AndyL

I haven't been this excited for a wave for a long time. Long live BAF waves. Love these figures. Love these characters. That Nemesis looks amazing. Not even mad it's not his original look. I expec we'll get the somewhere down the line as a Deluxe.

Ugh! Never been a fan of this Chameleon. But pick your poison I guess. It's either this one or a spaghetti legged one on an outdated suit body. I'll get it either way but I do hope we et a comic version eventually.

Agree. And indeed it is lazy. Take an iconic cover from a heavily emotional story line and take a Standing There Man and kind of paint his costume to look like the guy on the cover. Couldn't make it less appealing if they tried.

And there's that too. I'm all for a new character over another Spider-Man. Regardless of what I believe his staying power might be.

Is he really though? And I'm not trying to be combatative but I'm genuinely interested in how most people feel. For the most part most of the people I know kind of think of it in the same way as just silly. Sure a lot of fans of Dan Slott think he's a great character but most comic folks I talk to seem to think he's just the next "Throw it against the wall and see if it sticks" character they're trying to push right now. The simple fact that he is a Spider-Man adjacent does give him great exposure and immediate cred which puts him out front for Marvel. Whether he deserves it or not. Aside from here and Facebook groups I think I've got a pretty good database of additional information. On the little off time I have I work at a friend's comic store for free. Meaning I pay off my comic book debt by helping them pull and fill online orders. This store is a nationally recognized brand and does about 80 percent of his sales online and figured out a long time ago the way to drum up business is by having exclusive variant covers for any book that looks like it will move the needle. And he did and he does and his exclusives are listed on most comic book resource databases. He has a large booth at most major cons and has signings with major writers and artists. Just for context that he's not just your average shop. This also gives me time to mingle with fellow nerds and chit chat and keep abreast on the pulse of the comic community. In more than a few regions. I rarely find myself filling orders for Spider-Boy. The book rarely cracks the top fifty in sales charts and mostly doesn't even crack Marvel's top ten. Aside from last month where Daredevil had a guest spot. But just in shooting the breeze with customers an patrons and employees the consensus is pretty much that it's a silly outdated uninspired concept from an age when the norm of any successful character was to spin off a child version of that character. I mean just hearing Slott say this is an idea he's had for a long time now sounds silly. Like he's the first writer in past of previous years that has ever pitched the idea of a Spider-Boy. I'm betting Spider-Boy has been conceptualized by many writers for a long long time now but shelved as it just seems gimmicky until recent times where they are at rock bottom for ideas and will try anything to drum up sales. In fact I'm willing to bet pretty much every recognizable character of any success has had at least a few writers try to push a kid version of that character at one time or another. That aside I totally agree that with ML's attempts to cater to a wide range of fandom a lot of older characters do take a back seat to the new and fresh properties that are out front for Marvel comics at the moment. Personally I think Spider-Boy is a short lived flash in the pan but I would also bet that if and when he kind of fades into the background there would still be fans wanting a figure of him had they not done it now. It's timely to do it now before the new wears off. Basically they have to strike while the iron is hot and sadly that means characters like Cardiac and Carrion and Swarm get pushed back a little bit longer.

Single - Venom. Ooooh I know, I know. What the F could I be thinking? I love the Death's Head figure too. And to tell the truth the decision to purchase DH was much easier to make than to purchase yet ANOTHER Venom figure. Believe you me. But once I got that Venom in it was a massive surprise. It was perfect and beautiful and that little bit of extra articulation opened up a whole world of better poses and display. In my mind's eye this is the perfect Venom. Non Exclusive 2 pack - Iron Fist and Luke Cage. They couldn't have done these any better. That Cage is definitive and though I would have liked some new effects for IF it's the best they've ever done. They could have done him on the Vulcan model and it would have been just as good but in this case the decision to go with articulation over musculature was probably better. Plus they are both on unique molds or mods made for these specific characters. Exclusive 2 pack - Punisher & Bushwacker. It edges out the Crystal & Lockjaw for a few reasons. One because it was the reveal of the updated Reaper sized model we've been waiting years for. Secondly after the Zabu BAF I feel like they cheaped out on the articulation for Lockjaw. I know the reasons they gave for it but it's all just silly excuses IMO. Plus in the sitting pose which they feel most people will display him in it's hard to make him look straight forward without some crazy splaying of his hind legs. Which then makes it look silly and even worse takes up more shelf space. Multipack - SHIELD. Love that we finally got an updated Nick Fury and so happy they gave us swap parts for Jr. So glad to see an updated DumDum but honestly I wish they would have been able to use the new Punisher model instead of the thicker Vucan model. He's just always been portrayed as a taller guy as well as thicker. And finally get a new Sharon though the face is a little wonky but I prefer to use the blonde sculpt from the SHIELD/Hydra 2 pack. I honestly think this sculpt was probably intended to be Sharon anyway but they probably held the character itself off for this later Multipack. It certainly looks the part better anyway.

