New to Marvel Legends

[ScarletSpiderID]

I used to be a Marvel 3.75" Fan with Marvel Universe/Infinite. But with all the hassle of no articulation, worsen paint apps and never actually getting the figures in stores, I've decided to start looking into Marvel Legends. I believe I will get the new Superior Spider-man and Marvel NOW! Captain America Figures today. With 10+ Years of figures though, is their any Must-haves for figures, BAFS, Waves?

[decepticonmark]

I too switched over late last year. As far as what to get really depends on your finances. Personally I recommend the Guardians of the Galaxy legends. From Cap line Zemo, Now Cap, Widow, Winter Soldier, and the troop builders are awesome. The Spiderman line has a great Spidey, Boomerang,Spidergirl, Carnage,are all great. The BAF from Cap, Spidey,& Guardian lines are all good.

[tarot]

I definelty recommend mots of the Infinity line to start with. most of them are comic book version and some of them are beuatuiful remakes of some of the most horrendous figures ever.

[ScarletSpiderID]

But any Must-Have BAFS?

[vicious_maturity]

LOL, what is with the string of multiple topic creations? Yikes.

 

Hi ScarletSpiderID! I've only been officially collecting all the figures (or most of them at least) since late 2010. But before that, I was an avid collector of the female figures in the Legends line.

 

Here are my personal recommendations... I must warn you, many Legends figures, especially the ones released prior to the "Return of the Marvel Legends" line can be very expensive.

 

Toybiz Era

Series 1- None are exceptional, but this was the wave that started it all.

 

Series 2- None are exceptional, but Namor has his not-so-naked outfit, so he might be worth getting. He's also not that expensive on Ebay.

 

Series 3- ehhh...

 

Series 4- Gambit definitely

 

Series 5- pretty solid lineup. My faves here are: Colossus, Sabretooth, Nick Fury... Silver Surfer comes with Howard, but some might argue the later Surfers turned out to be better.

 

Series 6- Get the whole damn set. REALLY pricey by now, but I don't think I dislike any of them. Okay, maybe the Phoenix figure is lacklustre but at the time, that was the only female mold being used.

 

Series 7- Apocalypse, Hawkeye, Vision. With a new Hawkeye coming, you might want to wait for him... and some say the Vision Hasbro turned out way better than this one.

 

Series 8- This is another wave where I loved every figure... you can probably pass on Black Widow though, since she's had much better improved later incarnations.

 

Series Galactus- A solid wave... personally, I would pass on Deathlok & Hulk, but they're worth etting if you want Galactus. Some say the MU Galactus is better, I MUCH prefer the BAF.

 

Series Sentinel- Get the whole damn wave EXCEPT Mystique. She has a BAF part that you can get from Omega Red. Worth building a Sentinel for. The Cyclops isn't too great either, but it is his classic outfit.

 

Legendary Rider-%2

[vicious_maturity]

Legendary Rider- I would only get three figures here: Taskmaster, Hulkbuster, and Wonder Man.

 

Apocalypse series- It's worth building an Apocalypse... just make sure that the pieces are either all Blue or all Black for the limbs. All the figures themselves are nice, but I'm not too crazy about them aside from Wolverine. This is the only Wolvie figure I like.

 

Giant Man- Build. That. Giant-Man! Ant Man, Cap Britain, Kitty, and Havok are must haves.

 

Onslaught- not a great wave overall... but the Green Goblin and Pyro are my picks, the latter being sold for cheap.

 

Mojo- not a great wave either... Maybe get Falcon, Longshot, and Psylocke for character collection purposes? The Mojo himself is a nice BAF, but I wouldn't spend over $100 on the set (I spent $40 + 15 shipping).

 

MODOK- I LOVE this set. I also got all the characters' variants/swaps. I see a lot of people complain about the female molds, but I don't mind them. Wasp does look like a pedophile, but I've seen worse faces (i.e. Emma Frost Annihilus)

 

Two Packs- Very solid figures in both waves. However, they've been so consistently expensive the last 5 years I've only managed to grab 4 of them at good prices.

 

Box Sets- skip all of them. Unless you want a Rogue or a Vulture to complete your character checklist, but I'd rather just get those by themselves. Many of the rest are duplicates.

 

Hasbro Era

Annihilus Wave- Skip. Hercules, Iron Man, and Plant Hulk are my recommendations, but I wouldn't prioritize them.

 

Blob Wave- the whole wave is uninspired, but the Blob BAF is worth getting just to complete your brotherhood. Yellowjacket, Xorn, and Quicksilver are okay, but again, I wouldn't prioritize them.

 

Ronan Wave- I actually love this whole wave. Some of them have terrible articulation (Reed, Mole Man) but overall, this is my fave FF set.

