I know, you’re all like, “Wait, wasn’t San Diego Comic Con, like, three weeks ago?” Yes. Yes it was. “Then, like, you’re late.” Then like, shut up. I have good reason.
Immediately following SDCC there is usually a polarized output of either excitement or rage. I have to admit, I was myself mostly excited after seeing the goodies I’m about to talk about. In an effort to attempt to compose myself and rationally discuss what we’ve all seen a few short weeks ago, I waited until I could give an (mostly) unbiased account of how I feel regarding all that we’ve seen.
First and foremost, let’s talk about the return of MARVEL LEGENDS:
My first impression upon hearing that Legends were returning was, “Cool. At least now the Legends-only buyers can stop complaining about Marvel Universe.” But upon seeing them, my thoughts meandered to, “I might have to get a few of these.” Once upon a time, when I was 15 years old in 2002, I started collecting ML. A mere five years later (coincidentally around the time that Hasbro took over the license) I was out. Not because of anything to do with the figures themselves, but because I simply wasn’t that interested in the characters being produced. Let’s talk pros and cons on the new line, shall we?
Pros:
- Hasbro is re-engineering the articulation. No more oddly angled ball joints creating havoc while you’re attempting to move your figures legs. (On the new body sculpts, that is.)
- New selection of characters. Let’s face it, the well was a little dry when Legends took its bow. You could argue that so and so wasn’t made, but you’ve got to admit that most of the major players were put out. Now, though, we have a good helping of new and important characters to cover, and on top of that, Hasbro is dipping into the fans’ wish lists as well.
- Build a Figure is back. Always a worth while venture to get a bigger figure upon completing a series (though I more than likely will never do that)
- The packaging is pretty cool. While I did like the clamshell packaging of Toybiz’s ML, I’m a complete sucker for well done card art.
Cons:
- Build a figure is back. Yes, this is in the pros as well, but it ties into my next point.
- Availability? I say this because, outside of many of Hasbro’s movie lines, the regular lines seem to have difficulty making it to stores. I’m aware that usually this is an area specific concern and that many markets never have an issue with this, but mine does, so it concerns me. As I said before, I will more than likely not complete a build a figure mainly because I’m (for the most part) out of the six-inch game, but I could still be concerned for my fellow collectors who might just want all these figures. Well, I guess we’re gonna see.
- Price. $14.99. Damn. I mean, I understand that it’s in keeping with other, similar lines, but still, it’s more than I want to pay (but will, for certain characters). When this line started, I’m fairly sure I bought Captain America for $6.99 at Hills. ( WOOO HILLS! Anybody remember that store?!?)
All in all, it’s good to see Legends come back and kick out the jamz. Let’s move on to Marvel Universe:
Ahhh, my bread and butter. When Hasbro announced they were doing a 4 inch Marvel line, being a big Star Wars collector and having recently got my wish for a good Indiana Jones line, I couldn’t have been happier. To this day, a few of my favorite figures ever made were a result of this lines inception (most notably the Heroic Age Cap from the Cap movie line. #1 figure ever, hands down.) Legends are nice, but here is where I feel Hasbro really shined this year. The diorama at their booth looked fantastic and sported a helping of something from all of their 4 inch lines old, new and still unreleased. I got really excited for a few of the new comic packs, but mostly the redone Daredevil and Bullseye pack. As for singles, I gotta say Beast, Scarlet Witch, She-Hulk, Kraven, FF Spider-Man, a redone Punisher, and a redone Hulk all have me excited. Hell, all the new figures have me excited….mostly. Some pros and cons:
Pros:
- New characters. I named a few above, but here’s a list of all of the entirely new characters debuting soon in the ranks of MU: Scarlet Witch, She-Hulk, Beast, KANG, Beta Ray Bill, Angel, Jubilee, Nova, Adam Warlock, Rocket Racoon, Hercules, Puck, Kraven, Wonderman, Quicksilver, Mr. Sinister, Psylocke, Patriot, and Ant-Man (at 4 inch) .
- Remakes: A bunch of formerly produced characters ere already asking to be redone, so here’s a list of those who are getting the treatment: Punisher, Daredevil, Bullseye, Magneto and the Hulk.
- Good repaints/alternate costumes. In the land of Marvel, characters are always changing up their look, so Hasbro is giving us to following to flesh out of favorite characters wardrobes: Power Man Luke Cage, 70′s and New Avengers Iron Fist (white suit), Shadowland Daredevil, Astonishing Wolverine, Thanos, helmet-less Juggernaut, first appearance Captain Britain, Future Foundation Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, and a variant box set of the Fantastic Four in their Future Foundation outfits (which will, inevitably, be rendered useless in a few months with the return of Fantastic Four).
Cons:
- Reuse of the same buck. Hasbro knocked it out of the part with the recent release of the Jim Lee version of Cyclops. The figure is awesome, but that doesn’t mean we need to stick a new head and coat of paint on the same base body and reuse the hell out of it. Too many of the soon to be released figures are using it, and that’s an issue, because some of those characters are just not that tall. It works for Punisher, but not for Spider-Man, Daredevil, or Bullseye. They are just simply not that tall.
- Bad/pointless/useless repaints/remakes. Iceman (I’m sorry. That tall, lanky buck is the absolute worst.), Moon Knight and most importantly…
- Whatever that line is with the stands: we do not need them. Nobody was asking for another version of that Hulk sculpt or, frankly, any of the figures in this line. While the Thor and Bleeding Edge Iron man figures are GREAT figures, I’m positive that everyone who wanted one, has one.
All in all, it was a great showing for MU, and I can’t wait to find these (if I can). The rest of Hasbro’s Marvel showing was for their upcoming movie lines, The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man. Both of these had very little to show, with the Avengers only showing the big three, and Spidey only showcasing our web-headed hero, so I’m just going to a quick rundown of thought on each line.
The Avengers:
- I am a fan of the sculpts. They look good and accurate to what we’ve seen of the movie so far.
- I’m not a fan of the loss of torso joint and, possibly, wrist joints. I’ve read that Hasbro has explicitly said “no torso joint”, and that, i suppose I’ll deal with, BUT if there are no wrist joints on these figures, as much as I will want to support this line, I more than likely will not.
- I’m hoping for a comic series with this line as well. Mostly in order to flesh out my Avengers rouges gallery, but even so, I’ve liked the movie line comic versions of the heroes more than their MU counterpoints sometimes, especially with Cap.
- Avengers Mansion/Tower playset? Maybe? Please?
The Amazing Spider-Man:
- I like the figure we’re shown. The articulation is great and the sculpt is fantastic. I’m hoping the suit will grow on me.
- Like my hopes for the Avengers, give me a comic series with a plethora of villains, please. The current Spider-Man line BLOWS in respect to articulation, but it would be fine IF I COULD EVER FIND ANY OF THE NEW STUFF AND THE VILLAINS WEREN’T SHORTPACKED. Phew. Okay.
So anyway, We got a good showing out of Hasbro this year. Lots of new stuff to get excited about. I skipped out on a few things, mostly things we’ve already seen, or are already available at retail, but I think I got a few good point out there. Anyway, comment away and let me know what you think.
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