Hasbro Marvel Legends Series Zabu Build-a-Figure Wave Official Images and Info

[tarot]

On 2/21/2024 at 3:31 PM, Legender said:

Thats a pretty solid wave with a solid BAF (except for the repainted Thor) but as mentioned for lot of people, I can wait for sale prices. Maybe Wolfbane and Kazar are the must have!

That white ironman will peg soooooooooo bad LOL

At least the thor is not Thor Odinson. He is Black Winter who just used thors form. So it's a new character.

 

[toynewman]

Revealed today by Dan Yun the Hasbro Marvel Legends Series Zabu Build-a-Figure Wave featuring Ikaris, Black Winter (Thor), Marvel's Cable, Ka-Zar, Wolfsbane, Red Widow and Superior Iron Man with Marvel's Zabu Build-A-Figure. Will be a Fan Channel Exclusive and not available at Target or Walmart like the previous Void Build-a-Figure Wave. These will be available for pre-order Thursday, February 22 at 1:00pm ET from our sponsors BigBadToyStore.com and Entertainment Earth as well as Amazon!

[AndyL]

On 2/21/2024 at 11:12 AM, toynewman said:

Revealed today by Dan Yun the Hasbro Marvel Legends Series Zabu Build-a-Figure Wave featuring Ikaris, Black Winter (Thor), Marvel's Cable, Ka-Zar, Wolfsbane, Red Widow and Superior Iron Man with Marvel's Zabu Build-A-Figure. Will be a Fan Channel Exclusive and not available at Target or Walmart like the previous Void Build-a-Figure Wave. These will be available for pre-order Thursday, February 22 at 1:00pm ET from our sponsors BigBadToyStore.com and Entertainment Earth as well as Amazon!

Not a bad piece of news. Save me the trouble of even attempting to find these things out in the wild. I think Hasbro partnering with Amazon with this sort of thing is genius. Because those who dont't subscribe to Pulse+ or whatever it's called can also take advantage of the free shipping on Amazon.

 

I was just taking another look at these awesome photos and I just realized how terribly scary that Wolfsbane head sculpt is. Yikes! That's a tough mug to love. Hopefully the swap head from the Walgreens Moonstar figure will work with this figure.

[since83]

I wonder if this new release model is just going to be all BAF sets moving forward. 

[Lord_Scareglow]

Makes sense that Big box retailers won't be stocking this wave, this is perfect as a Fan Channel wave, probably a lot of Major retailers wouldn't see this on paper as a big seller being it's quite niche, I like the idea of them doing weirder mixed waves like this and having them out of big box stores, it's likely this was the only way they could do a wave of this sort.

Getting Zabu as a BAF also gives me hope we might get a BAF Lockjaw at some point.

[leokearon]

Not surprise they are keeping this Fan Channel, there isn't much for non comic fans to be really interested in, expect Iron Man and maybe Cable

[tarot]

On 2/21/2024 at 5:21 PM, Lord_Scareglow said:

Makes sense that Big box retailers won't be stocking this wave, this is perfect as a Fan Channel wave, probably a lot of Major retailers wouldn't see this on paper as a big seller being it's quite niche, I like the idea of them doing weirder mixed waves like this and having them out of big box stores, it's likely this was the only way they could do a wave of this sort.

Getting Zabu as a BAF also gives me hope we might get a BAF Lockjaw at some point.

Lockjaw is now a .....lock to be made now. I'm sorry. I'll show myself out.

[Nosferatuman62172]

I was expecting Zabu be a Guenwyvar retool, but it looks like he's all new. Animal figures are definitely one of Hasbros strong suits.

[Jormungand]

Not at all the wave I was expecting, but happy to see Ikaris, Red Widow, Ka-Zar and Wolfbane made the cut. I imagine the next Avengers?/Mixed? wave will have some of the other characters announced by DMB last year. Gotta have Nefaria! Zabu is a nice surprise and much, much better than the SDCC exclusive version I sold off years ago. I assume the knife tease is for Shanna... wonder if they will cover her head-to-toe in a body suit since her classic outfit is no longer PC. Original Zemo is a nice surprise, just wish we could buy him individually. 

