned for more as we have it!

Free Battle Beasts Minimates Coming to San Diego Comic-Con

We now know Diamond Select will be giving away 200 Battle Beasts Minimates figures per day at San Diego Comic-Con!  How do we know?

They posted about it.

This feature has all of their freebie and panel plans, so now you know the big Minimates panel is Saturday July 14, 2012 at 1:30 PM!

We also know there will be a build-a-Minimates figure section, which sounds like a lot of fun.  Read more about it, here.

Diamond Select Posts SDCC Battle Beasts Gallery

On the Faces Book, Diamond Select Toys posted a really slick gallery of Vorin vs. Vik, the 2012 Comic-Con exclusives.  To the left, you'll see a delightfully freakish mutation made from mixing the two figures' parts up which begs the question: "Will we get enough parts to cobble together some Wuzzles before 2013 ends?"  Many scientists believe the answer may be "yes."

Surprisingly, this gallery also shows that there's deco UNDER Vorin's armor, and other nice little painted details that I'm going to guess none of us knew were there.  Slick!  Check 'em out.  These may be the first customs from the line.  Maybe.  (You decide.)

Also, some stores will  be selling these outside of the convention like sponsor/employer/advertiser Entertainment Earth, check for pricing and availability.

Ad: SDCC Battle Beasts Exclusives at Entertainment Earth

 SDCC 2012 Exclusive 2-Pack, $8.99

Ad: Want the latest SDCC exclusive Battle Beasts toys, but can't make it to San Diego?  You can preorder them at Entertainment Earth today!

The retailer is offering  Battle Beasts SDCC 2012 Exclusive Minimates 2-Pack for $8.99 and the  Battle Beasts #1 SDCC 2012 Exclusive Edition Comic Book for $5.49.

Click here to order yours today!

SDCC 2012 Battle Beasts Exclusives Revealed

Battle Beasts #1 Exclusive SDCC Cover

 Diamond Select Toys sent us an email with their various exclusives, and you can see the whole thing here.  But you're here for the Battle Beasts, so here's what they had to say:

"The first issue of IDW's new Battle Beasts comic book mini-series is here, and SDCC will have its very own cover! Depicting heroic beasts Vorin, Merk and Gruntos about to do battle on the steps of the San Diego Convention Center, this souvenir edition will be available from Diamond Comic Distributors (Booth #2401) and Diamond Select Toys (#2607), as well as numerous retailers on the show floor."

Also!

Battle Beasts Minimates Vorin and Zik 2-Pack

"The first series of Battle Beasts Minimates won't be out until this fall, but Diamond Select Toys is offering fans a preview set that's only at SDCC! The fully painted two-pack of 2-inch Beasts includes the heroic ram Vorin, star of the IDW comic series, and an all-new villainous dragonfly character, Zik! Available from Diamond Comic Distributors (Booth #2401) and Diamond Select Toys (#2607)."

Also exciting was confirmation of a build-a-Minimates station at their booth, although no explicit comments about which brands of parts were made available, nor was pricing on any of these fine items.  Stay tuned for more as we  have it.

TONS of news! New Battle Beasts Minimates Interview with Zach Oat

Vorin... but which Vorin?

Over at ToyChestNews, Zach Oat of Diamond Select toys answers some questions about the one thing we're all looking forward to, new Battle Beasts!  Click here for the full interview.

Some highlights:

"The first Beast toys we'll have for sale will be a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive two-pack, featuring Vorin with his cloak down and an evil dragonfly character named Zik."

"Series 1 has both a scorpion and a tarantula, and both of them utilize a new four-pegged hip piece, which allows them to walk around on four legs."


"There will also be a couple of figures based on the book's human protagonists."


"They're two inches tall, they're really poseable, they cost less than $10 for a 2-pack... it just made a lot of sense for the brand."

There you go, Beast fans!  A new picture of a Vorin figure (above) is likely the Stealth Vorin, but as it was not explicitly labeled we'll leave that up to you to decide for now. (And in other news, who can sell me a Stealth Vorin?)

Battle Beasts Comic-Con 2011 Update: No Update

I talked to a few of the guys at Diamond Select Toys about an update. I was told no additional Battle Beasts are planned in 2011, so yeah, there's that.

On the bright side a lot of neat Minimates toys were shown from other lines, like a glow-in-the-dark pirate ship with tons of moving parts and a really slick APC that looks like it would be right at home in any of their Minimates lines. This year's promotional figures are pirate-based and quite good so far. (Thank you Mr. Oat.)

As far as I can tell no branded Battle Beasts items are on deck for a while, but I've got high hopes someone will take the baton and do a similar line some day soon.

New Sculpted Battle Beasts Action Figures

Surprisingly, Diamond Select had a series of conceptual, fully-articulated, and supposedly 3 3/4-inch scale Battle Beasts action figures on display at their booth in San Diego this weekend for Comic-Con International 2010. Each figure is a brand new sculpt, lacking in the fire/water/wood game but fully carrying over much of the whimsy of the original line. We were quite pleased with the Iguana, Alligator, and Rhinoceros. The Octopus was a little goofy, and we hated the Ape.

Click here for all the figures via our Flickr feed.

San Diego Comic-Con 2010 Battle Beasts Figure

Here's a quick shot of the figure that was given as a gift-with-purchase at Comic-Con at the Diamond Select Toys booth. It's basically a redeco of the existing Gator, but with an axe rather than a sword. We'll have more on it shortly.

It is also worth noting that from my conversation with Diamond, this may well be the final entry in the line. So we got two figures. There were other Battle Beasts products shown, however.