Amazon Exclusive Marvel Legends Rogue and Destiny 2-Pack Pre-Order This Coming Week

[Reno]

I'm always going to buy the previously unmade character, 100% of the time. I'm someone who only keeps one version/costume of a character in my collection though, and this Rogue is definitely NOT going to be the version of her that I keep. (I do sometimes keep multiverse variants like AOA and stuff like that, though).

I understand the need to continuously release A-listers to keep people buying the line, but I really wish they would try to get closer to a 50/50 split of previously released characters and never before released characters. I'm more than 20 years into this line now and I don't need to ever buy another Spider-Man, Wolverine or Captain America (for example). I will absolutely buy every character they put out that has never been done before in this scale, though. So Destiny? I'm all in. BoM Rogue? Immediately getting listed on ebay to recoup whatever cash I can, unless I can come with an easy kitbash or custom to turn it into a previously unmade character. Anyone have any kitbash ideas for this Rogue?

I'm not completely opposed to upgrades on characters I already own every now and then, but years apart. I'm not going to buy a new version of every character every year or two. That's insanity.

[AndyL]

 

 

 

 

Fifty dollars? For this? It's time for us to band together again and let them know this is not cool. Like we did with the Engine of Vengeance scam. And before someone says it I know $25 per figure is standard but there is simply nothing here. No alternate head sculpts. No weapons. And a few of the same old used and overused hand sculpts do not count as accessories. They didn't even throw in the set where she's removing a glove.

[Lord_Scareglow]

On 7/11/2024 at 1:43 PM, AndyL said:

 

 

 

 

Fifty dollars? For this? It's time for us to band together again and let them know this is not cool. Like we did with the Engine of Vengeance scam. And before someone says it I know $25 per figure is standard but there is simply nothing here. No alternate head sculpts. No weapons. And a few of the same old used and overused hand sculpts do not count as accessories. They didn't even throw in the set where she's removing a glove.

Hey well figures are about 40 bucks here, this set naturally in Canada is 80 bucks, imagine seeing that price tag, it hurts but that's how they get ya 🥲

[Xorr-the-God-Jewel]

On 7/11/2024 at 1:37 PM, Reno said:

I'm always going to buy the previously unmade character, 100% of the time. I'm someone who only keeps one version/costume of a character in my collection though, and this Rogue is definitely NOT going to be the version of her that I keep. (I do sometimes keep multiverse variants like AOA and stuff like that, though).

I understand the need to continuously release A-listers to keep people buying the line, but I really wish they would try to get closer to a 50/50 split of previously released characters and never before released characters. I'm more than 20 years into this line now and I don't need to ever buy another Spider-Man, Wolverine or Captain America (for example). I will absolutely buy every character they put out that has never been done before in this scale, though. So Destiny? I'm all in. BoM Rogue? Immediately getting listed on ebay to recoup whatever cash I can, unless I can come with an easy kitbash or custom to turn it into a previously unmade character. Anyone have any kitbash ideas for this Rogue?

I'm not completely opposed to upgrades on characters I already own every now and then, but years apart. I'm not going to buy a new version of every character every year or two. That's insanity.

Same here - I wish they'd put out at least 50% new characters. It's such a disappointment to me when they announce a new wave and it's like - "Oh look. A 35th variant of Wolverine, a 52nd variant of Iron Man and a 110th variant of Spiderman."

I only buy a 2nd release of a figure if there's a compelling reason. Like Phoenix, I was on the fence but with the extras and double jointed elbows and all that, I think I will get her. But I really with Hasbro would release a lot more villains and characters that have never been released before. 

 

 

On 7/11/2024 at 1:43 PM, AndyL said:

 

 

 

 

Fifty dollars? For this? It's time for us to band together again and let them know this is not cool. Like we did with the Engine of Vengeance scam. And before someone says it I know $25 per figure is standard but there is simply nothing here. No alternate head sculpts. No weapons. And a few of the same old used and overused hand sculpts do not count as accessories. They didn't even throw in the set where she's removing a glove.

Yeah, this was definitely a disappointment. All the more so because I'm not much of a Rogue fan and I already have one of her. But I did want Destiny. 

[AndyL]

On 7/11/2024 at 12:52 PM, Lord_Scareglow said:

Hey well figures are about 40 bucks here, this set naturally in Canada is 80 bucks, imagine seeing that price tag, it hurts but that's how they get ya 🥲

Yeah. As much as I complain I do tend to forget how much tougher the ML game is for many of our international brothers and sisters.

[Atlantis]

On 7/11/2024 at 9:37 AM, Reno said:

"...I understand the need to continuously release A-listers to keep people buying the line, but I really wish they would try to get closer to a 50/50 split of previously released characters and never before released characters. I'm more than 20 years into this line now..."

