Jump to content

What Other Line Could Possibly Dethrone Legends?


DarthOdette

Recommended Posts

Not to be a nay-sayer or invite any doom and gloom, but Marvel Legends did crash and burn at the end of the ToyBiz run.  Impossible to find variants, store exclusive waves, rising costs, and other frustrations plagued the last releases.  

 

I never really got in to the ToyBiz Marvel Legends, and was drawn in to the 3 3/4" Marvel Universe line.  I started picking up the MCU Legends figures in 6" scale in parallel to the 3 3/4" releases, and then started really picking up whole waves when the line re-branded as Marvel Legends Infinite with the King Thor / Odin wave.

 

Since the "current" line has been running I think that Hasbro is achieving a close to perfect balance of collector quality and kid-accessible (not kid-friendly since that leads to the pandering of spring-fired missiles and all that nonsense) appeal.  With the exception of Walmart exclusives (I know they're part of the strategy to get more figures to market, but there's a reason Walmart will never beat Amazon in the distribution game) the retailer incentives add further depth to the line beyond the waves that big boxes stock.  

 

As long as Hasbro doesn't backslide the way they have with the 5 POA Star Wars figures, kill the line the way they did with G.I. Joe, or reach ToyBiz's levels of impossible to find figures then they are doing everything right as far as I can see.  

 

Funko POPs are the only other thing on the market right now that I think has a comparable level of interest from both collectors and kids.  I'm just guessing on that, really, since I don't understand them or their appeal really.  But, from what I see at various comic shops, other kitschy retailers, and big box stores there seems to be a huge following for them.  

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, BradMan said:

Not to be a nay-sayer or invite any doom and gloom, but Marvel Legends did crash and burn at the end of the ToyBiz run.  Impossible to find variants, store exclusive waves, rising costs, and other frustrations plagued the last releases.  

 

I never really got in to the ToyBiz Marvel Legends, and was drawn in to the 3 3/4" Marvel Universe line.  I started picking up the MCU Legends figures in 6" scale in parallel to the 3 3/4" releases, and then started really picking up whole waves when the line re-branded as Marvel Legends Infinite with the King Thor / Odin wave.

 

Since the "current" line has been running I think that Hasbro is achieving a close to perfect balance of collector quality and kid-accessible (not kid-friendly since that leads to the pandering of spring-fired missiles and all that nonsense) appeal.  With the exception of Walmart exclusives (I know they're part of the strategy to get more figures to market, but there's a reason Walmart will never beat Amazon in the distribution game) the retailer incentives add further depth to the line beyond the waves that big boxes stock.  

 

As long as Hasbro doesn't backslide the way they have with the 5 POA Star Wars figures, kill the line the way they did with G.I. Joe, or reach ToyBiz's levels of impossible to find figures then they are doing everything right as far as I can see.  

 

Funko POPs are the only other thing on the market right now that I think has a comparable level of interest from both collectors and kids.  I'm just guessing on that, really, since I don't understand them or their appeal really.  But, from what I see at various comic shops, other kitschy retailers, and big box stores there seems to be a huge following for them.  

 

 

 

Absolutely, I wouldn’t say that’s doom and gloom at all, it’s the truth!  Sometimes lines and companies get too big for their britches 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, DarthOdette said:

Kimberly is about it for me, but I’m really only interested in completing the original team and the Dino thunder team

I want the MMPR movie versions of the characters, if they did them in 2-packs with their ninja counterparts I'd flipping flip out, but if they only did them in their armors I'd probably buy them too. That's why I'm holding out on these.

Other than those I'd want the wild force ones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, memocromatico said:

I want the MMPR movie versions of the characters, if they did them in 2-packs with their ninja counterparts I'd flipping flip out, but if they only did them in their armors I'd probably buy them too. That's why I'm holding out on these.

Other than those I'd want the wild force ones.

