Author Topic: Iron Man 2 Toys  (Read 113143 times)

Offline efranks

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #120 on: March 31, 2010, 02:21 PM »
When Target first stocked these they sold some, I think that was probably the local collectors.  Then they slowed a little until they added the end cap last week and had the $5.99 sale. Some moved, but nothing is hard to find.

Now, so far this week, I don't see much movement.  I'm guessing we won't see much move till the film opens and when we see the waves with the bad guys in them.  But if those don't hit close around the film opening, IM could be in for a problem. 

I do think Hasbro came out with too many versions of IM this early.  I think they should have stuck to the film versions of figures in this format and maybe added the comic line where they could have not only IM and War Machine but the Crimson Dynamo and a couple other villains.  Having all the concept armor stuff also, kind of overkill.

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Offline Brian

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #121 on: March 31, 2010, 03:54 PM »
I'll echo the earlier comments of the Iron Man figures being of pretty good quality.  I've seen some iffy paint apps here and there hanging on the pegs, so you'll want to pick them out, but otherwise I've gotten each of the "movie" figures so far and they are all very well done I think.

I'm not sure how much the line is moving right now either, although we'll know better once it is actually in theaters.  Some has definitely sold, the War Machines and Mark VI Iron Mans in particular here, but nothing is really hard to find locally either.  I remember for the first movie, the stuff sold like crazy once the movie was released, and Hasbro had a bit of a tough time keeping up it seemed.  That was a much more conservative approach for a movie line the last time around though, and they seemed to go all out this time - it will be interesting to see how it does.  Iron Man is one hero that it actually works a bit for him to have a dozen different outfits/versions, unlike Spidey, Batman, Superman, etc.

Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #122 on: March 31, 2010, 04:02 PM »
I do realize there's a ton of different outfits they can do, but I think it makes sense to sprinkle in some other characters too, or of Tony Stark in a business suit or whatever.   Looks to me like too many armored figures or the same guy right off the bat, but that's just my opinion.

Offline Jayson

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #123 on: March 31, 2010, 04:11 PM »
I do realize there's a ton of different outfits they can do, but I think it makes sense to sprinkle in some other characters too, or of Tony Stark in a business suit or whatever.   Looks to me like too many armored figures or the same guy right off the bat, but that's just my opinion.

Jeff made a good point about the IM line at one of our monthly meetings a couple weeks ago. His theory was that the reason for the armored figures being released first was that the factory needs time to ramp up to meet full production and work any paint apps issues out of the system first. Masking errors would go virtually unnoticed for the most part on these characters whereas wonky facial paint apps on human characters would surely draw ire from collectors as it happened with the initial waves of Indy figures.

As for the IM product not moving, surely when the movie is released we'll see a lot of turnover and possibly empty pegs depending on its reception.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2010, 04:24 PM by Jayson »
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #124 on: March 31, 2010, 05:11 PM »
Not sure I agree with that seeing that Hasbro has such variety of characters in the regular 3-3/4 Marvel line.  If they can control quality there, I don't see why that would be an issue with Iron Man figures.  They also had a lot of variety right out of the gate with the ROC GI JOE line as well... so, I'm not saying that the theory is wrong, but I don't know if I see a big company like Hasbro making character selections and investing so much tooling on armored masks rather than human faces based off a fear of poor face paint applications.  

Basically, I think it's more to do with their marketing strategy being more like they did with the HULK figures - tons of different HULKS right off the bat and not much of anything else.  They clearly thought that's what the market would be wanting... personally I don't think it's as likely to succeed as a line with more variety of different characters would be, but maybe I'm wrong.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2010, 05:37 PM by CHEWIE »

Offline JediJman

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #125 on: March 31, 2010, 08:03 PM »
Well, it certainly does make sense to get any kinks out with armored figures versus face paints.  You're a bigger customizer than most of us Chewie, but I am guessing a good face painting is much more difficult than just armored heads.  If not a quality concern, it may have at least been a timing consideration to get product through production faster. 

I actually think these are selling pretty well around here given the amount of stock that has come in.  My local TRU has had to restock a few times and even Target seems to be selling some figs despite having 2,000 pegs dedicated to Iron Man right now.   ::)  The real test will be when the movie hits.
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #126 on: March 31, 2010, 09:01 PM »
It certainly is plausible, I just think the more likely case is that Hasbro felt there would be more of a demand for different versions of the main character in the initial launch.  That's all I'm getting at.

