General Marvel Legends

[Thor-El]

My Galactus has been out since I first got him, surrounded by his Heralds and I’ve had no issues with him wanting to fall.

My problem has been on one of my Fourth World display shelves. The DC Direct Kirby Darkseid keeps taking a dive and domino-ing everyone in front of him. *sigh*

 

[Super Camel]

They moved up the release date again for the Amazon madame Masque/Crossbones 2 Pack. it got moved up to August 20th, and now it's been moved up again to August 13th. I just got the e-mail a couple hours ago.

 

[Resilient]

They should keep moving her up.

 

[Resilient]

I got Skaar and Hulkbuster Iron Man today. I know they are a bit older, but I had always passed on them. Then they went on sale during Hasbro Pulse Days, and I grabbed them. I'm really glad I did. Hulkbuster is such a big, bulky toy and is a lot of fun. And I'm happy to have him to square off against my Hulk figures.

Jumping back a day here to talk about Hulkbuster.

I think there's a lot of amazing detail on him. I absolutely love the sculpted techy-piston-y detail on the hips. It's a really nice thoughtful detail that helps him feel just a touch more "premium" in my eyes. I just wish he was slightly broader in his upper body/shoulders. I wish he got a little more triangular in his torso to kick those arms just a little bit wider. I think it would have cut a better silhouette like that, but that's pretty much my only nitpick on an otherwise incredibly impressive figure.

 

[Ditko]

Yeah I would have to agree Resilient. I don't even really notice the waist to shoulder ratio because overall the design, details and paint just WOW me. Plus he's huge as is. Would like to see them continue with a great new Iron Monger (Julius Ohta) or Titanium Man.

 

[Resilient]

Julius Ohta Iron Monger should have never seen print. Awful design. All of his designs in that book.. Just not good.

 

[altcunningham]

On a General Marvel Legends slant:

When and where did Hasbro ever say Mephisto was not an option for toy shelves? The first time I ever heard it was sourced to the Spector Creative dude, and we all know how you need chug a DQ Blizzard's worth of salt with his inside knowledge.

I've seen it thrown around over the years, including a Strong Collectors video just thrown up today, but the face is we got Blackheart, Hellstrom (Inferior to some, maybe, I have no horse in that race, but he did have a pentagram), and Pryor. You could go "Boobs" over Pryor, but the reality of various Emmas, Dagger, Black Queen, Shanna... again, I've only ever seen Internet speculation on the Why with her, but I can't source an official declaration.

I'm just curious if there is a source I can't find on Mephisto, or if it's just toy aisle gossip.

(NOT MY QUESTION, BUT BONUS ADHD SIDERANT WHILE I'M HERE)

The Engine of Vengeance discussion as a whole is also obnoxious to me, and I didn't want one, but with the Snowcat and other crowdfund efforts, the final pricing of the Ramen racer, and the aforementioned figures, I guess back then I never saw the pricing issue (Robbie is worthless without the car, be real, same as Blaze and Ketch with no bike), and with the Rumbler, Mezco Mech Thing, f'n MASK, and other vehicle price points, even in 2025 I don't see what was atrocious about it.

What I do recall is certain YouTubers and InstaInfluencers decided that was the flaw in the dragon's armor to hammer on and rage-farm content about on. Maybe that was a factor. Maybe there was no real demand for the pitched product. Like I said, I didn't want it. I just don't see why it's worse than the Dragonfly, Rattler, Snowcat, and whatever other companies are kicking out in that range of price points.

But that's really a question, my question was... (loops back like any good short reel influencer should)

 

[JakeEkiss]

I just don't see why it's worse than the Dragonfly, Rattler, Snowcat, and whatever other companies are kicking out in that range of price points.

Controversial take, I don't think it is appreciably worse than those other offerings. It's just that as a Haslab it wasn't what a vocal part of the fanbase wanted, and that coupled with some figures those fans did want being "locked" into the Haslab meant everyone sort of had an axe to grind. I think the average age of big ML fans (Robbie probably isn't their GR) had a lot to do with it.

It was expensive, but I think overall it ends up comparable in price (when taken with it's full funding options, which of course are factored into part of the asking price even if they wouldn't be unlocked, as well as the license fee they're going to add to everything) to the equivalent options on the market (the Ramen).

Like, I just got my Ramen, and I LOVE it, and I do think it's lines are a bit sleeker than the EOV, but that's a mild aesthetic decision. The rest of that offering was cool, and you just can't get a vehicle that size with lights, and 4 other toys with some new tooling for much less.

On your question about Mephisto, I have a feeling there is no actual ban on putting it on shelves, just at worst a reticence to really want to worry about it, and a concern it might peg warm. One thing I don't recall much ink being spilled over was the Mephisto they teased was an oversize figure. Over 7" with all new tooling, meaning he'd probably be some sort of deluxe release on his own.

 

[PanchaMaestro]

They even said at the time it was the only way to get THIS Mephisto. Meaning they could just repaint him later. I think the biggest problem was putting a top 10ish villain's 1st ever figure by them in such an expensive package.

 

[JakeEkiss]

They even said at the time it was the only way to get THIS Mephisto. Meaning they could just repaint him later. I think the biggest problem was putting a top 10ish villain's 1st ever figure by them in such an expensive package.

It was a compounding problem, but not the main or only one I don't think. It's not as though the EoV was doing amazing and once they announced Mephisto and Maddy it died. The moment it was announced it was already contentious because it wasn't a character many cared about and it was a price they didn't want to pay (the early bird was an issue too). Everything after was just more ammunition to keep disliking the thing they started off not liking.