It’s funny, before Hasbro started the lightning collection, I had no intentions of buying power rangers.  I loved them when I was a kid, but Bandai’s Line wasn’t worth it to me 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think toy lines rise and fall with what's popular, and eventually I think super hero movies might fall out of popularity. Currently I can see the star wars black series line as the only main competition, but in the future I can see Mcfarlane's DC figures and possibly the power rangers figures (if they make a movie that becomes popular enough) beating marvel legends.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, DarthOdette said:

It’s funny, before Hasbro started the lightning collection, I had no intentions of buying power rangers.  I loved them when I was a kid, but Bandai’s Line wasn’t worth it to me 

I've always wanted rangers... but never found any figures that I appreciated enough.  I never expected to actually want the figures once Hasbro obtained the licence. 

I hope they get Ghostbusters next 😛

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, komododragin said:

I think toy lines rise and fall with what's popular, and eventually I think super hero movies might fall out of popularity. Currently I can see the star wars black series line as the only main competition, but in the future I can see Mcfarlane's DC figures and possibly the power rangers figures (if they make a movie that becomes popular enough) beating marvel legends.

Makes perfect sense to me

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, DarthOdette said:

Do you think one of their other lines could be strong enough to beat out legends?  Be it Star Wars, Overwatch, or power rangers?

I don't see it happening but its just my speculation, I think overwatch will only be good for a couple years worth of figures

I really do like the new power rangers though, I haven't got any but I want the og set for sure, and there is a lot of possibility lines they could do there im sure ( my power ranger knowledge is just the 1st gen).

and star wars, its really weird,at least for me. years ago toy and figure collecting only meant one thing to me.. STAR WARS! but it seems that market has dipped? might just be me but I don't feel the star wars collecting urges anymore =/ and I hate that honestly

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't see any of the companies like Mezco, NECA making a push to be the next Hasbro. I think they are content just the way they are. They really can delve into any property, pull a few character licenses and make due. They're both good independent companies that do a great business without having to commit to some huge mass output. If they haven't made a push to get out past Hasbro at this point I don't think it's gonna happen.

SH. Figuarts and Mafex are cool, but waaaay overpriced and I find are very delicate. And honestly, the product does not justify the price.

Mattel blew their chance. I think they're content producing for the WWE combine and picking up Hasbro's sloppy seconds like Jurassic World (which they're actually doing better IMO). McFarlane has a legit chance of reclaiming the throne but I do believe they will have a hard time usurping the 6" inch standard right now if they intend on going the 7" route. I'm not just basing it on my pure preference, I just think the 1/12 scale is the way everyone is leaning right now and the way many of the fans are used to and pretty much invested into right now. Trying to get everyone to move to a 7" scale just seems like a larger hurdle, not to say it can't be done. I think McFarlane has the ability, I just don't know if Todd himself has the desire to do it or even the discipline not to return to his old ways.

To me the biggest threat to Hasbro at this time is JazzWares, the producers of the 6" Fortnite figures. If anyone's picked up one of these they've found that this is by far the closest to a Marvel Legends as any product on the market right now. They have as good, or better articulation as ML and the sculpts are comparable. This company has former employees from McFarlane, Mattel and most importantly, Toybiz. That's a pretty good database of what does and doesn't work in the industry today. I'm a fan and it's taking everything in me to keep from getting tied up in this line. They are a little on the small side to fit in with the ML line but I think that was done intentionally to make sure they are easily differentiated from the 7" line, but they are doing some good stuff. They have tons of accessories, realistic looking weapons, interchangeable face plates and good sculpt and paint work. Seriously, this is Hasbro's biggest threat. I really, really wish they woulda got the DC license. Rather than approach it in the sense that they wanted to create their own scale like McFarlane did (always does), I think they woulda tackled it head to head by going in scale with ML and then going above and beyond anything Hasbro is doing. Possibly even bringing back XL sized BAF. They just strike me as a hungry set of guys that got chewed up and spit out by the Big Boys and are ready to take the fight to them. The consummate underdog, just like Toybiz was. The bad thing is the Big Boys may just end up teaming together and taking them down, just like Toybiz.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

42 minutes ago, monron999 said:

To me the biggest threat to Hasbro at this time is JazzWares

I totally forgot about them! I think they'd have to get a bigger licence to challenge Marvel Legends, but then again, Fortnite is an endless pool of skins. So I dunno, if Jazzwares' Fortnite started making vehicles, or stuff for construction, or expand in any way I could see it compete with ML. Otherwise, I don't think Jazzwares has a real shot without a line to compete.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, michiganjfrog said:

I don't see it happening but its just my speculation, I think overwatch will only be good for a couple years worth of figures

Agree with this, there’s only so much they can do.  Limited in characters, skins, etc.. and unlike fortnite or even Apex Legends (another battle royale game on the rise), Overwatch has been out for years and hasn’t introduced a vast plethora of characters in the much smaller period of time that fortnite has.