Offline Greg

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #127 on: March 31, 2010, 10:54 PM »
So I've gotten four more Iron Man figures, all from the movie line. I got Movie War Machine, Iron Monger, Iron Man Mk. 3, and Iron Man Mk. 1.

War Machine is cool, but I think the comic version is better. However, it's neat that the missile firing cannon attaches to the figure. It looks ridiculous, but it makes the toy fun. The figure is also very detailed in both the sculpt and paint apps.

Iron Man Mk. 3 is nothing special. A faithful representation of the movie costume. I like my MU figure better.

Iron Monger is freakin huge! He's probably my second favorite figure, right behind comic War Machine. He looks like he could demolish the Hulk. I really appreciate the well-hidden ball joint wrists.

Iron Man  Mk. 1 is also a solid figure. It's not huge, but it's very bulky. Great paint apps and a great sculpt. I only wish there were some Ten Rings terrorists for the figure to "fight".

Getting a few more figures has really gotten Iron Man fever to set in. I popped in the Blu-Ray for IM 1 this evening. I had forgotten how awesome that movie was. I'm really excited about the second one, and I cannot wait to see it in May. I don't think I'll buy any more toys until the IM 2 waves come out, but some of the current figures do look pretty cool.

Offline Nicklab

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #128 on: April 1, 2010, 01:08 AM »
I caved today and bought some of the Iron Man 2 figures.  I'm going to stick to movie figures mostly.  Today's acquisitions?

MOVIE SERIES
-Mark 4 armor
-Mark 5 armor
-Mark 6 armor (lightup)
-Iron Monger
-War Machine

I'll probably pick up the Mk 1 & Mk 2 armor, too.  And I couldn't resist one of the concept armors.  So I picked up the Hyper Velocity armor, too.
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #129 on: April 7, 2010, 06:23 PM »
Well, I saw something recently that seemed to back up what I was saying in this thread last week.  Just an isolated incident perhaps, but it definitely didn't surprise me one bit.  I pay very close attention to what people are looking at in the toy aisles these days because I find it interesting to see what is making kids tick with toys they want.

So on Monday I was at Target, and there was a family in the SW section, with a boy around 8 years old all excited about getting a couple figures... he ended up wandering down to the Iron Man 2 figures after his mother pointed them out... the boy was looking for a "bad guy" to fight Iron Man, and seemed confused by all the different Iron Man outfits.  The mother even commented something to the effect that all it was on the pegs was different versions of Iron Man and it was a bad selection... there were a LOT of different figures, but really it was just about nothing but different suits of the same guy. 

They walked back over to the Star Wars section and the kid ended up getting a couple Star Wars figures - couldn't tell what they were but I am pretty sure it was an ARF Trooper along with a Zuckuss.  The kid even commented how Zuckuss was a bad guy, which I assume helped curb him back to Star Wars... either way Hasbro gets a sale here, but something tells me that Iron Man 2 figures could use those sales a bit more than Star Wars which has a much broader toy audience.
 

Offline efranks

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #130 on: April 7, 2010, 08:07 PM »
I'm happy you saw a kid in the action figure aisle that didn't buy Bakugan (or similar) but went for the action figures.  Still, that's one of the problems I think the IM line has right now also, no bad guys.  Well, there are two, at least, mixed in but they look basically like Iron Man and if you don't know the characters well enough you might not pick them out.

I saw a kid in the SW section the other day, on his own, must have been 14 maybe, going through the CW figures and he walked away with two of them (didn't see what figs).  So, kids are still buying that type of toy which I think is excellent.  It gives me hope that maybe some of them are still using their imagination to play.

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Offline JediJman

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #131 on: April 7, 2010, 08:23 PM »
Well, I'm pretty much in agreement on this one.  From a playability stand point it is silly that there are so many "good guys" vs. bad guys in these assortments.  They could have easily stuck with armored figures and still released more badies in the comic lineup.  There is an Iron Monger and Crimson Dynamo in the existing assortment, so they're not all Iron Men, but they could have thrown in Titanium Man, Iron Patriot, Kang, Dr. Doom, Ghost, Spymaster, or a host of other armored bad guys.  That may have helped in the situation you mentioned.  On the flip side, I'm not sure many kids would know about any of these bad guys.  Yes, they could have put in Whiplash in the first assortment, but he's still only one bad guy.  There's also...

