Unexpected shelfwarmers

[Hogun]

Has anyone seen Marvel Legends who were thought to be highly anticipated only to end up shelfwarming? Also, what are some surprising hard to find figures? I was really surprised to see Shuri of all figures shelfwarming the pegs. I was a bit surprised to find Gambit shefwarming, but he is passed 2-per-case, so that is somewhat justified. I've also seen Hydro-Man shelfwarm pegs for whatever reason. Some exclusives that I have seen shelfwarming the racks are Emma Frost, Binary form Captain Marvel and Infamous Iron Man. Like, what the hell? I thought people wanted those.

Cannonball was the biggest surprise for me when it comes to somewhat hard to find figures. I thought people weren't ready to pay full price for half a figure.

[memocromatico]

I was surprised to see War Machine pegwarm this year, even before the Iron Patriot was announced he was pretty easy to find.

[Lord_Scareglow]

Surprise Pegwarmers (In Toronto Canada)

Polaris (Warlock Wave) - I would have thought since it was the only Polaris available at the time people would have been clamoring to get her, I mean I get why Dazzler peg warmed

Beetle (Vulture Wings Wave) - After people asked for him for so damn long and complained about only getting lady beetle, this figure is still peg warming super hard to this day

Namor (Okoye Wave) - Really surprised me he peg warmed and still is, people really wanted this version of him so I presumed

Gwenpool - really startled me she peg warmed so hard, and still is peg warming so hard, she was a highy demanded figure I thought, I was honestly so scared I'd never find her when she came out, now nobody can't not find her

X-23 (Sasquatch Wave) - Really was weird how fast she peg warmed, I was sure people wanted a finally good looking X-23 figure for their collection

Ant-Man (Cull Obsidian Wave) + Wasp (Cull Wave) - Both of these blew my mind extra specially such a great figure like Wasp, and such a huge improvement type figure like Ant-Man, and these figures are still peg warming so hard, they might just win the ultimate peg warming award of all time (?)

Dagger - I am baffled Dagger is such a peg warmer, you can't just buy Cloak and leave dagger, what is going on here?, wouldn't eveyone have thought if you buy one you must buy the other

X-23 Wolverine - Like X-Force X-23 , do people just not like X-23 at all? this figure I was sure was going to be sought after

Lady Deadpool - I thought people were into this figure and really wanted it, when they didn't have it they sure seemed to be demanding it, I sure was, but apparently it gets nothing but hate, like serious hate, people bad mouth this figure worse then X-Pool, I don't get it I love the figure

Gambit - even though he was double packed, He sat on shelves forever and is still sitting on most shelves, I was certain everyone wanted Gambit, it's Gambit, Skullbuster sold better then he did so it seems

Spider Woman (Julia) - Don't get it, wasn't this a huge figure for people?, apparently it seems chicks just don't sell well, she is still warming it up on the pegs I would have thought Spider-Man from that wave would have warmed, but he's impossible to find

Infamous Iron Man - Still warming pegs around my way so hard from the moment he showed up, it was an exclusive nobody wanted for real I guess

Everything 80th (except exclusives) - Everyone has a million of these figs and sets way tooo much

All of the 10th Anniversary MCU stuff - still everyone has 4000 of these things, all of them never going away

 

 

[bashpics99]

9 hours ago, Lord_Scareglow said:

Surprise Pegwarmers (In Toronto Canada)

Polaris (Warlock Wave) - I would have thought since it was the only Polaris available at the time people would have been clamoring to get her, I mean I get why Dazzler peg warmed

Beetle (Vulture Wings Wave) - After people asked for him for so damn long and complained about only getting lady beetle, this figure is still peg warming super hard to this day

Namor (Okoye Wave) - Really surprised me he peg warmed and still is, people really wanted this version of him so I presumed

Gwenpool - really startled me she peg warmed so hard, and still is peg warming so hard, she was a highy demanded figure I thought, I was honestly so scared I'd never find her when she came out, now nobody can't not find her

X-23 (Sasquatch Wave) - Really was weird how fast she peg warmed, I was sure people wanted a finally good looking X-23 figure for their collection

Ant-Man (Cull Obsidian Wave) + Wasp (Cull Wave) - Both of these blew my mind extra specially such a great figure like Wasp, and such a huge improvement type figure like Ant-Man, and these figures are still peg warming so hard, they might just win the ultimate peg warming award of all time (?)