But like, if it had been a slam-dunk main offering people would have paid and broadly dealt with Mephisto's inclusion in the tiers. Thing is, there's just not that many single characters or vehicles in Marvel that will be that, and they'd already hit the easiest ones. I think, outside possibly the Fantasticar, there may be none left. Quinjet? Ehhh. Fin Fang Foom? Honestly I think there are a lot more people who say they'd want him than who would actually back. I think this is the reason they're doing the smaller run large figures as a test. But I firmly believe the largest and most elaborate Marvel haslabs are probably over (except possibly the three I mentioned, and I only think one of those would be a likely success).

GI Joe and Ghostbusters are different animals. The vehicles there are as much stars as the characters. They're of equal interest to the fans. Not so for Marvel. The character has to be a big deal first.

 

[altcunningham]

Great points. I agree with what you're putting down, Jake. Even with younger readers I know, Robbie was never catching on because a skeleton on a bike is just a more direct visual and kind of timeless. I think it was a cool effort, but if you're going to have Robbie you need the car.

The other characters being locked behind it I think circles back to Damien's point the other week about how people value the figures as part of the package when you're not meant to. But again, they've had confusing messaging on that. Certainly if you're going to include characters like Maddie and Mephisto, but then also throw in an early bird.

I wonder if it would have been received better if we never had goals, and they just pitched it as some supernatural set

Water under the bridge, but as I said, I don't really want it anyway and it's more about this Mephisto narrative I keep seeing come up in certain circles. It's fine if they think they have other reasonings they can't get him out, but I've just never seen a direct quote that relates to the whole satanic panic.

Maybe Phoenix would also have been protested by some audiences at Target for nuking all of that asparagus planet if they knew.

I didn't realize he was going to be oversized. Just as a figure appreciator, I think each of those was a loss. Cool tooling and concepts, all.

 

[JakeEkiss]

The other characters being locked behind it I think circles back to Damien's point the other week about how people value the figures as part of the package when you're not meant to. But again, they've had confusing messaging on that. Certainly if you're going to include characters like Maddie and Mephisto, but then also throw in an early bird.

Thing is, the upper tier figures are definitely already built into the cost. There's simply no way that isn't the case from a production standpoint. The min backer count is what's needed for everything, but the extra tiers are to push backer counts for more profit, and that's fine. That's true for any good Kickstarter/Haslab model. If you don't do that you run the risk of underfunding a project.

I wonder if it would have been received better if we never had goals, and they just pitched it as some supernatural set

I do think that might've helped. So much of what happened with the EoV was perception of it rather than reality.

Water under the bridge, but as I said, I don't really want it anyway and it's more about this Mephisto narrative I keep seeing come up in certain circles. It's fine if they think they have other reasonings they can't get him out, but I've just never seen a direct quote that relates to the whole satanic panic.

There is a lot and I mean a LOT of stuff that the fan community just makes up and then retcons in their memories as true. Whether this is or isn't I can't say, and I'm not invested enough to research, but I feel like it's either partially true but lacking context, or simply not true but sounds good.

I didn't realize he was going to be oversized. Just as a figure appreciator, I think each of those was a loss. Cool tooling and concepts, all.

Never say never. They kept the license so they'll need something to keep people coming back for more. The sculpt is already paid for, so it's just when is the money available for tooling and where to release him? Goblin Queen they did the '97 version so we may not get her, we'll see about that. I do think most folks missed that he was going to be oversized, and I think that might've had an effect on the perceived value.

 

[TheGillMan]

I don't think there is any explicit "rule" in place that Hasbro "can't" do Mephisto. I think it comes down to them being reluctant to release a "satanic" themed figure to retail because of the possible backlash from pearl-clutching evangelicals who might stumble across it in the aisles of their local Walmart. Hasbro released Hellstrom in a fan-channel only wave, so this somewhat backs up this idea in that they only released a character with a pentagram on his chest to more collector-oriented outlets. I know Hasbro got some negative press several years ago over the Leia in her Jabba slave garb figure by some evangelical dad who raised a stink about it.

Walmart and Target both carried the demon dude from the Black Adam movie in their stores, and he had a big ol' pentagram across his chest as well. I'm sure SOME folks cried about that, but it didn't get any national attention. McFarlane was probably far more willing to take the risk though, as he would just view it as publicity to drive more attention to his figures. Hasbro has to worry about shareholders, as well as Disney, suffering from negative press when some fundie nut gets their panties in a wad. These folks love to look for anything that they can use as evidence that there is a vast conspiracy to turn the children of the US into mindless Satan worshipping drones.

 

[TheSameIdiot]

When and where did Hasbro ever say Mephisto was not an option for toy shelves?

I thought Ryan gave an interview saying as much during the campaign.

A Mephisto two-pack (with Robbie, I think) is rumored for this year. Like half of Hasbro's releases come out through Fan Channel now, anyway.

 

[Justice]

Hasbro released Hellstrom in a fan-channel only wave, so this somewhat backs up this idea in that they only released a character with a pentagram on his chest to more collector-oriented outlets.

They said that but some of us found them at Walmart, much to our surprise. Hellstrom was one of the ones I saw on pegs from the wave. I thought it was a return or a fluke but then I found more at another Walmart and some people on Reddit reported finding them too. It must have been very limited or it's just that Walmart isn't really getting many Legends because so many are clogged with that "best of" MCU wave still.