 

Brood Queen- Many of these figures have very rigid joints (same with many of the other early Hasbro figures)... I would only get Rachel here. Her Cosmic look is nice!

 

Sandman Wave- skip. Overpriced now and really just for collection purposes.

 

Red Hulk- Adam Warlock and SPIRAL! If you're pressed for cash, forget Warlock and just get Spiral. She's way too amazing not to get.

 

Ares Wave- Just getting one Ares piece is pricey enough. You'd probably save on cash if you got the whole set, but regardless prepare to sell off an arm and a leg.

 

Nemesis- Beast, Daredevil, Nemesis are the must haves for me. Tigra is okay, but her articulation sucks.

 

ROML Era

Terrax- Thor and Hope, but I wouldn't prioritize them.

 

Arnim Zola- In contrast to the Terrax wave, I like this one well enough. Even the swaps. You can get them for cheap, just do some rigid research online.

 

Epic Heroes- skip. Some love the Deadpool figure, I don't like it. If Moonstar was released, I'd probably recommend her.

 

Iron Monger- skip. Do you really need 5 more Iron Man variants?

 

Hit Monkey- skip most of them. I would highly recommend Archangel and yes, even the Hit Monkey figure.

 

Rocket Raccoon- Get all of them. Nao! fine, maybe not the Hawkeye, but if he has a BAF piece, might as well get him. The BAF is horrid, but the rest, I think are pretty worth the pennies.

 

Puck- Emma is the only one worth getting. Puck too, but can you shell the big bucks for these two?

 

Mandroid- I ended up getting all 10 figures in the wave, but the only ones I REALLY liked were: Zemo, Hydra Soldier, and AIM Soldiers. Build dat army!

 

Ultimate Green Goblin- If you don't want the BAF, skip the movie figures. And possibly Toxin. The rest are just way too amazing to pass up. Yes, even the Deadliest Foes. You can get most of these from Amazon at very good prices.

 

Groot- Hate this line... but I like Nova and Star-Lord well enough.

 

Two Packs- Elektra, the army builders, and the Shield Agents are my picks. Get ready to shell out some cash.

 

Two Packs TRU exclusives- GET THEM ALL! I honestly love every single one of them, even the variants.

 

SDCC sets

• Fin Fang Foom- worth every penny. But I wouldn't spend more than $400 for it now. You can probably get the non-SDCC set for a much cheaper price.
• Savage Land- get the whole set.
• X-Force- whole set if you can. If you can't, get Psylock and Archangel.
• Thunderbolts- All great figures. I'd get them all if I were you.
• Thanos Imperative- still waiting for mine. But they all look great.
• The other exclusives (She Hulk, Stan Lee, etc... you can probably skip them all).

[ScarletSpiderID]

Thank you very much vicious_maturity! I know these suggestion will help me a lot!

[DSmith]

You know, I was reorganizing my display at home and kind of wanted to start a thread like this... sort of what we consider the definitive, essential, display-worthy versions of the characters released so far, since there have been so many versions and remakes over the years now.

 

vicious_maturity broke it down much how I thought we should do the thread. Here's my take:

 

Wave 1: The only essential character is Toad.
He's still what I'd consider well-detailed, and he hasn't been remade. Articulation is lacking, but if you are a fan of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, then he's been involved for so long you might consider him essential. The other 3 in this wave have been remade in better scale, sculpt, detail, and aesthetic.

 

Wave 2: Essential - Namor

The same can be said for the other 3, better sculpts and designs came along later. Namor's sculpt here is a stronger build than his later release and I definitely think his face sculpt trumps what came later for Namor.

 

Wave 3: Essential - None. Pass on ALL.

 

Wave 4: Essential - Gambit & Beast. Say what you want, but these sculpts still remind me of the best of the line from the Toy Biz era. Beast's articulation is a little crazy-looking, and I could now do without a cloth coat on Gambit, but by and large, solid design of iconic looks for both characters. You may want to pick up the Ant-Man and Wasp pack-ins that came with the re-released Goliath. To their credit, they are the best small versions that retained articulation. But if I look for scale, the little Ant-Man and Wasp pack-ins released under Marvel Universe make more sense to me scale-wise with Marvel Legends.

 

X-Men Legends Gift Set: Essential - None, really. You may like Gambit's "leather" coat variant, but it doesn't hold up over time. Beast has a lab coat, but I don't think it's iconic enough to use as a permanent display. BUT this Beast does come with glasses which I use in my display. I think it's a fun character detail that stands out in a team display. This is the only place to get a Jim Lee-era Rogue figure, but don't know what your iconic era is, so maybe that's not important to you. I still hope Jim Lee Rogue gets remade, but the more time passes by, the chances seem slimmer. If the as-yet-unreleased Modern Rogue is released, she will take the spot in my display just because the sculpt is better.

 

Urban Legends Gift Set: Essential - None. Skip all.

