madthinker14

Multiple sightings of these showing up at target today over at the fwoosh. And of course ebay.

Best Marvel Legends, Male: Union Jack There wasn't a figure that stood out as my absolute favorite this year, but I'm always happy with figures of characters I never thought I'd see. Plus a cool and unique costume scores points with me. Best Marvel Legends, Female: Spiral This one was high on my wishlist because of my desire to complete my Freedom Force display. Also really nice articulation. Best Marvel Legends, Villain: Crossbones A character I don't already have, and done well. All I want from ML at this point. Hardest ML to Find: Crossbones The only ML figure I didn't see even once in stores this year. Had to go to ebay. Paid $18 w/shipping, got lucky with a low "buy-it-now", so at least I didn't get raped. Easiest ML to find: Black Costume Spider-Man Black Spidey wins, since the legions of Banshee's and Emma's weren't 2008 releases. Best 2-Pack: Wolverine & Forge Not that great a set, but Forge was another one that was high on my wishlist. Best BAF: Fin Fang Foom I liked Rulk and Ares, but I was just so happy for another BIG baf. All Around Favorites of the Year: Fin Fang Foom Again, a BIG baf, plus he's rocking a Fu-Manchu goatee, toned down from some of his comic appearances, but still... Honorable mention to Rulk, just because I'm a fan of figures based on McGuiness art. I think his style translates really well to plastic. Best Non-Legends Figure: Marvel Select Modern Thor Just a really nice sculpt, although I wish he was a tad shorter. Best Spidey Animated Figure: Uh... Best Incredible Hulk Movie Figure: They made a good Hulk movie figure? Best Iron-Man Movie Figure: Atmospheric Diving Armor No real reason... it looks cool? Best Accessory: Zabu Does he count? Not a lot of choices for this category. Best Marvel film of 2008: Iron-Man Not close. Best ML Online exclsuive: Savage Land Box set This was decent, I mainly picked it because I'm not an AOA fan, and still can't believe Sunfire won that poll. Worst ML of 2008: Adam Warlock No where along the line did anyone at Hasbro notice something wrong here? Getting a characters skin color wrong is just ridiculous. How about glancing at one of the FIVE pics on the friggin' card. Honorable mention to Ultimate War Machine, just for the laziness. Best Competition to ML: DC Universe Classics Competition is one way to put it. Best line beating the pants off ML might be another.

Sorry if I was getting a little touchy there, reading "idiotic" and "moronic" made me a little irritable. I wasn't being sarcastic when I wrote "no offense", I wasn't looking to piss anybody off with my comments. Sorry if I did.

