What do you like on your figures?

[CLAM]

okay.. so this is not anti-Hasbro in any way... this is just a simple topic about what you like on your figures.

 

there have been many changes to Marvel figures since the first Spiderman Classics series launched, which lead to Marvel Legends.. so, out of all the things we have seen, what makes the best Marvel figure to you?

 

 

Size?

I definitely prefer the 6 inch scale above all other scales we have seen so far. 5 inchers don't work very well, and SuperHero Showdown was cool, but not as good as Legends at all.

 

 

articulation?

 

I think the best articulation we have seen is a combination of (from the feet up):

toe hinge

4-way ankle (front-back/side to side)

swivel calf

double-jointed knee

thigh swivel

ball-joint hips (without 45 degree angle pins holding them in)

waist swivel

ab-hinge joint

shoulder hinge with ball joint shoulder (like the Bullseye body has)

bicep swivel

double jointed elbows

forarm swivel

wrist hinge and swivel

knuckle joints

ball jointed head

 

clothing?

I definitely prefer the uber-flexible plastic over cloth fabric

 

paint?

I like the figure to be molded in the dominant color

detailed/layered paint and light washes to bring out sculpting detail

painted or washed skin tones, instead of skin-colored plastic

joint pins to be molded in the color they are supposed to be instead of painted

 

acessories?

I like the figures to come with some accessories if they should

figures that can come with accessories and don't are an insult (Bullseye, Psylocke, etc)

 

BAF?

If it is a figure that is large enough, cool

if not, give us accessories or stands instead

 

Appearance?

I like the characters to look as they do in the comics

on the realistic side instead of the cartoon side

 

Variants?

I like a character to have a different costume version

I don't like open/closed mouth variants

I don't like unique character variants, those should be in the line (Genis, Destroyer)

 

Comics?

I like them to come with comics

with comics that actually have something to do with the character and introduce us to them

 

Stands?

some of them have been great, some a wast of plastic

I like flight stands, especially for characters that can fly

 

 

 

thats all I can think of for now... but basically, those things are my recipe for the perfect figure

[heinousjoe]

im not going over every articulation point

but every character should have wrist, ab joint, ankle, and up/down/side/side movement with head and i dont mean with the ball joints hasbro just loves, give us the pin joints again (for some reason they gave this to dr doom,a character who i will never have looking up b/c of his hood)

oh and waist

ab cuts are not good, they dont look realistic and they dont allow for good movement

 

accessories are awesome

psylocke needed a psy knife

cable needed guns

 

flight stands are very necessary for flying characters

banshee, sentry, ironman, new goblin

even characters like spiderman or daredevil need them

i dont care if they have a small hole in their back, its necessary to get the full feel of the character

 

BAFs are useless now and only help completists anymore

i want holocaust from hml4 but i dont want any other character,im gonna have to trade for all those

 

we dont need comics, it was a sweet bonus but by no means do we really need them

 

variants are useless anymore too, they are all dumb repaints of the same character,not even new heads anymore

jigsaw was a sweet variant, b/c it was a whole new body and im pretty sure a new head also

abomination was a dumb variant,he looked like that for how long?

 

and cloths?

i hate cloth and plastic, give me molded on to the sculpt

i realize that doesnt work for characters with trench coats,but if you have to make it seperate make it a hard plastic like xmc gambit, not goofy rubber like ml11 logan or mandarin

[nimrodmutanthunter]

one thing i like on any figure is foot peg holes. imo they make a world of diffrence when posing the fig.

[ARES-god_of_war]

Size?

If I could see a synergy between all of my favorite Intellectual Properties; I'd be a very happy man! (broke, but happy!!!) 6" is quite possible the best scale for action figures? And if I remember correctly; Buddy L makes a few vehicles that would accommodate the 1/12 scale

 

 

Articulation?

I think it should vary from figure to figure, not everyone will need ultra-poseability like Spidey or DD... Some would need a completely different set. Punisher and Nick Fury types would need to have more upper body, so they can look menacing with firearms and such.

 

Clothing?

As long as articulation isn't affected, plastic, always plastic!