 

Wave 5: Essentials - None. Unless you want novelty figure Howard the Duck. Colossus was a staple, but Marvel Select version is better.

 

Sinister Six Boxed Set: Essentials - Electro and Kraven are their best comic representations released thus far. Skip all others.

 

Wave 6: Essentials - Wolverine (brown costume), Cable, Doop. Ogun is a fun character pack-in to have in a display. Juggernaut was great, but Marvel Select's release trumps his sculpt.

 

Fantastic Four Gift Set: Essentials - Franklin Richards & H.E.R.B.I.E.

 

Wave 7: Essentials - I personally like this Vision sculpt better than what came later. Apocalypse in a 6 inch scale is worth having. This is the only release of Iron Man's Silver Centurion armor, if that matters to you, but they should remake it on an updated body in my opinion. I don't think much of Ghost Rider, but this motorcycle would be/IS perfect, for the later release of Ghost Rider.

 

Wave 8: Essentials - Jim Lee Storm is a personal fave, but compared to other recent legends, she looks too small and her head looks out of scale. Doctor Octopus is a must-have and a great representation of his classic comic look.

 

Wave 9: Essentials - Professor X, Bullseye, Nightcrawler, Dr. Strange, Deathlok - All are the only releases of these characters so far.

 

Spider-Man's Fearsome Foes Gift Set: Essentials - Vulture, Lizard, Rhino... all of them solid sculpts of classic looks. Rhino I would later replace with his bigger Marvel Select version.

 

Wave 10: Essentials - Sentinels... I built three of them. Also Mr. Sinister, Angel (in red and blue versions) and Omega Red.

 

Wave 11: Essentials - Wonder Man (though I wish he'd get an update), Taskmaster (for character value), and Hulkbuster Iron Man.

 

Wave 12: Essentials - Sasquatch, Bishop (I like both classic mullet and bald versions), and X-23 (black costume). Apocalypse on a large scale is an attractive option... I prefer the black version to the blue. Better contrast, more menacing.

 

Face-Off 2packs Series 1: Essentials - Captain America was my go-to version until I embraced the recent Marvel NOW figure. Leader (the tall-headed version), Hulk (either version, screaming or sneering), Kingpin (white jacket is classic) are all excellent.

 

Young Avengers Gift Set: Essentials - Get all four of them.

 

Monsters Gift Set: Essentials - None, skip this set.

 

Wave 13: Essentials - Pyro, Blackheart, Lady Deathstrike, Green Goblin, Abomination. All solid, but wish Lady Deathstrike was better.

 

Wal-Mart Exclusive Wave: Essentials - Giant-Man!!! Perfection, and huge! Also mentionable: Havok, Kitty Pryde, Ant-Man, Captain Britain.

 

Wave 14: Essentials - Longshot, Falcon (modern), 1st Appearance Iron Man (in silver and gold), Mojo.

 

Wave 15: Essentials - All of them are pretty good. I'm glad we're getting a remake of Jessica Drew Spider-Woman. Should get Thorbuster Iron Man, Destroyer, Captain Marvel, Genis-Vell, Julia Carpenter Spider-Woman, Beta Ray Bill, M.O.D.O.K.

 

Face-Off 2pack Wave 2: Essentials - Jigsaw (white suit), Mandarin (green/helmeted or red/unmasked are both good).

 

House of M Gift Set: Essentials - None, skip it.

 

Annihilus Wave: Essentials - Banshee, Hercules, Annihilus.

 

Blob Wave: Essentials - She-Hulk, Yellowjacket (golden version is better than yellow), Blob

 

Ronan the Accuser Wave: Essentials - Namor (not my favorite, but classic green trunks), Silver Surfer, Mole Man, Ronan the Accuser.

 

Wal-Mart Exclusive 2packs: Essentials - Cannonball, Domino

 

Sandman (movie) Wave: Essentials - None, Skip it.

 

Brood Queen Wave: Essentials - Black Knight, Rachel Grey, Brood Queen

 

Fin Fang Foom Wave: Essentials - Doc Samson, Wendigo, Skaar, Fin Fang Foom

 

Marvel Legends Twin Packs Wave 1: Essentials - Forge/Wolverine, Elektra/Ronin, Mr. Fantastic/Thing, Skrull Elektra

 

SDCC Savage Land Boxed Set: Essentials - Get all 3.

 

Red Hulk Wave: Essentials - Wolverine (tiger stripe costume repaint of brown costume sculpt), Spiral (two-tone costume, not flat blue costume), Red Hulk.

 

Ares Wave: Essentials - Human Torch (flamed on and nova flame versions are both great-looking), Ares, Guardian, Crossbones, Kang

 

HasbroToyShop Exclusive: Age of Apocalypse Sunfire - GET IT!

