Marvel Legends Maximum Series

I wonder if/when we'll get Classic Spidey, Symbiote and Ben Reilly Spider-Man on the Maximum body. I don't want to have to spend $50 for each one... but I do want those updates...
 
Received and opened Maximum Hulk today. For y'all that skipped him - well done. My thought was that the rubbery overlay couldn't be too bad, but it's pretty flimsy. I also can't get Hulk to permanently keep his arms closed all the way even if I wanted to risk perma-creasing the material. I love Marvel Legends, but this was a swing and a miss.
 
Thanks for making me feel good about my last minute cancel. I do however have Max Spidey coming tomorrow from when he popped up in stock on Amazon. He was going to be a skip but I decided I would give him a try.
 
Misfit said:
I feel like the era of negative criticism for the sake of negative criticism is kind of dead. It was definitely a thriving thing back in the aughts, or maybe the algorithms know I'm not interested in it. And the YouTube shill might be dying out as well, or I'm just not watching them. Companies seem less inclined to send out samples these days either because it was an easy expense to cut when times got rough or because they've done some research that says they don't equate to better sales. Usually when I see one it's a smaller company trying to get some exposure, and most reviewers seem pretty forgiving in those settings which I don't find fault with. Not many people want to kick the little guy.
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Negativity is alive and thriving. Not just toys and YouTube. On any media front these days, it's all about negativity and enragement engagement. I'm certain many of them aren't even sincere, but it drives the engagement and algorithm, which feeds the system.

It's why so many movie clips on Reels or YouTube don't include the source. They want people to ask Source? Or share the source. Either way, they got the engagement padding. The dating grifters also sow discord. Just say Everyone Sucks, Everything is Terrible, and people will rush to agree or disagree and defend themselves. Viewcount accomplished.

As an artist so many art YouTubers love to declare you're doing a thing wrong or your technique is bad, when even the video isn't going to say that - but they need people to bum rush the thumbnail and headline and give them twenty seconds of runtime while they get defensiven the comments. Bills paid.

But regarding toys, what I've experience as I've adjusted my follows and algorithm is that there are creators that just focus on the negativity. To the point they beat extinct horses, because that war drum summons other tribal people who just want to dog a company, a person, or a philosophy/political angle. They are smaller, but the parasocial relationship is enough for the creator to thrive on Patreon or subs or whatnot. Maybe even real Whatnot

And then those channels make friends with other small fish, and cross community happens, and it's enough for them.

The parasocial thing is the shift I don't get with. Some people just want a friend, and they find that in these creators.

Like you, I tend to keep ANY of my interests to myself or close circle. Saying I Saw This Movie at a dinner is enough to get people going But Why IGN Says It Was a Six..!

Pass.
 
altcunningham said:
Like you, I tend to keep ANY of my interests to myself or close circle. Saying I Saw This Movie at a dinner is enough to get people going But Why IGN Says It Was a Six..!
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This is something I honestly don't have any issues with. For better and for worse, I am the same person face-to-face as I am here. Which means I will tell you I like something, and if you say shit about it I will speak an essay into your face about why you're wrong and can shut the fuck up or have better opinions.
It's genuinely shocking that I tend to get along as well with people as I do (and like... actually really well considering dealing with clients and the public is a major part of my job).
 
Opened up Hulk this morning.

I agree that the head/neck articulation SHOULD have been better. If the whole inner construction of the upper torso is new, they should have included added articulation, either with a hinge or a ball jount at both ends of the neck.

Reading some of the comments here, I assumed the torso was a squishy mess, but it's really just his pecks that are a little soft. Not as good as Storm's softer torsos are, but not as bad as I was fearing.

I LOATHE toe hinges, especially when they can't help hold the weight of the figure up while you're supposed to be using them. Double elbows, or at least newly designed deep cut hinge elbows would have been better than the elbrows we got.

I don't, however, see how people are having issues getting the thunder clap hands to stay touching. The shoulders have ratchets in them, and I was able to get the hands to stay together, and even got the wind effects to attach while doing it. The clap effect itself IS awkward to attach and keep attached. Instead of having him pinch it between his hands, I tucked one small end of the burst effect under one of his thumbs and hung the curved end over his hands. Not the most stable option (could have used small pegs of clips of some sort), but for photos it can work.

Max Hulk by lionpride75, on Flickr

Max Hulk by lionpride75, on Flickr
 
I don't have any issues keeping his arms where they're supposed to be for the clap or any other position. The torso softness does make way for those poses, like it's designed to. It's that impact effect that is so randomly shaped, that it doesn't seem meant for being the visualization of that clap impact. Keeping that thing balanced in his hands is the challenge, because unlike the swooshes that are form fit for the hands, the clap impact has this mysterious shape that doesn't make sense where it's supposed to be.
 
Anyone who hates hinged toes wanna trade for the unhinged feet of the 80th Hulk?? I have three pairs I would gladly swap!
 
