2006: What a great year for Legends-collectors!

[So No Tornato]

ML 12, ML 13, ML 14, ML 15, The Wal-Mart Wave, Marvel Monsters Box-Set, Young Avengers Box-set, House of M Box-Set, Marvel Face-Offs Wave 1, Marvel Face-Offs Wave 2, X-Men CLassics, Spider-Man Classics, the start of Icons...did I forget anything?

 

...it was an unbelievable time to collect Legends! Practically every month there was a mad scramble to find the latest releases from TOY-BIZ's merry crew...

 

...lot's of fan-favorites, too! Speaking for myself...Iron-Fist, the Sentry, classic Thor, Ant-Man, classic Green Goblin, Luke Cage, 1st-appearance Iron-Man, Zemo, the Falcon, Captain marvel, the Wasp, MoonKnight, Destroyer, Werewolf by Night, Dracula...

 

...seems like a dream now...

 

HASBRO hasn't done a horrible job with the LEGENDS line...but not doing "horrible" is faint praise. They've definitely sucked some of the joy right out of the hobby...

 

...I wonder if MARVEL TOYS (TOY-BIZ) could ever get the license back?

 

I can dream, can't I?

 

[biglebowski9999]

Stop reminding me of the good 'ol days. @bH@

[Moshbot]

Yes, it was a great year, but it was an expensive year too.

I´m glad Hasbro took the licence, because it was really hard to keep up collecting in Mexico, due to distribution issues. Now, I can go to Wal-Mart and find them just as easy.

 

Biglebowski, yes, they were good times, but after 11 waves or so.

TB ML started with just four figures and a variant, along with SMC.

Hasbro started with one wave too, icons and two exclusives.

Maybe it´s a matter of time for Habsro to get in the fast lane.

[ARROW]

2006 was a bit of a binge, wasn't it?

 

I think it still too early to judge Hasbro with the brands. They've kept a lot of them, and dumped those that were failing. Anytime a line comes out ( Superhero Showdown) and starts getting discounted--its a failure, so not continuing it is just plain smart.

IN HML 2, I see signs of Toybiz's design sense at work........so I'll wait for HML 3 & 4 to pass my own judgement on Hasbro's take on things.

I certainly would NOT say they've "sucked joy right out of the hobby".

2007 is the transition year, I've no expectations of anything specatacular right away. 2008 qwill be the telling one though, and we'll all know the health of the ML line by then.

For now, I'm enjoying it as much as I did before.

[tarot]

2006 was a bit of a binge, wasn't it?

 

I think it still too early to judge Hasbro with the brands. They've kept a lot of them, and dumped those that were failing. Anytime a line comes out ( Superhero Showdown) and starts getting discounted--its a failure, so not continuing it is just plain smart.

IN HML 2, I see signs of Toybiz's design sense at work........so I'll wait for HML 3 & 4 to pass my own judgement on Hasbro's take on things.

I certainly would NOT say they've "sucked joy right out of the hobby".

2007 is the transition year, I've no expectations of anything specatacular right away. 2008 qwill be the telling one though, and we'll all know the health of the ML line by then.

For now, I'm enjoying it as much as I did before.

 

i have to agree that hasbro shouldn't be judged. if anyone should be judged it's marvel they sold the lisence not TB. also i think hasbro has alot of other brand to worry bout like transformers and what not, so give them some consideration. also i notice that the people that complain bout the hml are the first to complement the figs when they get them.

[biglebowski9999]

also i think hasbro has alot of other brand to worry bout like transformers and what not, so give them some consideration.

 

 

Well, this was one of the main reasons many collectors never wanted them to get the license to begin with. ML was TB's bread-and-butter and they lived and died by the success of that line, so lots of effort was put into it. For Hasbro, it's just another notch in the belt. IF ML's died tomorrow it wouldn't be much more than a hiccup to their bottom line. The acqusition of the Marvel license has been very lucrative for them, but they care a lot more about the rights to do the movie lines...ML is just along for the ride. That's not to say that I think they are just giving up on the line and not trying, because they're not doing anything even close to that, but I would love to see where they rank the line on their overall "priority list." I'm sure it's not pretty.