 

Nemesis Wave: Essentials - Daredevil (red), Tigra, Beast (Astonishing), Nemesis

 

Marvel Legends Twin Packs Wave 2: Essentials - Kree Soldier army builder, Skrull army builder, SHIELD Agent army builder, Hand Ninja army builder, Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Maria Hill, Sharon Carter, Iron Man (remake of classic red/yellow, plus stealth variant)

 

Marvel Legends Twin Packs Wave 3: Essentials - Black Widow (like the gray costume variant also, classic 90s), Winter Soldier, Deadpool (red), Warpath (X-Force black/silver and the classic red/blue)

 

Return of Marvel Legends Wave 1: Essentials - get them all. Orange Flame Ghost Rider looks great on the Toy Biz Ghost Rider bike I told you to get earlier.

 

Arnim Zola Wave: Essentials - whole wave!!

 

X-Force Gift Set: Essentials - get all three!

 

Epic Heroes wave: Essentials - get the whole wave

 

Iron Monger wave: Essentials - Iron Monger, Ultron, Bleeding Edge/Heroic Age Iron Man, classic Iron Man (red/gold, plus horned mask variant head)

 

Hit Monkey wave: Essentials - get them all

 

Thunderbolts Gift Set: Essentials - get them all!

 

Rocket Raccoon wave: Essentials - get them all... you can skip the Scarlet Spider figure.

 

Puck wave: Essentials - get them all!

 

Mandroid wave: Essentials - get them all!

 

Ultimate Green Goblin wave: Essentials - Carnage, Black Cat, Boomerang, Spider-Girl, Superior Spider-Man

 

All-New X-Men Gift set: Essentials - get them all!

 

Groot wave: Essentials - get them all!

 

Jubilee wave: Essentials - Storm, Stryfe, Magneto, Jubilee

 

Thanos Imperative Gift set: Essentials - get them all!

 

Infinite 3pack: Essentials - Ms. Marvel, Radioactive Man

 

Odin wave: Essentials - Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch, Sentry, Hawkeye, Machine Man, Iron Fist, Thor, Odin

 

Thanos wave: Essentials - Hellcat, Spider-Woman, Thanos

 

Hobgoblin wave: Essentials - Spider-Man (classic), Spider-Girl (May Parker)

 

That's it!!!

[greenlucario]

The above lists are great. I would personally recommend deciding if you want to go all out and collect every character you can (which is incredibly pricey) or if you want to stick to a certain character ie. collecting Spider-Man and his rogues, or Iron Man suits and rogues. I started as a Spider-Man collector and eventually branched out into an all ML collector.

 

However I'll also weigh in on what I think are the "essentials" of each wave. I'll also include other ML scale lines like Spider-Man, X-Men, and FF Classics since many necessary characters only saw release there. Rather than wave by wave I'll include the essentials with their specific wave for those. I'm not big on Marvel Selects except for Thanos so I'll limit it to ML scale.

 

TOY BIZ

 

Wave 1: None. True Toad is the figure that hasn't had another made but he's very expensive for a lack luster figure. Options for Toad (if you're an X-Men fan) include the X-Men movie figure, X-Men Evolution figure, or a custom.

 

Wave 2: Namor and Thing. The head sculpt and jacketed look really set him apart. The Thing has the best head sculpt of all his incarnations despite being a bit out of scale.

 

Wave 3: None.

 

Wave 4: Beast and Gambit. Personally I love the Jim Lee era Beast and the size and articulation trumps most other versions. While I prefer the X-Men Legends Box set Gambit's coat that's a small thing, got to get Gambit.

 

Wave 5: Colossus, Sabretooth, and Mr. Fantastic. All great figures, and I feel Colossus better fits in with the other MLs than the Select version. Mr. Fantastic is a maybe, and I would probably pass if you want to get all four members of the FF in matching costumes.

 

Wave 6: Cable and Juggernaut. Although Wolverine and Deadpool are great Deadpool is very expensive and the Hasbro version works well enough, unless you're a hardcore DP fan--as for Wolverine it's an iconic costume, but not essential unless you really like Wolverine. Cable and Juggy are at their best when compared to other ML releases.

 

Wave 7: Hawkeye and Vision (variant). Hawkeye despite the price is in his classic look and colors, which I think beats the one coming out next year. However if price is an issue stick with next year's Hawkeye it seems like a decent enough swap. The "phasing" Vision is definitely the coolest version of Vision and not too expensive last I checked. Plus if you're getting the Ares wave, the other Vision is fine for a normal non-phasing Vision.

 

Wave 8: Doc Ock and Man Thing. This is Doc's best version in terms of classic look and tentacle durability. It's Man Thing's only appearance.

