General Marvel Legends

R.e12311e3adc9f45651847ecad61d78dd
 
hmmberto said:
By my (very rough) count we're actually on track to get roughly the same number of new characters this year as we did last year.

2025: (19 total)
Champion
Dragon Man
Electro (Francine Frye)
Fabian Cortez
Feral
Gambit (AoA)
Husk
Kaine (technically made as Scarlet Spider)
Man-Wolf
Mephisto
Nightcrawler (AoA)
Phoenix
Rom
Sentinel (classic)
Shanna
Shuma-Gorath
Spider-Boy
Starfox
Warbow
2024: (18 total)
Baron Zemo
Beyonder
Bushwacker
Count Nefaria
Crystal
Crystar
Death's Head
Destiny
Dum Dum Dugan
Ikaris
Jack O' Lantern
Ka-Zar
Lilandra
Lockjaw
Odin
Titania
Wong
Zabu

Obviously some of these are debatable about what should count as a "new" character, or if non-616 figures (AoA specifically) should count. I think the ones included here (Baron Zemo, Ka-Zar-Shanna-Zabu, Dum Dum) are pretty fair to be on the list. And not everything on the 2025 list will necessarily come out before the end of the year (but likewise we haven't seen everything that's going to release, so...). My point being, at least from last year, there may not be an actual downward trend.
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I said we're getting A-listers tweaked slightly, not that we're not getting new characters. Characters like Captain America 80th, then Secret Wars, then Gamerverse etc. I wouldn't consider Baron Zemo, Phoenix, Gambit or Nightcrawler deep-cuts. I'm referring to characters you're not likely to see again in another form for quite a while if ever. Think Rom or Serpent Society characters. I forget whether it was Dan or one of the boys or further up the chain but someone stated focusing on the bigger name characters that continually sell would be part of their pivot to deal with current economic sluggishness towards discretionary spending.
 
I can't believe there were 172 figures in 2022. Thats F'N crazy! I know some of it would have been MCU related, but even still. I wonder how many comic figures I bought in 2022. it felt like a busy year toy wise, but 172. That amazing. That entire chart from 2013 to now was neat to see. Thanks for sharing that.

I finally broke down and pre ordered Strong Guy. I knew I would. I already have the BAF, but this update has cooler deco/paint to me. I don't know why I even try. If it's X-Men or "X" related, I know I'm getting it.

But I'm always all "Durrrrrrr, you already have that one, you don't need it again. Save money Timmy". Then, I always end up ordering it because the new release looks a bit different and better than the previous, and since I love X-Men, I have to have the best. AND my name is not Timmy!
 
That list makes me sad because M isn't on it, which means there was that big a gap between her and Husk, and we're still here, chrome cover in hand waiting on the rest.
 
RichardSimmonsRobot said:
I said we're getting A-listers tweaked slightly, not that we're not getting new characters. Characters like Captain America 80th, then Secret Wars, then Gamerverse etc. I wouldn't consider Baron Zemo, Phoenix, Gambit or Nightcrawler deep-cuts. I'm referring to characters you're not likely to see again in another form for quite a while if ever. Think Rom or Serpent Society characters. I forget whether it was Dan or one of the boys or further up the chain but someone stated focusing on the bigger name characters that continually sell would be part of their pivot to deal with current economic sluggishness towards discretionary spending.
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Fair enough. It’d be interesting to look and see if that’s borne out by the numbers, if the amount of a-listers being made is actually greater now than previous years. It would be a little tricky to pin down the exact criteria for what counts as “slightly tweaked”, a-lister, etc.
 
Is it, though? Seems fairly easy.
PanchaMaestro said:
Basically Hasbro went quantity over quality just like D+ a few years there.
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I'm gonna challenge this - I started listing waves from 2022/2023 and realized most of them have actually been fantastic figures with only a few real stinkers/fleeces in the mix.

