Marvel Legends

[Brian]

Just a note....the "SuperHero Showdown" starter and booster packs are now on the pegs at our local Target, and I've read reports of them showing up at Wal-Mart as well.  Unfortunately, the prices aren't a whole lot better....$6.99 at Target I believe, and reportedly $6.74 at Wal-Mart.  I really like this scale of figures, and if I didn't already have a fair amount of Legends, I might have bought into it further...but the price really hurts them.  Heck, the Marvel Legends figures are cheaper at our Target than the Showdown figures, that doesn't make much sense.

[Gregorbian]

I picked up the Taskmaster, Hulkbuster Iron Man, and Scarlett Witch (wasn't she supposed to be cancelled or something?).
I really like the Taskmaster, but the Hulkbuster is kinda plain (oddly enough).  Does anybody know how to put the sword sheath on Taskmaster when his cape is on?  It doesn't seem to fit properly...

[Mikey D]

Does anybody know how to put the sword sheath on Taskmaster when his cape is on?  It doesn't seem to fit properly...

It goes underneath his cape, not over it.  Then attach the little blue thing on the sheath to a peg on the cape to keep everything in place.  Really nice figure.

[Victor_Von_Doom]

The newest figure I've found is Vengeance. However, I did see the new Fantastic Four line at Meijer yesterday. They had 2 of every figure except Super Skrull (the only one I wanted in the line )

[Ben]

From out of left field:

Fwoosh linky: Hasbro to maufacture Marvel toys starting in 2007.

And, to avoid confusion, the post with the info:

Only manufacturing and distribution is affected. Right now Marvel owns the characters, but Toybiz owns the license to make Marvel characters into toys. TB also designs the toys and owns the molds. TBWW, has been in charge of manufacturing and distributing toys, and is owned by a guy named Jeff Hsieh who is very, very rich, because he is a small time manufacturer, given a good deal to make the Marvel toys.

How it works: Jeff's license ends in 2006. TB knows that they can get more for the license from a larger manufacturer such as playmates or hasbro. Apparently Hasbro won the bid and will own the license to produce the toys for X number of years. Toy Biz inc still owns the molds and still designs the toys, Jesse's job is safe (for now). Instead of sending it to Jeff's contracted factories, Hasbro will produce it in their contracted factories. Hasbro has to purchase several licenses, Marvel Legends, SPiderman Classics, SPiderman Movie, Fantastic Four, FF Classics, X-Men etc. It is unknown which ones they are getting.

How this affects the you: Intead of a Toybiz worldwide marking on your toys. Marvel, the parent company, will still be stamped on the package. Instead of having to deal with TBWW, a small-time manufacturer, Hasbro has better manufacturing techniques (believe it or not) and MUCH better distribution means. From what I know, TBWW was rubbish at distribution, making the timed schedules etc. Toy Biz had to work by itself to push distribution. Hasbro will take some of that out of their hands. Possibility is that more toys will be made, and there will be more shelf space and they will be distributed better by schedule around the country, instead of 10, then 12, then 11 etc.

Hasbro will not reuse peices and parts like in Transformers. Because ToyBiz designs and owns the molds, they decide if they want to reuse the parts, they decide the waves, what goes in them, etc. TB remains the brains, Hasbro the manufacturing.

Marvel legends will remain as long as there is interest, so don't worry. Marvel has an interest of making toys not for money, but for brand recognition. Same goes for comics, comics are for developing characters and finding out if they are marketable for other areas outside of comics. If you look at some of the "weird" picks for marvel legends, you will notice that many are there to create recognition, before a film is to come out (Man-thing, Deathlok and Dr. Strange (films are planning to be made), Angel, X-23 (they are promoting her big because she has potential to be popular), Iron Fist (movie was planned but on hiatus). The fact that comics and toys are self-sufficient makes them advertising that pays for itself.
More brand recognition means more licensing, that's where the real money comes from.

Marvel will get paid a large amount by Hasbro for them to manufacture. They will use the money to make themselves a better company, as toys and comic books are no longer their most profitable areas. Among many things they are putting their money in, they are putting more funding into their movies, so they are more Marvel controlled, as opposed to Fox or Universal (ex. no more Ang Lee directing Hulk).

This will only be a bad thing if 1) hasbro mucks up the manufacturing, and they shouldn't because they are more experienced than TBWW and they are paying much more for the license so they have an interest in doing well for their tenure. and 2) If Hasbro tries to demand more control in the process or tries to screw of the consumer in their distribution, both of which are also unlikely.