 

Paint?

Use whichever the dominant color to cast the mold in, all pins should match the sculpt... not be painted after the fact (that never works!) Washes and drybrushing could easily be avoided if the figures have some varying textures. But the flat plastic look is kinda...BLAH?

 

Accessories?

I would like to see the line get all GI Joe, if possible? If I want weapons or props to use with my ML... sell them to me! Also see the next topic for a different take...

 

BAF?

Use the Icons line for extra large scaled characters. BAFs should be phazed out... I'd rather have The Punisher with guns and a chest to store them in, than some character that I don't feel really!

 

Appearance?

Most current version of whichever character is being produced. I'd like to see a FA line for those characters that have several different suits

 

Variants?

I have always hated the concept behind Variants! That energy should be focused on getting the different charcters into people's hands. Only thing I want to chase after is skirts!!!

 

Comics?

There has yet to be a Marvel Legend released that I haven't read a vital story arc featuring said character?! Not needed, most of the ones included had been read by me when I was a pup!

 

Stands?

Miss them! But I think they should have the new TNA styled flight stands,; they grip the figures waist... not plug into a hole on the figures person.

 

 

 

Thanks for that Clam... I knew you could do it!

[Draven79]

Wow Clam........... you actually surprised me with this post!! @loll@ @smilepunch@

Seriously is a well thought out posts. Honestly I do agree with you on a lot of points. I think Hasbro needs to get away from molded skin. I have changed my mind on that. And paint washes do need to return. As far as articulation, I am still not upset by the cuts to much. If we can get double elbows and knees back, I will live with any other change perfectly ok.

Oh and I am not a fan of cloth except when it's a trench coat like Gambit ML4 or Blade. Even then I prefer the Gamit classic with the molded trenchcaot to some point. Would be perfect if only he could have change out arms with regular sleeves on.

Draven

[pvbvillegas]

one thing i like on any figure is foot peg holes. imo they make a world of diffrence when posing the fig.

 

 

yeah, foot peg holes. plus a stand (base). or a hole in the back, and a doop stand.

[synch]

I kind of s Its quicker for me to list the things I hate than like I more orless agree with my oyster35 on all the above in his post

 

things need to start changing fast imo! I will say this though wave 3 is looking better & wave 3 is looking even more so!

maybe first full wave I get in 4...

[ARROW]

Clam, I'd agree with everyone of those--that would indeed be the ideal recipe for me as well.

[kreyonkid]

I agree with your list as well Clam34!

[Inggasson]

Size?

6" is definitely good. I'd be all for a separate 3 3/4" line, but Legends started 6" and should stay that way.

 

 

articulation?

I'm pretty much in agreement with CLAM on this, but I'm quite happy to settle for minor, character-specific loss of articulation like we had with Lord Thor so that he can hold Mjolnir with less hassle.

 

clothing?

I started a campaign for cloth capes and I haven't forgotten about it

 

paint?

Again, down with CLAM, but I don't see a huge problem with skin-coloured plastic.

 

accessories?

Certain characters need accessories and there's no two ways about it. In fact, to an extent, they all need accessories, but some need more than others.

 

BAF?

I'm not huge on the BAF thing. I'd rather we got a separate line for those bigger characters so that the 6" Legends could be focussed on with better paintjobs and attenton to detail, including accessories.

 

Appearance?

All about realism. That's why comics rock, because they make these extraordinary characters believeable and I want my figures to reflect that.

 

Variants?

These should be few and far between. If they want to make variant Iron Man armours, stick them in their own line. I'd rather have better packing ratios for the standard line characters, so that we have MORE characters MORE readily available.

 

Comics?

Not really fussed on comics with the figures. Again, as with the BAF, I'd settle for other minor improvements.

 

Stands?

Some characters need flight stands, most don't. They kinda count as "accessories" IMHO.

[Hulkabilly]

Foot peg hole are needed again.

 

I want some soft goods on certain figures.

 

nimrodmutanthunter gave the best example for this. A Doc Strange in a faux silk/satin cloak would be awsome, leave the top part molded in plastic, but I think the rest in soft goods would have made a ton of differance, not as heavy and easier to pose.

