Marvel Universe

[Morgbug]

I have no idea if this is the right thread, as I have no idea what they are called these days (is it just 3.75" Legends?) - anyway, Hasbro Pulse is slowly revealing a new wave this week...  first to be revealed is a nifty looking Hydro-Man.

Thanks for posting it nonetheless.  The naming of the line is pretty universally stupid these days.  There's not all that much out there i want them to do now, so when things do come along, it's gravy. 

I have to say, I'm glad I switched down to the 3.75" scale, just easier to deal with.

[JediJman]

Yeah, always nice to see something new.  They updated the page with a second figure - Morbius.  I won't get either of those, but solid C-List characters for Marvel fans.

[Morgbug]

Yeah, always nice to see something new.  They updated the page with a second figure - Morbius.  I won't get either of those, but solid C-List characters for Marvel fans.

I'll probably get Morbius.  Not sure why, but the character appealed to me way back when he appeared in Spiderman. 

[JediJman]

Hydroman is growing on me.  I don't care much for the character, but the figure looks really well done.  Today's reveal is Rogue.  I might pick her up to go with my X-Men as I don't have one in that scale, but not in love with that version of her.

[Nicklab]

Saw some of the new 3.75" Marvel figures, like the Black Panther and original armor Iron Man.  I was surprised to see these branded as Marvel Legends.  I thought that brand name was reserved for the 6" scale figure, but I guess that has changed.

[JediJman]

Saw some of the new 3.75" Marvel figures, like the Black Panther and original armor Iron Man.  I was surprised to see these branded as Marvel Legends.  I thought that brand name was reserved for the 6" scale figure, but I guess that has changed.

Yeah, I'm totally confused by that.   I can't always tell if I'm looking at a 6" figure or a 3.75" figure, but relied on "Legends" somewhere in the wording to identify the larger sizes.  Guess that's out the window now.  Do these companies do ANY research before making changes?   

[Nicklab]

Hmmmm.  How ****** up is this?  Let's count the ways!
-A highly celebrated toy line has existed ONLY in the 6" scale for at least a decade if not longer. 
-Online shopping is now bigger than ever, but product listings and their associated photos cannot accurately convey a sense of scale on a consistent basis.
-Prices on 3.75" Marvel figures are now close to $14 per figure each, sneaking much closer to the MSRP of the 6" version of Marvel Legends
-And Hasbro has foundered about with Marvel Universe, Marvel Infinite, and now Marvel Legends for the 3.75" figure line.  Identity crisis anyone?

[Jeff]

I can't always tell if I'm looking at a 6" figure or a 3.75" figure, but relied on "Legends" somewhere in the wording to identify the larger sizes.  Guess that's out the window now.  Do these companies do ANY research before making changes?   

I think it was at NYCC last October where they announced "Marvel Legends" would be the name for the MArvel collector line, for 3.75" and 6" (and now 12" too).  Kinda like "Black Series" = collector stuff for Star Wars.  Trying to brand it all together.

[JediJman]

I think it was at NYCC last October where they announced "Marvel Legends" would be the name for the MArvel collector line, for 3.75" and 6" (and now 12" too).  Kinda like "Black Series" = collector stuff for Star Wars.  Trying to brand it all together.

Maybe they should brand it all as "Marvel" and stop complicating my life.   

[Diddly]

It's really hard for me to care about either line when local stores don't stock it. Seriously, in the last year, Walmart only stocked the Avengers wave, Target got the BAF Hobgoblin wave, and TRU got the BAF Rhino wave. That's IT. And with 3.75 inch figures, Target got the wave with Black Widow, Beast and Sandman last Spring, and I think that's all I've seen in stores since late 2013.

[Pongoo]

It's really hard for me to care about either line when local stores don't stock it. Seriously, in the last year, Walmart only stocked the Avengers wave, Target got the BAF Hobgoblin wave, and TRU got the BAF Rhino wave. That's IT. And with 3.75 inch figures, Target got the wave with Black Widow, Beast and Sandman last Spring, and I think that's all I've seen in stores since late 2013.

Agreed. It's really crappy. I've just resorted to waiting for stuff to come out on Amazon now. And the stores wonder how they can compete with Amazon.

[JediJman]

It's really hard for me to care about either line when local stores don't stock it. Seriously, in the last year, Walmart only stocked the Avengers wave, Target got the BAF Hobgoblin wave, and TRU got the BAF Rhino wave. That's IT. And with 3.75 inch figures, Target got the wave with Black Widow Cat, Beast and Sandman last Spring, and I think that's all I've seen in stores since late 2013.

That might be a specific issue with your local stores.  I have seen all the last few Marvel U waves, Spiderman Legends, and Marvel Legends at Walmart, TRU, and Target.  In fact, most of the stores near me are all overloaded with these waves right now to the point where I don't know how they are going to make space for anything new without a clearance.

[Pongoo]

It's really hard for me to care about either line when local stores don't stock it. Seriously, in the last year, Walmart only stocked the Avengers wave, Target got the BAF Hobgoblin wave, and TRU got the BAF Rhino wave. That's IT. And with 3.75 inch figures, Target got the wave with Black Widow Cat, Beast and Sandman last Spring, and I think that's all I've seen in stores since late 2013.

That might be a specific issue with your local stores.  I have seen all the last few Marvel U waves, Spiderman Legends, and Marvel Legends at Walmart, TRU, and Target.  In fact, most of the stores near me are all overloaded with these waves right now to the point where I don't know how they are going to make space for anything new without a clearance.

But that's the problem. New stuff isnt on shelves because old stuff from 2-4 waves ago are clogging up the shelves. I was lucky and got the whole Onslaught wave at TRU because I walked in at the right time. I haven't seen anything new for Legends (4 or 6 inch) for quite some time.

[Brian]

The whole Legends naming thing is, like the Black Series, a little confusing. I guess I understand what they are going for in a way like "this is our collector stuff", but it does make it difficult to keep things separated, especially when they've been double dipping a lot of these figures lately across the lines. It always seemed like they would sort of phase the smaller scale out, but it just keeps going.

As far as finding stuff in stores, around here Legends hasn't been too bad really, but I rarely if ever see the smaller Legends (Universe) stuff in scores.

[JediJman]

Well, personally I think the real problem is the BAF concept.  Because of the variety of figures, you have uneven case ratios and people who only want some of the figures from each release.  That leaves some of the people who want the BAF unable to complete it and others who don't care about the BAF feeling like they overpaid for some useless extra part.  I know the concept is to get you to buy more figures to make the BAF, but I've actually bought less.  If I have one or two figures, I won't care as much about the extras, but if I get 4 or 5  I know I'll be tempted to complete a BAF I don't want, so I purposely avoid fringe characters. 

For example, I'll probably snag Cap from the latest wave and maybe Sharon Carter as an upgrade from her previous release.  I'm tempted to get Mockingbird and Scourge because I really like those figures, but that would put me just three figures away from a Red Skull BAF that I just don't need. I can rationalize $40 for the two I want most, but the thought of eventually getting the full set for $100 more when I don't really want/need any of the others makes me cringe.  If there was no BAF involved I wouldn't even be thinking about the other five, so grabbing Mock or Scourge is somehow more appealing to me. 

Anyway, with that system, you are bound to have leftovers from each wave clogging the pipeline, especially given that most shelf sets have limited space dedicated to these larger size figures.  I think these would sell a lot better in the $17-18 range without a BAF part.