My letter to Hasbro...a toy rant.

[Spyweb007]

Hasbro seems to be following completely different strategies from what I saw when I worked there 7 years ago, I think they changed leadership around that time as well. It almost seems as though their way of thinking is a bit to "compartmentalized", and they are missing the bigger picture in some cases. I would have liked to have seen the Guardians of the Galaxy toys in the same 3 3/4" format as Star Wars, seems like a missed opportunity for cross-over play between the two lines for kids.

[enyawd72]

^Please. Kamela Khan and Miles Morales aren't even characters. They're nothing more than pale imitations of already existing characters created solely to appease the PC masses, and they will not last.
If Marvel TRULY wanted to create a meaningful Hispanic or Muslim superhero, they'd have come up with something original. They didn't. All they did was slap some brown onto Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel in an obvious publicity stunt. It's not gone unnoticed by me that almost every pic in the media of Miles Morales' Spider-Man shows him with his mask off. They might as well give him a sign that says "Look at me! I'm the Latino Spider-Man!" Same with Kamela Khan. We need to see constant closeups of her traditional Muslim attire and jewelry. Yeah, she's Muslim. We get it.

You were right about one thing though...Miles Morales' action figure didn't go away. It was a "classic" peg warmer.

[Toy Timelord]

If you think characters like Kamala Khan or Miles Morales are going away you're delusional.

But I was referring specifically to Quentin Quire.

As for Thor (she's just called Thor because that's what she is), and Falcon Cap, they've already said they are temporary.

My point is that all of the classics are done many times over. I'm sick of seeing the same things over and over.

As for classic characters who haven't gotten any toys? If they weren't 'flavor of the week' they've already gotten at least six figures.

[enyawd72]

Yep, tired of 'em. We've got enough classic figures. Time to do some characters who are actually relevant instead of more crap that hasn't mattered since before Ditko went all Howard Hughes/JD Salinger.

By relevant you mean flavor of the week crap like She-Thor, FalconCap or Indian Ms. Marvel that will be all but forgotten a year from now when the latest round of unreadable PC garbage hits the comic shops?
Classics are classics for a reason.
I would think someone who frequents a toy forum for 1970's style figures would get that.

[Toy Timelord]

Yep, tired of 'em. We've got enough classic figures. Time to do some characters who are actually relevant instead of more crap that hasn't mattered since before Ditko went all Howard Hughes/JD Salinger.

[acrovader]

Meh. I've always ended up having to buy my figures from scalpers since nothing could ever be found at the stores.

[LordMudd]

^Very true...and that's another thing I can't figure out. Why can't these companies ask what fans want versus what they THINK fans want?
Marvel Legends continues to put out endless variants of Wolverines, Iron Man's etc. and whey they do get to other characters, instead of going with their classic look, they put them in modern costumes they wore for one issue.

I still can't believe classic villains like Puppet Master, Baron Blood, Batroc, Super Adaptoid, Jackal, Sauron, etc. have never been made as Marvel Legends. Chameleon...for crying out loud, he was the very FIRST Spidey villain!
That's okay though...there's like fifty different friggin Venom figures out there.

Years ago, before the internet when we relied on magazines for information about our favorite toys, manufacturers explained that the reason we get so many variants of a single popular figure is because making the mold is the most expensive part of the process. More recently, Scott at Mattel in particular has said that the mold and paint app processes cost the same. If this is true, then why do we keep getting so many rainbow Batmen? Lies are easy to spot, if you look. If you can make 2 figures from 1 mold, you save money, and that is all the bean counters care about. The wrong people are running the companies now.

CCC.

[enyawd72]

I'm sick of classic figures in Marvel Legends to be honest. Especially at the expense of characters who are popular NOW.

Sick of classic figures? Are you kidding? The assortment ratios are already in the ballpark of six or seven "modern" characters to every one classic character.
Look at the latest Spider-Man wave...New Beetle=SUCK. New Boomerang=SUCK. Movie Electro that looks NOTHING like Jamie Foxx=SUCK. Crappy movie Spider-Man with weird ugly articulation=SUCK. The only decent figure in the whole series was Black Cat, who of course was short packed and impossible to find.

[Toy Timelord]

^Very true...and that's another thing I can't figure out. Why can't these companies ask what fans want versus what they THINK fans want?
Marvel Legends continues to put out endless variants of Wolverines, Iron Man's etc. and whey they do get to other characters, instead of going with their classic look, they put them in modern costumes they wore for one issue.

I still can't believe classic villains like Puppet Master, Baron Blood, Batroc, Super Adaptoid, Jackal, Sauron, etc. have never been made as Marvel Legends. Chameleon...for crying out loud, he was the very FIRST Spidey villain!
That's okay though...there's like fifty different friggin Venom figures out there.

I'm sick of classic figures in Marvel Legends to be honest. Especially at the expense of characters who are popular NOW.

[Gorn Captain]

Those look great!
The perfect mix between the two scales.

[EmergencyIan]

This guy did a pretty good 50th Anniversary tribute:

http://oreobuildersblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/50th-anniversary-recap-and-final.html

- Ian

[Bronxboykev]

You speak the truth!!! I'v done more for GI Joes 50th than Hasbro and that's a damn shame

MEGO Joe Group.jpg

And its not just Hasbro even the a fore mentioned Fischer Price and FTC have their major marketing and production flaws, and try to get a video game character figure from Skylanders and now Infinity is ready to release Marvel heroes i cant wait for the disaster that that's about to become. It really does suck the fun out of collecting.

[enyawd72]

^Very true...and that's another thing I can't figure out. Why can't these companies ask what fans want versus what they THINK fans want?
Marvel Legends continues to put out endless variants of Wolverines, Iron Man's etc. and whey they do get to other characters, instead of going with their classic look, they put them in modern costumes they wore for one issue.

I still can't believe classic villains like Puppet Master, Baron Blood, Batroc, Super Adaptoid, Jackal, Sauron, etc. have never been made as Marvel Legends. Chameleon...for crying out loud, he was the very FIRST Spidey villain!
That's okay though...there's like fifty different friggin Venom figures out there.

[Werewolf]

I totally get the frustration with Star Wars. Star Wars collecting has been rough for many years now. But it is slowly improving and will continue to get better under Disney. Also, in fairness to Hasbro, a great many of the issues the SW line has had the last several years were do to with mandates from Lucasfilm. The unrelenting focus on prequels came crashing down on SW at retail with the absolutely disastrous glut of Phantom Menace 3D merchandise. History repeated itself and Phantom Menace nearly killed SW at the mass market retail level for a second time. There should be a ban on Ric Olie figures.

But I see things slowly recovering from the years of prequel onslaught and fatigue. Stores like Walmart, Target and Toys R Us are restocking and enlarging SW sections. As frustrating as store exclusives are Walgreens makes sense to have an exclusive figure. It's the 5th most popular store chain in the US and will help drive awareness of the line. With the launch of Rebels this falls things should be a lot better.

[megonaught]

Dont forget star wars.
Hasblow has that screwed up as well.
I only get the saga legends and mission series but cant even find the new ones there.
Not good business practice.