Dagger - I am baffled Dagger is such a peg warmer, you can't just buy Cloak and leave dagger, what is going on here?, wouldn't eveyone have thought if you buy one you must buy the other

X-23 Wolverine - Like X-Force X-23 , do people just not like X-23 at all? this figure I was sure was going to be sought after

Lady Deadpool - I thought people were into this figure and really wanted it, when they didn't have it they sure seemed to be demanding it, I sure was, but apparently it gets nothing but hate, like serious hate, people bad mouth this figure worse then X-Pool, I don't get it I love the figure

Gambit - even though he was double packed, He sat on shelves forever and is still sitting on most shelves, I was certain everyone wanted Gambit, it's Gambit, Skullbuster sold better then he did so it seems

Spider Woman (Julia) - Don't get it, wasn't this a huge figure for people?, apparently it seems chicks just don't sell well, she is still warming it up on the pegs I would have thought Spider-Man from that wave would have warmed, but he's impossible to find

Infamous Iron Man - Still warming pegs around my way so hard from the moment he showed up, it was an exclusive nobody wanted for real I guess

Everything 80th (except exclusives) - Everyone has a million of these figs and sets way tooo much

All of the 10th Anniversary MCU stuff - still everyone has 4000 of these things, all of them never going away

 

 

Great list, i would also add Songbird.

I tend to cut some slack to double-packed figures, makes sense they would stick around longer than the others, especially when they don't have a BAF part.

I think the 10th/80th stuff just highlights that people are averse to paying more than the "normal" $20 price for ML figures .  And after seeing almost all of the 10th anniv sets get heavily marked down,  I'm sure many collectors were smarter when it came to the 80th line and held off on purchasing them as quickly.  It didn't help that major retailers were both a bit slow to get the 80th stuff on the shelves, and then seemed to only plan on having space on the shelves for them for a few weeks.  Walmart marked their's  down ridiculously quickly which cut into every other retailers' sales imo. 

Your observation that "chicks just don't sell well" may be impolitic but unfortunately does seem to be the case.  Yes there are  probably an equal number of male figures that don't sell either but since there are many more male characters produced, the  rate of pegwarming seems lower for male characters. From last year, i would suggest Storm, Psylocke, mcu Black Widow all sold well.  I'm not sure you can make a case that any of the other female figures did.  Don't get me wrong, i'm glad hasbro is making figures for all these female characters but they often don't sell well at retail.

I would also suggest that the BAF choice makes a big difference. Polaris, Beetle, Namor , Dagger, Spider-Woman all come from waves that didn't have BAFs that were universally well-received.  Note that Black Cat and Silver Sable from this year's Kingpin wave don't seem to be sticking around as much as say Blink and Forge, for instance.   I'd be curious to know whether people think the lack of BAF hurts sales of stuff like the vintage waves, i'm not sure about it myself.

All this being said, worth noting that calling a figure a pegwarmer is in no way a judgement on the quality of a figure.  Most of the figures people have listed are well-executed versions of the characters, imo.

[RyanDaly]

3 minutes ago, bashpics99 said:

Your observation that "chicks just don't sell well" may be impolitic but unfortunately does seem to be the case.  Yes there are  probably an equal number of male figures that don't sell either but since there are many more male characters produced, the  rate of pegwarming seems lower for male characters.

From my own experience, my local Walgreens has had at eight to ten Invisible Woman figures in stock since she was released two years ago. They also have the same number of Magik figures. Conversely, I've never seen the Human Torch or Thing at that store. I have no idea if they ordered the same number and the guys just flew off the shelves while the ladies couldn't move. I do know it's not a very wealthy or populated area, so I'm amazed that they ordered as many as ten Invisible Woman and Magik figures at all, especially when they couldn't move the first one.

[Hogun]

1 hour ago, bashpics99 said:

Great list, i would also add Songbird.

I tend to cut some slack to double-packed figures, makes sense they would stick around longer than the others, especially when they don't have a BAF part.

I think the 10th/80th stuff just highlights that people are averse to paying more than the "normal" $20 price for ML figures .  And after seeing almost all of the 10th anniv sets get heavily marked down,  I'm sure many collectors were smarter when it came to the 80th line and held off on purchasing them as quickly.  It didn't help that major retailers were both a bit slow to get the 80th stuff on the shelves, and then seemed to only plan on having space on the shelves for them for a few weeks.  Walmart marked their's  down ridiculously quickly which cut into every other retailers' sales imo. 