[ARROW]

i have to agree that hasbro shouldn't be judged. if anyone should be judged it's marvel they sold the lisence not TB.

 

At some point it'll be inevitable and warranted.

Marvel wants their toy properties to be profitable , and licensing their stuff to Hasbro is to make them even more so

I joke about it, but seriously, the license could have gone to someplace like Mattel--and we ALL know their track record on handling things like this.

The motives in this are not really the issue--the execution is. If the product increases, and gets even better--then we'll know its in really good hands. But we have to wait for that.

[ARROW]

also i think hasbro has alot of other brand to worry bout like transformers and what not, so give them some consideration.

 

 

Well, this was one of the main reasons many collectors never wanted them to get the license to begin with. ML was TB's bread-and-butter and they lived and died by the success of that line, so lots of effort was put into it. For Hasbro, it's just another notch in the belt. IF ML's died tomorrow it wouldn't be much more than a hiccup to their bottom line. The acqusition of the Marvel license has been very lucrative for them, but they care a lot more about the rights to do the movie lines...ML is just along for the ride. That's not to say that I think they are just giving up on the line and not trying, because they're not doing anything even close to that, but I would love to see where they rank the line on their overall "priority list." I'm sure it's not pretty.

 

 

I think the dollar amount Hasbro paid to Marvel is out there, reported when the deal took place.

I do not know the number off hand, but I suspect its less than the $1 Billion Hasbro initially offered Lucasfilm for Star Wars, before the writedown. My guess is the number is around $250 Million to $500 million, possibly higher. With that in mind, Its a safe guess that Hasbro does give quite the bit of a dang about the overall brand--but Marvel Legends is just one part of the brand. its not the be-all and end-all.

The movie tie-ins can be lucrative, but Hasbro has some of the bigger tie-in brands already.

I don't think they've found their footing with this brand ( or the ML line), just yet--but we'll see.

[guidedbychoices]

Yes, it was a great year, but it was an expensive year too.

I´m glad Hasbro took the licence, because it was really hard to keep up collecting in Mexico, due to distribution issues. Now, I can go to Wal-Mart and find them just as easy.

 

Biglebowski, yes, they were good times, but after 11 waves or so.

TB ML started with just four figures and a variant, along with SMC.

Hasbro started with one wave too, icons and two exclusives.

Maybe it´s a matter of time for Habsro to get in the fast lane.

 

Expensive? Yes. Especially for those of us who jumped on in '06 only to play catch up. Factor in going backwards and having to resort to eBay for some figs was pretty painful. It was all fun though. It reminded me a lot of 1996 with the band Guided By Voices. @luv@

[So No Tornato]

In contrast to TOY-BIZ, with HML, all you have to do is wait a few months...and they all show up in the stores...and everybody gets them.

 

Now, I'm not complainin' about availability...missing out on variants and hard-to-get characters was a bummer...

 

...but much of the excitement seems gone...anti-climactic, even...

 

Does anyone know what I mean?

 

For me, HASBRO has sucked some of the life out of it...some of it...not all...

[boff123]

hml are like old yeller, put a bullet right between the eyes as this pup is dead.

[asurmac]

I bought the entire first wave of hml 1. I looked at them for a few weeks, and I sold all of them except Hercules. I tried to like them, but I just couldn't.

[OWENSIXX]

hml are like old yeller, put a bullet right between the eyes as this pup is dead.

 

HMM I DON'T KNOW I JUST GOT MY CASE OF HML2 IN THE MAIL AND I DIDN'T GET RABIES!!! THE BLOB WAS KILLER AND SHE-HULK QUICKSILVER AND THOR ARE FLAT OUT RAD. I'LL TAKE YELLOWJACKET. ULTIMATE WOLVIE IS WELL... I'D RATHER NOT HAVE HIM BUT IF I'M STUCK WITH A LOUSY FIGURE AT LEAST IT'S AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER AND NOT LUKE CAGE. AS FAR AS THE X3 FIGURES, I WAS TEMPTED TO BURN THEM BUT THATS NOT ENVIRONMENTALY FRIENDLY SO THEY'LL GO UP ON EBAY AS A LOT.

[madman1366]

Toy Biz figs were good, but too many QC issues overshadowed some of the great figs they put out.

