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Why does Marvel Legends fail to make the characters that sell?


etoebben

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I believe picking the characters for the marvel legends is a no brainer. However companies like hasbro struggle with it. Why? Well maybe I am wrong but It seems to me pick the top selling comic covers of all time and make those characters. I really think they should produce a line of all the xmen in the yellow and blue costumesRelated image The worse part is it would be cheap to make. Reused heads and a few repaint bodies.

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because they need to make character that have a wide variety of people wants. Just because you think it would sell, doesn't mean that every one would want it. Look at the latest Mexico unboxing. 3 brand new and never before characters and people were giving out about them been included (Kree Sentry looking like a Marvel Masher notwithstanding). Many collector have been asking for them and for hasbro to make obscure character but then they go saying that they don't want them

If this is about them doing the same character, it is basically someone first wave. They have to do the same character because they want to draw more people into the line by doing a character THEY don't have yet in order to start collecting. There is also the fact that many collectors as a One-Character or Waredrobe collector as in they buy only one character and/or his various costumes only, such as someone only buying Wolverine and nothing else.

As for new character, they do get alot a brand new characters done. Plenty in fact. Some don't think it's enough because, forgive me for saying this again, it's not what THEY wanted. Them themselves. not anyone else. They don't think that other would want them and are usually proved to be wrong. They can't make a wave all new character cause that wouldn't sell as much as you think.

as for what version they select, this again is to appeal to a wide variety of fans. Hasbro has been doing the Jim Lee style of X-men for the fans but many people want other periods of X-men. I personally want the Chris Claremont period of X-men or the original X-factor. But I know that Hasbro will eventually get to them so I am patient. But I know that many people would complain that it wasn't that version. For example, the Punk Storm cause people to say Hasbro doesn't listen and they should have done Jim Lee version, even though it is a HUGE part of Storm's history and is a HIGH fan Favorite. (personally it was fantastic).

Finally, at least for mean, there is the Store and Disney telling them who to put in there. They say that they will only take a wave for such and such a character or if there is a movie. They have a say most of the time not Hasbro.

 

But I do want those suits.

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For me personally I think the character choices for the last waves have been pretty great and consistent. Like for the Venom wave it makes sense for them to include Venom and Carnage. (Even though they already have them) they needed to include those big names in the wave. And Adding 4 other new characters we never had before in legends form worked out pretty good. 

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Asides from venom, no one else in that entire wave has ever appealed to me personally. I really think they went overboard with all the other Spider related symbiote characters. Venom/Carnage were cool Spiderman villains, but after that, it became overkill with umpteenth more Spider looking characters.  With the mixture of MCU characters mixed in with comic based characters, I no longer collect entire waves. If the BAF is a comic based character such as Kingpin, I'll just buy him alone on ebay as much of the wave he comes in has characters I really don't care for.  Even if the entire wave is comic based, if some of the characters are not any of my favs or they decided to make it a modern comic version, I'll be skipping it. 

 

We've been clamoring for a classic IM for yrs now, they still haven't done him but keep pouring out 1 MCU IM after another. Same with classic Thor, I haven't bought a Thor fig since the TB Giantman BAF version, which is the best classic Thor they ever did, but is now a bit undersized in the newer Hasbro ML Line.  I'll wait till they give us classic Thor.  I don't collect flavor of the month figs or figs that had just 1 issue or even 1 panel app. Hasbro is going overboard with the DP figs as well. Instead of a DP in his underwear or one with a Madcap head, they could have used those slots for more Alpha Flight members that have never been done before such as Shaman, NorthStar, Aurora & Snowbird to go long with Sasquatch , Guardian they just made & Puck, though a newer more articulated Puck is needed as the one they made has a pin head & a tad too small. He's a dwarf, not a midget.

 

There are a ton of AF fans out there & Hasbro just keeps neglecting them. They finally satisfied FF fans & it looks like they are gonna do their best to finish off the Jim Lee era X-Men which I'm glad, cuz I will get em all as long as they redo Colossus cuz no one asked for that video game version. A classic "All new, all different" X-Men boxset has been a huge want of X-Men fans that would include, T-Bird, Banshee, 1st app Storm, 1st app Wolvy. Hasbro makes Hyperion & Gladiator, the respective leaders of the Imperial Guard & the Squadron Supreme then  quit. Luckily you can use Speed Demon as another member of the Squad. But where are the other members of both teams? At the very least, make a few more of the core members . Imperial guard is a big part of the X-universe, throw  1 in each X-wave. Where is Nimrod & Strong Guy at?  I'd like to see Hasbro do a classic 1st app Doc Samson  & classic 1st app Luke Cage in his powerman costume as a 2 pack with classic Ironfist.  Where's classic Hulk at? MCU Hulk's are overdone.

