The Action Figure and Toy Collecting and Discussion Thread!

Someone is trying to steal my Christmas candy...

 

They've learned some very bad habits from Loki!

 

No, Loki is the one who stole the booze.

 

By Odin's cirrhosis-wracked liver!

 

Finished a cross stitch that really embarrasses Hawkeye...

 

There's a bit more going on in that photo than I really want to know about.

 

From the pic...looks like we're getting an early concept McQuarrie Darth Vader figure! Unless it's something else completely.

 

It looks like it's the first-ever Sideshow Collectibles McQuarrie Vader, which will probably look very cool in that scale. We've already gotten a 3.75" McQuarrie Concept Vader from Hasbro back in 2007 (The 30th Anniversary Collection) and it's a great figure with interchangeable heads to represent two different concept helmet designs.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZws-f1lP3w[/yt]

 

Black Series Han!


Alright, Fett. Where are you?

 

Han's great, isn't he? I'm so glad I found him a couple of days before Christmas. As for Boba, the odds were certainly against me or anybody else finding him less than 48 hours before Christmas morning but I'm not going to complain - I scored all of Wave 2 that day with the exception of Greedo.

Good luck with hunting down Boba. I'm sure he's out there somewhere, but at one-per-case and not being carried forward into Wave 3 he's not exactly common nor will he be.

 

Yeah, I'm pretty impressed with him. This line is just a dream come true so far.

In some other toy acquisition news, I picked up one of the older DC Universe Two packs of Adam Strange and Starfire:


I had never gotten around to grabbing this one because I had hoped they would make a better version of Starfire some day. This one used a female body meant for fully clothed characters, and as such has a uni-boob going on. But, with the line done, this is as good as it's going to get, and Starfire is too important a character to not have represented. Also I kinda wish they had used a slightly less bulky buck for Adam. The bulky torso combined with the jetpack makes him look like a linebacker.

 

Sorry for the double post, but new acquisition!

I wasn't planning on picking up any of the new Amazing Spider-Man Legends figures, but then I saw them in store and oh my are they beautiful! Hasbro has knocked it out of the park with the whole wave! I picked up Carnage, which looked the absolute best of the bunch, but I absolutely need to go and pick up the rest eventually.





Edit: Another pic, because this figure is awesome

 

Awesome doesn't even begin to describe that one. I don't even collect Marvel superhero and villain figures and that would look amazing on my desk just for the detail and conversation value. Standard super articulation, I take it? Twenty joints, give or take?

 

Twenty? Try thirty-four. I'm thinking Carnage and Spidey are staying on my desk for a while.

 

Thirty-four? The 6" Boba Fett has 24 and that's considered historic for a Hasbro figure. He'd have 25 if they'd bothered to give the rangefinder on his helmet a swivel joint. Wow, could you imagine the price jump on 6" Black Series figures if 30+ joints became the standard for that line?

See, that's why the prices for that franchise reflect the expensive Lucasfilm merchandising license and passing along that cost to the consumer. Ninja Turtle figures cost less but have the same number of ball and swivel joints and sometimes more. The same amount of tooling goes on in a Chinese factory to create both, but Star Wars product costs more. That's the license fee being passed down to the retail buyer.

 

Yeah, and these Marvel figures cost $14.99 as apposed to the 19.99 for Star Wars. Less money for a more articulated product from the same company. Don't get me wrong though, I still love the Black Series. I feel the articulation we have there is more than adequate.

Really, we have Toybiz to thank for the fact that these are still so articulated. They originated the Marvel Legends line and turned it into one of the most beloved in the history of toy collecting. When Hasbro acquired the Marvel license, they were pretty much forced to adhere to the same standard. When you think about it, Marvel Legends is probably one of the most important toy lines to ever come about. It was really the first mass market super-articulated toy line. Without it I can guarantee there would be no DC Universe Classics, no Black Series, or many others.

 

The 6" Black Series is fantastic. Mostly. the R2 is a bit small and the finish and paint job on the guy could have been a little tighter, but with the exception of my quibbles about R2-D2 and a few other generally minor aspects of the line it's been a stunning success. That Han is just great all over, and even though some folks are poo-pooing the face sculpt and eye detailing on Slave Leia I think it's the closest resemblance to ROTJ Carrie Fisher we've ever gotten in a Kenner or Hasbro product. Even the 12" figures have tended to have face sculpts that are too cherubic, too rosy or too pale. This one more or less nails Carrie as she appeared in the metal bikini costume.

I'm really looking forward to Wave 3 (plain Stormtrooper, Bespin Luke, ROTS Obi-Wan).

And agreed on Marvel Legends. I've never collected them, but anybody with open eyes and mind can respect the stunning quality and accuracy of all those figures, and they've been an impressive presence on store pegs.

 

All the rest looked great, but I really only could pick up one right now. I didn't see Black Cat or Spider-Girl, though. I've heard Black Cat has some balance problems. ASM2 Spidey looks like it could honestly be one of the best Spider-Man figures of any kind ever made, and Superior Spider-Man is a nice modern variant. I'm still on the fence about movie Electro. It's a nice looking figure, but whether or not I pick that one up may depend on the quality of the film.