General Marvel Legends

Enforcer said:
If Mattels DC adult collector line really nails it, Hasbro is going to need to stop burying classic A-listers in multi-packs and knock off the bullshit. It would be nice to see them really need to compete and innovate again.
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This. 100% this right here. It would be nice to get a sold-separately Doc Ock figure for the first time since 2018. Or get a new classic Thor since the 80th anniversary wave. Or get a new Hulk that isn't over $40 per version, like Jack Kirby's gray and green Hulks that weren't over 7 feet tall. Or to get more female heroes, villains and civilian characters per wave, considering all of the alternate costumes for characters like Invisible Woman, Wasp and Scarlet Witch that haven't even been made into figures yet. Yeah, they've re-released some Retro classic figures here and there, but there are a lot of A-listers and classic looks for characters that need updated body molds, head sculpts and accessories included. I'm not saying to ignore making figures of new figures of newly introduced characters, of lesser known characters, or long-requested figures for the first time. Far from it. I'm just saying that Hasbro needs to do a better job of releasing classic characters as sold-separately, non-exclusive figures, is all.
 
StuartGreen3 said:
Or get a new Hulk that isn't over $40 per version
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I just don't think you're going to get that no matter how they 'innovate' or whatever we're calling not having the specific A-listers specific members want available at the specific times they think the characters should be available. Prices are going up across the board. Regular figures are pushing toward 30 bucks now. You're almost certainly not going to see a comic Hulk figure for sub-40.

Also, as I've said before, I do think people need to have a bit more perspective when talking about this. If Hasbro were making all of the core versions of popular characters available every year, they basically wouldn't make anything else. There's always some version of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, hell - even Thor, on pegs. It just may not be the version you want. They're still keeping the biggest characters out there and available.
 
Damien said:
Also, as I've said before, I do think people need to have a bit more perspective when talking about this. If Hasbro were making all of the core versions of popular characters available every year, they basically wouldn't make anything else. There's always some version of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, hell - even Thor, on pegs. It just may not be the version you want. They're still keeping the biggest characters out there and available.
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I think it's probably worth noting that the biggest Marvel/DC difference when it comes to toys is that Marvel has A LOT of widely popular characters. DC popularity is deeply concentrated in the SuperBats realm, with a decently large dip from them even to the rest of the Big 7. With Marvel, "core popular character" means Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Deadpool, seemingly Cyclops for some reason, with the mildest possible drop to an A- list composed of the Fantastic Four, Punisher, Daredevil, Dr. Strange, Black Panther, Venom, the entire rest of the X-Men...The tier lists are just so different. So when you combine that broader popularity base with the number of different looks for characters, there's just always going to be a backlog in a Marvel line where a DC line will be selling Rainbow Batmen like 3 years in.
 
secondwhiteline said:
I think it's probably worth noting that the biggest Marvel/DC difference when it comes to toys is that Marvel has A LOT of widely popular characters. DC popularity is deeply concentrated in the SuperBats realm, with a decently large dip from them even to the rest of the Big 7. With Marvel, "core popular character" means Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Deadpool, seemingly Cyclops for some reason, with the mildest possible drop to an A- list composed of the Fantastic Four, Punisher, Daredevil, Dr. Strange, Black Panther, Venom, the entire rest of the X-Men...The tier lists are just so different. So when you combine that broader popularity base with the number of different looks for characters, there's just always going to be a backlog in a Marvel line where a DC line will be selling Rainbow Batmen like 3 years in.
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Exactly right.

And every collector (and every kid) has their preferences. The problem is when you get this 'they are doing an objectively bad job because MY preferences aren't currently available.' I also just don't think most people really understand the type of longview that toy-makers have. These are people that have to exist in what they made a year ago, what they're making right now, and what they know they'll be making next year. Sometimes, I don't think they really see time the way collectors do and a 5 year gap, to someone that makes toys, doesn't feel very long at all.

I used to joke with ex-BFS Erik and Catrina about this, because they'd say things like 'that's coming out pretty soon' and I'd ask them if they meant 'me soon, or you soon?' Because, to them, something going up for pre-order in 2 or 3 months and then being in hand less than a year later is -SOON-. To me, I can go to the store and buy it next week is SOON. Very different.
 
Alt said:
I don't know if there's a bias but it also feels like everyone is just spoiled.