I've understood that too for a long time but nowadays, less and less so. I think this is a shaky notion created by the company, but has been repeated for so long it now has become a fait accompli, at least to them. I get it, they think what they deem as "A-listers" are the driving force for a wave, but we collectors know we can happily buy a wave or a two-pack or a box set that doesn't have any of these "A-Listers".

And not only that, what we DO want is for the figures that they DO make to be accurate. If they're gonna make us wait over a decade for a classic Luke Cage, just do him RIGHT. Ms. Marvel, Binary, Warbird, Captain Marvel or whatever name you call her, should still have the same height and build regardless of her outfit. If hasbo's  gonna pair Destiny with Rogue instead of Mystique, at least give Rogue the proper articulation. If they must stick to the A-List notion, at least spice things up with some lesser-known characters, so it doesn't get burnt out. Cobalt Man. Killraven. Namora. Firebrand.

And WHY can't these teams get finished off?? Starjammers, Guardians of the Galaxy, still not done. Wrecking Crew needs to be RE-done. Warriors Three and Frightful Four were NEVER done. 

Just sayin....

[leokearon]

On 7/14/2024 at 9:52 AM, Atlantis said:

I've understood that too for a long time but nowadays, less and less so. I think this is a shaky notion created by the company, but has been repeated for so long it now has become a fait accompli, at least to them. I get it, they think what they deem as "A-listers" are the driving force for a wave, but we collectors know we can happily buy a wave or a two-pack or a box set that doesn't have any of these "A-Listers".

And not only that, what we DO want is for the figures that they DO make to be accurate. If they're gonna make us wait over a decade for a classic Luke Cage, just do him RIGHT. Ms. Marvel, Binary, Warbird, Captain Marvel or whatever name you call her, should still have the same height and build regardless of her outfit. If hasbo's  gonna pair Destiny with Rogue instead of Mystique, at least give Rogue the proper articulation. If they must stick to the A-List notion, at least spice things up with some lesser-known characters, so it doesn't get burnt out. Cobalt Man. Killraven. Namora. Firebrand.

And WHY can't these teams get finished off?? Starjammers, Guardians of the Galaxy, still not done. Wrecking Crew needs to be RE-done. Warriors Three and Frightful Four were NEVER done. 

Just sayin....

We collectors might be, but would the stores want a pack or wave with no-one recognisable? Even then would collectors? Say there was a 5 pack of Avengers, with Silverclaw, Stingray, Triathlon, Swordsman and Mantis, would people buy it?

Totally agree about the figures been done accurately. It boggles my mind that they can make figures that are pretty much perfect like the upcoming Death's Head and then do phoned-in stuff like the Destiny/Rogue two pack. It's like the have two teams making them

[Xorr-the-God-Jewel]

On 7/14/2024 at 3:52 AM, Atlantis said:

I've understood that too for a long time but nowadays, less and less so. I think this is a shaky notion created by the company, but has been repeated for so long it now has become a fait accompli, at least to them. I get it, they think what they deem as "A-listers" are the driving force for a wave, but we collectors know we can happily buy a wave or a two-pack or a box set that doesn't have any of these "A-Listers".

And not only that, what we DO want is for the figures that they DO make to be accurate. If they're gonna make us wait over a decade for a classic Luke Cage, just do him RIGHT. Ms. Marvel, Binary, Warbird, Captain Marvel or whatever name you call her, should still have the same height and build regardless of her outfit. If hasbo's  gonna pair Destiny with Rogue instead of Mystique, at least give Rogue the proper articulation. If they must stick to the A-List notion, at least spice things up with some lesser-known characters, so it doesn't get burnt out. Cobalt Man. Killraven. Namora. Firebrand.

And WHY can't these teams get finished off?? Starjammers, Guardians of the Galaxy, still not done. Wrecking Crew needs to be RE-done. Warriors Three and Frightful Four were NEVER done. 

Just sayin....

I don't buy into the oft-quoted beliefs people seem to repeat endlessly. Like the argument that Hasbro can't release a comic book accurate Mandarin "because racism". That's just nonsense. If I made a custom comic-accurate Mandarin and took him to China and showed him off, I'd bet hard money that the only comments I'd get would be: "Nice! What do all his rings do?". A trip to China is a pretty penny to prove my point, but I may do that in the local Chinatown and video tape it as proof. I'd like to debunk these memes, just like the false belief that lemmings run off cliffs in mass suicide or that sharks die if they stop moving. 

I saw this problem happen when Toybiz was making their Famous Covers figures. Just kept remaking the same characters over and over until the line died. 