SPOLIER WARNING

...apparently a host of different Iron-Drones in the movie that they could have released as bad guys, but I'm betting they don't want to spill the beans on these to the general public until the movie hits.

What I don't understand is the need for so many different Iron Man figures in the early waves.  Yes to Mark I thru Mark VI and the War Machine, but that should have been it.  Then they could have put in Whiplish and Iron Monger as bad guys and called it a day until the later movie waves hit.  Crimson Dynamo was unexpected surprise and I like him in here as well as an alternate baddie.  Instead, we have Hydro Armor, Fireman Armor, Hypervelocity Armor, Basic Red & Gold Armor, and on and on and on - it's just too much of the same guy and pretty pointless versions of the armor.  Heck, I think I even saw a Mark VI Armor and a different MArk VI Light Armor...was that really necessary? 

Imagine a star wars release where your first few lineups include 1x Vader, 1x Boba Fett, 1x Han Solo, and 22 versions of Luke in different outfits.  Fail.
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Offline iFett

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #132 on: April 7, 2010, 08:56 PM »
the boy was looking for a "bad guy" to fight Iron Man, and seemed confused by all the different Iron Man outfits.

Well Iron Monger is a big "bad guy" and I'd consider War Machine as a bad guy (for kids and moms since he's grey/black) but that's just my opinion.  Ya - waaaaaay too many Ironman suits though.   :-\  I have a feeling these are all going to fly off the pegs once the movie hits - unlike what happened last year with ROC figures.

I'm happy you saw a kid in the action figure aisle that didn't buy Bakugan (or similar) but went for the action figures.

I swear - anytime in the action figure aisle at Target...that's all the kiddos and moms are looking at...such a shame.
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #133 on: April 7, 2010, 09:09 PM »
What I don't understand is the need for so many different Iron Man figures in the early waves.  Yes to Mark I thru Mark VI and the War Machine, but that should have been it.  Then they could have put in Whiplish and Iron Monger as bad guys and called it a day until the later movie waves hit.  Crimson Dynamo was unexpected surprise and I like him in here as well as an alternate baddie.  Instead, we have Hydro Armor, Fireman Armor, Hypervelocity Armor, Basic Red & Gold Armor, and on and on and on - it's just too much of the same guy and pretty pointless versions of the armor.  Heck, I think I even saw a Mark VI Armor and a different MArk VI Light Armor...was that really necessary?  

There are more figures on the way in the movie assortment.  Specifically, Whiplash, Black Widow, Nick Fury, Iron Man with removable mask & War Machine with removable mask.  These were shown at the Toy Fair presentation.  But I agree, there are more than enough versions of the Iron Man armor available at retail right now.  I think what adds to the perception about all of the different Iron Man armors at retail is that they've done three different assortments:

-Movie Series
-Concept Series
-Comic Series

IMHO, the concept series only has a couple of really strong pieces in the Hyper Velocity armor and the Deep Dive armor.  Everything else in the concept series seems like a variation of the Mk III armor.  But the concept series does blend well with the movie series.  

The comic series has more potential.  But again, there really haven't been that many bad guys offered.  The only comic series villain I've seen so far is the Crimson Dynamo.  There's also supposed to be a comic series Iron Monger, Titanium Man and Guardsman on the way.  But the line definitely favors Iron Man and all of the specialty armors.
« Last Edit: April 7, 2010, 09:14 PM by Nicklab »
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Offline Brian

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Re: Iron Man 2 Toys
« Reply #134 on: April 8, 2010, 11:44 AM »
Yeah, aside from "keeping movie secrets" I'm never quite sure why they hold back the bad guys in these super hero movie assortments.  I mean, it has pretty much always happened I think.  I remember seeing a sea of Spideys with no sign of Goblin/Doc Ock/etc. for the first couple Spidey movies, until later on anyways (Spidey 2 might have been a worse offender of the two).  The same can largely be said for other movies like Fantastic Four, X-Men, Batman, Superman, Hulk, etc.  They always seem to load up the good guys and let the bad guys trickle into later assortments (and even then, often shortpacked).

I do agree though, I think some of these figures will really start selling once Iron Man 2 hits (Marks III, V, and VI in particular, along with War Machine).  I'm sure some of the other "concept" type stuff may sit, but we'll see - parents/grandparents may not know the difference if the kid just asks for "Iron Man".  I read an article yesterday saying that ticket presales are showing that breaking Dark Knight's opening weekend numbers may be possible - so IM 2 could be pretty big.