 

Wave 9: Galactus (BAF), Nightcrawler, Prof. X, Deathlock, Doc Strange, Bullseye, War Machine. The Galactus BAF is the standout here unless you like the Marvel Universe version. Most of the wave (all except Hulk) are the only ML versions of these characters so getting the whole wave is probably best.

 

Wave 10: Sentinel (BAF) No standouts here except the BAF, this is one of the best BAFs ever made so don't skip it. The rest of the wave is going to be up to you as a collector as to whether it's a skip. I say skip because all the figures here have been re-made or are non-essential.

 

Wave 11: Taskmaster and Wonder Man. Tasky has his problems but he looks great and again its his only appearance. Same with Wonder Man, I prefer the Ionic Variant to the regular and both are inexpensive. Hulkbuster Iron Man is I believe a pass, unless you want Iron Man armors.

 

Wave 12: Apocalypse (BAF), Iron Fist, and X-23. The Apocalypse BAF is a favorite of mine and looks great but as vicious_maturity said be careful that all the arms and legs are either blue or black to suit your preference. Iron Fist's original look is best displayed here and this is X-23's only figure.

 

Wave 13: Whole wave. You can never go wrong with villains Abomination and Green Goblin are the best of the wave but all of these one's are awesome and fill in the gaps in most collections whether it's X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk, or Thor.

 

Giant Man Wave: Kitty Pryde, Giant Man (BAF). Giant Man is probably the second or third best BAF to date and worth the money you'll spend to get him. Kitty is one of the most expensive in the set but again only appears here. Other figures in the wave have better versions either made or coming out this year. However it's worth noting that Havok, Captain Britain, and Ant Man only have one version, the one's in this wave.

 

Wave 14: Falcon and Psylocke. The modern Falcon (variant) is the way to go but only if you really want/need the character. I hesitate to even mention Psylocke since I feel the later released X-Force version is better, but Wave 14 Psylocke is less expensive among many expensive X-Men characters.

 

Wave 15: Whole Wave. Like the Onslaught wave the characters here are appearing in their only form to date. Exceptions being Spider-Woman, coming out next year and Iron Man. However purchasing the variants to both figures allows you to get different characters.

 

Box Sets: As a rule avoid these, they are over priced. Better to buy single figures from the sets.

 

X-Men Legends: Great as a starter, but most of the figures aren't worth the price. To me the Gambit here is better than Wave 4 because of the "leather" coat, and it is the only Jim Lee Rogue. However neither makes this set a must have.

 

Urban Legends: None.

 

Sinister 6: Spider-Man, Electro, Venom, and Kraven. Spider-Man here is one of the best incarnations of the iconic character but is very expensive on his own. The other three have one or two other acceptable appearances but these are the best. Your best bet would be to buy the set as individual figures here could actually be more expensive.

 

Fantastic Four: Unless you're looking for a matching set of the FF it's probably a pass. It's a great starter like X-Men Legends since it has so many figures but the Human Torch has better versions and Invisible Woman is on the older female body mold, better to pass.

 

Fearsome Foes: Super expensive but figures like Vulture (his only figure in ML or related), Lizard, and Rhino are all the definitive figures for these characters.

 

Young Avengers: Skip, unless you like these particular characters they are not worth tracking down.

 

Monsters: Skip.

 

House of M: Skip.

 

Face Off 2 Packs:

 

Wave 1: Get them all. Kingpin (white coat), Captain America, Hulk, and Leader (variant long head) are among some of the best versions of these figures. However the Face-Off series is very expensive so they won't come cheap.

 

Wave 2: Mandarin. Either version is good as it's his only version. But this wave is even more expensive than the last wave.

 

Spider-Man Classics: The following figures are in scale with ML and are the only appearances of these characters.

 

Morbius: Series Five, not a great figure but a must for a Spidey collector.

 

Scorpion: Series 11/14, either version will do.

 

Super-posable wall crawling Spider-Man: This is also called the "McFarlane Spidey" The rarest, most expensive Spider-Man and also in my opinion as a Spidey Collector and fan the definitive version. This will cost quite a bit so it may be best to avoid.

 

Sandman: Series 12, although there is a re-release in Series 17 this version is better. Sandman's only ML compatible release.

 

Hobgoblin: Series 17, this one uses the same Green Goblin mold as ML Wave 13, a must have.

 

Shocker and Jack O'Lantern: Series 18, both great Spidey villains in their only ML compatible releases.

 

Toxin: Series 19, much better than the Hasbro Toxin (Eddie Brock version).

 

X-Men (Classics): The following figures are in scale with ML. Many of these figures sported unique costumes but were overall better sculpted and articulated than their ML counterparts.

 

Storm: Series 1, this is the same figure as the ML Wave 8 Storm but re-painted in her white Jim Lee era costume. To me this is the definitive look for Storm and so the problems with the figures' size and head sculpt aren't able to be overlooked.