Hasbro has released some relatively obscure (to strictly modern audiences) characters - Arnim Zola, Firelord, D'Spayre, Thundra, the Human Fly, etc. Certainly they can release the Wizard, Trapster, Sandman (in his green tech looking Frightful Four costume), Attuma, and other vital characters. There are more than 8,000 Marvel characters and they've only released a few hundred. But they keep making the same ones in seemingly endless variants. I don't mind variants for fans that want them, but at one point I went to the Hasbro Pulse website and in the 4 pages of available figures there were something like 14 Spiderman variants, 12 Iron Man variants, and half a dozen each for Black Panther and Cap. Three dozen figures or more for just 4 characters is too much.

Yeah, don't even get me ranting about teams we still need character to finish! 😄

I'm STILL waiting for an original costume Wonderman, Mantis, and Swordsman for the Avengers. Still waiting for, as you said, the Frightful Four. We still need an classic Blackbolt on an updated body as well as an updated Medusa with poseable hair, Triton, Crystal, Gorgon, and Maximus to complete the Inhumans. Where is the classic Banshee on an updated body? I'm dying for that! We're missing tons of vital villains like Mephisto, Attuma, Mandarin, Gladiator (DD's most popular villain until Bullseye stole the spotlight), Graviton (one of my top 3 Avengers villains - I pray we get him in his original costume), most members of the Lethal Legion, Living Laser, etc. I really want to see them release the Punisher (the original robot/alien servant of Galactus, who should have come with the Haslab) and most of all Gabriel the Airwalker, the only classic Herald we've yet to see and my fave after Firelord. And the list of Asgardians we still don't have reads like an encyclopedia. 

[Xorr-the-God-Jewel]

Iokeron wrote:

 

Quote

We collectors might be, but would the stores want a pack or wave with no-one recognisable? Even then would collectors? Say there was a 5 pack of Avengers, with Silverclaw, Stingray, Triathlon, Swordsman and Mantis, would people buy it?

Totally agree about the figures been done accurately. It boggles my mind that they can make figures that are pretty much perfect like the upcoming Death's Head and then do phoned-in stuff like the Destiny/Rogue two pack. It's like the have two teams making them

I'd argue yes, yes they would. I don't understand the logic of the question. Who buys Marvel Comics, watches Marvel movies, and buys action figures of Marvel characters? Marvel Comics fans. Silver Claw and Triathlon came after I stopped collecting current issues (c. 1989) but I'd buy that set to get Mantis, Swordsman, and Stingray. Hell yes! 

I don't know, people seem to act as if consumers won't buy figures of characters they don't know or who aren't A-list characters and I see no evidence to back that belief. Kids will buy cool looking characters even if they don't know who the character is, while older fans like me (I was reading Marvel almost since the "Big Bang" so to speak) will buy those same obscure or lesser known characters as well  - either because they look cool or because we remember them fondly or because we just read about them in reprints. 

I would say though, that I would prefer waves over multi-packs. I HATE multi-packs, with the exception of army builders. If Hasbro put out a 12-pack of A.I.M. agents, I'd be ordering two! But I hate having to buy a 2-pack with Rogue (a character I never had any fondness for and don't want in my collection) in order to get Destiny (a character I like and want in my collection). Or Baron Zemo - a must have villain and one of Cap's top two villains, but to get him I had to buy a 2-pack with yet another Arnim Zola - a character I already had. I think the only thing that irritates me more than a 2-pack are the BAF waves. No way should I have to buy 7 characters in order to build a single character, especially when the wave ends up having mostly boring or repetitive characters I have no use for. I hope they forever do away with BAFs.

[TheArrow]

On 7/14/2024 at 1:47 PM, Xorr-the-God-Jewel said:

Iokeron wrote:

 

 

I don't know, people seem to act as if consumers won't buy figures of characters they don't know or who aren't A-list characters and I see no evidence to back that belief. Kids will buy cool looking characters even if they don't know who the character is, while older fans like me (I was reading Marvel almost since the "Big Bang" so to speak) will buy those same obscure or lesser known characters as well  - either because they look cool or because we remember them fondly or because we just read about them in reprints. 

 

Numerous retailers have told me directly that anything "Spider-Man" in action figures sells.  Same with Batman.  Everyone else moves with decreasing slowness along with their diminishing prominence,  Characters like Misty Knight, Hellcat, Dr, Druid either barely sell at all or are shelf-glue.  A lot of the marvel roster are characters that don't have their own titles, do not feature prominently in many stories and readers just don't know them.........or care. Buying on visual appeal is a shaky premise, because some characters have it all in their design, primary colours, intricate detail, weapons, etc......like, say.Corsair--but they will not sell unless discounted.  Consumers are fickle, retailers are VERY risk adverse, and toy manufacturers are perpetually confused.  It's a lousy mixture.