Thwiptster said:
Anyone who hates hinged toes wanna trade for the unhinged feet of the 80th Hulk?? I have three pairs I would gladly swap!
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I don't hate them, but good luck posing the figure with them. Because they're just relying on friction rather than ratchets/detents, it's not easy getting him to pose with the bent toes. You might have more patience than me.
 
NORM said:
I don't hate them, but good luck posing the figure with them. Because they're just relying on friction rather than ratchets/detents, it's not easy getting him to pose with the bent toes. You might have more patience than me.
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I can tighten loose joints, and I have tons of stands I can use if that doesn’t work. I hate the way it looks when a figure’s foot is stuck straight when it should be flexed, especially when they have gigantic feet like Hulk or Thing.
 
Thwiptster said:
I can tighten loose joints, and I have tons of stands I can use if that doesn’t work. I hate the way it looks when a figure’s foot is stuck straight when it should be flexed, especially when they have gigantic feet like Hulk or Thing.
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That's resourceful. I don't love having to "correct" a figure, which includes tightening loose joints, or modifying to increase range of motion. But I can fully understand wanting the anatomy to get into positions that it naturally should. I understand that for the feet, and I want that on the neck. If any characters should benefit from toe joints, it's guys with big feet like Hulk and Thing. But the execution in this particular case is lacking.
 
Damien said:
This is something I honestly don't have any issues with. For better and for worse, I am the same person face-to-face as I am here. Which means I will tell you I like something, and if you say shit about it I will speak an essay into your face about why you're wrong and can shut the fuck up or have better opinions.
It's genuinely shocking that I tend to get along as well with people as I do (and like... actually really well considering dealing with clients and the public is a major part of my job).
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I can be quite similar. Essays and killing with kindness.

I just choose to not expend energy on most conversations that want to put me on the defensive. Toxically, it is fun to agree with some negative bulletpoints purely because some people run out of gas at a simple "I agree."

Know your audience, I suppose, is my motto.

Maybe it's the autism, but I find you and people like you better to deal with. Frank. Honest. Critical thought behind your decisions. And really, it's not your personality and you never take opinions personal as far as I've ever seen. I can get along on opposite sides with someone like that.
 
As far as toy reviewers go I follow a small handful of them. I want the ones that show me well produced, clear, detailed images of the figure. Some choice height comparisons are always appreciated. Beyond that everyone is going to have their own style which is fine with me. Half the time I have the sound off, and to be honest, I've made up my mind about the figures I'm buying or not buying about 85% of the time anyway.

I follow Anthony and yes, he has no real love for ML as it exists right now. His reviews are highly critical, I honestly think it's warranted the majority of the time. But then I watch more laid back guys like Damazing and Robo and I find them just as helpful.

I follow reviewers that are perceived by some as being "shills". I don't know if they are or are not but what do I care? If their production quality is good that's the main thing. So what if they're being paid in action figures? The kid in the commercial selling a GI Joe Skystriker in 1985 looked like he was having a lot of fun. Did I scoff and say, "pffhsssh....I bet he's being PAID to look like he enjoys that toy!" Yeah, he was. Marketing has changed. Ultimately it's me who decides if I'm buying it or not. If I had to choose between a "shill" with quality production and some guy shooting in dim light with subway tunnel sound quality fiddling with a figure off camera while he's trying to get an accessory in its hand, I'll take the former.

One thing ALL these reviewers can leave out is the in-fighting/petty bickering. Get over yourselves. It doesn't happen a lot, but it seeps in sometimes.

One thing that drives me away from clicking on any video is the thumb nail showing middle aged man holding new action figure purchase while making a face. Not because I'm too cool for that......but because I see too much of myself in it.
 
yojoebro82 said:
One thing that drives me away from clicking on any video is the thumb nail showing middle aged man holding new action figure purchase while making a face. Not because I'm too cool for that......but because I see too much of myself in it.
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Pixel Dan has started doing this after all these years and it bothers me a lot, even though it shouldn't. I guess because it feels "sell-out" because it's so typical of Youtubers. I have heard from some of them that the algorithm more heavily promotes videos with certain things in the thumbnails and exaggerated faces of the Youtuber are one thing that pings it and makes the video get shown to more non-followers.
 
Justice said:
Pixel Dan has started doing this after all these years and it bothers me a lot, even though it shouldn't. I guess because it feels "sell-out" because it's so typical of Youtubers. I have heard from some of them that the algorithm more heavily promotes videos with certain things in the thumbnails and exaggerated faces of the Youtuber are one thing that pings it and makes the video get shown to more non-followers.
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I recall he did a thumb like that a couple years ago as a joke, and then shared on Twitter how dismayed he was that it got a lot more engagement than his typical video and has kind of given in to the algorithm. If it works, I don't blame him. You gotta play by their rules if you're trying to make any kind of income off of your channel. I find them off-putting as well and they basically never succeed in pulling me in unless I know the reviewer some other way. If all of Dan's thumbs had been like that this whole time then I probably would have never watched any of his stuff, but clearly I'm not representative of the typical YouTube viewer behavior.
 
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