Your observation that "chicks just don't sell well" may be impolitic but unfortunately does seem to be the case.  Yes there are  probably an equal number of male figures that don't sell either but since there are many more male characters produced, the  rate of pegwarming seems lower for male characters. From last year, i would suggest Storm, Psylocke, mcu Black Widow all sold well.  I'm not sure you can make a case that any of the other female figures did.  Don't get me wrong, i'm glad hasbro is making figures for all these female characters but they often don't sell well at retail.

I would also suggest that the BAF choice makes a big difference. Polaris, Beetle, Namor , Dagger, Spider-Woman all come from waves that didn't have BAFs that were universally well-received.  Note that Black Cat and Silver Sable from this year's Kingpin wave don't seem to be sticking around as much as say Blink and Forge, for instance.   I'd be curious to know whether people think the lack of BAF hurts sales of stuff like the vintage waves, i'm not sure about it myself.

All this being said, worth noting that calling a figure a pegwarmer is in no way a judgement on the quality of a figure.  Most of the figures people have listed are well-executed versions of the characters, imo.

I also tend to cut some slack to figures that were double-packed. Which is why I didn't mention Ant-Man and Wasp. Honestly, I was so surprised that Songbird pegwarmed for so long, especially since she was fan-voted action figure. I don't think anybody wanted Lady Deadpool to be double-packed.

I do agree with you that the BAF choice does make a difference. I did want to purchase classic Namor, but I held back on it until the right moment. Result, I found one at Wal-Mart for less than 10$. I held out on building Okoye because I was waiting to get a Nakia at a decent price. I just so happened to have her other pieces. It took me months before I finally caved in and purchased a Nakia at a Toy fair for 20$, and that's after smooth talking the owner into lowering the price.

[UsurperSmurf]

I know some people don't like to hear this but female figures just don't seem to sell that well and I'm never surprised to see one shelf warm. Sure there are the rare highly anticipated ones that sell like mad like Psylock or Storm but they are the exception.

[Atlantis]

I was pretty shocked to see Black Bolt peg warm, especially since I know how sought after he was when the figure was only available from the exclusive 2014 Thanos Imperative.

[Lord_Scareglow]

10 hours ago, Atlantis said:

I was pretty shocked to see Black Bolt peg warm, especially since I know how sought after he was when the figure was only available from the exclusive 2014 Thanos Imperative.

You know what, as soon as I saw Black Bolt I knew he was going to peg warm, he seemed like one of those figures alot of people wanted, and said they wanted but once he was released those people manifested as a small amount, and in honesty that figure bugs me because his color isn't right, some off black dark navy, he's black bolt not navy bolt, I guess like me I kind of always felt as soon as I saw Black Bolt, we'd get another one at some point so I passed so I think others felt that way, but in the end i bought him because of 5 bucks , still want a more accurate figure

[leokearon]

11 hours ago, Atlantis said:

I was pretty shocked to see Black Bolt peg warm, especially since I know how sought after he was when the figure was only available from the exclusive 2014 Thanos Imperative.

That happens alot with exclusives, their demand is based on the fact they are exclusives and more than likely if anyone really wanted Black Bolt they probably would have found a way to get him. Also timing is a factor, the people who wanted Black Bolt back then, may not have been as interested in him when he finally did get a general release. It has happened in Transformers quite a bit

[michiganjfrog]

namor was pretty easy to find around here and that surprised me a bit

[Atlantis]

3 hours ago, Lord_Scareglow said:

You know what, as soon as I saw Black Bolt I knew he was going to peg warm, he seemed like one of those figures alot of people wanted, and said they wanted but once he was released those people manifested as a small amount, and in honesty that figure bugs me because his color isn't right, some off black dark navy, he's black bolt not navy bolt, I guess like me I kind of always felt as soon as I saw Black Bolt, we'd get another one at some point so I passed so I think others felt that way, but in the end i bought him because of 5 bucks , still want a more accurate figure

I hear you- but a LOT of the characters who were called "Black" fill -in -the- blank, weren't actually colored like that in the comics (mostly inker laziness- the blue color was just supposed to help outline definition, not become the entire suit) . I too prefer an actual black suit for him, but the navy blue didn't bother me.

