Nice conversation.
I think, in regard to newcomer reveals, maybe we'll see them at the general directs in probably February and April. Or those could be reserved for characters like Snake or Mewtwo: veterans with a special case. Luigi being revealed for his year, Sonic, and Rosalina were all pretty important in their directs.
We have 20 characters so far. That's pretty good. By E3 2014 I want to see at least 6 more characters, with at least one of them being a newcomer. With 25-26 characters in one year, that's pretty good. By E3 I expect Dedede, Diddy, Wario, and Yoshi to be revealed. And maybe an Earthbound or Pokemon character. And one newcomer. That's my realistic prediction.