In 2023 alone we're talking:
- GOTGv3 - great sculpts with the caveat that Mantis and Nebula needed different bodies and Drax and Star-Lord should have been all-new and Cosmo is off-model and too big - so this may have been "the worst"
- Avengers 60th - mostly great minus Spider-Woman and Adaptoid
- Across the Spider-Verse - fantastic sculpts
- The Marvels - great sculpts, great BAF, Karnak sucked (apparently)
- Ch'od - Chamber reuse was lame, but the rest were good minus M's tiny head and Ch'od's fingers
- X-Men '97 - great
- NWH - mostly great
- Quantumania - great
- Hydra Stomper 2.0 wave - Talos/Fury/Yelena/Kingpin all have Hasbro-induced issues, but Agatha and Gamora are fantastic and the BAF is great.
- Infinity Saga Wave 2 - as much as I wanted Bruce and updated Nat, this wave was phoned in
- Marvel Knights - mostly great
- Spidey Retro - lotta repaints/plain bucks

Definitely not quantity over quality *for the very most part*. And 2022 and 2024 are the same!
 
TheSameIdiot said:
Does anyone have data going back to the start of Hasbro's tenure? I feel like it's ebbed and flowed. IIRC, they produced a fuckton of figures in 2019.
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2018-2019 was the apex of the line for me. Hasbro was releasing fan demanded characters and team builders faster than we could cross them off our want lists.

That’s the one caveat I would toss out there when comparing the last few years. How many “new” characters were released in total vs. how many “new” characters were released that fans had been clamoring for.

Having said that, the second wave of mini-comic figures is going to help 2025 (2026?) score some major points in that department.
 
Yes, the how many new previously unmade characters we get is what mostly determines my satisfaction with the line personally. After collecting this line since the very beginning with ToyBiz, I'm the type that only likes to keep one version of each character and HATES rebuying figures of characters that I already have. I don't mind buying upgraded versions as long as I keep at least a 2:1 ratio of new characters to remakes in my purchasing. I should only be buying a new figure of a character that I already have if I plan on selling the old version to partially fund the new. Different costumes don't matter to me - I still only intend to keep one version of a character other than some multiverse stuff (AOA, Spider-Verse, etc) or different armors for the Iron Man armory.

I've allowed myself to get away from that too much lately. The Marvel vs Capcom anniversary line is a good example of this. The only new character was Gargantos / Shuma-Gorath, but I've got everything pre-ordered (with OR/WM in hand). Doing that to myself is a good way to make myself unhappy with my purchases. If I'm being disciplined I should only be buying one re-do for every 2 or more new characters I buy and that hasn't been what I've been doing lately. Hasbro just hasn't been doing enough new characters and I just keep buying -- that's on me. I need to get back to being more disciplined, especially as prices increase. I've fallen into the trap of buying a lot of pinless replacements for my old pinned figures and I'm not sure that I really need to to do that.

What's worse is when I'm indecisive on what I consider to be a definitive version. Cyclops is a good example. I thought the Astonishing version was the only Cyclops that I would need going forward, but then I've been indecisive and decided to pick up the X-Men '97 and pre-ordered the Cockrum 2-pack version as well. Wolverine is another good example, I had decided that the X-Men '97 Tiger Stripe version would be my definitive version but still picked up the Astonishing and pre-ordered the 2-pack brown suit version that comes with what may or may not also be my definitive version of Storm. I made the mistake of buying Maximum Hulk knowing full well that I wasn't going to like it better than the ToyBiz 20th anniversary tribute Hulk.

I really need to get back to being more disciplined and decisive with what ONE version to keep. Since I buy every character that's the only way this can be affordable for me, especially since I do the same thing with DC and still collect some other lines as well (Masterverse, Spawn, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Ghostbusters, TMNT, Joe Classified, Power Rangers, Star Wars Black Series, etc). Legends is my primary and most favored line, though still. I am a character completionist for both Marvel and DC, though meaning I buy at least one of EVERY character made.
 
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