[tarot]

On 2/21/2024 at 8:06 PM, Jormungand said:

 I assume the knife tease is for Shanna... wonder if they will cover her head-to-toe in a body suit since her classic outfit is no longer PC.

Nope. We now know it's for Skaar. 

[AndyL]

On 2/21/2024 at 10:51 AM, since83 said:

I wonder if this new release model is just going to be all BAF sets moving forward. 

 

On 2/21/2024 at 11:21 AM, Lord_Scareglow said:

Makes sense that Big box retailers won't be stocking this wave, this is perfect as a Fan Channel wave, probably a lot of Major retailers wouldn't see this on paper as a big seller being it's quite niche, I like the idea of them doing weirder mixed waves like this and having them out of big box stores, it's likely this was the only way they could do a wave of this sort.

I wonder if it's at least in part to the fact that Kazar is basically a mostly naked dude made of shredded muscle. Maybe a little far fetched but I have to believe this wouldn't have been able to fly on store shelves. At least not these days. And I know someone is bound to point out Weapon X but that was Wolverine. His massive popularity outweighed his nudity. No so for Kazar. Either way this is a great sign that maybe a Savage Land Rogue is no longer an impossibility. Especially if they plan to give Shanna fair treatment as Kazar.

[Reno]

I plan to pre-order the whole wave as soon as it goes up. Red Widow is the star for me. I also like the Black Winter, Ikaris and Superior Iron Man figures. I'll never be "happy" about buying a figure of a character more than once but the Cable, Wolfsbane, Ka-Zar and Zabu figures will all be replacing prior versions in my collection. Buying an "update" of a previously made character always makes me feel like I'm getting swindled as a consumer, but for some reason I choose to keep doing it anyway. That's completely on me.

Like others I'm not at all surprised to see that this wave is fan channel only. I honestly expect this to become more and more the norm going forward as it's evident to me that the big box retail stores like Target and Walmart are souring on carrying figures in general. I think that they've just been burned too much. I'm sure that they'll continue to carry the sure fire sellers like Spidey, but that might be it in the future. My local SuperWalmart basically quit already after the Black Panther Legacy wave and DC Multiverse Batman Future State figures. My local SuperTarget has been better than that - but are still clearly being far more selective and have skipped several entire waves that weren't fan channel only.

[since83]

I honestly doubt the big wigs at Target know anything about the make up of waves or who's in them or what they look like. All three of the last baf waves have been direct. Seems like only retro cards are in store. Like JayC said late last year, they are going to make smaller number runs on these. 

[tarot]

On 2/21/2024 at 8:24 PM, since83 said:

I honestly doubt the big wigs at Target know anything about the make up of waves or who's in them or what they look like. All three of the last baf waves have been direct. Seems like only retro cards are in store. Like JayC said late last year, they are going to make smaller number runs on these. 

Except they actually do. They get a run down of what's in the wave before they buy them. That's how we get leaks.

[TheArrow]

On 2/21/2024 at 2:22 PM, Reno said:

 

Like others I'm not at all surprised to see that this wave is fan channel only. I honestly expect this to become more and more the norm going forward as it's evident to me that the big box retail stores like Target and Walmart are souring on carrying figures in general. I think they've just burned too much. I'm sure that they'll continue to carry the sure fire sellers like Spidey, but that might be it in the future. My local Super Walmart basically quit already after the Black Panther Legacy wave and DC Multiverse Batman Future State figures. My local SuperTarget has been better than thay - but are still clearly being far more selective and have skipped several entire waves that weren't fan channel only.