[Snowman81]

I think Hasbro needs to get away from molded skin. I have changed my mind on that. And paint washes do need to return. As far as articulation, I am still not upset by the cuts to much. If we can get double elbows and knees back, I will live with any other change perfectly ok.

Oh and I am not a fan of cloth except when it's a trench coat like Gambit ML4 or Blade. Even then I prefer the Gamit classic with the molded trenchcaot to some point. Would be perfect if only he could have change out arms with regular sleeves on.

Draven

That's how I feel, exactly.

[Marvel_Joe_Spider]

Size?

I'm always gonna be a fan of the 6inch line. Just work perfect

 

Articulation?

Pretty much what Clam said

 

Clothing?

I alwasy like both the cloth and plastic type clothing

 

Paint?

Pretty much what Clam said once again

 

Acessories?

I love if a figures has acessories that belong to them like if they would have gave a knife or something for Bullseye

 

BAF?

If it is a figure that is large enough like the Sentinels then sure, but if not give us accessories or stands instead

 

Appearance?

I like the characters to look as their most popular version

 

Variants?

I like a character to have a different costume version

 

Comics?

I don't mind them coming with comic, but it doesn't kill me if they don't

 

Stands?

I like them only for the characters who can fly

[Leatusiv]

Comics yeah I had a whole stack of those that I gave away so I could do without those....I miss the flight stands and I miss the foot articulation....Oh and the surfer needed a fist instead of a big open hand for B**** slapping Galactus.....

[theturquoisegoblin]

Hasbro's figure selection and sculpts are improving with each wave, so I'd sacrifice all of the stuff we've been spoiled with (comics, stands, BAFs) for better paint apps. IMO plastic clothing looks better than cloth and without the 6" scale and some degree of articulation they're not Marvel Legends.

[Dark_Phoenix]

Clam and I have the same tastes in our figures

[Leatusiv]

Clam and I have the same tastes in our figures

 

 

What do they taste like??

[BigBearJahlon]

My biggest wants on a Marvel Legend are:

 

Articulation: I can live with a few of the changes that Hasbro has done, except for Namor's knees. They look like he is wearing skin-toned boots.

My biggest articulation gripe is what I call the "Taskmaster hips". Instead of the typical "Spider-Man hips" which offer a free range of motion, the majority of Hasbro stuff is designed so that i have to actual move the ball-joint itself around for posing. At this point, even the Sigma Six leg joint (ala Black Knight) is acceptable. Otherwise, i am happy with what I got.

 

Accessories: Oh my, this would change everything. For 10 bills I need stuff for my figure, and it is not just Hasbro. Psylocke has no knife or butterfly head effect. Captain Marvel could have come with at least a photon blast effect (similar to the gun-fire effect of War Machine). The new FF Legends surfing is screaming for a power cosmic energy ball. Heck, even Banshee's mouth is big enough to fold around it a sonic scream energy burst (ok maybe I am thinking too hard, but the JLU line got me thinking).

 

PS: I miss the comic books!!!!

 

Stands/ Bases: This would add so much to the figure's quality and would be cool to have connecting bases. The old broken Sentinel pieces were great.

 

BAF parts: I like the BAF thing, just hate to be milked for them (8 figures) and some are lame characters. Give me a Fin Fang Foom, Wendigo, Super Adaptoid, or a Blastarr and I will buy, otherwise, they need to drop it.

 

Sculpts: Just give me better facial sculpts are we are good to go!!!!!!

 

I (and the collective "we") just want to see the Legend in Marvel Legends again!!!

 

Oh oh, by the way, i forgot the clothing issue --- forget clothing!!!! I want everything sculpted. The Mandarin was a good figure but was limited by the cheesy plastic costume Toy Biz gave him. Bypass clothing altogether. If it is not like the jacket on Canonball or somethign removeable, then put my money on better/extra accessories.

[Dark_Phoenix]

Clam and I have the same tastes in our figures

 

 

What do they taste like??