This is obviously a very stylized figure based on current art in a similar vein to the Spiderverse figures. I'm not complaining that he gets an original sculpt but there is already a much improved teen model that has only been used twice as far as I can remember. Those being Franklin Richards and Kid Omega. Maybe Spider-Boy is a much younger child in which case a new body model makes sense. Admittedly I have no knowledge of the character nor do I have any desire to read about it or read anything from Dan Slott at all. I think it's a silly concept that looks like it was conceptualized a long long time ago but at a time when comics were much better and talent was much more capable the editors wisely chose to just shelve it as being too derivative of characters like Robin and Superboy. And it was. And it still is. Just a simple case of lack of creativity. Still it's a new character. And as silly as it is it looks cool and I'll probably still get it. Probably to just keep MOC.

To start off while I am unhappy with a lot of what Hasbro does with ML at times I am not unhappy with them in general. I think at this point they have perfected the art of ML and continue to improve with their biggest and only problems being scale between figures at times and the constant and over use of some body models such as the Kate Bishop and Sunfire models. But as to the question of who else could do the job and make it exciting again within the price range I have two major contenders and one potential contender. First, Jada Toys. Anyone who's been following these guys and maybe purchased one of the Street Fighter action figures should be nothing but impressed by these guys who literally came out of nowhere and started producing Hasbro quality or better right off the jump without even having that Ugly Phase that most companies have when they start a new license. Hasbro itself went through that phase which many people including Sharty call the Dark Days of ML. Not Jada. Their stuff is almost on par with anything Hasbro is doing and they are at a similar price point and often include more accessories for the price. At very least they all have an alternate face portrait. And another thing. They sell out very fast. So they are getting noticed. And they are only going to get better from this point. Second, Jazzwares. When they were doing the Fortnite they were amazing. Not only were they on roughly the same 6" scale size of ML but they had more articulation with majority original sculpts that only saw re-use when they did alternate skin versions. Also the company is made up of former artists and creators and designers from companies like Toybiz and Mattel among others who have tons of experience in the business. The only reason they lost the license was because big bad Hasbro literally just outbid them. And immediately they scaled them down by thinning them out and virtually eliminating all but one or two accessories. And then tacked on a higher price tag to be sure. In fact I did and do continue to cherry pick the line even after Hasbro got it but I honestly don't remember seeing them produce anything new for the line in probably 6 months or so. Their standard AEW figures are on par with the WWE Elite figures and cheaper and also very little mold re-use and they also sell out very quickly. Even though they are admittedly produced in much smaller quantities as WWE figures. Third, at a distance is the much improved Jakks Pacific. Long gone are the days from when they made WWE figures all on the same body model where Rey Mysterio was the same height as Edge and Kane. These guys have upped their game in the last few years. And even though the Apex Legends figures left a lot to be desired they looked good and all used specific sculpts and could be really good with a few articulation improvements. And if you look at what they're doing with the articulation for figures of a much smaller size like the Mario Bros and Sonic figures they are totally capable of Hasbro level articulation. In particular look at the kind of crazy articulation they are putting on figures with very thin limbs like the Sonic figures and even putting articulation on figures that they could honestly get away with not putting it on like Goombas and King Boo in the Mario Bros line. Every successful line improves but it's crazy to think this is the same company that use to do such garbage work back in the day. Not only do Jada and Jazzwares do comparable product to Hasbro but at the price point of a standard ML they often include more accessories. Certainly much more than figures in line with ML Retro and Hasbro's Fortnite lines which are anorexic when in comes to accessories. So even if they stayed at the same price point they could probably include a lot more in the box. In fact I think if any of these companies had been awarded the DC Multiverse license I bet we would have a 6" line and have Batman and Superman that could stand eye to eye with our ML by now. I'm not sure if any of them had bid on it but surely one of them could have put in a bid to compete with McFarlane who itself was a much smaller company at the time. Just think of what one of them could have done with that line. But as far as ML I think either one of the first two could easily step into the Legends role with fairly good quality right from the start and with only minor hiccups. And the third one could probably become competent with a bit of growing pains and constant improvement. And given the history of what they've been able to do thus far within that price point I think there's not really any question that they could do it with ML as well. Even if they continued with some sort of BAF in exchange for accessories. It's nothing that Hasbro doesn't already do. And in product like Retro Waves the price point stays the same with no BAF and very little if any accessories. I don't think it would be that hard for another company to match or even beat prices. Especially a company with a lot less corporate overhead and not near as many poor and failing lines like Star Wars and stuff like Indiana Jones and Dungeons and Dragons.

