ronnieramone
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3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
Been a long time since I last posted here, mainly because of a lack of product to buy. That all changed yesterday. For the first time in TWO YEARS, my local Pahrump Wal-Mart stocked a case of Marvel Universe figures. They haven't even stocked so much as a single revision case since 2010. Somehow by chance, I got there at precisely the right moment. I saw a dozen blisters hanging (pristine case) and it was like Christmas morning. I picked up Scarlet Witch, Kang, and both She-Hulks. One is destined for a Titania custom. Unfortunately, there was no variant of Amazing-Fantastic Bag-man. I passed on the FF Spidey and Punishers, as well as the re-packs. Heck, my daughter even scored a new Monster High doll. It was a great day, great haul. It is a rare occasion indeed when I stumble across new MU figs without driving all over God's green Earth. Incidentally, a recent trip to Universal Studios Hollywood left me coming up empty-handed at their (usually well-stocked) comic shop. If you have a Wal-Mart like mine that has not carried MUs for a long time, don't give up yet. I can positively confirm that they are starting to show up, even in stores that haven't carried the line in years. -
3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
I was able to find Falcon & Scarlet Spider (upside-down version) in Vegas last week, both at different stores. The former was in WM, the latter Target. As I am a loose collector, I opened both. The better find, however, was on eBay last week when I was able to snag both IM2 Mandarin & comic Whiplash for $40. Considering I've never seen either in stores and a lot of people here on the forums still have Mandarin on their want lists, I figured I had better bite at that price. I've actually bid on several Mandarins over the last few months and every single time they went over $40 and I bailed out, so getting comic Whiplash as a bonus on a Buy It Now was just too good to pass up. Seen a few silver Sentinels and passed, passed on a 90's Cyclops. I still don't have Spider-woman or Gladiator, and I've only ever seen them at comic stores for rip-off prices. Waiting for just one or two more decent items to pop up on HasbroToyShop to make it worth getting them there! Anyway, that's my hauls update from Pahrump/Sin City... happy hunting, all. -
Thanks! I felt like my collection just wasn't complete without these two. Hey, glad you're feeling better, too. Stay healthy, man.
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3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
I hit the Wally's on Charleston & Decatur when I stumbled onto the Frost Giant. They had two Goliaths, one more Deadpool/Taskmaster, and a bunch of Silver Sams. That was yesterday afternoon, not sure what's there by Friday night, though. -
3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
It was $83.06, then with shipping it came to $100.01 So, I went a penny over budget, but... I'll live. I cannot wait for the big, bad boy to arrive! -
3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
Hit a double jackpot today, which has never happened to me before in a figure hunt. This is my best haul in perhaps a year. My last 3-4 posts to this thread after trips to Vegas I came up empty... today, however... First, it is unusual that I would make the hour-and-a-half trip to Vegas on a Thursday, but my daughter had an early morning orthodontist visit, so there I was. The ortho referred us to a dentist, that was in the same shopping plaza as a Target. Inside the Target, Four skrulls sat waiting to join my army. And an A.I.M. soldier. Then, I figured, what the heck, I'll pick up the Ben Reilly Spidey. How bad could he be, right? Walking out with a huge boost to my army, I was already ecstatic. Then we ate at Olive Garden, hit the LCS and stopped by one Wal-Mart. Just one. Waiting for me THERE were Taskmaster, Silver Samurai, Loki and the mighty Frost Giant! This is probably a run-of-the-mill haul for a lot of you guys, but for me it is a very rare experience. I live in Pahrump, for crying out loud! Anyway, the other good news is that I finally won an auction for the Fin Fang Foom BAF yesterday, so he's on the way too. Next week I should finally feel confident enough to post in the Collections thread, at long last. Now, on to opening these bad boys and letting them meet the others, mingle a bit, then kick into ACTION! -
Yeah, there were from some Penguin figure, I forget the line, though. Here's what my daughter did with their heads: She just made her very first customs at age 9!
