PAX East 2011: mimoco MIMOBOTs

by: Ben Berry - posted: 3/12/2011 10:25:00 PM

I have often thought that people somehow wind up with names that fit them. Never was that truer than when I spoke with Jessica Smiley at the mimoco booth on Friday. Bright and bubbly, but also direct and forthright, Jessica shared with me the haps in mimoco's recent past and near future. 

I admit freely and fully to wanting to meet with mimoco because of their well known Star Wars license and their recently launched DC franchise. I had no idea how much mimoco had going on in terms of both licensed product, as well as looking to work with artists to create their own brand identity away from just licensing someone else's IP. It sounds like a great way to move, while keeping popular IP as the sales base for the product. 

The big news from mimoco is that they have acquired the above mentioned DC license, and started with the character that most people have come to associate with DC; Batman. They have released 2 flavors of Batman (vintage and current) along with Robin, Catwoman, and The Joker. As with all of their drives, each model is available in 2, 4, 8, and 16 GB sizes. The plan is to continue to expand the DC license with additional characters. While Jessica didn't confirm, my guess is that Superman is the next likely batch of DC MIMOBOTs.

Finally, the Star Wars license, while I'm sure expensive to maintain, must be lucrative; There are no fewer than 16 different characters in their current Star Wars line with another line up likely to launch this summer. I'd seen these on line, but getting to see them up close really allowed me to understand there's some quality work in both the art and the manufacturing. It will be interesting to see what comes next from mimoco.