The Action Figure and Toy Collecting and Discussion Thread!

[OdoWanKenobi]

You know, Hasbro's case packs are unbelievably stupid (I know this is not news)

The case pack for Wave 2 is:

3 Captain Americas
2 Winter Soliders
1 Black Widow
1 Red Skull
1 Baron Zemo

Ok, 3 Caps, fine. He's the main character, and he'll sell the best. 2 Winter Soldiers, cool design the big new character of the film. Fine. 1 Black Widow pisses me right the hell off. She has the essential torso piece of the Build-a-figure. She's an essential character in her own right, and scalpers will snap her up quickly. Zemo and Red Skull are even more baffling. They're carry forwards from the previous wave. The crazy thing is though, that both figures are packed as Agents of HYDRA and Soldiers of AIM, and have alternate figures with the same SKU that are Hydra and AIM soldiers. You know, ARMY BUILDERS! Yet, they're carrying forward only the Red Skull and Zemo figures. Friggin typical.

 

[cooleddie74]

At this point we should just be glad that they don't pack random bags of broken glass in their case assortments.

 

[Unicron]

So, I may be a terrible person. I found all of Wave 2 of the 6" Captain America: The Winter Soldier figures at Wal-Mart today. These retail for $19.96, but they had accidentally stocked them on the pegs for the smaller $9.96 figures. So, I grabbed a set, walked up to the register with them, and when they rang up for $19.96 I gave my best surprised look and said they were supposed to be $9.96. They checked, and overrode the price, so I got each of these for half-price. I feel kinda guilty for taking advantage of what I knew to be a mistake, but at the same time I'm kinda elated. The figures are good, but each has a rather glaring problem keeping them from greatness.

Ironically enough, I'd gone by the local TrU (which is where I got Skywarp), and at one point I was looking at a couple of new SW sets in the Lego section. I've got one in mind I might decide to do something with. It's a medium sized set in the $50 range, which is still a little high for me, but apparently someone in the store had goofed and put the wrong price for a much larger and more expensive set (about $160!) on the shelf where it was instead. I asked someone on the staff to verify it for me and they agreed that it was a mistake, so I'm glad it got fixed. I don't think I'd spend that much on this one.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

The lesson:
When it comes to collecting, pragmatism always wins.

 

[Kira's Mom]

I am going to hit amazon every day until I get a Black Widow. The likelihood of her popping up in my local Walmarts is almost nil. They don't even have a space for Winter Soldier stuff yet!

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Something I've been noticing as I've looked at the pegs recently: What's going on with the lower torso on the new 3 3/4" Black Series Scout Troopers? Did Hasbro just say "We know people have had trouble with discoloration on their troopers over time, so we just decided to make these pre-discolored" or something?

 

[cooleddie74]

Pragmatism. Also, persistence pays off when you collect any action figure line. Period. Unless you've just completely given up on brick-and-mortar retail and purchase your stuff exclusively from online dealers it's a good idea if your time, gas and driving distances are convenient to stop at as many of your local stores as you can to check their pegs. Frankly, it's when you just say "screw it" and don't bother that it's when the stores open a fresh case assortment of new figures you've been looking for.

I know. I've done just that and then realized I should have just taken five short minutes to run into the stores and take a quick look. Missed out on more than a few figures that way.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Just because it was cool in my head, here's the Winter Solider figures fighting their comic counterparts:

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm planning on picking up a Infinite Series Winter Solider, Marvel Now Captain America, and the Winter Solider Cap. The Infinite Series line so far has just been gorgeous. I can't wait for the "Guardians of the Galaxy" line to become available.

Also you can clearly see the influence of the Commander Steve Rogers suit in the updated Cap suit for "The Winter Solider". Just beautiful.

 

[C.E. Evans]

You know, Hasbro's case packs are unbelievably stupid (I know this is not news)

The case pack for Wave 2 is:

3 Captain Americas
2 Winter Soliders
1 Black Widow
1 Red Skull
1 Baron Zemo

Ok, 3 Caps, fine. He's the main character, and he'll sell the best. 2 Winter Soldiers, cool design the big new character of the film. Fine. 1 Black Widow pisses me right the hell off. She has the essential torso piece of the Build-a-figure. She's an essential character in her own right, and scalpers will snap her up quickly.

Here's an ugly story for you. I went into a local Target store, not particularly looking for anything, when I saw a Black Widow package hanging on one of the pegs.

Notice that I said Black Widow package.

Inside the package, was a Batgirl figure.
http://www.manofactionfigures.com/s...t_full/sites/default/files/legacy_batgirl.jpg
The actual Black Widow figure and her accessories were gone (except for the torso piece of the build-a-figure). Curious, I looked at the packaging and saw where it had been carefully opened and then taped back up.

I can only think that was done by someone who worked there at that store...

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Man, and that's a good Batgirl figure, too.

I don't think it was done by someone at the store. It was most likely done by some pathetic piece of slime that bought Black Widow, traded it out for the Batgirl, and then returned it to a clueless Target employee that has no idea the difference. I've seen it before, and it makes me sick.

 

[cooleddie74]

Sometimes figure switches are done by customers who then return the older, less desirable character for a refund. It might have been perpetrated by a store employee and that's happened for sure, but as a SW collector I've seen and heard a ton of truly disappointing and irritating stories of collectors who find the figures they've been hunting for only to find out that somebody bought a Darth Malgus or a 6" Greedo, removed them from the packaging, put an old Darth Vader from the beefy "Steroid" era or a superhero character in their place and then took them back to the store to get a full customer refund.

And since most customer service and returns employees don't know Darth Malgus from Death Metal they just make sure an object is in the packaging, refund the customer and have it sent back to the toy department for reshelving. It blows but only some very alert and knowledgeable employees can stop most of this.

 

[Kira's Mom]

Still no luck getting Black Widow, but I did score a Micro Muggs Hawkeye. I should have him by Tuesday.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I was originally on the fence with the Crime Syndicate Owl-Man since we didn't have a final version of what he would look like, but based on these pics and review, I'll be getting him for sure.

http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=10&itemid=22119

 

[Saga]

it looks great. while i think Forever Evil has dragged on and on i will be getting the Crime Syndicate figures.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

The Crime Syndicate figures look great, but I've got the DCUC versions, and don't feel compelled to pick them up. I'm glad that DCC is getting into the super-articulation more and more in the wake of DCUC's demise. The upcoming Capullo Batman and Nightwing both look like they are going to be the very best versions of these characters ever made in this scale. Though, this comes with the drawback of any figure not receiving that treatment feeling lackluster. The upcoming Outlaws will have old style DCUC articulation, and I just can't get excited for them.

 

[cooleddie74]

Keep your eyes open at your local Target store(s) if you're in the market for the brand-new Wave 3 of 6" Black Series figures. Several store reports have landed on the collecting websites detailing finds of the new Stormtrooper, Bespin Luke Skywalker and ROTS Obi-Wan. Thus far it's just a few random, scattered examples but it appears Wave 3 has begun its gradual rollout at American big box retail.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

^Joy!

So, me goofing off for a second with a couple recent acquisitions:

When you play the Game of Ponies, you whinny or you die.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Also OdoWan that other Nightwing that was revealed at Toy Fair, seems to be part of another line. I think it is for the upcoming Son of Batman line. The Capullo Nightwing is still intact.

 

[Random_Spock]

^Joy!

So, me goofing off for a second with a couple recent acquisitions:

When you play the Game of Ponies, you whinny or you die.

Win!

Made my night with that one .