I think Hasbro and the retailer clients pursue action figure lines because even though they are a small niche audience, they are a demonstrated CONSISTENT one..  There's not much growth in this market, but there is a somewhat proven stability.  The audience shifts from brand to brand, lending a illusion of growth.....for specific brands ( ie: GI Joe) but not for the overall market itself.  I think what they are aiming for is a price-point/format threshold, where interest drops off drastically over that point, so they can back off it and ride that crest going forward.   This is what I think speaks to all the aspects of the current figures: the costs, the retailers' offering, the packaging, the articulation, the accessories, paint apps, character selection,  etc....they are seeking out exactly what we will tolerate, and then intend to milk us for it.

[SpiderS]

Ka-Zar will sell a lot due to people trying to make ML custom Conan figure, add some bracelets, necklace and paint his hair and eyebrows black and you have super articulated Conan in the easiest way possible.   

[TheArrow]

On 2/21/2024 at 2:24 PM, since83 said:

I honestly doubt the big wigs at Target know anything about the make up of waves or who's in them or what they look like. All three of the last baf waves have been direct. Seems like only retro cards are in store. Like JayC said late last year, they are going to make smaller number runs on these. 

Retailer buyers--the ones that decide what products they carry ---are really just mid/lower-tier execs, especially concerning merch like toys. Target buyers have hundreds of thousands of items ( if not millions) to over-see and manage, I doubt they spend more than 30 minutes in a year considering something like Marvel Legends.

[Jormungand]

Ah, okay, well its been forever since they made a Skaar, and he had that terrible articulation. So I welcome him back into my collection.

[Marvel0805]

Well, after seeing the official images, the only one I'm pre-ordering (and likely getting at all) is Cable. Not going to buy a whole wave just to get Zabu, and I don't want Ka-zar with Zabu, so.......yeah. 

[JayC]

On 2/21/2024 at 3:41 PM, tarot said:

Except they actually do. They get a run down of what's in the wave before they buy them. That's how we get leaks.

They get a name, you expect someone at Target knows who Ka-Zar really is? That being said, no Target and Walmart didnt pass on this wave cause it had a Tarzan like character in it. They passed cause they know a wave like this isn't going to sell in large enough numbers for them to carry it especially if all the online places are carrying it. Target and Walmart will carry something like a Deadpool and Wolverine wave or will choose to carry certain exclusives where they dont have to worry about others competing for their sales and such. IDK how many times this has to be said before it starts to sink in with people. The days of these things being widely available at physical big box stores are coming to an end. Most adult collectors these days do their shopping online and kids and parents dont buy this type of thing much anymore. Thats why you continue to see companies moving to smaller production runs which in turn makes for more expensive figures. The upside is companies are more willing to do more obscure characters they wouldnt do 10 years ago or more elaborate items. The downside is you gotta pay more to get it. Also this isnt a Marvel Legends thing, or a Hasbro thing, this is a industry wide thing.

[since83]

The truth of what JayC is saying and the amount of people chiming in with their feeling of "being done" with this line worries me. This is the only line I collect. I do because it has 80 yrs of history with plenty of nostalgia for me, but it is also a living breathing figure line. MCU and the comics are constantly adding to it. I have my gripes with managment of the line and execution of some comics, movies,and figures. But I am a fan. The 25 dollar price point pissed me off and led to many quitting, but even more of us to wait for sales. Which yeah, I have been doing more, as I am not swimmin in money. But seeing the deep sales (7-10 bucks at Target and Ollie's ect) is eye opening and as much as I love a deal, is not good for the line. I hope Legends stick around, but it is feeling bleaker than last year. Personally, I'm gonna pre-order if I want it and not hold out as much as I was. (Not to say im.gonna get stuff I do not want or don't like at all) Not telling anyone else what to do, but if we want the line around for that "must have" we love to list, we have to vote with our money. And maybe that makes me a shill or rube. And maybe there just aren't enough of us to do that. It still blows my mind that we barely scraped by with Giant Man. It confuses me that the Cho'od and Skullbuster waves can be found online for cheap af. Skullbuster was one of the coolest bafs we ever got imo. Yeah I get, "this face wasn't yelling" or "he's too tall", and I'm not even saying these are illegitimate complaints. Just overall seeing what I, and probably the team, thought were sureshots on deep discount is disheartening. And they seem a bit beaten down on their livestreams compared to a few yrs ago. The last three waves have been awesome for me. We finished two teams with that Void wave! But here's fingers crossed this line lives so I can make every Avengers team, which was my initial want 20 yrs ago, LOL, not sure im gonna get there.

