Marvel Legends

[Ari]

I've been collecting this line for years now, and have only missed one figure from the entire series (not including variants). But after years of covering the world of Marvel, 2009 brings no new single carded figures. We may see a few new 2-packs, but all in all, the line is dead. I'm sad but not surprised. When Hasbro took over the line a few years ago, the quality really dropped, and it never did pick up to the classic Toy Biz standards. It's a shame, cause there was still a few characters out there I would have liked to see become ML figures.

But is Hasbro now done with the Marvel license you ask? Not one bit. Now they have started putting out 3 3/4 inch figures, and seem to be sticking with that scale for the Wolverine movie and beyond. Oh, they're also charging around $10 for a Marvel figure the size of a GI Joe. Mattel is also doing a line of 3 3/4 inch DC Figures, but they still have the 6 inch DC Universe Classics figures too. I really don't see a market for 3 3/4 inch figures today, especially if vehicles and playsets aren't being created to utilize the smaller size. Well, at least my bank account will be happier.

I also plan on going through the entire line of Marvel Legends here soon, just in case anyone didn't think I was geeky enough already.

[Abraham Smashington]

[Ari]

I'll pour one out on New Years eve.

[Spiderine]

Yeah, it's pretty disappointing what Hasbro has done to the line.

[gravedigger]

Which one did you miss, Ari?

[Ari]

I didn't pick up Toad from series 1 cause he didn't look up to the same level as the other figures in that set. Now he's going for like $65-$90 so I kinda loafed that one. As for the regular figures, I never missed one. I didn't pick up the Affleck Daredevil, even when it was going for $3 at Kay-Bee, simply because even I have some kinda standards.

[Abraham Smashington]

so are these worth anything if you opened them all? And I can't believe you didn't get an Affleck action figure. I would have been all over that shit.

[Ari]

So here we have the first set of figures from Marvel Legends. These were the four that started it all (besides Spider-Man Classics). I found all four fairly easily, but didn't pick up Toad due to the minimal articulation (he was supposed to be in an older line I do believe). The Toad exclusion turned out to bite me in the ass, as no other Toad figures have ever been made in the Marvel Legends line, and he know goes for over $65 on the secondary market.

All in all, these figures totally blew me away. The sculpts were amazing, they were a great size, good paint, and most importantly, the articulation was mind blowing. Capt. had elastic in his shield so it could be placed over his back, Iron Man had a removable mask, the Hulk was kinda weak (bendy fingers were not a good idea), but all four figures came with a great display base that could be nailed onto a wall or set onto a table. And they all came with comics too. This first series is mostly irrelevant now, as better versions of Hulk, Capt., and Iron Man have come out. Well, as of now, this is the only version of Iron Man in that suit (a new version should appear sometime next year).

EDIT: Forgot to mention the gold Iron Man variant with more of a "spiked" head. That variant would teach me that trying to track down any figure that wasn't part of the main set would be close to impossible.

[Ari]

so are these worth anything if you opened them all? And I can't believe you didn't get an Affleck action figure. I would have been all over that shit.

Some our worth a few bucks opened, but sealed in case is always the more financially valuable option.

And Affleck DD sucked ass hard.

[patronsaintofcheeseburgers]

I look for these every time I hit any store...Saw most of DC wave 4 this weekend...

[Ari]

YOU BASTARD, I NEED THOSE!!!!

[patronsaintofcheeseburgers]

I would have bought them but I didn't have any extra cash...sorry bro, but they have them at Target now...

[Ari]

Series 2 continued the greatness with more of a Fantastic Four themed wave. The Thing was a big, bulky beast, but had the wire fingers again (the same problem as the series 1 Hulk, who was actually fixed with hard fingers). Namor was cool, but some were upset that he wasn't in his little green underwear. Human Torch was a great figure, but he didn't really fit into his fire stand too well (I later learned that the fire stand was originally with an older Toy Biz figure). Alas, I never picked up Dr Doom, which turned out to be better for me, due to the fact that he was reissued in a Fantastic Four boxed set.

The blue pants, ripped shirt Hulk was a variant that I actually did manage to find at a Kay-Bee. There was also a variant Dr Doom Doombot which didn't have the removable mask. And I believe that the Iron Man figure from series 1 was repainted into an extremely rare stealth Iron Man figure.

Overall this was a good wave. All figures had display bases and comics.

[Ari]

I would have bought them but I didn't have any extra cash...sorry bro, but they have them at Target now...

Thanks, I'll stop by after the holidays.

[Ari]

Series 3 was one of my favorites. A great lineup of figures, with an impossible to find variant and an all too easy to find one.

Magneto was a repaint of the series 1 Iron Man, but it wasn't really that noticeable. His cape was glued on, but his mask was removable.

Ghost Rider came with his bike and a removable chain. He was a cool figure, but he'd get his ass handed to him by the next Ghost Rider figure.

Thor is still one of my favorites. He's got a great. angry sculpt, and he's fairly massive.

Wolverine had a great figure too, finally. But he was totally out of scale, and his body was in a twisting pose (it was based on an older Toy Biz sculpt), so it bugged some people. I thought he was pretty great, but he'd be outdone later in the line just like Ghost Rider.

Wolverine had a variant unmasked version which went for over $100 at first. Finding one was damn near impossible, but he'd be re-released later down the line causing his price to go down.

The other variant was Affleck-Devil. His toy sucked. The leg sculpt was the same as the Red Skull from the 5th wave, and those legs had horrible articulation. I had already bought a Dare-Devil figure from the Spider-Man line, so, even at $3, I left this figure on the pegs.