 

Chicken

[TomTom]

articulation: i like when things blend in, ala mcfarlane spidey's shoulder joints. i dont really see the reason for toe joints, since no heroes stand on their toes (with the obvious exception of spider-man), so they are fairly redundant. individual fingers are nice, but since the way they are constructed makes them removeable, they should avoided or updated. besides those two, im fine with a cross between hasbro and toybiz articulation, which looks like the way some of next years figures will be. their is one thing hasbro (and every other toy company) needs to put on their toys: ball jointed/hinged neck combos (mcfarlane spidey, face off cap, etc.) if done right, they add so much more exprssions then the typical joints, they may sell a figure on their own (not really, but i was making a point)

 

accessories: if they fit the character, give us them, if not, dont. some of the best accessories came in the 5" spider-man 3 line: they webbing on both spideys and venom. as far as stands go, ive been saying they should do something similar to the doop stands* but double the length with waist grips rather than the hole in the back. the reason? simple: they could be used on characters without the holes like iron fist.

 

BAFs: they are running out of big characters to make, and they should reaturn to stands or use the extra budget money on paint or articulation.

 

size: easy 6".

 

comics: given that toybiz rarely gave the best stories for the character, im kinda glad they were discontinued. and since toybiz got them free and hasbro would have to pay for them (driving the price up even more), im fine with never seeing them return. plus, the images on the packaging give a nice enough comparison.

 

clothing: as long as what happened with mandarin never happens again, im cool with the rubber/vinyl material.

 

paint: i will admit, as much as i have defened hasbro in the past months, the need new skintones. im tired of them looking lie zombies. fortunately, that seems to be changing.

 

appearance: i like either their modern look or the look they used for the longest time.

 

*named after doop, since deadpool stands is too many letters.

[ransomz]

I love lots and lots of articulation - the neck swivel, the waist swivel and torso hinge, the finger articulation, etc. I don't like the bicep cut. I like the ball joint shoulder with an arm swivel just below the shoulder ball. I also don't quite get the shoulder hinge. That doesn't seem to add much to the movement.

 

I really don't like the Hasbro elbow. There is just so little range of motion. The double jointed elbow is great. If I wanted a statue, I'd get that. I like my toys functional.

[pvbvillegas]

so, now that i have some free time, i'm gonna do this again:

 

SIZE: i want them to be on a 6-inch scale. any other scale (marvel characters-wise), no thanks, all yours.

 

PAINT: toybiz-like paint job. no plastic mold skin tone. some wash would be good. great paint job must not be accompanied by those super tight joints (i don't know, but i think the paint causes them).

 

ARTICULATION: Not as many as Toybiz'. But not as less as Hasbro's. Maybe somewhere in between. the toybiz articulation points are way too much, sometimes when you have figs with loose joints, those points of articulation hinder just making the figs stand. hasbro's points of articulation are so few, you cant even pose the figs the way you want. i don't want hasbro's elbow joints. they should scrap that.

 

ACCESSORIES: the more the merrier. they should really try to give each fig at least one accessory. i remember my bullseye didn't even come with anything he could throw or shoot. for characters with helmets, removable helmet is a must. but please, make the sculpt proportional. xorn's head (without the mask) is really small. you might as well not remove the mask when the fig has a head as small as that.

 

APPEARANCE: a character in its most iconic look. one first appearance fig in a wave won't hurt too. just got to love the roots.

 

 

 

VARIANTS: a different character would be nice, like thorbuster iron man and destroyer. if not possible, a different colored costume would be great, like the red iron fist and the others (you all know it).

 

BAF: the big characters. i mean, the huge ones. the really huge ones. and those which are greatly important to the universe, not like mojo. lol.

 

EXTRAS: a base wouldn't be bad. doop stands too would be great, especially for characters who can fly. hasbro should try to bring back the foot peg holes back in the ML line, and the hole at the back of certain characters would be a welcome return too. simple bases are really great (spider-man origins line of hasbro), especially when you are trying to make a bow-legged fig stand.

 

PACKAGING: hasbro ML1 and ML2 style. big and nice. very nice. the HML3 package is too small. and it ain't cute.