1 hour ago, michiganjfrog said:

might just be me but I don't feel the star wars collecting urges anymore =/ and I hate that honestly

I too feel this, but I attribute it to the sheer fact that there’s WAY more to collect these days and I often partake and don’t have time for Star Wars.  I still love the brand, but I’ve had it for so long, I can try all these different flavors now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, monron999 said:

 

I don't see any of the companies like Mezco, NECA making a push to be the next Hasbro. I think they are content just the way they are. They really can delve into any property, pull a few character licenses and make due. They're both good independent companies that do a great business without having to commit to some huge mass output. If they haven't made a push to get out past Hasbro at this point I don't think it's gonna happen

 

I completely understand this.  NECA and Mezco put a lot of time and ‘love’ Into each piece (for the most part), and of they were to compete with Hasbro, the need to push out more and more product at a faster rate would be detrimental to the companies, especially to NECA, whom is a bit more independent and faces a bit more of the problems associated with figures (QC issues, breakage, etc.) then Mezco does. 

 

1 hour ago, monron999 said:

SH. Figuarts and Mafex are cool, but waaaay overpriced and I find are very delicate. And honestly, the product does not justify the price.

I 100% agree with you on Mafex. I think they are on par with SHF, but not for $40+ more.  I’m fine spending $50-$75 on an import I find it worth the price, but some of them don’t really live up to that price point.  Not to mention, they are seldom found at retail.

1 hour ago, monron999 said:

Mattel blew their chance

Yup...but I do agree with you on their Jurassic World line.  I only buy figures from the Legacy Collection, but I’ll be damned if I said I didn’t love to see good dinosaur toys filling up the aisels.  

 

And as far as you say with McFarlane, I think we need more time to see what it is they do.  DC is up in the air scale wise, and so far, they have 7” scale lines going on (Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, Fortnite, My Hero Academia, as well as 6” lines (Game of Thrones, Call of Duty).  You say they are yet to prove themselves the king of the 1/12 scale, but maybe they’re trying to compete with the 7” scale and dominate that market.  And as far as Todd goes, it seems he has been loosening his grip over creativity amongst his brands.

 

Jazzwares.  I have yet to pick one of them up, because I really really really like what McFarlane is doing and I want to support them.  But damn I’m tempted to every time I see one.   I think that you could be right there, but I think that we’d have to see what more they could do with a different brand.  It seems like Epic Games has a lot of control over their product (Fortnite).  I would wager that they had a mandate for hyper articulation.  I wonder if someone in the company is a big collector.  I don’t think McFarlane would’ve dove head first into hyper articulation were it not for their fortnite success.  So if Jazzwares does the same with another brand like Apex Legends or any other hot brand and we see the same success and quality, then you may be right.”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, memocromatico said:

I totally forgot about them! I think they'd have to get a bigger licence to challenge Marvel Legends, but then again, Fortnite is an endless pool of skins. So I dunno, if Jazzwares' Fortnite started making vehicles, or stuff for construction, or expand in any way I could see it compete with ML. Otherwise, I don't think Jazzwares has a real shot without a line to compete.