 

Angel: Series 2, although he never had this costume int he comics this version of Angel has a better head sculpt than his ML counterpart. His wings along make him the best Angel figure since they aren't as bulky as ML Wave 10's and aren't constantly falling off.

 

Avalanche, Rogue, and Iceman: Series 3, Avalanche's only appearance, and Rogue's best appearance. Both versions of Rogue are expensive but compared to the Jim Lee Rogue from the box set this is the better Rogue to get based on the head sculpt alone. Many also argue that this Iceman (a re-issue and re-paint of the ML Wave 8) is the better of the two.

 

Fantastic Four Classics: The following figures are in scale with ML.

Super Skrull: Series 1, A must have figure for FF or Cosmic Collectors the Super Skrull came in three versions, classic, flaming, and invisible all three are great and personal favorite figures of mine.

 

Dragon Man and Invisible Woman: Series 2, the first figure Dragon Man is the only appearance of Dragon Man, one of the rarest ML related figures, worth mentioning but unlikely to get for a decent price. Invisible Woman is one of those characters that has never had a great figure. Most have really ugly faces, the others have bad articulation. This one has the best sculpt and face but poor articulation.

 

It's worth mentioning that this is one of the only series that contains a complete set of the FF with matching costumes. Other versions include the aforementioned Boxed set, Hasbro Two packs (later), and the Ronan Wave. Which costumes are totally a preference thing.

 

 

HASBRO

 

Annhilus Wave: Annihilus (BAF). The figures in the early Hasbro waves were underwhelming and very stiff in the articulation department. Only the BAF on this one.

 

Blob Wave: Blob (BAF). Again just the BAF, maybe Quicksilver since it is the character's only ML figure.

 

Ronan the Accuser Wave: Whole wave. For FF collectors this wave really brings a great number of things another chance at a matching FF, a great Dr. Doom and Namor, Mole Man, and another Silver Surfer. Ronan is a great BAF and again the only appearance of the character.

 

Sandman Wave: Skip this one. The entire wave is movie figures.

 

Brood Wave: Black Knight. Articulation wise this is a decent figure, one of early Hasbro's best. The sculpt though is the best part very cool figure.

 

Fin Fang Foom Wave: Fin Fang Foom (BAF). Probably the best, or second best BAF depending on who you ask in all of ML. A very price BAF and wave though, it's Hulk centered so avoid the figures themselves unless you're a Hulk fan.

 

Red Hulk Wave: Red Hulk (BAF). Great body sculpt, goes well with the later released 2 pack Hulk.

 

Holocaust/Nemesis Wave: Holocaust/Nemesis (BAF). Great BAF, best to skip the wave all the figures are lack luster in sculpt, paint, and articulation. The better figures, Black Bolt and Nova were both atrocious and have since had better releases.

 

Ares Wave: Ares (BAF), Crossbones, Vision, Kang and Human Torch. The Ares wave is extremely rare and expensive, however it contains some of early Hasbro's best figures and Ares is a great BAF. Human Torch is the definitive version in my mind and works in most FF sets regardless of the costumes the others are sporting. Kang is a key character but is a straight re-release of the Fantastic Four classics one so best to choose whichever one has the better price on it. As I mentioned earlier if you're getting Ares you might as well get Vision and only get the variant one from Wave 7. Crossbones is problematic since he's the most expensive of the wave. I'd go with the Thunderbolts boxed set version if this is a character you must have.

 

Two Packs and Exclusives:

Series 1: Cannonball and Domino. Worth mentioning since these are the only versions of these figures.

 

Series 2: Elektra and Ronin, Mr. Fantastic and Thing. Elektra and Ronin are must haves and the best versions of each (the only for Ronin). Mr. Fantastic and Thing aren't great but if you passed on other matching FF sets this is a good place to start since this Mr. Fantastic sports the same body as the Wave 5 one.

 

Series 3: Invisible Woman and Human Torch. Others probably prefer the army builders but at the price of these two packs you probably won't purchase enough to build your armies. To complete the FF set this two pack does the trick. I mentioned earlier how bad most Invisible Woman figures are, and this is no different but she's less expensive than the Ronan wave one.

 

Series 4: Whole wave. These were the last figures early Hasbro made, but they were some of the very best. Deadpool sticks out since he's much more affordable than Series 6 DP and the Hulk here goes perfectly with Red Hulk. Overall not a bad figure in this wave.

 

Exclusives: Early Hasbro's exclusives weren't anything to write home about, best to pass.

 

Iron Man the Armored Avenger (Legends): Titanium Man, Crimson Dynamo, War Machine (Initiative). All three are great comic versions of Iron Man's foes and allies. War Machine in particular is in my opinion better than the one from Wave 9.

 

Thor the Mighty Avenger (Legends): Loki. A much needed update of Loki, but still not perfect.