 

SCULPTS: good face sculpts please. no more banshee-like faces, and lady deathstrike-faces. lol.

 

i think that's it. if i missed something, i'm gonna come back.

[Alexx]

Wow, that'sa huge list! Lets see if I can just list the things important to me:

 

Articulation: One BIG point that was made in Clam's post is the 45 degree angled hip ball joints. They started late in Toybiz's last run and Hasbro has run with them since. I HATE them, and they really wreck playability. I'm gettin' sick of having to turn the damn thing every time I want the leg to move forward or to the side.

 

However, as for the rest, I like the articulation to fit the figure. Some need double joints, some don't. Though, here's some standards I like to see throughout: Bicep and wrist twists, stomach crunch or chest twist (as long as the chest joint actually moves back and forward....many of them have been just a higher waist twist lately), ball jointed neck (I think a simple ball joint covers all angles), and side to side movement of the ankles. However the ankle movement is mostly for posing purposes, so in terms of a fun toy, I can go without.

 

Size: I love small figures. That's never going to change, but it doesn't mean that I don't have any larger figures that I like. Toybiz made the switch to 6 inch a long time ago, and those are pretty mainstay now, so I've got alot of other figures that can mix with them. The difference between a small figure and a larger figure, for me, is that if I find a line of small figures that I like I'll usually buy them all up. I was about to do that with Superhero Showdown until it died off. With 6 inch MLs I've been only buying the ones I REALLY like, and that'll probably stay that way.

 

Accessories: I think this is a place that MLs could take a step up. Hasbro Thor did a fine job with the axe included, and Taskmaster had a great array of stuff (and no articulated hands, thank god) but many of the figure still seem lacking when they could have come with something (Psylock for instance). Usually, however, marvel characters don't have alot of stuff to begin with, so I can't really fault the toymakers for following the source material. I guess I've just been a fan of those old wacky Toybiz offshoots like the armored versions of characters or "OMG I got a big contraption to catch badguys with!" type things. The X-Men line not long ago had some pretty neat ideas (like that armored Cyclops).

 

Clothes: I certainly agree with the soft plastic clothes. Cloth never looks like and often just looks UGLY. The only thing I'd like is if they manage to make a good cloth hood, since Dr. Doom and others with hoods can never look anywhere but forward.

 

Apperance: Honestly, I'm in collecting for cool toys, so I want to see new and interesting designs. I even like designs that the toymakers create! I'm up for anything new and interesting, with a little classics thrown in from time to time for nostolgia. I also like it when they go for obscure comic designs, 'cause sometimes you see something in a comic and you just gotta say: "Man, I WANT that!"

 

BAF: It was cool early on, but they just aren't using this to it's full potential. I haven't cared about any of these since Onslaught, who ended up being really small. However, I also just haven't been a fan of the recent offering, so I can't really be counted in the majority. Nonetheless I'd like to see them ditch the BAF and start adding in extras again, like stands or other accessories.

 

Paintjob: I have to say, I think the Toybiz paintjobs were a bit better. Paintjob has never stopped me though, so I don't care that much. I acknowledge that the Toybiz ones looked better, but I'm still gona buy Hasbro's product since they can give me ones that don't break.

 

Variants: Ugh. Stop it. If I see a figure, I want to be able to find it. I don't want to hunt to the ends of the earth for ONE freakin' figure. I do that with what few Star Wars figures that I want, and I don't want to do it any more than that. If it's a variant, DON'T MAKE IT A CHASE.

[TomTom]

okay, i gotta change mine a bit. for suited figures, they should by all means use the ball jointed elbow. any lost motion is worth not thriwing the sculpt off every time you turn the thing. i also would like to see the 45 degree hips end. i think they did it for aesthetics, but as iceman and black suited spidey prove, all they would have had to do was too make the ball bigger.

 

 

i would also prefer if the figures facees were cast in the skin tone. the reason is that if thye have to be cast in the color of the hair, the skin tone has to be farily think to cover it up, and the figure would look lifeless. just use different skin tones, hasbro.

 

and as for doop stand, im not taking credit where it's not due: i got it from OAFE.