Right, I think that and we need to see what else they can do outside of fortnite in my opinion.  Because even if they don’t do anything as popular, they can still better themselves by learning from other brands. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hasbro ML line fits my budget. I'm not rich like some of you that can afford to collect Mezco, SH Figuarts, and other $50-$70 figures, so the $20-$25 price point is ideal for me in collecting figures in the 6' scale & I also just collect 1 single line of figures & that's ML. If the DC line was doing figures like Hasbro is, I'd be collecting them as well like I used to when I collected both TB & the 4HM sculpted DCUC line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, Gigantor said:

Hasbro ML line fits my budget. I'm not rich like some of you that can afford to collect Mezco, SH Figuarts, and other $50-$70 figures, so the $20-$25 price point is ideal for me in collecting figures in the 6' scale & I also just collect 1 single line of figures & that's ML. If the DC line was doing figures like Hasbro is, I'd be collecting them as well like I used to when I collected both TB & the 4HM sculpted DCUC line.

I think I have 8 Figuarts and 1 Mafex over the course of many years.  But $20-$30 figures are my bread and butter.  No way I could make my collection exclusively imports 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I personally don't see any line dethroning Legends anytime soon, because well it's Marvel and no other figure franchise is going to be as vastly popular and I doubt there will be anything anytime soon unless it was an entirely new franchise that just blew everything away with instant popularity, but if say another Marvel line came out that looked as good or better then Legends and was at a lower or the same price point well that would be the only contender

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Lord_Scareglow said:

I personally don't see any line dethroning Legends anytime soon, because well it's Marvel and no other figure franchise is going to be as vastly popular and I doubt there will be anything anytime soon unless it was an entirely new franchise that just blew everything away with instant popularity, but if say another Marvel line came out that looked as good or better then Legends and was at a lower or the same price point well that would be the only contender

And with as tight of a grip Hasbro has, that’s probably not super likely 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/9/2019 at 10:10 AM, DarthOdette said:

While I do think the new Nightcrawler is the best version we’ve ever had, I definitely don’t disagree about integrating lightning collection’s articulation into the rest of their lines.  

Definitely agree.  Nightcrawler is easily my favorite figure of the year.  But like Spider-Man, Nightcrawler really could use even more articulation to make the best possible version of the character.  

 

On 8/9/2019 at 10:14 AM, leokearon said:

Depth is what I was talking about, the amount of Marvel Legends figures is mind-boggling while Black Series is getting better it still isn't no way as near as Marvel legends. While the Lightning Collection is going the Black Series route by starting with 4 figures a wave.

And on that, I agree.  But then, no property can hope to touch anything Marvel in terms of depth, so I stand by what I said that nothing can ever dethrone Legends in that sense.  But I do think that in other terms such as quality for the price point, or articulation for the price point other lines could have a chance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, greenlucario said:

Definitely agree.  Nightcrawler is easily my favorite figure of the year.  But like Spider-Man, Nightcrawler really could use even more articulation to make the best possible version of the character.  

 

And on that, I agree.  But then, no property can hope to touch anything Marvel in terms of depth, so I stand by what I said that nothing can ever dethrone Legends in that sense.  But I do think that in other terms such as quality for the price point, or articulation for the price point other lines could have a chance.

I agree

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, greenlucario said:

Definitely agree.  Nightcrawler is easily my favorite figure of the year.  But like Spider-Man, Nightcrawler really could use even more articulation to make the best possible version of the character.  

 

And on that, I agree.  But then, no property can hope to touch anything Marvel in terms of depth, so I stand by what I said that nothing can ever dethrone Legends in that sense.  But I do think that in other terms such as quality for the price point, or articulation for the price point other lines could have a chance.

Other lines could have a chance with one maybe two factors  but it is unlikely any toyline could will beat ML in all areas that it excels in 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...







Sign Up For The TNI Newsletter And Have The News Delivered To You!


Entertainment News International (ENI) is the #1 popular culture network for adult fans all around the world.
Get the scoop on all the popular comics, games, movies, toys, and more every day!

Contact and Support

Advertising | Submit News | Contact ENI | Privacy Policy

©Entertainment News International - All images, trademarks, logos, video, brands and images used on this website are registered trademarks of their respective companies and owners. All Rights Reserved. Data has been shared for news reporting purposes only. All content sourced by fans, online websites, and or other fan community sources. Entertainment News International is not responsible for reporting errors, inaccuracies, omissions, and or other liablities related to news shared here. We do our best to keep tabs on infringements. If some of your content was shared by accident. Contact us about any infringements right away - CLICK HERE