LOL! Sooooo been there done that! Many times in the form of seeing something in store or online where I change my mind within a matter of minutes and go back to make the purchase after all only to find it gone or sold out within that short time it took me to argue with myself. I just take it as a sign. And most of the time I find I don't even miss it.

Yep. Bet you're 100 percent @watanabefan. Not a fan of Spider-Boy myself but if it looks cool I will be buying. Be on the lookout.

I really really like how this thing looks. This is an awesome option for all of us who really wanted the ill fated Hellcharger for their collection. I'm really sad the EoV Haslab didn't fund. But I understand why it didn't. But I personally really wanted it. This thing here would be perfect and I'm glad Ramen did it for those who really want it but this isn't a better deal. This is the vehicle only for $260. And if you want the parts to make it look like the Hellcharger it comes out to $300 which is only $50 less than the Haslab. And that's with no figures or bonuses. I know Ramen Toys is a smaller company and I know it's more expensive for them to produce a product than a major powerhouse like Hasbro. But it just blows my mind that there isn't a company out there that can produce something like this at a reasonable cost. On it's own comic based vehicles seem like a niche that someone could corner the market on and really make a name for themselves. Again if the cost is right. Right now I'm really teetering on the decision to pull the trigger on this thing. It gets harder every time I see it because it looks so stinkin good. But ultimately I think I'll pass. First off because there is no official ML Robbie Reyes to go with it and secondly I'm still holding out on the EoV possibly reappearing somewhere down the line maybe through Hasbro's new Made to Order process. I think if they scaled back some of the smaller details to reduce costs they could produce a sufficient vehicle to serve for most display purposes. I often say both Mattel and McFarlane seem to both be able to produce vehicles in scale at literally a fraction of that cost.

I really wasn't into this figure at first but I went ahead and purchased one when they went on sale earlier this year. When I got it in hand it really wasn't that bad at all. The face is a little strange but If you keep his helmet on is is pretty accurate. And actually the Sunfire model fits the way it looked when Jim Lee did it. He actually looked like he'd been hitting them two a days back then. He probably wasn't that ripped but he was definitely bigger than his suit and wheelchair days.

That's actually a pretty good idea. I do love that McFarlane Deathstroke and was on the verge of getting it. But in the end as with pretty much all McFarlane's DCM figures I just had to pass because they don't even come close to matching with my ML figs. I hope it works out good for you because if you've ever bought any MS product you probably know that there is absolutely no regard to scale or proportion. Sometimes they match a 7" scale. Sometimes they don't. And a lot of times they don't even match other figures that they should be compatible with. Take the Iceman figure for instance and put him up to the Cable figure. Of course Cable is supposed to be bigger but they still look way out of proportion. And the details look like they don't even come from the same company. DS/MS is the strangest mixed bag of any figure line I've ever seen.

I am excited about Agent Venom. I do love the original. One of the last uses of the older Toybiz Captain Rogers body model but the layover and attached pieces hid it well. It's still in my current collection. I just wonder which version they are going for. There were so many designs and redesign which actually make sense because it was a symbiote who could modify itself to suit it's current necessity. I just hope for an updated version of the Walgreens on a modern figure model. And to be certain. The correct body is the new Punisher model from the Punisher/Bushwacker 2 pack. With Hasbro's track record they'll probably put it on the stinkin Sunfire model.

Regardless of how I feel about Hot Toys' prices I must say this is a cool looking figure. I wish our ML version could have had a more metallic looking color scheme like this. I wonder an unmasked head will be included. Given HT's track record I'm sure it will. This one's a bit out of the range of what I would pay for my toy habit but I still love 90 percent of what HT does.