Art Asylum has updated their shipping schedule. Below are the Minimate highlights:

01/18/12 FEMME FATALES MINIMATES SERIES 2 BOX SET
01/25/12 MINIMATES SERIES 3 VEHICLE ASST
01/25/12 MINIMATES VEHICLE KNIGHT RIDER KITT SPM
02/15/12 MARVEL VS CAPCOM MINIMATES SERIES 2 ASST
02/22/12 MARVEL MINIMATES BEST OF ASST
02/29/12 MARVEL MINIMATES SERIES 43 ASST
04/04/12 MARVEL MINIMATES SERIES 44 ASST
05/16/12 HALO SERIES 4 MINIMATES BOX SET

Not sure why they listed some things that have already been released, but there ya go.

Fear Itself, Marvel’s big event of last year, will be getting the Minimate treatment in the form of two box sets.

Box set #1, the Worthy, will feature

Cul (Asgardian god of fear)
Skadi (Sin)
Mokk (Grey Gargoyle)
Angrir (Thing)

Box set #2, the Mighty, will feature

Odin
Hawkeye
Iron Man
Spider-Man (of course)

(I would post the images, but the gallery is being a bit of a pain today.)

These are expected to hit specialty shops this summer.

Action Figure Xpress is having a sale on Minimates from now until January 23rd, that might interest some.

If anyone spots any other Minimate-related discounts or sales, feel free to let us know and we’ll try to post it up here so everyone can take advantage.

Arriving on store shelves today are the third assortment of Minimate Vehicles, as well as the second Femme Fatales box set.

For those who may not be a regular reader of Portrait of an Addiction, Mini-Jeff has been interviewing some of the various celebrities of the Minimate brand, from past to present. Its rare that you get this kind of backstage look into how decisions are made and how something goes from concept to reality, so its definitely an interesting read.

The interviews start on Day 367.

Art Asylum has some shots of the upcoming third series of Marvel vs Capcom figures.

The line-up:

Captain America vs Ryu (modern)
Doctor Doom vs Wesker
She-Hulk vs Chun Li (specialty shop exclusive)
X-23 vs Felicia (specialty shop exclusive)
Thor vs Amaterasu (TRU exclusive)
MODOK vs Akuma (TRU exclusive)

Multiverse member battlecat stumbled upon a countdown clock on the DST website for something relating to Battle Beasts. As for what its counting down to, we’ll have to wait until April 12th/April 13th to know for sure.

Battle Beasts – The Roar Rages On

Art Asylum has packaging shots up of the upcoming third assortment of Minimate Vehicles, featuring Michael & KITT, Garth & KARR, and Undercover Anne Bonny & the Vendetta. These are expected to hit specialty shops in January.

On a regular basis, the gang over at Art Asylum compile questions from their fans and present them to DSTChuck in a segment they call Ask DST.

In the 146th installment, the topic is Minimates. Below are the highlights:

• Three assortments are in the plans for Marvel vs Capcom, which will likely be all there is. No progress on the Ultimate version of the game (Editor’s note: this is open to interpretation on whether that means they’re planning on making the new characters or not).
• Still no international distributors interested in carrying Minimates.
• If missing movie characters like Hogun and Fandral appear in the Avengers movie, then its possible they could appear in the movie line, but not likely.
• Five assortments were planned for Halo, with the future beyond that dependent on how well the line performed as well as Microsoft’s plans for Halo.
• Lots of new Minimates and lines are planned for 2012.
• The Tick has been talked about before, but never gone beyond that.
• Not sure if DST would do mini versions of Wasp or Ant Man like they did with Silver Surfer (from the Heralds box set).
• More Zombies at Toy Fair.
• No plans for Star Trek TNG, but that could very well change.
• No plan for Darksiders.
• Lots of plans for four of the five listed: Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Avengers, X-Men, Marvel’s cosmic universe (Ed. note: I’d wager Guardians of the Galaxy fans should probably not hold their breath).
• Femme Fatales set 2 is still for release.
• General plan regarding Minimate releases (or at least Marvel ones) is that one series is on shelves, one is on order, and one is announced.
• Marvel’s 2012 line-up is almost locked, with changes based on editorial always being a possibility.
• Holiday Minimates may return in 2012.
• DST are aware of the lack of Warriors Three Minimates, in comic and movie formats.
• No plans for X-Club.
• Lots of Avengers planned. Not just the big names, but some new characters as well.
• No plans for more Clint Eastwood western movies.
• Quality control has hopefully stepped up in recent months.
• Prototypes typically show what the final figure will look like, though this is not 100% guaranteed.
• James Bond licensors are not interested in Minimates.
• No plans for Dead or Alive.
• DST stands by the rule on not re-releasing variants. The characters may have been produced again, but not a straight reproduction of the variant figure.
• X-Factor has been considered, but no plans for 2012.