ML X-Force

[Damien]

Jesse answered a question of mine on Fwoosh (yay, I finally found this 'Jesse answers all kinds of questions' thread people were talking about) concerning X-Force figs. Rather than cluttering up that thread, I figured I'd post it up here for any discussion that might ensue.

 

My question (which was a follow up to having originally asked him if he was convinced X-Force would make for good MLs):

"Perhaps a more apt question is; what's your criteria for being convinced, or giving a character or group of characters more thought? Do you check out the forums to see what people are asking for the most? I think I read earlier that character decisions are fairly arbitrary, so I'm hoping one day you'll wake up and say "you know, Shatterstar has a few nifty costumes. . ."

 

 

Jesse's response:

- I don't have a criteria ( I have a "criteria collection" though), But seriously I like and think that those characters would work in ML, not as an assortment or a box set but as single figures in several assortments.

 

 

 

So, Jesse thinks X-Force characters are a possibility (though not as a box set, which is totally fine with me). This is good news for those of us that want X-Force characters. I'm really hoping for Shatty, Domino, and Caliban in 2007/early 2008 (presuming the line continues that far).

 

 

However, Jesse also answered another poster's question, which was this:

When are we gonna see some exiles Core members or new mutants?

 

Jesse's response:

- Right after the X-Force figures

 

 

I'm not sure how to take this. It could be really good news (X-Force figures are already being considered and take priority over Exiles and New Mutants) or it could have been sarcastic (Neither Exiles, New Mutants, nor X-Force are likely to ever see plastic). I'm hoping it's the former, based on his response to my question.

 

Any thoughts?

[Damien]

His initial reply wasn't "what interest?" It was "convinced by what?" Because I asked if he was convinced. Valid answer, since my question was sort of vague and open-ended.

 

He very well might have just been joshin' me, but "But seriously I like and think that those characters would work in ML, not as an assortment or a box set but as single figures in several assortments" does not sound like a sarcastic or joke-like answer to me. I've read through a LOT of that thread, and when Jesse is being sarcastic or insincere, it's usually very obvious.

[ARROW]

He might not know. He might have answered flippantly because he's out of that loop now, or he DOES know and is passing along the info with a wink and a nod.

 

Or maybe he's tell us that the chances are very slim based on the planned line-ups for the foreseeable future.

 

I think the biggest criteria is based on appealing looks.

Some of the X-force characters have really interesting designs, some not so.

The chances of seeing a Cypher/Doug Ramsay character are far less than a Warlock character.

Likewise, there's a whole lot of older Marvel characters that don;t look as appealing as some recent ones.

Arnim Zola is cited as a favourite of Jesse's ( and mine too) because he's so bizarre looking--but he might be too bizarre.

It doesn't mean we'll see an Aquarian or Angar the Screamer figure before we'll see Zola, but we might likely see a Batroc, or even a Jocasta--simply because they look more interesting as characters ( and thus as toys)

 

I think the way the line has been handled thus far indicated how its LIKELY to be handled in the future--namely a mix of older and current characters, salted with characters from the 80's and 90's.

Its got a lot of life that way.

[leonardo]

I think I might have asked him something similar about X-Force. But yeah, X-Force is totally a must at some point. Especially considering it had its own toyline throughout the 90's from toybiz, I'm sure he knows that those characters/figures are somewhat popular.

 

But if you REALLY want X-Force figures, then plead with Marvel to make an X-Force comic revival. You'll notice that whatever is hot in the comics is what gets made into a toy, whether it's popular for the right reasons or not. (Ex. X-23, Astonishing X-Men, Sentry).

 

Unfortunately after the last mini, who knows how long it'll take for them to revive it. I think if Jim Lee's big wildstorm revival works out, we might see more 90's revived characters from all the companies. Then again the 90's are what almost killed comcis...

[nagauthier]

I'm betting we see a Warpath figure soon. That would be in-line with the trend of using recent comic runs as source material for figures since he's in UXM right now. And the Thunderbird variant is a no-brainer.

[Damien]

It is my understanding that the main X-Force characters are all appearing in Civil War (Shatty, Caliban, Domino, Cannonball, Feral. . .). Since Civil War is a current series, wouldn't that count for X-Force being 'current?' Or are they not appearing often enough in that series?

 

Honestly, I'm not sure Marvel will do an X-Force revival in the near future. To my knowledge they're still trying to sort out their Universe so that it will make sense. Which means cleaning up all these story arcs and everything -before- reintroducing past teams in a meaningful way.

 

 

or he DOES know and is passing along the info with a wink and a nod.

 

That's my hope. I understand we won't see a ton of obscure or less interesting characters. We may never see Feral - to my knowledge she wasn't really ever popular. But Shatty was (3 5" figures in the 90's, and I think 2 10" figures, which was more than some of the main X-Men got initially). And I believe Domino was pretty popular as well, despite being a female character (meaning, female characters didn't tend to be popular among young boys).

 

Cable is obviously popular - the Leader of X-Force had a dozen figures in the 90's and was a Legends figure pretty early on. It seems likely that Jesse is aware that these characters have appeal. And likewise, his reply to me did not seem disingenuous.