Going to be rather hard for a toy company that effectively doesn't exist anymore to save any days. And when you compare the volume of toys being produced for movie tie-ins and animated tie-ins to the volume of toys being produced for comic-tie ins, you'll find that your premise of "it's not going to justify the $300 million dollar contract" is blown completely out of the water. There are already FAR more media tie-in Marvel toys on shelves than there are comic-based toys, and that was the case even when HMLs were in relatively decent supply: Spider-Man 3, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Spectacular Spider-Man, soon to be Iron Man animated figures and Wolverine and the X-Men figures and Wolverine: Origins figures. Even Superhero Squad is supposedly getting an animated feature soon. Pretty much all these lines (except SHS) got or currently get more shelf-space than HMLs had outside of the flood of wave 1. Hasbro bought the Marvel license FAR more because of the tie-in rights than because of the comic rights. I guarantee it. If you think Marvel Legends were really pulling in hundreds of millions of dollars of profit for Toy Biz or Hasbro, you're absolutely delusional. They're the smallest piece of the Marvel toymaking pie at this point, and the Marvel toy license could survive just fine without them. That might not be what anyone wants to see, but there's absolutely no proof that the "comic-based" aspect of the Marvel toy license is as critical to the success of the whole shebang as you seem to think it is. You're working with a premise that, no offense to you personally, flies in the face of common sense. If Marvel Legends were as successful as some of you think it is (and I would note: Rulk, Ares, and Foom waves all had plenty of after-christmas pegwarmers to get clearanced out around here...), then THE RETAILERS WOULD STILL BE BUYING THE FREAKING LINE. Hasbro wouldn't kill a truly successful line that was in demand from the retailers for much of any reason. That's idiotic, and you don't become a multi-billion dollar toy juggernaut by being a bunch of idiots. Marvel Legends might have pulled in some profit, but they certainly weren't pulling in enough for Hasbro or the retailers to stock the line in any great numbers. Just look at these boards and the pitifully small active membership compared to boards for say, Transformers or Star Wars. Even G.I. Joe has more activity at this point. Even before we entered the "Exclusive lines and two-packs" era, Marvel Legends was down to one or two pegs at most retailers, and maybe got boosted to three or four for the Foom and Exclusive waves. Long-term shelf space (year to year) is absolutely one of the best indicators of a line's success, and just because a line sells through is NOT as strong an indicator as you might think, particularly when the volume of the line is lower (as is always the case with exclusives). ML's shelf space has been shrinking since HML wave one. A truly successful line would be growing or at least remaining the same. Period. You also have a funny definition of "hoping for the best." Hoping for the best would be hoping that Marvel Universe is successful, and that Marvel Legends experiences a resurgence because of it, not in spite of it. I know it's hard for some folks here to wrap their brains around, but THESE LINES CAN COEXIST TOGETHER. But then again, I've never understood the moronic mentality of "I don't like it, and therefore I don't think even the people that DO like it should have it!" PS: I highly, highly doubt there is ANYTHING in Marvel's contract with Hasbro that says Hasbro HAS to make comic-based toys, just that they CAN make comic-based toys and they're the only mass-retail manufacturer that's allowed to. Even if there is, Hasbro can fulfill that requirement by slipping comic-based toys into other media tie-in lines, or could probably make an argument that Superhero Squad fills that role. To say nothing of Spider-Man Classics. Either way, Marvel Legends can disappear and Marvel isn't going to say "boo" about it, because they're still getting their money no matter what. You can highly doubt it as much as you want, you can say I have no common sense, call me moronic and idiotic if it makes you feel smart. I'll go with facts to make my points. 1) Comic licenses and movie licenses are in fact seperate. In this particular case Hasbro holds both, but they're still seperate agreements. Hasbro pays "x" amount of money for the movie toy rights, for example; "Iron Man, the Movie copyright 2008 MLV Film finance LLC. Marvel, Iron Man, all character names and their distinctive likenesses: TM & copyright Marvel Entertainment, Inc." Hasbro then pays a completely seperate "x" amount of money for the comic toy rights, example; "MARVEL and all related character names and the distinctive likenesses thereof: TM & copyright 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc." Marvel licenses their movie rights and their comic rights through two seperate subsidiary companies. So whether Marvel movie toys make one dollar of profit or a billion, it has no relation the comic based lines or their deal to make them. If they wanted to Hasbro could not renew their license to make comic-based toys, and keep right on pumping out Marvel movie toys. So, no, there is nothing that says they HAVE to make comic based figures. But since you brought up common sense... what sense would they're be in not doing anything with a license you already paid for? And if MU happened to fail, and ML is already a failure as you say, why would they renew an expensive deal that they have no profitable use for? They're not idiotic, right? 2) I never said the two lines couldn't co-exist (in fact I wrapped my head around it so well that I clearly stated the exact opposite, even gave the example of DCUC and DCIH). I also never said anything remotely close to "I don't like it, therefore I don't think even the people that DO like it should have it". I never said anything about boycotting the line, never said somebody should put a stop to this line, never wished for an explosion at the factory, never said Hasbro should ignore the sales if the line is successful and instead just cater to me personally. Never said anything like that. I'm one guy sitting in his house, idly thinking "I hope Hasbro's Marvel Universe line fails, so then maybe they'll put some effort back into Marvel Legends". If the line fails, wouldn't that mean that there aren't a whole lot of "people who DO like it"? What I'm hoping for is really, really low demand for MU, basically I'm just hoping not many people like them. If they succeed and a lot of people DO like them, then my wish will have not come true. I'll live. The only point I was making was that it appears to me, that Hasbro is looking to move the primary focus of their Marvel comics based figures away from the 6" Marvel Legends to the 3 3/4" Marvel Universe, and that I would prefer otherwise, and was wishing for such. What a bastard I turned out to be. Well, at least I didn't resort to anonymous name-calling in a conversation about toys on the internet.

"I'm still really, really curious as to what kind of logic people are using when they say that they think one line turning out to be unprofitable and failing would "guarantee" another line that has already been unprofitable and failed (or at least not profitable enough for Hasbro to keep making in its' current format, or for retailers to support in its' current format) would come back. How exactly is Hasbro going to convince retailers that this time it'll sell better?" You're working with a premise that, no offense to you personally, I'm not buying. I don't believe that ML has been unprofitable and failed. Foom, Rulk, and Ares waves sold well, and were in healthy demand, and DCUC is doing great right now at the same scale. Hasbro wants to switch to 3 3/4" because they're cheaper to produce and they can re-do all the already done characters. In MU the dozen or so Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Iron Man variations are all new. Less cost to make and less creative thought to put in = MU. The logic behind a hypothetical MU failure being good for ML is pretty simple - Hasbro has a deal with Marvel to produce comic-based action figures, if MU were to fail miserably, then either Hasbro would likely have to go back to actually putting some effort in to ML, or as Johnny pointed out, not renew the license. I'm not saying this is absolutely what will happen, I'm just hoping for the best. Well, not the best for MU, obviously.