Hm. Didn't see that coming.

[Morgbug]

Uh....ok.  I don't know if this is good news or not.  As a general feeling I don't really care either way.  There are toys I want made from a Marvel Legends perspective but they're really few and far between now.  I'd have bought way more in a 3 3/4" scale as the current 6" scale takes up a ton of room.  But I have most of the characters I want anyway. 

If the future is looking at this from a marketing potential alone, I'd suggest we're bound to see one hell of a lot of Wolverine's out there   I already have more than I need/want and I'll even buy the newest series 12 version, but I honestly can't think of anything else I'd want.  X-23 is no-Y chromosome wolverine, nothing more

Given how Hasblo screws up so much else, I'm nervous about this too.  With Marvel keeping close tabs it may make the line better, but I can hardly wait for the first Target exclusive chase figure

[Morgbug]

Picked up Man-Wolf today at a flea market.  Sort of a trade deal so I got it for regular retail price.  It's sort of well done, sort of not.  The costume is what I'd hoped for right down the to jewel on the collar.  The head sculpt is buggin me though.  It seems to small in general and is just sticking out on that long peg of a neck.  The overbite is ok, but at the same time the lower jaw really is too small and offset to the left on top of that.  I'm hoping once I open it I can shift it over and it won't look so crappy. 

I guess this line is geared more towards the kids out there, but much like SW/Hasbro stuff, I hate action features.  I've no need of the howling sound (which isn't badly done, btw) or the jaw action.  The former is fine, the latter really detracts from the sculpt.  This was one of my favorite issues of ASM though, so no way could I pass on this, crappy or not. 

Opened up the figure................. the head is a POS.  Seriously, this is about the worst thing I've seen from toybiz.  The neck is just a stump for a half head to sit out front of.  I'm basically thinking now I HAVE to find some sculpy for something and finish of the back half of the head because toybiz couldn't be bothered. I can't align the jaw at all and I can't have the head tilt up to see the eyes when it's standing.  This is going to be seriously tough to pose so that it's not a back -of-display figure.     I think if I wedge something in with the button and have his jaws posed open, it'll look less stupid, but I have to fill out the back of the head.  Really, it looks so bad I checked the packaging again to see if something had fallen off.  Unfortunately not.

The articulation is fine and remarkably stiff, that's a plus here and the costume is fine (modified logan sculpt?).  I also can't get the backpack off him, I can live with that, but wouldn't mind it being off since I don't plan on having him howl every three seconds anyway. 

[Jeff]

From out of left field:

Fwoosh linky: Hasbro to maufacture Marvel toys starting in 2007.

More on the Marvel and Hasbro story, straight from Hasbro:

Hasbro and Marvel Team to Produce Wide Range of Toys and Games Based on the Marvel Character Universe


I wonder how safe those Toy Biz jobs really are...? 

Reading that story from fwoosh, it reminded me an awful lot of Galoob - when Hasbro said "oh, we're just handling the distribution, nothing will happen to their jobs", etc.

Yeah, that was different because Hasbro bought Galoob, but I wouldn't put it past Hasbro to find a way to chop Toy Biz out of the loop after a while...

[Brian]

This was a definite surprise to read when I got online this morning.  At first I thought "great, new company, new line, new scale, etc.", but it doesn't exactly seem like it would be that way.  I guess, like Brent mentioned, there isn't necessarily a whole lot of stuff I really need from the Legends line at this point, although I think there is always more we'd like to see.  It sounds like the rest of this year should be safe/normal anyways, so hopefully that will round out a lot of people's want lists.  I'm curious to see what rests beyond that, especially next year with the Spidey movie and also with lines like Legends and SMC.  It will be interesting to see.  Another thing that Brent mentioned that is the same with me...I probably would have bought more from the get go if this started out in the 3 3/4" scale.  I do like the 6" figures, but they sure take up a lot of room.  I was tempted (and still am, from time to time) to pick up the SHS figures (I did get Spidey/Thing), but I'm further invested in the Legends scale/line now and they really are better figures overall at this point.  Anyways, it will be interesting to see where this is headed.

