My letter to Hasbro...a toy rant.

[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.

[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.

[acrovader]

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

[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.

[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]

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]

^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.

[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]

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.

Yeah, I also would have loved to see comic versions of the original GotG...Starhawk, Vance Astro, Martinex, Charlie 27 and Yondu in ANY size.

[Gorn Captain]

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

But I was referring specifically to Quentin Quire.

I must be totally out of touch (or delusional ), but I have no idea who these characters are...

[EmergencyIan]

I must be totally out of touch (or delusional ), but I have no idea who these characters are...

I'm the same way or likely much worse. Once you get past the "main" DC and Marvel characters, I'm have no familiarity with them. I grew up knowing of Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America, The Hulk, Wonder Woman and any other heroes on "The Super Friends" or who were most popular at the time. That's pretty much who I stick with to this day.

- Ian

[CAZAFANTASMA]

Same thing happened with the ghostbusters line, the marketing dude posted a video saying they where going to do an Ecto for the 6 inch line, IF they made a presale.... asking like $200 for a plastic toy which they only had a cardboard printout of the actual scale vehicle. Ofcourse they didn't reach their pre-sale order estimate, so they said they where going to "cancel the line due to lack of interest from the fan base!" ***. Months later they released the ghostbusters with removable protonpacks, which are the same figures we got before, same molds same body, only with the packs which we should have gotten on the first place..... Mattel sucks in their marketing plans and strategies.
I agree with your rant!

[Toy Timelord]

Classic fans don't read comics, as much as current fans. Sure there's overlap, but they want to move stories, and characters forward to reflect the changing demographic. If they didn't, DC wouldn't have needed to reboot.

Kamala's book has gone into seven printings, she matters.

As for characters being tossed into existing names? That is a classic strawman argument.

Otherwise, Hal Jordan, Barry Allen....would be total flops, that Nobody's ever heard of........

Miles is a hit, and a fan favorite, who continues to gain exposure and fans. I'm not saying you have to love him, but your dismissal of what he means is borne of a lack of understanding. He's a great character, not some 'token'.

It's okay to be a classic fan, but the comics and merch will move forward. Please try not to talk down about it. Love your favorites, and let me love mine.

[Toy Timelord]

Yeah, I also would have loved to see comic versions of the original GotG...Starhawk, Vance Astro, Martinex, Charlie 27 and Yondu in ANY size.

But who else? How long have 'classic' figures like Gladiator, Cloak and Dagger clogged pegs? I'm a long time comics fan and only know two of those figures. One of them (Gladiator) got a figure, and you're welcome to drop by my Target and buy all 28 of them, because we haven't gotten anything new since, unfortunately.

Certain characters will always move more units. We can both name plenty of new and classic characters that would move, and we both could name modern and classic figures that (despite the fact that WE love them,) would linger. Just because it's classic, doesn't make it better, by that same token, just because its new and relevant doesn't mean it always will be.

But like it or not, Kamala and Miles will be in comics, animation, toys and movies, for years to come. You might not like it, but setting up a checklist of 'milestones' a new character must meet for your approval is petty, and childish. Especially when those standards are applied only to ethnic characters. I know you're not that kind of person.

I don't hate classic figures, or characters. i hate classic figures at the expense of characters who are relevant. While you're waiting for them to release the sixth figure of The Beetle, I 'm still waiting for the FIRST of my favorite X-Men, and Avengers. I think a proper balance can be struck to please the most fans, but at the moment, it seems neither of our needs are being met adequately.

And it certainly won't be because either of us hated on each other's preferences, so I suggest we peacefully agree to disagree.

[Toy Timelord]

Dwayne, I sincerely hope your opinion on the line changes and you begin to find more of what you want. It's never fun when the things we love are so hard to find that we don't love them anymore, but taking your frustrations out on fellow fans (and I apologize for doing the same) is no way to vent that anger.