[Xorr-the-God-Jewel]

On 7/14/2024 at 3:10 PM, TheArrow said:

Numerous retailers have told me directly that anything "Spider-Man" in action figures sells.  Same with Batman.  Everyone else moves with decreasing slowness along with their diminishing prominence,  Characters like Misty Knight, Hellcat, Dr, Druid either barely sell at all or are shelf-glue.  A lot of the marvel roster are characters that don't have their own titles, do not feature prominently in many stories and readers just don't know them.........or care. Buying on visual appeal is a shaky premise, because some characters have it all in their design, primary colours, intricate detail, weapons, etc......like, say.Corsair--but they will not sell unless discounted.  Consumers are fickle, retailers are VERY risk adverse, and toy manufacturers are perpetually confused.  It's a lousy mixture.

So your argument logically follows that Hasbro should ONLY sell Spiderman and Batman figures? Very few figures are sold in retail. Most are sold online to adult collectors. Fans have been clamoring for literally dozens of characters that have yet to be made. The demand is there. Why Hasbro refuses to cater to that demand is beyond me. 

[Atlantis]

On 7/14/2024 at 8:10 AM, leokearon said:

We collectors might be, but would the stores want a pack or wave with no-one recognisable? Even then would collectors? Say there was a 5 pack of Avengers, with Silverclaw, Stingray, Triathlon, Swordsman and Mantis, would people buy it?

Totally agree about the figures been done accurately. It boggles my mind that they can make figures that are pretty much perfect like the upcoming Death's Head and then do phoned-in stuff like the Destiny/Rogue two pack. It's like the have two teams making them

I think its clear now that this line is mostly sold through online retailers like Big Bad, Entertainment, Amazon etc. , and not brick and mortar stores. We already know they definitely will sell these figures; we see it all the time when we scratch our heads at things like that 5pack with the shirtless Wolverine. Yeah it was a crappy line up, but it sold.

Also, when you say "unrecognizable"....unrecognizable to whom? We know who those characters are. Absolutely, collectors will buy it, if for no reason than to get Mantis, Swordsman and Stingray.  Just look at how many people slammed this Destiny/Rogue two pack.....saying it sucks BUT they're gonna get it anyway. 

Agree about the whole inconsistency thing. Look at Spiral- they did her PERFECTLY. And didn't sell her at a "deluxe" price point. You're right- there must be two teams doing these  lol

 

[Xorr-the-God-Jewel]

I'm starting to think the "two different designer teams" theory is actually correct. Look at the slop of Destiny/Rogue, then look at Odin. Like night and day!

[MarvelousFan87]

For me it's not a must have. 

[Thwippersnapper]

I'm down for this costume of Rogue since it can be used for Secret Wars but not crazy about the face.

[TheArrow]

On 7/14/2024 at 3:26 PM, Xorr-the-God-Jewel said:

So your argument logically follows that Hasbro should ONLY sell Spiderman and Batman figures? Very few figures are sold in retail. Most are sold online to adult collectors. Fans have been clamoring for literally dozens of characters that have yet to be made. The demand is there. Why Hasbro refuses to cater to that demand is beyond me. 

No, just that retailers DO request the mainstream characters more because those are what they see as selling. They don't care about a roster of different characters in a given line, they just want merch that sells. 
As for amounts sold, you may not be considering the full picture.  Action figures are just one ancillary component of a product line, that includes the breadth of ( usually mainstream) characters in a variety of toys. Role-playing, different format figures, building toys, vehicles, playsets etc. 
Action figures DO go to mass (brick and mortar) retail chains because they are part of that overall brand, and retailers do frequently order them in considerable bulk.  Hey, you go and compare the order allotment for the 10,000 plus Walmart stores in North America, with, say......the orders for BBTS and Amazon.   I'd bet that Walmart is getting in the same as, or slightly more cases than those other two big players.  A case or three isn't very much in a INDIVIDUAL store, but multiply that by at least 10,000  stores and yer talkin' numbers.

As for demand, again.........maybe consider the captive audience of a local comic book store.  Those Misty Knights and Black Cats--characters that collectors "should be aware of"--sure seemed to linger a long time at LCS's,  I've noticed a lot of online retailers, a couple of years ago, offering a lot of those specific characters on discount, along with major retailers doing do.  So who REALLY is buying this stuff, and who is not?
It's long been discussed amongst the hobby, but the answers all around remain unclear.