On a side note, I agree with what you said about that Man-Wolf figure.  I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and was greatly disappointed with the head/action feature too.  Otherwise it is a pretty nice figure, but that really knocks it down a peg.  Nothing new around here Legends wise really lately.  I did see a few series 12 figures at Target a week ago, and they were gone the next day.  I'd kind of like to get the Astonishing Wolverine (and maybe Sasquatch), but those weren't there of course.  I picked up another Spidey this weekend, the "Super Strength" version in the Venom/Man Wolf wave.  Not like any of us need another Spidey, but I kind of liked the look of this figure...somewhat similar to the current New Avengers look, so I decided to pick it up.  I see that Wal-Mart and Targets here are both carrying the SHS figures now too, but the prices aren't a whole lot cheaper than TRU.

[Jeff]

From out of left field:

Fwoosh linky: Hasbro to maufacture Marvel toys starting in 2007.

More on the Marvel and Hasbro story, straight from Hasbro:

Hasbro and Marvel Team to Produce Wide Range of Toys and Games Based on the Marvel Character Universe

And now, more from the mouth of Marvel:

MARVEL TERMINATES TOY BIZ WORLDWIDE LICENSING AGREEMENT AND PLANS FOR TRANSITION TO HASBRO LICENSE IN 2007


And, for those not wanting to read it all...

"Marvel Entertainment announced today that is has terminated its licensing agreement with Toy Biz Worldwide Ltd....

As a result of the termination, in 2006 Marvel-branded action figures and other toys formerly produced by Toy Biz Worldwide will be produced by Marvel.

Marvel will be in a better position to effect a smooth transition to Hasbro in areas such as toy development, manufacturing, shipping, and retail space. "


I sure would be worried if I worked at ToyBiz right now... 

[evenflow]

Not sure how to feel about this. I guess we all just have to wait and see.

[Victor_Von_Doom]

I am uneasy about this as well. I'll be very, very angry if they aren't in the same scale. I guess we will just have to wait and see how all this unfolds. 

[Morgbug]

Goofy new X-Men line.

Well, I guess everybody and their brother will be after Storm, and will leave the rest to rot.

I guess these are showing up at retail already, specifically the west coast.

These showed up quite unexpectedly today at Walmart of all places.   Walmart's been pretty dead of late, so that's where the surprise factor comes in. 

I also saw not one, but two sets of the variants from the Sentinel series.  $10.92 is the cheapest price we get for ML up here and that's at Walmart, so if you're in need and willing to pay that price plus shipping, lmk.  I'd be willing to buy the leg with the Angel variant for half the price if anyone's interested in a loose, blue Angel for about regular US retail

Back to the aforementioned goofy new X-men figures:  here's a shock, Wolverine and Cyclops are packed at what seems to be 3 per case of each Cyc, Wolvie1, Wolvie2.  Yep, you guessed it, Archangel, Gambit and Storm are one per case   THe big surprise to me was that the only figure missing was Gambit but I didn't want it anyway.  I did get Storm and Archangel off the riser so that was nice. 

The archangel looks really similar to the previously released version, though as mine is boxed up and packed away, I can't really compare.  I don't recall the action feature being present though (it's the same goofy stuff as the Spiderman Movie Green Goblin Glider had).  The wings seem similar, two segmented as before and different from the ML11 version.  I think it's worth the pickup and I don't need the one I have, if anyone's interested in a trade, clones are usually good

Storm I wanted and Storm I have.  It looks nice enough in the package, but having yet to open it, she seems a little out of scale, as the entire line might be.  I won't be doing that side by side comparison for a long time so I can't say how precise it will be, but once I open her I'll try and find one of the female ML figures my daughter has absconded with.  She looks to be in scale with the FF Sue figure, so it's probably not that bad.  Plus it looks generically similar to the previous Storm, the cape, hair etc. so hopefully it is a duplicate in identical scale, that would be nice. 

Accessories, as you can see from the pictures are limited.  Just those lame stands that work quite poorly.  Price point here is the same as the Marvel Legends stuff, so it's a bit annoying that way but at least there wasn't much I wanted anyway. 

As a side note, the back of the packaging also shows Magneto and Beast, so maybe wave two is planned, depending on the success of the line (limited IMO given the case ratio) and Toybiz/Marvel/Hasbro's future plans.

[Ben]

I scored myself a Hulk Buster and Scarlet Witch at WM tonight. I said I wasn't going to buy SW, but she looked decent enough to buy. This one didn't look as bad as most of the pics floating around, though the face is still far from feminine.

[Morgbug]

Popped open the Storm fig.  First thing, the insert shows Beast and Magneto as well, so I suppose they'll be down the road some.  Stealth Beast is the official title for that one

Storm is decent enough, I think it's the same as the previous version.  Cape feels similar, that weird rubbery texture.  She's worth picking up.