Greetings mini figure enthusiasts! This week I am talking about a couple of properties that I would really love to see in mini figure form: Big Hero 6 and Bionicle.
Big Hero 6 was a smashing success and resonated with audiences of all ages, unfortunately they toys that came along are not what the movie deserves. The main toy line for this movie was probably the 3.75 inch figure which had distribution issues and exclusives making it difficult to get the whole team together. From the moment I saw the movie I was waiting for Diamond Select Toys to make Minimates from the movie. I waited and waited (and still am hoping) for an announcement.
I think that the characters all lend themselves perfectly to the Minimate aesthetic, Baymax could use a bulked up chest piece (maybe flipped upside down) to show his size and Fred-zilla could be similar to the recent Godzilla Minimates or just have unique headgear. The remaining characters would all pretty much just need some crisp paint apps which DST is already good at. Minimates are definitely my desired choice of incarnation for Big Hero 6 but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be brought about in another way; a non articulated little rubber guy type of figure, or Lego, would also be awesome. Anything that gets Big Hero 6 into the mini figure market is OK by me.
A few weeks ago I learned that Bionicle has returned this year. After debuting in 2000 in Europe and Australia and 2001 in the US, Bionicle played a big part in solving Lego's financial problems. As a kid I had a few Bionicle sets and always loved them, I have most of the current releases and plan to follow the line as long as I can. Since I was a kid I’ve thought that Bionicles only problem was that they aren’t very portable, it is too easy to lose a piece if you are carrying one around with you. A mini figure line would help solve this and I think Lego could go one of two ways. The first way, and they way I would like to see, would be to have smaller less detailed and less articulated versions of the characters. Basically a 2.5-3 inch figure with 5-9 points of articulation based on the ball joint system already in use for Bionicle. The problem here is that they would probably have to make smaller pieces which would cost Lego a fair amount of money. The second way to get Bionicle mini figures is far less likely and would probably involve a third party, the traditional little rubber guy. I think that any individual Bionicle has enough character to translate well to a classic style mini figure. I just don’t see Lego even considering this idea, and probably rightly so, as I may be the only person who wants to see Bionicle mini figures. If you want to see what's out there now take a look here.
Yearning for your favorite properties to be made into toys is part of the fun of being a collector and helps build discussion and community. Everyone has a toy that they want to see made, whether it be large or small. What characters/properties would you like to see in mini figure form?
Taylor resides just outside of Houston where he scouts local stores for new mini figures. When he is not spending his spare time with toys you will find him binge watching Netflix, playing video games, or reading a book. You can follow Taylor on Twitter and Instagram @whywing01 for irregular updates, not always about toys.