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Jumping on the bandwagon here, but who cares? I can't believe I finished this and STILL don't have the Hulk to go with it. Ugh. This was a request from my daughter who says the Black Cat is her favorite character. It's not the head I wanted, but the kid doesn't care in the slightest. She LOVES this toy, and I expect the fur will be gone in a week. and some stuff that's in progress: Although they are fairly predictable choices, there are just some figures that are priorities, and they have to get done before I can move on in good conscience to more obscure characters. I have no idea what I'm going to do about the Kingpin heads. I am probably going to have to hire a professional to make some properly-scaled ones for me. Onyx, you interested in a commission?
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I've been way, way behind for a while now, but I got some parts figures from pooda last week and I just couldn't postpone these any more. This is gonna take a while... Whirlwind is an amalgam of the old Toy Biz one for the blades & helmet, Piledriver for the body and Jungle Viper forearm bracers. The Hood was a little tricky. Getting Thor's cape to work on this size figure involved gluing the neck piece from G.I. Joe's Barbecue underneath it. Other than that, it's just a Zartan head on a Wolverine body (claws snipped, of course). Madame Masque is hardly an original choice, but I had to have her to go with Robbins, didn't I? I was talking before about how badly I wanted a Mendel Stromm figure, so I ended up with this. I'm not really a fan of the Clone Saga at all, but this is as close as I figured I was ever going to get. Having already butchered Barbecue, I went ahead and took his chest piece, a scuba tank, and a cape from a miniature Magneto toy from Family Dollar and dropped them all on The Doctor. Not my favorite, but I can live with it. next post...
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3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
Last weekend I hit THREE Toys R Us, FOUR Wal-Marts, 2 Targets, a collectible toy store and three comic shops in Las Vegas. Nothing but pegwarmers in every location. My "haul" existed of a Toy Biz Warstar, a McFarlane 4-inch Sea Monster playset, a faux-haired Wendigo (with Rattlesnake monster!), and a 3.35" Army of Darkness 2-pack with two-headed Ash and a Deadite. Not much, but I have to say it is pretty cool having a MU/Joe-scale Necronomicon. Warstar is quite awesome and pretty much in-scale with MUs, but now I need to customize a few other exiled Shi'ar traitors to go with him. -
3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
Went on a toy hunt in Vegas yesterday and took some photos of the Iron Man peg clog that I posted in another thread. That same Wal-Mart also had an Odin and Loki from the movie line. I left both of them because the movie figures don't really interest me. In retrospect, I should have bought Odin at least, since I will probably never see him again. Other than those, it was Iron Man EVERYWHERE. I saw a fair number of 2-packs, Doc Samsons and even a couple others like Luke Cage, Spidey 2099, and Doc Samson. Stopped in at a CVS pharmacy and saw Mary Jane, which I already have. One store also had Kitty Pryde, but I don't need her either. The only toy we ended up buying that day was the rare, Monster High character "Ghoulia Yelps." It was the first time we had ever seen it in a store, and out of an endcap full of Monster High toys, it was the only one. Couldn't pass it up, or my daughter would have cried for weeks. Not that I even considered not buying it, but it did get her to clean up her room, so it was a win. As far as Marvel Universe, I think the line is going to die very soon if they can't get rid of these damn Iron Mans clogging pegs. NO MORE IRON MAN!!! Clearance those suckers and move on. -
3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
Well, went to Las Vegas the other day and got NOTHING. TRU had two figures: Winter Soldier and Iron Man. Just plain old, regular, re-packed Iron Man. Not Extremis, not the newer one with the blue spots, just 80's Iron Man. The only halfway decent new thing I saw was at Target on Blue Diamond Rd. They had the new Thor figures, which I passed on. I like my MU Thor, they didn't have Odin or Loki, and the Frost Giants were way too much money for how small they are. I want a GIANT Frost Giant, not one that is barely as tall as Sabretooth and half as muscular. I'll hold out for the MU Frost Giants. If I hadn't been to North Carolina recently to visit family, I would have nothing since the Sentry 2-pack. Target in Concord, NC had a Yellowjacket, Dark Hawkeye (which I bought anyway even though I said I wouldn't) and I was able to get my second Skrull Soldier there as well. The first one I traded for through this forum, but I have never seen one in a store before this. Concord TRU had squat, as did all other stores I visited while there. Having stopped in stores in multiple states recently, I have to say that distribution still completely sucks on this line of figures. Hasbro really needs to figure this out. Maybe it is the sales department that is just not able to close the deal for enough cases with these retailers. I blame the Iron Man figures, though, primarily. Just stop releasing that guy for a full year, and then maybe you can desaturate the market a bit enough to get some new cases out there. -
