The deadline for the Customizer of the Year Award contest has been extended to December 7th but you should vote right now. Voting is simple. Send a Personal Message to Fujis at the Art Asylum Forum with the name of the person you are voting for. What could be easier?

Deciding whom to vote for, that’s what! There are so many great customizers out there that deciding for whom to vote is proving hard indeed. Take a look at the wonderful galleries of customs and you will see so many great works. I will feature many of these over the next few months.

Stay tuned for an interview with the winner at Minimate Headquarters after the votes are counted.

But did I say you needed to vote right now?

Someone posted a message on one of the toy collector’s board awhile back saying the Minimate craze was over. Done. Finished. Kaput. That a new website devoted to Minimates was a day late and a dollar short.

I don’t know about that. But if this picture says anything, I know the Minimate crazies are far from over.

This fully articulated wooden 8” statue has been constructed to the exact dimensions of a 2” Minimate body. Absolutely amazing. The time and skill it took to create this simply blows me away.

Who made this monstrosity? None other than customizer Cloneme. Read more about this beast here.

Diamond Select Toys announced a new Marvel Minimates box set today which will contain a DVD animated X-Men adventure. Archangel and Beast are two characters to be introduced with the block style mini-movie.

The animated style closely resembles that of the free Internet movie titled Batman: New Times. New Times was produced by Dave’s School as a student project, and it featured Batman, Joker, and Catwoman minimates. It won praise by collectors and enthusiasts for its humor, storyline, and special effects when it debuted earlier this year.

No word yet who will be producing the X-Men: Darktide animated movie.

Captain America was scammed today after attempting to purchase a rare Gold Spiderman Minimate on the popular auction website Ebay. “He looked so real,” sobbed a broken-hearted Captain America, “All I wanted was a good loyal side-kick.”

Friends were on hand to console the grief stricken Captain America. “He has been lonely ever since Bucky died. Now he lost fifteen hundred bucks on this fake Gold Spidey,” explained Batman. “It just isn’t right.”

“Never, ever, ever trust the ebayer named redskull,” cried Captain America.

Many people have no desire to paint, much less paint a minimate. The small size is intimidating and it seems difficult. Thankfully, it isn’t as hard as it seems. If you do decide to take the plunge with painting minimates, I suggest these basic techniques.

Start small – Don’t begin by repainting an entire minimate. Making a Quick Custom and then repainting only a small part can create brand new characters quickly and easily.

Use good paints – When I started, I used some cheap acrylic paints I purchased at a craft store. I didn’t like how the paint tended to dry thickly. I later started using higher quality acrylic paints called Citadel paints, and I noticed the difference immediately. The coats of paint went on more evenly. They also didn’t flake off as easily.

Use a small brush – This may seem like a no-brainer to most people, but when I started I just grabbed the first brush I could find. It didn’t work out too well. The detailing on a small minimate should be done with a small brush.

Have patience – I’ve gotten better with every minimate I’ve painted. It gets easier each time I do it.

Apologies to Shamrock for posting his older custom picture of Nightmare. Here is the updated one. I think they both look great.

The “Eight Questions” column will appear regularly at Minimate Headquarters. In it I interview minimate customizers and other fans of minimates. This interview is with Shamrock, maker of the Soul Calibur 2’s Nightmare pictured here.

1. Which was the first Minimate you ever purchased?
Series 1 Hulk & Bruce Banner

2. What is the average length of time in hours does it take for you to make a custom minimate?
I’ve never really counted. Usually it varies a lot between how intricate the paint app. is, and how much sculpting is involved. I’ll just say 24 hours, because I’ve never done 2 customs in one day, and my sculpting compound takes a day to dry.

3. Of the minimates you’ve made, which custom is your absolute favorite?
Soul Calibur 2’s Nightmare. He’s the first one I made, so it holds a special place in my heart. Now I just have to make that bloody sword for him.

4. How much money do you think the average custom minimate is worth?
Well, I’ve seen some go for over $100. I just think that’s crazy, but I bet the customizer isn’t complaining. I would only charge the cost of the Minimate used, any cost of paint or supplies that I had to buy specifically for the custom, and a bit for hours spent working on it. That really didn’t answer the question, but I’ve never sold or bought a custom before, so I don’t really have any idea.

5. Do you own a Gold Spidey?
Oh yeah, tons of them. I just painted them all red and blue, one is even half Gold-SpiderMan and half Peter Parker…….. Ok fine, no, I don’t.

6. If all of the Marvel Minimates fought all of the DC Minimates, who would win and why?
I was going to say the upcoming Galactus, because of the whole planet eating thing, but he can’t move. So all of the Wolverines would probably melt together to form Mecha-Wolverine, and it would be him and Mecha-Batman locked in a battle to last until the end of time. Actually it would probably be Mary Jane who would come out victorious. I feel that there’s no need to say why.

7. What is your best trick or secret for customizing minimates?
Don’t hand paint them, it just gets annoying. Use decals, you’ll go insane less. I mean really, look at my answer for the fight question. You can tell I’ve hand painted way too many Minimates.

8. White Queen or Catwoman?
Both, duh. Did I mention hand painting Minimates will make you give silly predictable answers?

Minimate Headquarters announced today its newly elected Board of Directors. Pictured above from left to right are Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne, Professor Xavier, and Gandalf White.

Bruce Wayne commented, “As the newly elected members of the Board of Directors, we will be in an ideal position to help Minimate Headquarters reach its goal of being a non-profit, for-profit seeking enterprise. We will make Minimate Headquarters a force of good in the universe.” The billionaire playboy also noted that being on the Board would help him score more hot chicks.

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Alfred the Butler is known as an indispensable part of Batman’s team. While supervising the day-to-day operations of Wayne Manor, Alfred has on more than one occasion rescued Batman’s bacon from the fire. As such, his Minimate form was rumored to be released as part of the Batcave C3 Playset. I’ve also heard he was to be released as part of a separate Wayne Manor C3 Playset. In any event, Alfred never saw the light of production. All we have are photos of his prototype from a toy exhibition.

I really like this prototype. I think the face artwork looks fantastic. It holds a hint of arrogance along with the English butler’s concern, and the moustache looks great. The butler jacket and color applications give Alfred the regal appearance of an orderly English serviceman. But the coup-de-grace is the serving platter attached to the hand, complete with wine bottle and glass. Magnificent. You can almost hear Alfred say, “Sir, do you intend to be returning before daylight, or should I prepare the first aid kit to be served along with breakfast?”

I hope we see an Alfred just like this.