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On 10/17/2018 at 8:34 PM, KiloinNorcal said:

If they released every popular character in their most iconic costume, most collectors would be satisfied and not buy all the one-off style versions. Hence why rumor has it we are getting a black costume Emma Frost before the classic white one.

Exactly, that's the reason we're still waiting on guys like Beast, Nightcrawler and updated versions of Hulk and Thor. If they do them all in one pop they would run outta figures to keep us on the hook in the future. By spattering all the "big wants" throughout the waves and giving us some less wanted yet well received characters like Punk Storm and Disco Dazzler they can do some decent waves that us collectors will be somewhat content with only to save the more wanted figures to be the main draws in another wave. It's all about longevity of the brand. Personally I don't like how thinly they spread it out cuz I think they could put more of our big wants in every wave but I also understand it's important to extend ML into the future for as long as possible. The biggest problem I see is maybe a sudden termination of the line or maybe a major change causing a stall or reboot of the line similar to the TB/Hasbro change over that may cause some of these not done characters to fall into Limbo.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/17/2018 at 6:34 PM, KiloinNorcal said:

If they released every popular character in their most iconic costume, most collectors would be satisfied and not buy all the one-off style versions. Hence why rumor has it we are getting a black costume Emma Frost before the classic white one.

Agreed. That's also the reason why we got *that* Magneto ahead of red + purple Mags.

I happen to think Punk Storm is the best figure in that wave (along with Sabretooth...I personally am not as bothered with the smaller buck they used), but can't wait for TAS Storm. But more than any other Storm costume, I want her Giant-Sized X-men costume. Storm needs to take over from Wolverine as the character that gets a figure a wave!

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On 10/30/2018 at 3:20 PM, enzosaurusrex said:

Agreed. That's also the reason why we got *that* Magneto ahead of red + purple Mags.

I happen to think Punk Storm is the best figure in that wave (along with Sabretooth...I personally am not as bothered with the smaller buck they used), but can't wait for TAS Storm. But more than any other Storm costume, I want her Giant-Sized X-men costume. Storm needs to take over from Wolverine as the character that gets a figure a wave!

Ya, Storms never been that interesting a character to me. She should be extremely powerful but they never have her do anything remarkable. I do want a white costume Storm though.

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On 10/21/2018 at 10:31 PM, monron999 said:

Exactly, that's the reason we're still waiting on guys like Beast, Nightcrawler and updated versions of Hulk and Thor. 

Specifically in the case of Nightcrawler, there seems to be some sort of royalties issue. Dave Cockrum's widow said a few years ago that the family gets a bi-annual royalty check related to Nightcrawler that includes merchandise sales, but that those had gotten smaller in recent years because Marvel had cut down on the amount of figures of the character after they killed him off. 

That, coupled with Mezco reportedly saying they can't make any Nightcrawler figures because of the royalties issue, has led to the speculation that Hasbro isn't allowed to make Nightcrawler figures. I don't think they've made any Nightcrawler toys in quite a while, with the last one being that X-Force Nightcrawler figure they did in the Marvel Universe line some years back.

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46 minutes ago, watanabefan said:

Specifically in the case of Nightcrawler, there seems to be some sort of royalties issue. Dave Cockrum's widow said a few years ago that the family gets a bi-annual royalty check related to Nightcrawler that includes merchandise sales, but that those had gotten smaller in recent years because Marvel had cut down on the amount of figures of the character after they killed him off. 

That, coupled with Mezco reportedly saying they can't make any Nightcrawler figures because of the royalties issue, has led to the speculation that Hasbro isn't allowed to make Nightcrawler figures. I don't think they've made any Nightcrawler toys in quite a while, with the last one being that X-Force Nightcrawler figure they did in the Marvel Universe line some years back.

Last Nightcrawler I remember was the MU Giant size X-Men 6 pack.

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On 10/17/2018 at 6:34 PM, KiloinNorcal said:

If they released every popular character in their most iconic costume, most collectors would be satisfied and not buy all the one-off style versions. Hence why rumor has it we are getting a black costume Emma Frost before the classic white one.

This is pretty much it. They're milking the line too. If they did a year of the most wanted, what would the next year be? You mix it up with waves of A list, D list, comic, movie. You have a variety to sell the waves as a whole.

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The truth is, all these things come into play. It’s longevity of the brand, it’s bringing in new fans as collectors, royalty issues, listening to Disney’s dictations, being on a budget,  and giving the fans what they want and trying to please the highest number possible, but not all at once. It’s a balancing act. But we know, for sure, Hasbro has listened to the fans in numerous occasions and given us what we’ve asked for or made certain changes based on fan suggestion. 