3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
Last THREE trips to Vegas, I came up empty-handed. I keep talking about quitting, but I keep searching and being disappointed anyway. The only MU single I saw this last trip was classic Iron Man, several of them, in fact, all right next to tons of Iron Man 2 figures that are also not selling. TRU had some 2-packs, including the Sentry one, but that is about the newest thing anywhere. They don't even have any Multiple Men left in most places I stopped at, and absolutely NOTHING from the last few waves. This toy line is either selling like CRAZY... or not selling at all. I can't tell which, because it almost looks like Las Vegas stores have not re-stocked in months and months. If they have, they must have sold out really quickly and been left with the old inventory again. I'm inclined to think they are just not re-ordering and are instead just sitting on unsold Iron Man figures. -
3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
Did you get anything from the next-to-last wave? I never once saw a Yellowjacket, Constrictor or anything in Vegas. Even though I actually live in Pahrump, I get out that way frequently enough, and I take a certain route to hit several Wal-Marts, Targets, and TRUs. I never make it up as far as Meadows, but I hit almost all of south Vegas and Henderson. The Wal-Mart on Eastern by the 215 is where I find the most new stuff, including the Spider-man 2099 we got. There was one new Iron Man there also, but I wasn't interested. Nothing else from that wave at all, nor from the prior wave (which I have never once seen). The Toys R Us on Sunset & Stephanie had Galactus & Carnage, but that was about it that was any good. Nothing else but about 5 Buckys, several Multiple Men, and of course Extremis out the wazoo. Actually, I did see a few Sentry 2-packs, I think they were at the Target on Maryland Parkway & Flamingo... It has been one step short of impossible to collect this line in the Las Vegas area, though. That one step? The Internet. When the ONLY way to collect the line is through Internet scalpers, there is something really wrong with the product. I only have fun or enjoy the hobby when I find something on the shelf at retail price. Of course, I know I can always buy Archangel for $30 on eBay, that's not the point. The thrill comes from seeing the figures on the peg, or being the first one to see the case cracked open by employees. When that doesn't happen, wave after wave for months and months... and I miss figures completely, it gets really irritating. I don't think I have completed even one wave of MU all year. Half the stores in LV don't even carry the MU line anymore, they only stock the Iron Man 2 and Spider-man lines. -
3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
Not much found in Vegas for Christmas... Santa was able to locate Galactus, Carnage and a Spidey 2099. That was it. I have found nothing else from the last couple waves, and it is very discouraging. My hope for the line (and my patience with it) has diminished to the point where I almost don't even want to collect any more. I guess its maybe scalpers buying more than they need? Or too much Iron Man filler making the retailers order too few MU cases? I don't really know at this point, and I don't know if I care. It's just sad, because I would have bought hundreds of dollars worth of this stuff, if only it were available at retail. Instead, we did Monster High dolls for my daughter this year. Got the whole collection all at once. -
Those came out nice, but you forgot to show the wings folded! Anyway, yours turned out better than mine, but then, I was pretty cheap about it. Had those extra Redwings from the Legends Falcons I already butchered, so I chopped those up for the Angel wings. Your Angel looks a LOT better! I'm embarrassed to show pics now, but I will take them anyway once it's finished.
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That's a Legends Falcon variant, I'd bet my last fodder piece on it.
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Is that a resin cast ? Yes but it was just a test run. I'll post the good stuff later today Now you're getting serious. When do we start the new toy company?
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Yep. Spotted them a mile away. Knew those ones were yours right off the bat.
