CAC

Ok Millennial! With Marvel movies essentially printing their own money the comic’s sales are almost at an all time low. Comic shops nationwide are closing at a staggering pace. Why is that? Could it be that when kids an older former readers walked in they had these characters and Marvel’s attempt at social engineering crammed down their throats? Continuing to force things like the failed push of Carol Danvers, totally fresh and original (insert ethnic/female) with an established character’s exact powers or in many cases their exact costume and name, or mentally challenged fat mammal girl.....is that all just a coincidence? Guarantee the chipmunk Vespa figure won’t sell more than Spy Master

An extension of the 80th Anniversary line where we got Classic Comic designs would alleviate a lot of the complaining about character selection. Just as long as Hasbro keeps Spider Man and X-Men characters contained within their own waves.

Now I’m all for Bag Man costume because that actually is iconic. I’m harping on Odin, Heimdall, Balder, Warriors Three, Executioner, Mangog etc. because those are my personal favorites. However, what about Dr. Strange? That’s a rich and deep title. What about a classic Power Man/Iron Fist? I’m pretty sure the Classic costume stuff sold great last year. I just want to see more of that across the board and fewer of the exact same character. Maybe we could limit Iron Man, Spider Man, Wolverine and Cap to 2 figures a year?

I have the Select Destroyer and honestly I don’t know that Legends could top it. Its unfair to count MCU figures. They don’t match in look or scale and a lot of people only collect one or the other. Thor MCU figures are the only MCU figures I collect and honestly they are an after thought for me personally. It’s flat out wrong to lump in D-list villains that everyone passes around in ever Marvel title just because they happen to have appeared in Thor first. My actual point however, is two fold: 1. We seem to get one Thor or one Hulk for every 10 Iron Man or Cap figures. I know X-Men is very popular and the people who started with that cartoon are just now getting to the disposable income portion of their lives, I know Spider Man will always sell more than anyone, but you will never convince me that Iron Man and Cap are 10 to 1 more popular that Thor and Hulk. All I’m asking is that when Hasbro draws up that 5th Iron Man armor of the year- just stop step back and use that slot to give us someone else. 2. In the history of Marvel the Asgardians are really really damn important. So when I see a Punisher who became Ghost Rider and took War Machine’s Armor before getting crippled and taking Prof. X’s wheel chair in figure form I can’t help but wonder.....”Could that slot have been used for an Odin that isn’t a trash BAF with outdated hip joints and weird floating shoulder pads that are connected to absolutely nothing?” Also, Jane Foster, Angela and Beta Ray Bill sort of aren’t technically Asgardians.

So are we considering 34 different Spider Man Video game costumes Iconic? What about every time a bad guy becomes the good guy but only slightly alters the appearance of the hero’s costume and changes the color scheme to match their own costume (Doc Ock Spider Man or Dr.Doom Iron Man) is that iconic? Was their a massive out cry for last year’s Wolverine where he looked like a 40 year old divorcee going to a Dixie Chicks concert with some gal pals from work? Was that Country Music Chic Wolverine the iconic look that everyone needed to really pull their Legends displays together? I just feel like we may be a little overboard on some of these at this point.

So I read many different Marvel titles. I can assure you that Odin, Heimdall and Balder are far more important to Thor (one of the longest running and most successful Marvel titles ever) than Caliban or the Cuckoos are to X-Men. As a Marvel fan and reader I feel that your dismissals and assertions fail to land. Caliban and the Cuckoos are literally background characters and I can speak to that because I know who they are, unlike you who does not seem to have a grasp of Marvel outside of your preferred titles (and probably only since the last 20 years). Marvel existed long before the 90s cartoons, I promise you. Also, what does “Cult” following mean exactly? Squirrel Girl, Kamala Khan, America Chavez- they all have these elusive “cult” followings. Yet their titles are cancelled and rebooted over and over again. I’ll tell you what it means, it means their books and figures don’t sell but for other reasons we have to continue to include them.

I don’t care that Hasbro repaints figures. I don’t care that they take existing molds and alter them slightly. But Jesus how many how many Wolverine, Spider Man and Iron Man variations can we possibly get? 2099 Iron Man, Silver Centurion Iron Man and Space Armor (aren’t all Iron Man armors actually space armor?). Now it looks like we will be getting 15 versions of Beast (who is not even a top 5 X-Men character)? Thor is a major player! He’s one of the Avengers holy trinity. So why is Hasbro so opposed to making Thor and Thor characters? Take the Alex Ross Thor and give me as many Thor’s as Iron Man and Wolverines. I was Simmonson’s armored Thor, I want this new Galactus Herald Thor, I want Gold arm Thor, I want a redo of the Straczynski’s Modern Thor, I want that same costume but sleeveless like the 12” figure that came out a couple of years back. I want fur lined cape Nordic Thor from the “For Asgard” story, I want black and white socks from Esad Ribic in Blood Brothers, I want a redo of Thor God of Thunder! I want Thor to get a fraction of the love that Iron Man and Captain America get. Also, for the love of God we got an Alpha Flight box set and we can’t get the Warriors Three (comic version)? We got a bunny rabbit girl who has appeared in what, 1 issue of Spider Man, but no Heimdall? There is about to be a Spy Master warming the hell out of pegs all over the world but I don’t have a decent Odin? There are Steppford Cukoos (WTF ever those are) and I don’t have a Balder? We got a Caliban BAF....Caliban, but I don’t have Surtur, Kurse, Mangog, Executioner or Destroyer Armor? Sweet Jesus in Heaven we are getting a Chipmunk girl on a Vespa (Ollie’s and Big Lots here she comes when Hasbro can’t sell more than 100 of that one) and I can’t get The Real Valkyrie on her horse? By the end of this year we will have more costume variants of Storm than Asgardians!

Not only do we need a three pack of Hogun and his friends but we also need a comic accurate version of the Big Boss and the Security Guard who sees everything where Hogun and his friends work/live. Also, in addition to not making anymore Wolverine figures could we please get a moratorium on Spider Man figures? I really don't need Spider Man in a Yankees uniform from a 1987 Hostess Twinkies, Major League Baseball and Marvel cross over promotional ad.

How many times has Hasbro made a Fantastic Four wave and left out Mr. Fantastic? The answer is zero! No matter who you call an Avenger the Avengers are at their core, the Big 3- Cap, Iron Man and THOR! Thanks for the Kamala Khan that will keep pegs warm. Hasbro....any “Avengers” set has to have the Big 3!