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Well, for my part I think that Hasbro is pulling off the balancing act pretty well. Perfect? No, but pretty darn well consider all the factors involved. As an Old-School Kat, I'm thrilled to finally have figures like Dreadknight, Machine Man and Vance Astro on my shelf (which I thought I'd never see). Other figures too, like the Enchantress, the classic Ghost Rider, classic Black Widow, Gladiator, Malekith, etc.....these are all figures that are a dream come true for collectors like me, because back in the day, you'd only ever see top-tier heroes and villains. One of Marvel's great strengths as we all know is it's enormous cast of colourful obscurities. So far, I think Hasbro's doing a great job of making these characters while at the same time making the more current versions of characters.

The only thing I could ask Hasbro for would be an awesome version of my namesake and favourite Marvel side-character of all time, the Air-Walker!!! Oh...and a Classic Ronan the Accuser, Mar-vell, and classic Kree and Skrull soldiers. Give me these, and I'm in permanent Plastic collecting bliss!

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8 minutes ago, Air-Walker said:

Well, for my part I think that Hasbro is pulling off the balancing act pretty well. Perfect? No, but pretty darn well consider all the factors involved. As an Old-School Kat, I'm thrilled to finally have figures like Dreadknight, Machine Man and Vance Astro on my shelf (which I thought I'd never see). Other figures too, like the Enchantress, the classic Ghost Rider, classic Black Widow, Gladiator, Malekith, etc.....these are all figures that are a dream come true for collectors like me, because back in the day, you'd only ever see top-tier heroes and villains. One of Marvel's great strengths as we all know is it's enormous cast of colourful obscurities. So far, I think Hasbro's doing a great job of making these characters while at the same time making the more current versions of characters.

The only thing I could ask Hasbro for would be an awesome version of my namesake and favourite Marvel side-character of all time, the Air-Walker!!! Oh...and a Classic Ronan the Accuser, Mar-vell, and classic Kree and Skrull soldiers. Give me these, and I'm in permanent Plastic collecting bliss!

I agree, I don’t think anyone could do it any better. You can’t please everyone. But at least their not playing it super safe and are giving us more obscure characters as well as the icons. And I  really think you’ll see your Kree and Skrull soldiers soon. 

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5 minutes ago, JKenbok said:

I agree, I don’t think anyone could do it any better. You can’t please everyone. But at least their not playing it super safe and are giving us more obscure characters as well as the icons. And I  really think you’ll see your Kree and Skrull soldiers soon. 

Agreed! And yes, I feel you're right on the classic Kree and Skrull soldiers....waiting with fingers crossed and baited breath, lol.

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It would be nice to see them in one of these two-packs like the AIM and Hydrs soldiers. I’d be happy if they came one of each in a pack or two Skrull in one and two Kree in one. But I think we’re all waiting for Hand ninja two packs and maybe Hellfire club goon two packs as well. We’ll see what comes first. 

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I think you are mistaking what

On 10/16/2018 at 5:35 PM, etoebben said:

I believe picking the characters for the marvel legends is a no brainer. However companies like hasbro struggle with it. Why? Well maybe I am wrong but It seems to me pick the top selling comic covers of all time and make those characters. I really think they should produce a line of all the xmen in the yellow and blue costumesRelated image The worse part is it would be cheap to make. Reused heads and a few repaint bodies.

I think you are mistaking what you might want with a majority. Even if everyone in this thread said they wanted this version of the characters, that really wouldn't be a good representative of the entire hobby. I personally would have no interest in these characters in those generic X-Men outfits. I had no interest when they did the boxset of the original X-Men in those generic outfits. I do agree something like this cover could happen from a standpoint of low cost by using the same bodies with different headsculpts but I think people would complain about that if they did.

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43 minutes ago, JayC said:

I think you are mistaking what

I think you are mistaking what you might want with a majority. Even if everyone in this thread said they wanted this version of the characters, that really wouldn't be a good representative of the entire hobby. I personally would have no interest in these characters in those generic X-Men outfits. I had no interest when they did the boxset of the original X-Men in those generic outfits. I do agree something like this cover could happen from a standpoint of low cost by using the same bodies with different headsculpts but I think people would complain about that if they did.

Yes. That. I never understood the appeal in these cookie cutter uniformity style outfits. It takes away all the personality in the individual characters looks. Not saying they look bad or even that I dislike them, I just find it a bit boring. But point being-we all have our individual preferences. Some are bound to be disappointed

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