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3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
See, now that just makes me furious. It's no wonder to me why I have not seen this at all, anywhere. Scumbags like THIS never let them even hit the shelves. MAKE MORE HASBRO! MAKE SO GODDAMN MANY THAT EVERYONE CAN HAVE THREE IF THEY WANT. -
3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
Hey, if you guys don't care about the negative effects of scalping on the hobby, then I guess I don't either. I just see scalpers & hoarders as my enemy, and I'm pretty much going to come out against them every time. It's not a service that they provide; it's a disservice to the hobby. The worst part about it is that they want all the profit and none of the risk: -
3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
This is not a friend of his asking him for a favor. this is someone picking up a whole set of extra figures in the hopes of selling them online at a profit. What you suggested isn't that bad, I'll agree with you. That being said, if a friend of mine asked me to run around town and pick up a whole bunch of figures and he would pay me later, I'd tell him if he wants them so bad to just do it himself. Same thing I say when my friends ask me to borrow money, I tell them to be responsible for their own business. This isn't a charity case I'm running, and it's not a business either. What we do is a hobby. Collecting should be fun, and when people run around buying up multiple copies of everything, leaving nothing behind for the next person, it ruins the hobby (fun) for a whole bunch of people. That's not collecting, that's scalping and/or hoarding. I see a big difference between those latter two things and genuine collecting. No. I'm calling his BS. What I am saying is that the $10 per figure price he claimed is an outright lie; an excuse to profit more per figure while pretending to be "doing someone a favor." Let's put it this way: if you were admittedly buying extra figures specifically to sell online at a profit, why wouldn't you go through the hassle of doing a price match or using a coupon in order to increase your profit margin? Then, you can defend yourself against the "scalper" accusation by claiming that you paid more for the figures than you actually did. Now, maybe he wants to show a receipt to prove that he paid outrageously for those figures, but I'm not going to ask him to. I don't care. I just think it's a wasteful thing to do, and it doesn't help anybody in the long run. Okay, so this guy pays more to get his figures mailed to him in Kentucky. He's probably not thrilled about being unable to find them cheaper at his local retailer, but he begrudgingly surrenders to his desire and pays the higher price online, because it's the only way he will ever get the items he wants. This other guy recoups some of his gas money, but doesn't exactly make enough to really call it "supplemental income" or anything. He's hoping to just squeak a little extra to help justify his wasteful driving around to 12 different stores, which he wouldn't have HAD to do if every other small-minded "collector" wasn't out there doing the same thing in hoarding & scalping themselves! Meanwhile, a whole bunch of other people (who don't engage in such practices) can't continue the hobby because of the ridiculous barriers to entry that people have created. It's a snowball effect. We've seen it before plenty of times (most notably with Legends), and it inevitably ends badly for the toy lines. Probably not, but if I had gotten there before the kids, I would have let the kids have a crack at them, or at least offered to split the finds somehow. Kids need toys more than I do, but if my daughter was there (and we didn't already have Mystique), well, she wanted that one pretty badly, so that would be a tough call. In general though, I leave stuff I don't need for the next person. Occasionally I will buy something just because it's cool or rare even though I don't collect the line per se. I have collected Star Wars & G.I.Joe in the past and got out of it later, but I still have an interest in those toys, and sporadically pick them up, particularly if what I really want (new MU) is unavailable. Back when Rhino was still pretty rare, I let several sit on the pegs, even though I know I could have sold them at a profit. The distinction I make is that I do not need to seek profit at every turn. Some things are done for profit, if you are a professional in that particular business. I believe that people should leave other people's businesses (toy sales, in this case) alone and not try and always become a middle man in everything. It's an ugly side of collecting that I personally despise. If food were as rare as new Marvel Universe figures, I would have a problem with that, too. I'd say stand in line with everyone else and wait, no cutsies. Luckily, our part of the world doesn't suffer the hunger that other places have to cope with, so I don't see any dilemma with this particular scenario. I kind of disagree with you, but you're half-right: The biggest problem in collecting is scalper culture. It's not just