90''s X-Men

[monron999]

I started this rant on another thread and realized I was changing the subjet of said thread. Sooooo, since we seem to be in a bit of a slow news period I figured why not vent and see if we can start a discussion and maybe garner some notice from the powers that be.

 

I had mentioned in the other thread that someone from Hasbro had stated sometime during an interview or an article that they intend to produce the entire line of the X-Men 90s roster in plastic form eventually. I'm not sure who exactly said it or where to find the article amidst the ton of news that came out at SDCC but I'm fairly certain it was legit. Maybe someone with more info than I can chime in. Now assuming it is legit, it would bring forth a flood of questions which is why I actually rember the quote in the first place.

 

First of all, if you'll remember, the 90s was a very encompassing era that saw a ton a of character's that Claremont, Lee and other artists brought in and out of the mainframe of the team, sometimes on multiple occasions. We have a Rogue. Cyclops is on his way. I'm sure Beast, Storm, Iceman, Colossus & Wolverine will follow, but what about some of the character's that were part of that time period but maybe weren't considered one of the mainstay characters. Is Dazzler in her blue costume gonna show up? How about Jubilee in her shorts? Will Forge or Bishop or Psylocke make the grade? And if so, wouldn't you prefer a modern version of some of these guys before we get a 90s version? Will the Blue and yellow standard uniforms show up? Will the Lee Jean Grey or the X-force Psylocke get remakes, cuz both of them are sorely subpar compared to how they could be done using the current female molds. The list of what ifs and howbouts is madening.

 

That aside, and assuming the rumors are true that we'really only likely to see maybe 1 to 2 X-related waves per year, how the hell would they be able to release the sheer volume of available characters within a reasonable period of time? My personal bet would be on the good ole box set. Maybe even 2, divided into blue an gold teams. Box sets have shown to be the tried and true solutions for solving a number of issues when attempting to encompass a certain group of characters within a particular time frame. It's also an underhanded way companies "trick" the customer into making a much larger purchase than usual in order to get that "can't miss", "gotta have" character that they may never find elswhere. Whatever, here's my money Hasbro. Give me something to earn it.

 

Here's what I'd like to see in a box set or sets;

Gold Team: Shoulder pad Storm with long hair, Jean Grey redo, Iceman with new head sculpt & belt, Bishop exclusive, Archangel with unmasked head & new wings, Colossus in 90s costume

 

Blue Team: Cyclops reissue maybe unmasked, Rogue reissue with straight hair, Jubilee with shorts & yellow jacket exclusive, Beast exclusive, Gambit & Blue/yellow Wolverine

 

This would serve two purposes. It would take care of a chunk of characters using mostly existing molds & reissues and minimum new parts & it would also leave whatever few X-Men or Wolverine waves open to include some of those fringe characters like blue suited Dazzler, Forge, modern Bishop, modern Rogue, maybe some modern X-Factor or New Mutant's characters. All in all it still leaves very little room to give as us all the new and redo characters we've been pandering for forever. Hasbro could always go off script and give us a Deadpool wave as well. There are still like 1,000 alternate costumes they could do or redo. Just sayin.

[Heisenberg]

One to two waves a year? Yikes....your right it will take awhile to get needed characters. I read the next wave is going to be Weapon X, Mystique, Sabertooth, Lady Deathstrike, X-23 and Maverick. Silver Samurai as the BAF. If that is true it is missing two slots we desperately need. No matter what we need Psylocke and a new Storm. Beast should be a modern version as the Toy Biz figure is one of the best ever. I would say Jubilee in shorts really needs to be done or the 90's team would feel incomplete. I really think we need 2-3 waves a year. Even if they do two box sets as you suggest. I don't see why not. I don't think there is any other waves they could do that would sell more. They should keep this and Spiderman constant and weave in other waves.


Two box sets would really help. Like you said it would open things up so we can get modern costumes and lesser know characters like Sunspot, Quentin Quire, and Domino! For the love of god gives us a Domino.

[CobraSaboteur87]

Much to Monrons point, I think my $0.02 is better suited in this thread:

 

Well considering the grand finale of the 2016 sdcc (legends wise) was the partial Xmen Warlock wave reveal, coupled with the fact that the Jnaut wave was most preordered legends wave in history (the wave is performing exceedingly well at B&M retail as well), I think it's a safe bet that MUTANTS are at the top (or at least near the top) of the current legends blueprint operation.

 

Based on that, I strongly suspect we will see an XMEN wave every year for the foreseeable future (to that end, I also think that we will see a XMEN legends box set/pack next year as well.

 

As far as two waves a year, I don't think it's out of the realm possibility at all, as far as down the road is concerned...and lord knows we need it!

 

With regards to completing rosters, I think that we will see all of our wishlists come true in a quicker manner than most collectors think. Of course, when speaking historically, Hasbro takes their SWEET time completing ANY roster but let's not forget that the current (starting with the Phase 3 Infinite Series rebrand) model allows for stronger, more tightnit wave structures than ever before.

 

From Toybiz Series 1 through 2013, any legends wave could consists of ANY character, irrespective of what franchise/team/roster/era they were a part of. Luckily, those days are behind us and I personally think Hasbro doesn't get enough credit for changing the legends wave formula around as it is now known today and I think that new, enhanced wave unity format (movie tie-in release cycle aside) goes widely forgotten (generally speaking) and even seems to be under-appreciated at times.

 

I (like anyone/everyone else) can pick apart a wave within the context of "why the hell is THAT character in the wave" or "they should've put X character in that wave instead of Y character" Now don't get me wrong, we are entitled to those opinions as long as we are supporting legitimate, 1st party Hasbro product, but let's not forget at the same time what we are living in a new certifiable Golden Age of legends and the odds of us getting the characters/figs/teams we want has NEVER been higher!!!

 

I will ALWAYS be a champion of Toy Biz (not so with Hasbro prior to 2014) but I can't say I miss their wave strategy that would include (for brief example): a modern age villain, an 80s hero team member, an obscure secondary character who belonged to a group that didn't last long and a first appearance character who debuted in the 60s who probably represented a fig no one ever really asked for or needed in the long run...ALL IN THE SAME WAVE.

 

Hasbro is releasing more legends in a year these days (7 waves this year and TWO are/were full 8 fig waves) than EVER before and I personally don't see why this upwards trend will not continue moving forward.

 

I know it's easy to take a patient, pragmatic approach because we all live in a "it's been too long and we need this fig NOW" philosophy but i simply want to set the table here by saying that there has NEVER been a better time to be a legends collector than RIGHT NOW!!!

[CobraSaboteur87]

I will add (unfortunately) that we will never see (for the long foreseeable future) a SECOND Dazzler fig or anything like a previously released fig (skipping to the future on Warlock Waves Cyclops) get released again as an unmasked version.

 

Unless Hasbro brings back true variants, like in ToyBiz days (they won't) we won't see different versions of characters unless they are of the super popular type (wolverine, Cap, Spidey for ex)

 

With regards to a Deadpool Wave, while that would be super awesome (can make it an Udon Wave!!!) the fact that they didn't jump on that in a year when a Deadpool MOVIE came out means they will never do it. What's so funny is that despite Deapool being SUCH a popular character for SO long, there has been what like 3 legends releases for him ever? Really is beyond silly considering anything #trendpool related will sell...and sell well.

 

Hasbro...if you are reading...you can release a 8fig Deadpool wave where the ONLY difference between the 8 figs is the color of his costume and I WILL BUY IT.

#loser

[Dodge76]

This is what I think:

 

Two to three cases a year - Very Likely. Fans have been demanding X-Men Legends for awhile.

Team Sets - May happen. EE may do an exclusive as well as Amazon. I look for a Generation X or New Mutants set to hit if this is so. Maybe a Brotherhood set.

 

Cyclops - getting him in 2017.

Wolverine Tiger Strip - I look for him to be revealed soon to be coming with Cyclops wave.

Rogue - We already got her.

Gambit - Probably will show up when the movie comes out.

Psylocke - Repaint of the SDCC version.

Beast - I look for him to show up soon.

Jubilee - I have my doubts

 

Storm - I look for her to show up soon.

Jean Grey - I have my doubts because we have a version of her.

ArchAngel - The same as Jean Grey.

Iceman - We already got him.

Bishop - Very likely.

Colossus - Not Sure.

 

Charles Xavier Hover Chair - Very Likely

Blue Dazzler - I have my doubts. We may get a modern one.

Forge - May Happen. I would not rule him out.

Banshee - I look for a redo.

Rachel Summers - I look for her to maybe pop up.

Warpath - Chances are pretty high I think.

Strong Guy - Possible BAF

Domino - Very Likely

Boom Boom - I got a feeling this may show up because its a requested figure.

Moonstar - I think this will show up as well. It was canceled and people were upset so I think Hasbro may release her.