25 years ago. Legends could put whatever they want out and we were excited at anything.

Nowadays they'll throw a character out but it's not the right costume so f*** the design team.
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For sure. I mean, back then we still had the 'that's not a LEGEND!' argument that makes me want to pull my own teeth out with rusty pliers. But I think, also, 25 years ago we -were- getting the big names in their big costumes for the very first time. So it was harder for people to complain because it was all a lot more visible. You could say 'we need Classic Thor!' but like... so many classic costume A/B-listers hadn't been done yet so it felt like they would eventually get to it.
Now, I think people panic more because we've already gotten them all and people are afraid they won't get them -again-. Which is valid but still.. .there's so many characters and costumes. Hasbro just could not possibly keep up even if they wanted to.
 
Every time a comic figure line has a word in its name implying a sense of history, people take it like we're curating a collection for the Smithsonian rather than just, like...branding. It's branding. People did the same thing with DC Universe Classics even when it became deeply evident that the line was the world's most elaborate tribute to one person's tastes.
 
secondwhiteline said:
Every time a comic figure line has a word in its name implying a sense of history, people take it like we're curating a collection for the Smithsonian rather than just, like...branding. It's branding. People did the same thing with DC Universe Classics even when it became deeply evident that the line was the world's most elaborate tribute to one person's tastes.
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I would definitely argue Legends got it way worse. But I think that's largely because, by the time DCUC came around, people had gotten a little more used to the idea of it just being branding. But like, fuck man... I still can't hear "Marvel Legends" said out loud without a tiny voice screeching 'X-23 is not a LEGEND!'
 
Damien said:
I would definitely argue Legends got it way worse. But I think that's largely because, by the time DCUC came around, people had gotten a little more used to the idea of it just being branding. But like, fuck man... I still can't hear "Marvel Legends" said out loud without a tiny voice screeching 'X-23 is not a LEGEND!'
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It's even funnier years later now that X-23 is an established and perennially popular character. Sometimes you wonder if comic book fans have read comic books before. "A teen girl version of Wolverine that baby lesbians can fanfic about? It will never catch on."
 
secondwhiteline said:
It's even funnier years later now that X-23 is an established and perennially popular character. Sometimes you wonder if comic book fans have read comic books before. "A teen girl version of Wolverine that baby lesbians can fanfic about? It will never catch on."
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Famously, comic book fans actually hate comic books and comic book characters.

The ONLY universally beloved comic book character on earth is Kylun. For obvious reasons.
 
secondwhiteline said:
If anything, I think that should be a tradition for new comic lines, just having an ugly runt character in the first wave. ML had Toad, DCUC had Penguin. Mattel's new collector line should have, like...Oberon.
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My vote's for Gluttony. Dude looks like McNugget from Hell with a toupee

latest
 
StuartGreen3 said:
It would be nice to get a sold-separately Doc Ock figure for the first time since 2018. Or get a new classic Thor since the 80th anniversary wave. Or get a new Hulk that isn't over $40 per version, like Jack Kirby's gray and green Hulks that weren't over 7 feet tall. Or to get more female heroes, villains and civilian characters per wave, considering all of the alternate costumes for characters like Invisible Woman, Wasp and Scarlet Witch that haven't even been made into figures yet. Yeah, they've re-released some Retro classic figures here and there, but there are a lot of A-listers and classic looks for characters that need updated body molds, head sculpts and accessories included. I'm not saying to ignore making figures of new figures of newly introduced characters, of lesser known characters, or long-requested figures for the first time. Far from it. I'm just saying that Hasbro needs to do a better job of releasing classic characters as sold-separately, non-exclusive figures, is all.
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Honestly I just think you will never be satisfied with Marvel Legends. Objectively it is never going to be what you are advocating for in this post. It just won't ever be that.

And I think its dangerously naive to be pre-mythologizing what Mattel is going to do with its DC Collector line. We have no idea what kind of scope it will have - how deep it will go into the character roster. We've seen the first foray into the kids line so far, and thats fun but hardly a predictor that what fillows will be the holy grail of collectibles.

Marvel Legends has shown us very clearly what it is and what its likely to continue to be and expecting a pivot or change to something else more in tune with your individual prferences is, more likely than not, a recipe for disappointment.
 
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