the scalpers themselves; it's the gullible people who buy from them, the manufacturers who cater to them by shortpacking certain figures, the stockboys that hide sealed cases in the back just to open when their preferred scalper customers come in... The scalper culture is pervasive, it's the reason why new figures are hard to find, and it's the reason we pay such high premiums. It's not all this one guy's fault, not by any means. However, if we come together and fight this culture, we can change it. We can make an effort to put these scalpers out of business. If we are "friends" on this forum, and I know a great many of us have become sort-of-friends over time, then we can charge retail plus shipping to each other as a general rule when we sell figures. That would be "helping each other out" and not trying to make a profit. As it stands now, though, we aren't doing anybody any favors. We're just artificially driving up prices and making things seem more scarce than they really are. You know it's true when you're sitting on 2 copies of every figure; one open one loose, while others go without. You know it's true when people have 3 Archangels for sale at $20 each, in addition to the ones they keep for themselves. I understand we have a capitalist system, but the free market shouldn't rule over us like a tyrant. We don't have to try and monopolize the supply of action figures in our local area. We don't have to buy up every figure just because it's rare and we know we can sell it for a few extra bucks. We can just... collect. We can be better people, better friends to one another than the scalpers are. Can't we? -
3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
That pretty much goes for the entire MU line. There is no reason to have one loose and one MOC anymore, the market has changed quite a bit. MOC may work for vintage Star Wars or whatever, but anything since McFarlane toys started (and MOC collecting became widespread) is worth the same as the loose toy. Hoarding for one loose and one MOC is just a ridiculous waste of money at this point. people don't just get two of each as an investment. I have 2 each of every Marvel Legend.. one to open and one to keep MOC, not as an investment, but because I LIKED having one MOC for display or whatever. if you don't like having 2 of each because you don't see the point.. fine. but don't try to tell other people how to collect. It's called hoarding, Clam. Especially with regards to rares, it means you get two while someone else has to go without even a single one because you took it off the shelf to have an extra to "display" (brag). It's a jerk thing to do, especially when you have a friend who can't find one and you're sitting there with two. It's selfish and greedy. -
These are the parts I have available to do something with: I have way too many Things, so one of them gets cut up for Super Skrull pieces, the other gets his cracks filled with putty to make an Awesome Android. The birds are going to be cut up into angel wings and glued to the Jungle-Viper's camo frame. Don't have a base for the Angel figure yet. Showdown Reed's head was used for Nick Fury, which left me with a Reed body & a SHIELD agent head (mostly useless). Moon Knight's body was used for Mysterio, leaving me a MK head and belt. Toy Biz Whirlwind is totally going on that Iron Man body, and I'll probably butcher my last regular Captain America for Whirlwind's legs & hands. I can replace him; he's easy to find. The Iron Man is the MU one, which is a little skinny, and it's loose as... well that metaphor is probably not appropriate for this forum. Let's just say it's loose. It spins real nice at the chest, which is an excellent gimmick feature for Whirlwind. Bazooka's head was used for Kraven, and really none of my excess heads fit him (too small). I want to do Crossbones with him, but the Jungle-Viper head is still too small for that bulky Bazooka torso. He'd be a pinhead. So here's what I came up with: The Jungle Viper body + Moon Knight head = The Ghost Showdown Reed's body + Jungle-Viper head (plus Captain America shield, Thor hammer & maybe a swappable Thing arm) = Fusion (Spidey villain) Iron Man body + Capt. America legs + Whirlwind head & blades = Whirlwind What do you think? Resourceful?
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3 3/4" sighting and hauls
ronnieramone replied to thedevilsdue06's topic in Marvel Legends Figure Discussion
I agree with you 100% that hoarding is awful. You should tell your friends who each have two that there is no "mark-up" on loose Archangels vs. MOC ones. That pretty much goes for the entire MU line. There is no reason to have one loose and one MOC anymore, the market has changed quite a bit. MOC may work for vintage Star Wars or whatever, but anything since McFarlane toys started (and MOC collecting became widespread) is worth the same as the loose toy. Hoarding for one loose and one MOC is just a ridiculous waste of money at this point. Try checking one of these MU loose lot auctions of non-rares just for custom fodder. You're hoping to get them at about $5 per figure, and the auctions end at retail or much higher.