Jmacq1

Oh good, another bunch of characters that will be forgotten as anything but Wallpaper or crossover-death-fodder after this run is over (unless of course one of them manages to break out).

Can't help but wonder if Target under-ordered Warbird based on the poor reception to the Marvels, figuring she wasn't a very popular character.

This reeks of some kind of impropriety on DeMayo's part that hasn't hit the news yet. Disney's way more diplomatic about firings when it's just "creative differences" or they've gotten what they wanted out of them and are just cutting them loose.

Yeah getting the distinct impression that at least the comic BAF waves are gonna be Fanazon exclusives going forward. MAYBE the MCU BAF waves might still hit stores, or upcoming movie figs may all end up like the refreshes we're getting now: No BAF piece but MAYBE slightly more accessories/paint apps. The good news seems to be that this model is letting them swing a little wider on character choices and wave mixes. There's been some darn good stuff for comic fans in these last few (comic BAF) waves, to say nothing of three newly-sculpted BAFs in a row. They really seem to be trying to cap off wishlists and finish off teams. The bad news is that this kind of thing almost always means a line is on the wane. Not surprising with a line this old. We may only have a couple or three good years left, but it's looking like they might be really good years, though if experience is any indicator whatever the last wave or two end up being are probably going to be very hard to come by.

Armored Psylocke, Shirtless Colossus, Spiky-haired (no headband) blue suit Dazzler, 80's Rogue with the REALLY big hair (and lighter green torso/gloves/boots), and a proper Outback Storm? I'd buy it. But then again the Outback era was pretty much my formative years with the X-Men. Though if they REALLY wanted to swing for the fences drop the minor tweaks (Storm, Dazzler, Rogue) and go with a Madelyne Pryor (Civvie or comic Goblin Queen), Scalphunter, and Malice/Polaris. As while they're not perfect Outback versions we do have "close enough" versions of those three ladies.

The real problem here isn't so much inflation, or kids not playing with toys (that IS a long term factor but not as much in this particular case), or any of that other stuff: It's the nature of corporate culture. Toys BOOMED early in the COVID years because kids were stuck at home and needed distractions. Now the current shareholders are comparing today's sales not to long-term trends, but to the "boom time" during COVID (which has of course fallen off a ton because...kids aren't cooped up at home still). Basically if the number doesn't go up-up-up then the Shareholders are not happy and the CEO has to do things to make them happy (raise profits) if he wants to keep his or her job. There's no denying that Marvel Legends and Star Wars are struggling though. Their shelf space continues to shrink (half the Targets in my area don't even have dedicated space for Marvel Legends right now). Both properties are long in the tooth, and raising prices are definitely a long-term concern as a LOT of collectors are either getting out of the game entirely or (as in my case) drastically scaling back on what they're getting. In the past year I've pretty much stopped getting Black Series, cut my Marvel Legends buying to maybe a quarter of what it was (which was "near completist"), and the only line I'm currently trying to be anything approaching completist on is GI Joe Classified.

Moonstone is another possibility here. Ugh, this is probably exactly what it is. I had wondered why there wasn't a Logan head with Fang because it seemed like such an obvious thing to do...now I suspect it was deliberate. Aside from the Patch/Fixit pack I think the only Logan I would care about at this point is Team X Logan, but then I would want Team X Sabretooth to go with him and Maverick. My bet on the others are armored Psylocke with a repack/repaint of the "Battle Damaged" Logan from the multipack. And classic tiger-stripe Logan with that Jim Lee Sabretooth. MAYBE "Battle Damaged" as well.

I'm gonna bet she comes in a Pulse exclusive 2-pack with somebody else. Maybe Uncanny X-Men #275 Funky Shi'ar Suit Skrull-Xavier (Even if I'd prefer Deathbird I bet we get her somewhere else).

That's the thing, he's not really a core character. He's been a side character relegated to team books for most of his existence. "Core characters" are the guys you get at least one of in virtually every wave: Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Wolverine, etc....

Yeah, they floated around I think all the X-Books in the late 80's, but definitely X-Factor and New Mutants (IIRC a few of them ended up trapped in Limbo and...it got worse).

Prime Sentinel Purifier Dire Wraith Brood Drone Nova Corpsman (Multiple Heads) SHIELD Cape-Killer Americop BAF: The Right "Smiley Armor"

It's certainly a salient point that this line is long in the tooth, especially if you go back to the Toy Biz days. It's something of a repeating pattern that the "first time in the line" C and D-List characters that they throw us longtime collectors every couple waves are often pegwarmers. Yes, the decline in interest for the MCU (aided and abetted by the COVID pandemic) has absolutely hurt the line as well. The Totally Awesome Hulk, Quantumania, and Retro Spidey waves went straight to clearance here and several of our local Targets (not all) no longer even have dedicated shelf space for Marvel Legends right now (it will probably come back, but for now...nada). Not a good sign for the health of the line. Most of us old timers have all the "core characters" we want, and most of the B-Listers we want, too. We get that one or two C/D listers every couple waves to keep us hooked (and sometimes the BAFs). There are certainly still things I'd like to see/get from this line, but as it stands right now I've massively throttled back my ML and Star Wars Black Series purchases (and ramped up GI Joe Classified). I was near-completionist for the last few years on ML (even if many items were bought on sale/clearance) but very little of this stuff is particularly exciting to me (Though the Mindless One wave was mostly a pleasant surprise, and the Void wave looks pretty good, too).

The thing is that those characters didn't have those flaws become their defining characteristics to the point that it significantly and permanently hampered their heroic careers AND their popularity as characters. It's not really what they're remembered for by fans. Hank Pym, on the other hand, is the guy that created Ultron, hit his wife, had a nervous breakdown that he seems to drop in and out of on a semi-regular basis, hasn't been able to stick to any single superheroic identity for longer than a couple years (even if Giant-Man seems to be his most common go-to), and continues to be portrayed as something of a weirdo-creep and sad-sack with a massive inferiority complex. I make no argument that it makes Hank Pym a worse character. Just that it doesn't make him a very popular one, and I think that bears out by the general lack of say, Giant Man solo series and the like. He is probably without question the least popular founding Avenger, and has been for pretty much his whole existence. There is a genuine HATE-dom for Hank Pym because of the domestic abuse, which was partially perpetuated by Jim Shooter during his tenure, and when Hank started to show signs of finally and truly pulling out of that pit after years of rehabilitiation from various writers, the Ultimate Universe happened (and while it was an alternate Universe, its' depiction of Hank was utterly abhorrent to the point that it spilled over onto the classic version of the character). Again, I'm not saying Hank isn't a good character or this isn't a good product. I'm just pointing out my observations of how Hank Pym is generally received over my 40ish years of comic fandom. He's not popular, and never really has been.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The reason this HasLab is likely to fail is because it's Giant-Man. A character best known for being a mentally ill domestic abuser and something of a perpetual loser within the comics (I may be wrong but I believe Ultron is currently wearing him as a skinsuit in the comics these days), and as a crochety old semi-retired superhero in the MCU. It's a great version of the character but if not enough people want the character that much to begin with it doesn't matter how cool a version you've created. Thing is, I'm not even sure what they could do at this point that would fund easily short of deliberately losing money on projects by underpricing them. They've already picked the low-hanging fruit. The rest gets more difficult.

I think the Danger Room and the Labs are good calls. Maybe an Iron Man Workshop or a Doctor Strange Sanctum. Doctor Doom's Throne Room might be fun too. Meeting Rooms and Quinjets maybe not so much. Outside of Toy photographers I don't see a lot of appeal there but the others feel like they have more "play value" if that makes sense. But part of the problem is getting these projects approved by Hasbro higher-ups. Maybe the door is open for something a little more outside the box now that both a vehicle and (likely) a "big figure" HasLab for Marvel Legends will have failed to fund. I think they could do entire waves of normal to normal-BAF sized figures that "wouldn't get made any other way" as HasLabs and they'd probably fund at least a few. Though they'd probably want the waves to have some kind of loose "theme" which might make it more difficult or mandate the inclusion of an oft-rehashed character. I thought the Hell Rider was cool but you know what I think would have had no problem funding? Danny Ketch Ghost Rider, Vengeance, and Johnny Blaze (Human/Midnight Sons) all on their respective bikes. Basically maybe less "One big thing with add ons" and more "A lot of small-medium things."