 

Hasbro's are FAR better quality. TB was really starting to struggle at the prices they charged and would have raised them to what they are now so that shouldn't be an issue to anyone. Who knows how many corners TB would have had to had to start cutting in order to keep up.

 

While Hasbro might not have the same weathered look to them that really helped give them a more genuine look, the improvements by Hasbro in the quality and cleaner paint apps is worth it to me.

 

The only gripe I really have is the loss of some key points of articulation on some figs. Hasbro would probably say it was for "safety reasons" but I think we all know by now it's probably more about the money than anything else.

 

If we ever knew how much money was saved by simply elimating a single joint on a figure we'd probably crap our pants.

 

But from where I sit, the good FAR outweighs the bad. Hasbro has shown a bit of a willingness to use fan input and I'm sure these discussions will be valuable in the way of helping Hasbro to do a better job making the needed improvements.

 

I think Hasbro's done pretty well so far and I think they'll continue to get better as time goes on.

 

We shall see.

[joenubb]

And just remeber everybody, Hasbro only has the liscense for five years. Whether or not the contract is extended, I'll bet Marvel Toys goes back to making Marvel Legends toys. Maybe this is a good thing. With the Legendary Comic Heroes line coming out, Marvel can address the QC issues and perfect their action figure formula.

 

Let's all imagine for a moment the excitement we'll feel in 2012 when Marvel announces they're back to making Marvel Legends figures!

[synch]

marvel master works...

 

not many of them were good but the galactus vs everyone one was pure gold

 

 

never did find one of these Probly too late with the movie hype now DOH!

[biglebowski9999]

Synch, I think those are still available on the U.S. TRU site so they may be up on the Canadian version, too. I could pick you one up here at TRU but you know what the shipping would be like.

 

The Galactus one is sweet.

[ARROW]

marvel master works...

 

not many of them were good but the galactus vs everyone one was pure gold

 

 

never did find one of these Probly too late with the movie hype now DOH!

Fascination Street in 100 Mile House has one sitting up on their shelf.

Been there a while.

[Blackheart]

I don't know what to think of the HMLs. At first glance they definately look worse than the Toybiz ones.

And they lack more arituclation which was one of the main factors that sold MLs in the first place for alot of people including myself.

But personally overall I still think they're decent figures. They could just be better and hopefully they will be.

[#1 Star Wars Fan]

The Toybiz VS. Hasbro war will never end...

 

IMO, HML1 was total and complete crap except the BAF.... and HML2 was a step up.. but still nothing outstanding... She-Hulk and Quicksilver were long overdue though even though I can't find them...

 

But yes, last year was great but hard on the wallet at the same time....

[boff123]

hml 2 is back in stock at hasbrotoyshop for people that want them.

[synch]

marvel master works...

 

not many of them were good but the galactus vs everyone one was pure gold

 

 

never did find one of these Probly too late with the movie hype now DOH!

Fascination Street in 100 Mile House has one sitting up on their shelf.

Been there a while.

 

Cool! I should really check out toy traders too! Wonder what the prices will be I am clueless as to what these cost in stores

[So No Tornato]

Keepin' the thread alive...

[ARROW]

I think the standout 2006 product was the Face-Off sub-series.

I find myself wistfully wondering why they didn't do it sooner.

Great sculpts throughout--THE Best Hulk figure ever done, imo. Sabretooth is fanatstic, Red Skull and Baron Strucker are great figures.

Good concept, very good execution, lots of stuff for the $$--it really was the pinnacle of the ToyBiz run.

[So No Tornato]

I think the standout 2006 product was the Face-Off sub-series.

I find myself wistfully wondering why they didn't do it sooner.

Great sculpts throughout--THE Best Hulk figure ever done, imo. Sabretooth is fanatstic, Red Skull and Baron Strucker are great figures.

Good concept, very good execution, lots of stuff for the $$--it really was the pinnacle of the ToyBiz run.

 

I agree, Face-Offs was excellent.

 

I never thought I'd get a Sal Buscema-style Hulk, a Leader, an original Sabertooth, a 70's-style Punisher, a Kingpin, a maskless Cap and Daredevil, or a Baron Strucker. This line was clearly intended to please collectors...

 

...HASBRO...Please TAKE NOTE!