[Atlantis]

On ‎10‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 3:25 AM, RyanDaly said:

From my own experience, my local Walgreens has had at eight to ten Invisible Woman figures in stock since she was released two years ago. They also have the same number of Magik figures. Conversely, I've never seen the Human Torch or Thing at that store. I have no idea if they ordered the same number and the guys just flew off the shelves while the ladies couldn't move. I do know it's not a very wealthy or populated area, so I'm amazed that they ordered as many as ten Invisible Woman and Magik figures at all, especially when they couldn't move the first one.

Just the opposite here. Invisible Woman was here and then (no pun intended) she wasn't. Frankly I wasn't all that impressed with her but I've grown to really like the figure; biggest beef is that they didn't give us a clear variant. Magik is still here, and Medusa, wow, literally gathering dust. But that doesn't surprise me as much, because it was such a blah figure. That clump of plastic that's supposed to be hair just doesn't do it for me.

[ADour]

1 minute ago, Atlantis said:

I hear you- but a LOT of the characters who were called "Black" fill -in -the- blank, weren't actually colored like that in the comics (mostly inker laziness- the blue color was just supposed to help outline definition, not become the entire suit) . I too prefer an actual black suit for him, but the navy blue didn't bother me.

It wasn't laziness, it was just the color limitations until more modern coloring technologies appeared.

I can't blame them for using navy blue, since it helps emulate what many readers can be more used to. This even happens in the comics nowadays, with modern illustrations often using blue for highlights. It's just a case of accustomation vs. technicalities.

Something similar happens to the Iron Man Stealth Armor. Most people will tell you the armor is blue, merchandise of it is blue, even action figures that are only inspired by it (like the Extremis Armor variant from RotML) are blue. However, the suit is in-story stated to be black, and its color scheme is based on a real-life black stealth jet. And despite the fact I'm die-hard on technicalities, I can't deny that blue is the color more associated with it.

[leokearon]

8 hours ago, ADour said:

It wasn't laziness, it was just the color limitations until more modern coloring technologies appeared.

I can't blame them for using navy blue, since it helps emulate what many readers can be more used to. This even happens in the comics nowadays, with modern illustrations often using blue for highlights. It's just a case of accustomation vs. technicalities.

Something similar happens to the Iron Man Stealth Armor. Most people will tell you the armor is blue, merchandise of it is blue, even action figures that are only inspired by it (like the Extremis Armor variant from RotML) are blue. However, the suit is in-story stated to be black, and its color scheme is based on a real-life black stealth jet. And despite the fact I'm die-hard on technicalities, I can't deny that blue is the color more associated with it.

Wasn't there was even a cover which even hyped the Stealth Armours true colours

[bashpics99]

On 11/2/2019 at 5:43 AM, Atlantis said:

I was pretty shocked to see Black Bolt peg warm, especially since I know how sought after he was when the figure was only available from the exclusive 2014 Thanos Imperative.

It seems like a lot of times former sdcc exclusive figures don't sell that well.  I think the classic collectors are likely to either buy the sdcc set when it comes out or acquire the figure loose via ebay afterwards, and thus there isn't as much demand when the figure eventually gets a mass release.  Malekith & Medusa come to mind too.  One exception is Gladiator, but i chalk that up to him coming with the head for a much-desired BAF. 

[ADour]

10 hours ago, leokearon said:

Wasn't there was even a cover which even hyped the Stealth Armours true colours

Yup, the cover to the Stealth Armor's very first appearance called Iron Man the "now-ebon Avenger."

[shatonamime]

pretty sure I got punisher from walgreens after a sale. That was surprising.

[nieman257]

Most recently, it's been Gambit. It shocked me. Honestly, I don't think he may even get a second version.

[BooyakabungaBuzz]

On 11/2/2019 at 6:38 PM, Atlantis said:

I hear you- but a LOT of the characters who were called "Black" fill -in -the- blank, weren't actually colored like that in the comics (mostly inker laziness- the blue color was just supposed to help outline definition, not become the entire suit) . I too prefer an actual black suit for him, but the navy blue didn't bother me.

 

On 11/2/2019 at 7:08 PM, ADour said:

It wasn't laziness, it was just the color limitations until more modern coloring technologies appeared.