Longshot - Would not rule out,

Emma Frost with cape - This may get a redo. I am 50/50 about it.

Cannonball - Maybe.

Siren - Would be pretty sweet but I don't know.

[tarot]

it not just the X-men they seem to want to do but the entire 90's cartoon line. I mean look at all the characters from the 90's Iron Man series that have been released. Whirlwind, Blizzard, Dread Knight, Ghost, Madame Mask adding onto the already released Modok, Mandarin (which reallllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyy need a new figure), Spider-woman, War Machine, Hawkeye, Iron Man, and of course FFF.

 

If you include the nineties Spider-man, we have most of that character from that line.

 

I think Hasbro are trying to give comic book fan their characters as well as giving the animated fans their toys.

[monron999]

I think the amazing success of the Juggy wave taught Hasbro and Marvel a few things.

 

Firstly, there doesn't necessarily have to be some bogus movie tie in figure for a wave to be succesful as long as the characters are done well and are fairly recognizable to the consumer. I talked to a 5 year old at church. He was carrying around a Giant Man figure from the Ultron wave and telling everyone he was Ant Man. He didn't know one way or another but either the packaging was recognizable to him or the red super hero guy with the antenna looked enough like Ant Man that the kid was totally content with it. We all know adult collectors can connect the dots between characters and the movie whether they receive an actual movie figure or not but I've also come to realize kids get it too. I just wonder how much money is wasted on character likenesses and move licences that could be used otherwise.

 

Secondly, no matter how hard they try, no matter how furiously the push, no matter how much they try to rebrand them, no matter how much TV time they give them, those lame ass Inhumans will never, never, never-ever-ever replace mutants in general, much less our beloved X-Men. How much time, money and effort have you wasted on trying to edge out the X-Men, Marvel. How much money and sales have you missed out on Hasbro, by just falling in line with Marvel's agenda even tho you paid a hefty price to produce any and all Marvel characters including all mutants? Hopefully, lesson learned.

 

Thirdly, redos sell every bit as good as new characters as long as they are done right. In the case of the Juggy wave, every character was a redo or update and it's looking to be one of the best if not the best selling waves of all times.

 

Lastly, you can probably produce a entire comic based wave on a character who got a movie without actually having to negotiate a movie license deal. Does anyone here not believe a Deadpool wave that had nothing to do with any kind of movie figure, but included comic versions of Ajax, Colossus, NTW & maybe other characters like Psylocke, Agent Zero or Domino wouldn't have sold well?

 

I'm hoping this has opened the eyes to the powers that be at Hasbro and has opened the door to more ML lines that don't have a direct movie tie in. Here's to a resurgence of the X-Men brand and a hope to have many more successful mutant figures in harmony with Avengers and Spider-Man figures and a bright future for ML and it's collectors.

[CobraSaboteur87]

Yeah I agree with what Monron said, at least 99% of if anyways.

 

With regards to the marketshare these figures are aimed at/who buys them, it's 100% collectors when speaking about legends anyways.

 

While I can't provide actual sales/market/demographic data (can anyone?) Hasbro has been segregating their products between the kids & collectors like never before these days.

 

For those of you other than myself that are in the know/collect SW figs, The 6in Black Series line has been incredibly successful and so much so, they have officially deemed "The Black Series" as both an internal and marketable tag line for their "premium, high end, more expensive collector focused line" Those are Hasbros words, not mine. Likewise, anyone familiar with the glut of TFA merchandise, they spread that Black Series branding over a ton of other products beyond the 3.75/6in lines in order to execute easier brand synergy to which coincides with what they deem "collector product"

 

It's no coincidence that the following Janurary, following the ridiculously successfully TFA merch holiday season, that the legends line became "Legends Series" and is following the exact same path spearheaded by SW. It's now the "collector branding" they give to 3.75, 6in, 12in, high end roleplay product, etc.

 

Now keep in mind of course that "Legends Series" only makes up a portion of the Hasbro marvel toy revenue just as "Black Series" only makes up a portion of their SW toy sales (a decent chunk more than likely). Couple that with the fact that Hasbro is multibillion company with a HUGE portfolio of product spread across so many types of offerings that it can be easy for us collectors to think we control the lions share of their products...but we don't lol. Hasbro sells more units of board games alone in a given year then Black Series & Legends Series combined...by a landslide...and that's just one example of their "products" that are not action figure related.

 

Take it from someone who was in retail management and let me tell you that there are A LOT of Habsro products (especially during season) we fought to replenish the shelves with beyond the plastic gods we call our action figures!