 

Captain America the First Avenger (Legends): Nick Fury. Only if you want one that goes with the Avengers movie figures.

 

RETURN OF MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

 

Terrax Wave: Terrax (BAF) HA Thor and Ghost Rider. Thor and Ghost Rider here are absolutely excellent figures, and in my opinion this is the best Thor released. Terrax is a great BAF as well.

 

Arnim Zola Wave: Whole wave. You can't go wrong with this wave. Arnim Zola is probably the least impressive of the wave, but saying that just goes to show how great this wave is.

 

Epic Heroes Wave: Deadpool, Dr. Doom, and Punisher. If you still can't find Deadpool this wave had two. Grey Deadpool is best if you want to complete X-Force, and Red Deadpool is a re-release of the 2 pack one. Dr. Doom is also a re-release and a repaint of the Ronan wave one, but great if you missed the last one. Punisher is a really cool figure with an excellent head sculpt.

 

Hit Monkey Wave: Archangel. If you can't get or don't want the X-Force three pack this is the same Archangel but with classic colors. It's a great all around figure.

 

Rocket Raccoon Wave: Whole wave. Between new characters like Scarlet Spider and Wrecker, and much needed updates like Jean Grey and Black Panther this is a nearly perfect wave. To top it all off Rocket Raccoon is there for your comic styled Guardians team that began with Drax in the Zola wave.

 

Iron Monger Wave: Iron Monger (BAF), Ultron and HA Iron Man. Unless you're an Iron Man collector, this wave isn't full of essentials. However the BAF and the Heroic Age Iron Man are must haves for any collector. Ultron also sees his second release and it's much better than the first one.

 

Puck Wave: Wolverine, Cyclops, Emma Frost. Based on the same sculpt as the Wolverine in the X-Force 3 pack this Wolvie sports his classic colors and is probably the character's best rendition in his yellow and blue costume. Cyclops is a much needed update even if it's not quite modern. Emma is the most expensive but is completely worth it out doing the original release in leaps and bounds.

 

Mandroid Wave: Baron Zemo, Red Skull, Hydra and AIM Soldiers, Black Widow. Since it's a more recent wave these will at least be possible to find in the wild. Zemo and the Skull are definite stand outs for any Cap or Avengers collection. The soldiers make great army builders and are less expensive than past army builders so it's actually possible to do. But Black Widow is the star of the wave. Sporting swappable heads for both Avengers movie and Winter Soldier movie collections she's a definite buy.

 

Ultimate Green Goblin Wave: Black Cat, Carnage, Beetle, Goblin (BAF), and Boomerang. This wave has some of the best figures to date. Black Cat and Carnage are essential and outshine all the other figures in the wave. Beetle, Goblin, and Boomerang are great as well and nothing's quite as awesome as the Goblin's flame effects.

 

Groot Wave: Nova and Groot. Nova is simply the best figure Hasbro has ever made! But I'm a fan of the character. Not one to pass up he's an excellent figure. The Groot BAF is very awesome and goes well with comic versions of Rocket and Drax. I wouldn't get the entire wave unless you really want the BAF or love the movie.

 

Jubilee Wave: Jubilee (BAF). For X-Men collectors this is a figure not to miss. The rest of the wave holds a lot of promise but I haven't yet received the wave to make a better judgement. Magneto might also be a figure to get as the original from Series 3 was not the greatest.

 

Exclusives:

X-Force Box Set: The whole set is awesome, however if you aren't a fan of the Remender series I would probably buy the Puck Wolverine, the Hit Monkey Archangel and the Wave 14 Psylocke instead.

 

Thunderbolts Box Set: The whole set. Luke Cage and Moonstone are the standouts but it also offers a second chance at Crossbones. A personal favorite of mine is also Ghost.

 

All-New X-Men Box Set: Skip it. Unless you like X-Men and especially the new series of the same name or the classic costumes the Box set offers nothing new except a version of Beast before he transformed.

 

Thanos Imperative Box Set: The whole set. It contains some of the must have cosmic characters, expands the Guardians comic team, and even makes up for the awful Black Bolt figure from the Holocaust/Nemesis wave.

 

Avengers (movie) Legends: The whole wave. Great representations of the landmark film.

 

As for the upcoming Odin, Thanos, Hobgoblin, and other figures of 2015 I'll update when those become available.

[DSmith]

greenlucario, I meant to talk about the compatible waves!

 

A couple of my own notes, and reactions to yours...

 

The Iceman from the X-Men classics line is a different sculpt entirely from ML8 Iceman, and a better one at that. Another notable is that the XMC Iceman offers you a Bobby Drake de-iced variant figure, which became the staple representation of the character in my display. I did also pick up Avalanche and Rogue (both long-haired and short-haired variants) and Rogue is one of the few released in that line which was released in a costume the character actually wore in the comic.