 

 

 

 

I think the way the line has been handled thus far indicated how its LIKELY to be handled in the future--namely a mix of older and current characters, salted with characters from the 80's and 90's.

Its got a lot of life that way.

 

I'm in total agreement. I'm hoping that some of those 90's characters will be X-Forcers. I'd also like to see Kylun, but that will never happen. Although fweagle did a pretty cool Kylun custom that I may attempt in the future.

 

 

 

Arnim Zola

 

Bio-chemists make cool bad guys. He'd make an interesting ML - though I wonder how they'd do the holographic face in his chest.

 

 

 

 

 

In any event, I just don't see a sarcastic or dismissive tone in Jesse's response. Though maybe there was and I'm hoping for X-Force figs too much to notice. I'm hoping we see 'em. Anyone interested in discussing possible figures and costumes? Some X-Forcers have costumes that are colourful and/or interesting enough to work as Legends and sell well, I think, among both collectors and kids.

 

Caliban is a big monster. Kids love monsters. Collectors love monsters. It's all good there.

[Bonz X]

...I think he was being sarcastic.

 

I wouldn't mind a Domino figure, but I have no interest in X-Force, otherwise.

 

Now EXILES...that would be kinda' cool...except you know what we'd get...a zillion more versions of Wolverine...but it'd be worth it to get a Blink and a Mimic (although I'd much prefer the Silver-Age incarnation of Mimic...different strokes...)

 

#US1#

 

 

 

I think the way the line has been handled thus far indicated how its LIKELY to be handled in the future--namely a mix of older and current characters, salted with characters from the 80's and 90's.

Its got a lot of life that way.

 

Agree 100%. Mix it up, and appeal to a wide audience.

 

#US1#

[ransomz]

I don't think he was joking. Caliban and Domino were done in the 5 inch line and they are regular players in the X-verse. I could see Hasbro slipping these characters into waves. I agree that I don't think we'll see a box set of them, but as individual characters, sure why not? The figures can't all be Wolverine, you know.

[nagauthier]

Exactly. And since the major characters in all the bigs teams have pretty much been covered at this point, I fully expect we're going to start seeing more characters from B teams like Alpha Flight, X-Force, the Thunderbolts, etc.

[synch]

dang, you can tell anyone who rags on exiles has never read it Well in that case bring on xforce even though I care not about most of them

[nagauthier]

I like Exiles just fine, but I want more 616 figures instead of alternate reality or movie figures. They should keep that stuff to sublines and boxsets.

[kndy]

Oh, I loved EXILES! ULTRAVERSE ROCKED! Oh, you mean X-related...never read it. Sorry.

 

kndy

[darthsith]

Domino, Strife, Feral and Warpath would be my most wanted X-force figures. BAF Strife would be cool too.

[ARES-god_of_war]

I just hope they stay away from the core members of The New Mutants (except for a boxset of course!) I don't think the line should be blurred. Forget FA X-Force, Liefeld's designs sucked. but Capullo or Pollina's would go over well (at least I think so)

[Damien]

Stryfe isn't large enough to be a BAF. He's only a clone/alternate/whatever of Cable -- so he should be the same height as the Cable figure we already have, or slightly taller - not 8-10 inches.

 

But I'd love to see him as a regular figure. Warpath as well. I'd like a Feral, but I'm not going to be heartbroken if we don't get one. Domino is a must for me, and my biggest X-Force want is Shatterstar - he's been one of my four top Marvel characters since I was a kid, when he first was introduced. Sunspot would be pretty great to have as well.

 

As for costumes, it's subjective as to which ones 'sucked' or not. The original Shatterstar costume is still one of my favourites. I think that IF we see a Shatty, the costume will probably either be his second costume (red, grey and white) or some version of the newer costume he wore in the X-Force 6-parter, which was similar in some respects to his first two costumes.

 

I don't care overmuch which outfit Domino gets -- I've liked most of the interpretations of her. Although I'm not really keen on any of the costumes they use in Civil War, but I could live with a Civil War style Domino. I wouldn't like a Civil War Shatterstar (but it would be better than nothing).

[The Avenger]

I'd love some.

 

-Cannonball is like my most wanted figure right now.

-I'd buy Domino.

-An modern Uncanny version of Warpath would be awsome.

-Caliban is a great character and would look phenomenal in plastic.

-Grizzly's another one of my favorites.

-And we can't forget Sunspot, gotta love him.

[Magic 8 Ball]

Based on his two replies, I think all he was trying to say is that X-Force could make it out, but it'll be slow, and Exiles and New Mutants even slower.

 

Personally, I've got nothing against some X-Force figures, but I'm not really interested in them either. I guess if they looked really awesome, but otherwise... meh.

[Duck Face]

^ That's my take on it too.

 

I really want both Cannonball and Domino. Most of the others would be great too.

[Bonz X]

I'd much rather have X-Statix than X-Force.

 

#US1#

[CLAM]

some X-force characters are at the top of my most wanted:

 

Shatterstar

Cannonball

Sunspot

Warpath

 

(but not in those fugly purple and yellow costumes)