Art Asylum/ Diamond Select Toy's Back to the Future minimates—(4 pack)
by Mr. Stinkhead

Woo hoo! We loooove Minimates and we love Back to the Future. Their density brought these two amazing icons together, making the first effective Back to the Future action figures. Not only do these little guys look great on your desk, they look perfect standing next to the scale-model DeLoreans. I'll help you pick which one best fits your style.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy Doc, you say these are the first BTTF action figures? Simply put, the answer is yes, but there is a history of BTTF collectibles. Read our rundown of previous BTTF collectibles (including the Japanese Kubricks), here.

Use this display with your scale model DeLorean PDF is under 1Mb

I thought you could use a display to go with your 'mates and DeLorean. Print out this Lyon Estates billboard PDF and hide your DeLorean behind it... or wait for the 1950's Marty to come out and re-inact the infamous ending to BTTF II.

If you're not familiar with Minimates, you should know they boast 14 points of articulation. That's ball-joint head, shoulders and hips, hinged elbows and knees, and twisty wrists, waist and ankles. Many times you'll get great accessories, in this particular set, you get a skateboard that attaches to Marty's feet, and an extra Doc head, wearing his brainwave-reading helmet. For under $15, getting four figures is quite the deal.

Why did it take this long to get Back to the Future action figures? Typically, "plain humans" don't make for good action figures for kids, typically they want robots, mutants, or monsters, but, the minimate platform is great for display, or play, and they're particularly popular with collectors. So this set, intended for grown-up collectors, is perfect. The fact that they look good with scale model DeLoreans that have been out for years, is an added plus.

So which model and size DeLorean should I get? There are two popular sizes, the 1:18 and the 1:24 scale. If you're unfamiliar with this scale, 1:18 means that one inch equals 18 inches of the source. The 1:18 scale is larger than the 1:24 scale. Make sense? I prefer the 1:18 scale. I reviewed the 1:18 scale Back to the Future III DeLorean produced by Sunstar. I also reviewed three of the 1:24 BTTF DeLoreans produced by Welly.

In this particular case, the Minimates actually fit inside the Sunstar 1:18 scale DeLorean, and you can close the door. The minimates stand shorter than the DeLorean, which would not happen in real life, but I feel that they look too big next to the 1:24 DeLoreans. Here is a comparison.

1:18 Sunstar	1:24 Welly	Both

Another thing to point out is that the wheels on the smaller, 1:24 Welly BTTF II DeLorean, do not fold down, but they do fold down with the slide of a lever on the 1:18 Sunstar model. (although on my particular model, the lever sticks a bit). There are BTTF II minis coming out in January, and you may wish you had the hover-car look. And soon I'll have pics of the BTTF III cowboy minimates to go with my train track wheel DeLorean.

Is that a lot to sift through? I know it can be confusing if you're just jumping in. But my personal recommendation for size and features, is the 1:18 Scale Sunstar BTTF II DeLorean with flip down wheels. All of the DeLoreans have a diecast metal chassis and gull doors that open.

Well this set of Minimates has me pleased, but certainly hungry for more. In a few short weeks we'll have the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance exclusive two-pack from BTTF.com (including guitar for Marty's performance of Johnny Be Goode), and then after the holidays, we'll have the BTTF II four-pack, and the Previews Exclusive 50s Marty and George McFly. Hopefully with strong sales we'll get to see the old west variants, and Griff with Pit Bull.

Still hungry for more? I can't blame you. Diamond Select Toys recently announced that they're producing prop-replicas of the Flux Capacitor which you can stick in your own time machine. Check out this movie we made. Flux at Your Own Risk. From Diamond's web site: Measuring over sixteen inches tall, twelve inches wide and six inches deep, this life-size replica features an adjustable power setting for all your time travel needs! Each Flux Capacitor replica features hand-numbering with a matching box and Certificate of Authenticity. It's for sale now at BTTF.com!

So what are you waiting for? No need to go searching high and low. BTTF.com has everything ready to go:

Minimate Figures
This four-pack is available now, the two pack will be out in mid November:

These sets are coming out in January 2008:

Scale Model DeLoreans
The larger DeLoreans are produced by Sunstar (1:18 scale):

The smaller DeLoreans are produced by Welly (1:24 scale):

All photographs are ©2007 MillionairePlayboy.com.

All photographs are ©2007 MillionairePlayboy.com.