[Chunkylover]

On 2/22/2024 at 9:39 AM, since83 said:

The truth of what JayC is saying and the amount of people chiming in with their feeling of "being done" with this line worries me. This is the only line I collect. I do because it has 80 yrs of history with plenty of nostalgia for me, but it is also a living breathing figure line. MCU and the comics are constantly adding to it. I have my gripes with managment of the line and execution of some comics, movies,and figures. But I am a fan. The 25 dollar price point pissed me off and led to many quitting, but even more of us to wait for sales. Which yeah, I have been doing more, as I am not swimmin in money. But seeing the deep sales (7-10 bucks at Target and Ollie's ect) is eye opening and as much as I love a deal, is not good for the line. I hope Legends stick around, but it is feeling bleaker than last year. Personally, I'm gonna pre-order if I want it and not hold out as much as I was. (Not to say im.gonna get stuff I do not want or don't like at all) Not telling anyone else what to do, but if we want the line around for that "must have" we love to list, we have to vote with our money. And maybe that makes me a shill or rube. And maybe there just aren't enough of us to do that. It still blows my mind that we barely scraped by with Giant Man. It confuses me that the Cho'od and Skullbuster waves can be found online for cheap af. Skullbuster was one of the coolest bafs we ever got imo. Yeah I get, "this face wasn't yelling" or "he's too tall", and I'm not even saying these are illegitimate complaints. Just overall seeing what I, and probably the team, thought were sureshots on deep discount is disheartening. And they seem a bit beaten down on their livestreams compared to a few yrs ago. The last three waves have been awesome for me. We finished two teams with that Void wave! But here's fingers crossed this line lives so I can make every Avengers team, which was my initial want 20 yrs ago, LOL, not sure im gonna get there.

I share your concerns. It's too bad because the guys who design and plan the figures seem to really love what they are doing and are in some ways victims of extraneous circumstances. They are getting by marketing these toys to an older generation. I really don't know what kids these days are into, but I'm in my 40's: will I still be collecting action figures as a 50 year old? The line will end at some point, and that day will be hastened the struggles of the comic industry to attract readers. When today's kids are in the prime spending range, Hasbro will be selling manga figures.

[Ironspider428]

I want Iron Man but I'll probably wait and see if he goes on sale later this year, maybe an Amazon deal or something. I also kind of want Ka-Zar for custom fodder but that'll also likely be a sale purchase if I can find one.

[stormcloud]

On 2/21/2024 at 2:22 PM, Reno said:

I'll never be "happy" about buying a figure of a character more than once but the Cable, Wolfsbane, Ka-Zar and Zabu figures will all be replacing prior versions in my collection. Buying an "update" of a previously made character always makes me feel like I'm getting swindled as a consumer, but for some reason I choose to keep doing it anyway. That's completely on me.

Look at it this way: I don't think Wolfsbane ever wore that New Mutants costume from the Moonstar release. So technically this is the first Marvel Legends figure of Wolfsbane.

[Reno]

I 100% agree with what Jay said about these figures being carried less and less at brick and mortar retail - I think that's a foregone conclusion. However I also don't believe that a line that is making nearly 200 figures per year is close to dying... yet. Now if they were to suddenly drop off to 40-60 figures per year, then yes - it's probably getting closer to the end... but there was also a time when that many figures a year was a lot!!