 

Kang from FFClassics was re-released in Hasbro ML, but there is a paint variation. I believe the re-release was purple, with the original more pink.

 

Dragon Man is a figure I'm glad to have in my collection from the FFC line. FFC also released Impossible Man as a pack-in which is a fun figure to have In any collection for a visual pop.

 

Iron Man Armored Avenger (Legends): I bought Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man (whose body was later repurposed into Ultron, but still great figures).

 

Thor The Mighty Avenger (Legends): I did pick up comic Loki , which isn't what I picture in my head when I think of Loki, but much better than the Bad Guys wave.

 

Captain America The First Avenger (Legends): Movie Nick Fury was a must-have for me, but he will see re-release in a better paint scheme sometime next year apparently.

 

Spider-Man Classics: I picked up Scorpion (1st release where he has a flesh-colored mouth, makes more sense in my brain, I don't understand a green facemask where just the teeth are open... you don't even see lips? Is his face painted? Huh?), Shocker, Hobgoblin (not a repaint of Wave 13 Green Goblin, body is entirely different), Hydro-Man (awesome detachable waist that can plug him into a water base), Sandman, Man-Wolf, Mad Jack (Jack O'Lantern)...... and "McFarlane" Spidey. Truly the best Spider-Man EVER. He can land any pose. Colors are right. Body build is right. Sculpt is right. Articulation is amazing.

 

Marvel Select: I can get past scale issues if the character is generally a hulking huge character. Different artists vary in how big they draw "big" characters, so in my mind, I can adapt that same creative license to my display. Figures I use from Marvel Select in my display are: Thanos, Mephisto, The Watcher, Rhino, Colossus, Juggernaut, Cloak & Dagger (Dagger is actually smaller than or scaled with the women of ML right now, I believe, and Cloak is just a floating head, so he's cool), and Venom. Strongly considered Sabretooth also, but I feel like his articulation is sub-par. Going to try to track down on eBay the Xavier School front gate, which I believe came packaged by halves with two X-based figures a few years back. The Xavier school gate is really cool for display! Emma Frost from Marvel Select actually had an awesome fireplace base with portraits of Emma Frost art over the fireplace mantle. That's another cool display element.

 

Marvel Universe: I display Greatest Battles larger scale characters of "Black Goliath", Hank Pym Goliath (prefer the blue/yellow over the red/blue variant), the tiny Ant-Man and Wasp figures, and the Masterworks Sentinel (the classic red/purple colors, I bought two), and Masterworks Galactus. How can you beat lights and phrases!!!! They also don't have extraneous articulation (I used to be charmed by individually-articulated fingers, but truly unnecessary), and are scaled slightly larger than the ML-released BAFs, which supports scale better for ML than the actual ML figures.

 

That's my story!

[greenlucario]

Yeah I thought I might since I started with Spider-Man classics a large part of my collection is the compatible waves. I thought I might have been wrong about the X-Men classics Iceman since I only have the Wave 8 one. You have Dragon Man? Awesome! It looks like a great figure, just haven't come across one for a price I can live with lol. Hobgoblin, despite longer legs actually utilizes the same hands, upper body and legs. Just the cape, head/hood, and lower legs are different and the pumpkin bomb. Even their hands that aren't holding pumpkin bombs (I believe the right hand) have the same oddly sculpted fingers. I guess I'm a bit of a Spidey nut to pay that much attention :) As for Selects, Universe, and Masterworks I figured I'd leave those alone, not stuff I know well. Since the entire line isn't ML compatible I haven't gotten many figures from each, but those are some great points. Personally I like the Thanos from the MS series and even with the new ML one will still continue to use the MS one.

[DSmith]

WOW... Just checked eBay, and Dragon Man from FF Classics is going from a LOW price of $400 to a high of $650 for a packaged Buy It Now deal. That's CRAZY!

 

I got one VERY early after its release, on eBay, and I think I paid maybe $50-$75 for it. I don't know if I can research my eBay history back that far.

 

Makes me wonder how much money I have sitting in my action figure room (once known as my computer room, when I still used my desktop computer!) if I were to sell everything. I never would, love my collection too much. But wow, that price range for Dragon Man really puts some things into perspective.

[DSmith]

I'm gonna stop checking after this, but also see that the X-Men Classics Iceman "Ultimate" variant is going for $150 on eBay, but Bobby Drake variant is going for $200, currently discounted to $180.

 

I guess it paid to keep up with these figures as they were being released before prices gradually became so inflated. I think I got Bobby Drake for around $50.

[CharrdWood]

tl;dr...

 

BAFs...Sentinel, M.O.D.O.K., Iron Monger...Galactus if you didn't get the MU MasterWorks version (which is better)...Red Hulk...Annihilus...FFF...I think that about covers must-have BAFs...unless you're an X-Men kinda guy...