General Marvel Legends

I asked my mom and sisters since they're just comic casual:

Ms. Marvel from my littlest sister (20s)
Scarlet Witch from my sister (mid 30)
Phoenix (mom)
Scarlet Witch (bonus friend of littlest sister)
 
TheSameIdiot said:
Falcon but no X-Men? Avengers fans have gone too far.
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It’s hard to believe now, but the X-Men were minor players at best in the Marvel Universe back in the early to mid 70s.

True story. My father worked at a hospital in Houston. The gift shop had a newsstand shelf that included some comics. At least half a dozen copies of Giant Size X-Men No 1 languished there for what seemed like forever. X-Men had been relegated to reprint book prior to No. 94, and no one cared about the “All New, All Different” X-Men.

The book didn’t gain traction until the late 70s. By 1980, the cat was out the bag. I had already put a complete run together by then including X-Men 94 which my Mom bought me at a local comic shop circa 1977 for $2. I sold my collection in 1984 after I graduated high school.
 
Storm may be the female ambassador for the X-Men, but Rogue and Jean Grey are right behind her. But that’s the problem with narrowing down. There’s always someone somebody will feel obligated to include.
 
Once you go past Wolverine, you almost have to have the complete blue and gold teams of the X-Men. At the very least, I think you need the lineup from the animated series.

I also forget how big the Punisher was in the ‘90s. I was just playing the Punisher arcade game the other night on my emulator. It’s widely considered to be one of the best arcade games from that era. I still see the Punisher skull on vehicles every once in awhile.
 
If I had to pick 10 for a generic "this represents Marvel" collection, it'd be Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Phoenix, Ms. Marvel (Carol or Kamala), and Black Panther. + The F4 who count as a singular unit to me; it never makes sense to have one without the others.
 
I still have a hard time seeing Carol Danvers as a top tier Marvel character. I’m not saying she isn’t. That’s just my perception. I think in my mind, I still keep the MCU and the comics separate. Carol Danvers is definitely top tier in the MCU, but has she ever sold comics? Maybe she has. I haven’t actively read contemporary comics in over 20 years.
 
yojoebro82 said:
The bare minimum you need for a Marvel action figure collection is one each of the following:

Spider-Man
Captain America
Thor
Iron Man
Hulk
Thing (to represent the FF)
Wolverine (to represent the X-Men)
Thanos (one heavy-hitter to represent bad guys)

Bare minimum.
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Xavion2025 said:
It was pretty straight forward back in the day. Mego came close:

Spider-Man
Captain America
The Falcon
Hulk
Iron Man
Thor
The Fantastic Four
Green Goblin
The Lizard

At that point in time, only Daredevil, Dr, Doom, and maybe the Red Skull belonged in that tier as well. The Lizard, probably not so much, but the Falcon was a big deal back in the day. If you had Captain America, you wanted the Falcon. It was like having Batman without Robin.

Fifty years later, I don’t know what that tier looks like. So many Marvel characters are household names now.
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This is so dependent on whatever era you grew up in. As a Mego kid, I totally dig Xavion2025's list. The big one missing for me at the time was Doctor Doom.

Yojoebro82 has a solid list. I would definitely sub in Doctor Doom for Thanos though.

So here's my own essential list for a top 10 Marvel. (And yes it sucks to only have ten.) My list is heavily influenced by my childhood but also includes more recent media exposure.

1. Spider-man
2. Hulk
3. Captain America
4. Thor
5. The Fantastic Four (Makes no sense to only have 1 member)
6. Iron Man
7. Wolverine
8. Black Panther
9. Storm
10. Doctor Doom
 
I think Spidey, Hulk and Cap are the core 3. If you had those three on a desk or on a shelf I think most folks know who they are. Like Bats, Supes and Wonder Woman. After that the characters may require a bit more pop culture knowledge - its a little skewed now due to the MCU making more characters mainstream (IM, Thor). But you could go back 50 years ago and people would have been able to pick out Spidey, Hulk and Cap.
 
Marvel's Big 3 is Spider-Man, Hulk, and Wolverine. Thing probably would have rounded out the Marvel Mount Rushmore. Those of you saying it can't be Thing alone, I think, are sorely misremembering the that old school status quo.

I think talking strictly 2000 and on it's Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Iron Man. Iron Man's main stream pop culture status is undeniable, even if it didn't necessarily translate to a boost in readership in the books.
 
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