"im not saying that the MU figs will be better, or replace MLs, but c'mon....theyre not that bad." We're all entitled to our opinions of course, but to some of us they are indeed that bad. Now, I'm not going to say that MU and ML can't possibly co-exist, after all Mattel is doing it with DCUC and DCIH. And I'm not trying to be overly negative or pessimistic, screaming about the sky falling. But being totally honest, I kind of believe a truly successful MU line could in fact endanger ML's future, while a swift failure and unceremonius death for MU would guarantee ML's continuation. What can I say? I'm not ready to let go yet. There's still so many characters for ML to do, and I have no intention of starting over my Marvel collection in a scale I don't even like. So, no offense to all the 3 3/4" collectors, but... Die, little bastids, die!!! :wolverine2:

BURN!!! Hey... wait a minute... it's MY economy too...

"...whos daddy is rich and who's lover takes care of him and who doesnt have to work if he doesnt want to but does." Wait... did that mean your daddy has a rich lover who takes care of him, or does it mean you have a rich daddy and your lover takes care of you... or your daddy is rich and his lover takes care of you? And who doesn't have to work? Your daddy, because he, or his lover, is rich? Or you, because your daddy and his, or your, lover is rich? If it's you, then why? I mean I understand people who don't need to work but do, usually they have a career they enjoy, but why bust your hump stocking at Walmart if you don't need the money? Man, re-reading that made me dizzy... don't think I've ever used the words "daddy" and "lover" that many times before.

I was comparing the two, and I think you're right - the Snap-Shot Spidey head looks too big for the McFarlane body. I'll have to look into some of the other combinations you bring up.

Not to be overly argumentative... but the God of War becomes a super hero to look out for his kid? And fighting villains while getting bossed around by Tony Stark (a mortal with no actual powers), satsifies his need for action? Come on now, that's about as un-Greek God as you can get. The Gods of Greek mythology were always having kids then splitting, it's kind of what they do. Besides, wouldn't his son be a Demi-God like Hercules? And action for the God of War should involved thousands of people killing each other... you know, like in a WAR. Not to be the nerdy bookworm type, but here's a description of the Ares of Greek myth from a mythology encyclopedia - The character of Ares in Greek mythology will be best understood if we compare it with that of other divinities who are likewise in some way connected with war. Athena represents thoughtfulness and wisdom in the affairs of war, and protects men and their habitations during its ravages. Ares, on the other hand, is nothing but the personification of bold force and strength, and not so much the god of war as of its tumult, confusion, and horrors. His sister Eris calls forth war, Zeus directs its course, but Ares loves war for its own sake, and delights in the din and roar of battles, in the slaughter of men, and the destruction of towns. He is not even influenced by party-spirit, but sometimes assists the one and sometimes the other side, just as his inclination may dictate ; whence Zeus calls him alloposallos. The destructive hand of this god was even believed to be active in the ravages made by plagues and epidemics. I can't go in for character development on a character I find unbelievable and illogical, not to mention completely inconsistant with his origins.

Anybody ever put a Snap-Shot Spider-Man head on a McFarlane body? Either superposeable or fearsome foes? That would be the perfect Spider-Man in my opinion, but I'm wondering if the red shades on those two would match. Hmmm... I do have both those figures... suppose I could get off my lazy butt and go look...

I think it's supposed to make sense for Thor because of the whole Donald Blake connection to Midgard. I'll admit, if he was new I might find his motivation questionable too, but Thor has been an Avenger longer than I've been alive... so Thor get's a pass from any critical thoughts, lol.

I prefer the DC Ares as a character because he makes sense to me. He's the Greek God of War, so him being a villain that Wonder Woman fights makes perfect sense. Marvel has the Greek God of War... join a human Super-Hero team? I just don't get the concept of an Immortal War God being interested in saving people and stopping the schemes of mortal villains. As or the figures, I have them both and don't dislike either. I'd probably lean toward DC's because he was a single carded fig, while the ML version was a BAF - despite being the same size as one of the figures in the same wave.

If I remember correctly the guy who posted those was from the Philipines, and he won them on ebay from a guy in Hong Kong.