I can't blame them for using navy blue, since it helps emulate what many readers can be more used to. This even happens in the comics nowadays, with modern illustrations often using blue for highlights. It's just a case of accustomation vs. technicalities.

Something similar happens to the Iron Man Stealth Armor. Most people will tell you the armor is blue, merchandise of it is blue, even action figures that are only inspired by it (like the Extremis Armor variant from RotML) are blue. However, the suit is in-story stated to be black, and its color scheme is based on a real-life black stealth jet. And despite the fact I'm die-hard on technicalities, I can't deny that blue is the color more associated with it.

The example that always comes to mind for me is FF's 80s costumes: white trims, BLACK fill. It had been explicitly stated in the issues' dialogue among characters, albeit probably only a very few number of times.

I'm holding my breath in hope that when the figures depicting this era are released, they're properly colored.

[BooyakabungaBuzz]

On topic, I'm surprised to see the figures being listed above as pegwarmers.

Here on the Alabama gulf coast, all I ever see is Lizard BAF Wave Spider-Woman and Gwenpool. Walgreens' shelves will always carry, like, ONE Medusa or Yellow-Suited Daredevil, maybe a Thundra or Namor. Until recently, there was absolutely no shortage of Time Heist-Suited Cap, but that wasn't a surprise.

[ADour]

2 minutes ago, BooyakabungaBuzz said:

The example that always comes to mind for me is FF's 80s costumes: white trims, BLACK fill. It had been explicitly stated in the issues' dialogue among characters, albeit probably only a very few number of times.

I'm holding my breath in hope that when the figures depicting this era are released, they're properly colored.

And for an example of common misconception versus reality, only now through you I learned they were supposed to be outright black, not just dark blue.

I'm hoping for the same when Hasbro revisits the Stealth Iron Man Armor. However, I know it's more than likely it'll be colored blue. Personally, I'd settle for a desaturated dark blue.

[Atlantis]

On ‎11‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 4:08 PM, ADour said:

It wasn't laziness, it was just the color limitations until more modern coloring technologies appeared.

I can't blame them for using navy blue, since it helps emulate what many readers can be more used to. This even happens in the comics nowadays, with modern illustrations often using blue for highlights. It's just a case of accustomation vs. technicalities.

Something similar happens to the Iron Man Stealth Armor. Most people will tell you the armor is blue, merchandise of it is blue, even action figures that are only inspired by it (like the Extremis Armor variant from RotML) are blue. However, the suit is in-story stated to be black, and its color scheme is based on a real-life black stealth jet. And despite the fact I'm die-hard on technicalities, I can't deny that blue is the color more associated with it.

I'm not sure that they didn't have the technology already. All throughout the 70s Gene Colan used heavy inks on Tomb of Dracula; early Batman also had heavier use of black instead of the blue. In fact you can see the blue gradually take over, until they wound up just using a heavy patch of black on the forehead of the cowl. Then there was a period in late 70s-early 80s where for a few issues, Batman was just flat black and grey. When X-Men debuted Storm, they decided to dump the "blue is black" theme and just kept the black, using white as the highlighter/liner, which really looks great. At least there wont be that issue with her when Hasbro makes her!

[leokearon]

There were colouring limitations and techniques. When Andrew Wildman was asked to go over to the US to do Transformers (and later other works) he only agresd if he was allowed to bring over Uk colour techniques as the US colouring methods were weaker

[ADour]

1 hour ago, Atlantis said:

I'm not sure that they didn't have the technology already. All throughout the 70s Gene Colan used heavy inks on Tomb of Dracula; early Batman also had heavier use of black instead of the blue. In fact you can see the blue gradually take over, until they wound up just using a heavy patch of black on the forehead of the cowl. Then there was a period in late 70s-early 80s where for a few issues, Batman was just flat black and grey. When X-Men debuted Storm, they decided to dump the "blue is black" theme and just kept the black, using white as the highlighter/liner, which really looks great. At least there wont be that issue with her when Hasbro makes her!

I thought you were pointing out the outright use of blue, not the lack of more use of black. Like leokearon said, the colouring limitations and techniques were there. Additionally, you have to think how time and money consuming it would be to make heavy use of black ink on the characters that had entirely black costumes, not just bits and pieces. Blue highlights were still going to be used, so why put more black when the blue highlights would still make it look blue?