To be honest, I don't even consider the Sandman wave part of Marvel Legends, it's a Spider-Man movie figs wave. Didn't buy a single one. Maybe that's just me. I'll go with TB series 6 for my favorite wave. Juggernaut and brown Wolvie are two of my favorite ML figures. Honorable mention to Galactus & Giant-Man. Annihilus for least favorite. EDIT : added honorable mention fo Giant-Man series, don't know how I forgot that.

Well, it's no exact -

If you're looking for guys to fit in with a ML collection, the Blue Iron Monger figure is based on his comic book appearance. Which is kind of cool, seeing as how there's only Mandarin for ML Iron Man villians (unless I'm forgeting somebody).

I bought quite a bit of what they put out. Skipped Ultimate 2-pack, and Ultimate War Machine, because I don't collect Ultimate figures (bought every BAF piece from an Ultimate figure on ebay). Didn't buy either Ares wave Human Torch or FF 2-pack, because enough already! Only Spidey figure I bought was Carnage, cause I needed a new one. Bought a handful of Iron Man figs to bulk up my Stark Armory, and just because the movie was so good and I was in the mood. Hulk movie figs, lol, no. Fin Fang Foom ruled over all other BAF's, and the figs weren't bad either. Rulk was held back by a weak Adam Warlock, but still great. Liked Ares a lot, mainly because I never had a FF Kang, but found Guardian to be disapointing. Really disagreed with the paint job. Why so blue? 2-packs... eh, loved getting a Forge figure... didn't mind getting a Ronin.

LOL, seriously awesome post. Couple of things- "Beast is one of the original five." Yes, I pointed that out when I mentiond how they were on the verge of being canceled until Giant Size #1 came out. They actually stopped publishing new material as Uncanny #67-93 were reprints. Major success there. New material started after Giant Size #1, as did success. Success Beast was not part of. "And "a couple notable runs"? Morrison and Whedon are two of the best runs on any comic ever. Have you even read any X-men comics?" I think both the mentioned runs are great. I just called them notable because they were notable for being the exception to the rule of sucking ass that every other X-book was following. And yes, I've read a few. Every issue of Uncanny between around 130 and 300, the first 90 or so issues of X-Factor (until whenever Peter David left), and the entire run of New Mutants, all when they came out. Every earlier issue after the fact, and post 300 in runs where I'd try to get back into it, and a few recent trades here and there. "Also one of the best and most famous comic stories, the Dark Phoenix Saga, was lacking a little something until, surprise, they added beast to the mix." You're on crack. "The Jim lee designed characters are iconic now" Iconic and symbolic of the 90's = style over substance. "I agree that the cockrum years are the best but that doesn't lessen the grandeur of the original or preceding characters." Well, I was talking about the combined Claremont, Byrne, Cockrum and Smith years... but what grandeur of the originals? The grandeur of 20+ issues of reprints? The grandeur of being replaced as an alternative to being canceled? I personally think they were great characters, but the fact is they were bombing. "I hate you." Damn. I am totally keeping your Christmas present now. "15- 20 years? Really?" Really. "The x-men cartoon started a whole new era of comic related cartoons, e.g. Spider-man and Batman." Huh? I thought we were talking about comic books. "Did you read the Age of Apocalypse? Onslaught? Are you seven years old?" Clearly not, if I was seven I might would have liked Age of Apocalypse, Onslaught and the rest of the turd sandwiches you were happily munching away in the 90's. How about Spider-clone? Awesomeness, right? "Thanks for infuriating me enough to waste my time responding to your ill-informed and unnecessarily controversial post." Well, everything I post is unnecessary, but controversial and ill-informed? LOL, why? Because it varies from your opinion? What a fun guy to hang out with you must be. Don't agree on comic books with you = Retarded seven year old you hate. Jeez I'd hate to see how you respond to people who disagree with you on issues of importance... wait a minute... Ender screen-name... hates people who differ from his mind-set... are you the actual Orson Scott Card? Can I have your autograph?

I had a guest shot in Peter Porker, The Spectactular Spider-Ham.

My point about X-Factor not being around until '86 was that he wasn't in the X-Men (or anything X related) for over ten years. And the version of Defenders he was on was the definition of a B-list team. Anytime you're on the same team as Cloud and Gargoyle you know you're on the B-list. Speaking of which, add Gargoyle to the seemingly endless list of people who had a mini-series in the 80's.

Ah... crap.

Well, they're good for bulking up your Iron Man numbers if you're putting together an extensive IM Armory diorama. But unless you're a completist I can't see why anyone would need 4 Iron Mongers.

What the...? Wouldn't you think having 25 in the code would imply the 25th? Damnit all! :hulk: