First off, this is a thread ment to invoke discussion and celebrate the strengths of both lines, not flame bait. If all you wish to do is trash the line you don't collect, please do not bother.

I personally feel neither line is 100% perfect. Both could do a lot to learn from one another.
I really don't collect Marvel Legends, but I have a fair collection.
What do you feel is the strength and weaknesses of each line, and where do you feel one could take lessons from the other?
In my own comparisons, I will not rank character selection for either. Because both have made some headscratching choices, and some brilliant choices, and both dip into the extremely obscure and a-listers alike.
I also will not judge on materials (Scaling back, using softer and softer, cheaper forms of plastic, until the figures are almost as though they;re made of rubber. I won't compair this because I do not have any of the new ML's. This didn't start becoming an issue until after Hasbro cancelled the old ML line, and has since become a problem across both companies.

DCUC Strengths:
Articulation- I feel that DCUC has the best articulation style of any action figure line in existance. It gives them great range, but blended into the body sculpting so well that most people who have no experience with the line think they have next to no articulation at all. I also feel that their ventures into super articulation likewise do not deform the anatomy of the figure. At least, not by much. On top of all this, the joints are almost always extremely tight and stable.
Sculpting- Four Horsemen, need I say more? The ace design team stolen away from MacFarlane Toys. DCUC heads have some of the sharpest sculpting I can think of. Capturing the characters comic likenesses, various artistic styles, and expressions beautifully. I swear, every time I look at my Guy Gardner, I just wanna smack that smarmy expression off his face!
Generics- They found a very clever way to get background lanterns out to us without clogging the shelves. One generic body, with two heads/sets of hands representing two different characters.
Paint Applications- I rarely ever see any issues with paint, when it comes to DCUC. I hear about it, but I rarely ever see it.

DCUC Weaknesses:
Too limited in "bucks"- Mattel will not often venture away from the four or five body molds they have premade. Often resulting in characters that are oversized (Golden aged Atom), or undersized (Big Barda, Wonder Woman, Beast Boy, Mongul is comically undersized). And because of this extreme adhearence, many figures that simply needed to be somewhat larger than the largest mold they have, end up extremely oversized as BAFs. (Bane, Kilowog, Arkillo)
They often end up refusing to produce certain characters if it would require entirely new molds to be made (Such as Red Lantern Mera).
Females- They really have no clue how female proportions work. Most attempts at female characters just come off as... well... off. Arms way too short and way too thin, hands comically undersized, and very odd hips.
Hal Jordan and Barry Allen- COME ON! Flash and GL are two of my favorite DC properties, but do we really need six Barry Allens (And no Wally West), and how many Hals???

Marvel Legends Strengths:
Risk taking- ML has never been afraid to stray from the backbone. If a character needs a larger than normal scaled toy, they'll make it. Hulk and Thing remain proportionally correct in relation to Captain America and Mr Fantastic. In DCUC, they would either be the same size as the latter, or they would end up being way too big as BAFs. So ML has never been afraid to play around with the size of the characters the way DCUC is.
BAFs- They started the trend, and their original BAFs were beyond impressive. Again, they take risks. When they started, the BAFs were absolutely huge. And when they couldn't afford to keep that scale up, they switched to completely inhuman characters such as the Brood, Mojo, and MODOK.

Neutral:
Sculpting- I place this as neutral. Because I feel that DCUC still trounses it. However, ML has it's strong points, too. Many details that get painted onto a magnificently sculpted DCUC mold, actually gets sculpted in with ML. I also do not think their heads are usually anything to write home about. So... they go about different priorities. I think it's worth mentioning where I think their stegnth over DCUC lies. Additional sculpting to the bodies. The rest of it just isn't as strong, so it doesn't get addded to strengths. But it's by no means bad.

ML Weaknesses:
Females- Not much more to point out. Really they are about the same as DCUC here. Odd female proportions, and diaper crotches. (White Queen and Psylocke being the two worst)
Articulation- The articulation style tends to warp the proportions of the human body and make their figures look odd. On top of that, the ball joints used for the hips are just visually horrible. The articulation for ML is just a complete eyesore. On top of that, virtually every figure I have is very loose. Gambit is so floppy he can't even stand up.
Paint Applications- I used to see a lot of very sloppy paint apps on ML figures. I also used to see a lot of chipping in packages, as well.
This may be fixed in the new MLs, I don't know.

Either way, I personally feel both toylines could learn a lot from each other's strengths and weaknesses.
Ideally, the perfect line would be 4H sculpted figures, with DCUC styled articulation, given the freedom that ML has.

EDIT:
I also think they both suck on price now, compaired to what you get. But I do feel that the current MLs are slightly more bang for the buck compaired to the DC counterparts.
ML started out $8, yoy got full articulation, an intricate base or "vehicle," or a massive BAF piece, all relivent accessories, and a comicbook.
Now for $20, you get the figure, maybe it's siganture accessory, and a BAF for a fairly normal sized figure. But at least large characters are still large. DCUC dropped off the BAF for the same sized figure, for the same price.
Both such, but ML sucks slightly less as you get a little bit more.

I like this thread. I agree on basically everything you said. The girls in both lines are wonky as hell. However, DCD shouldn't be over looked. Example: arkham city catwoman

The only ML girl I own that i really like is hope, madam hydra and the other one have odd hips and look too leggy. Like a skinny girl who can't buy pants that fit.

DC too, batgirl is weird. Harely is about perfect though.

I like DC figures much better for posing. They're just more solid and I hate ball hips. It's retarded.

MS does a lot of ball hips too, but the new avengers hulk is sweet and is basically a giant DC figure

I kinda feel DCD is in a class of it's own. They're a slightly larger scale, and their entire sculpting is top notch. Especially the womenses. I even feed DCD into my DCUC collection to fill holes, or where their figures may be more appropriate (Blackest Night Mongul, Sappire Wonder Woman. Both are more appropriately in scale large compaired to standard DCUC figures. As well as Indigo, Salaak, Kryb, Saint Walker, and Brother Warth to fill holes).
However, their articulation is basic at best. You can't even have Indigo holding her staff correctly thanks to the way the figure is sculpted, with her articulation.

If I had any Marvel Select figures, I'd start a DCD vs Marvel Select thread, though!

I never found hope. I wanted her because she looked like a nice figure, even though I know nothing about the character.
I do like the Rachael Summers Marvel Girl figure. I feel she and harley are two of the best females in either line. Mattel's Sapphire Wonder Woman isn't too bad, either.
Just wish they could both take some lessons from DCD when it comes to females, though.

Accessories. For the most part I remember ML owning in accessories. The Toybiz line, from what I remember every pack came with a comic. To me, there is no reason why DCUC couldn't of done this with the price tag they sell at AND the lack of accessories [for the most part. I also remember a lot of Toybiz ML figures coming with flight stands, another thing that honestly should be brought into DCUC and brought back into ML.

Examples on accessories: Every Green Lantern should come with a few constructs [John Stewart and Katma came with 2 each, good start]. Batman needs his Bat gadgets, no excuses. Mattel gave the DCSH one 6 or 7 different Batarangs so its just cheap on Mattels part now NOT to add them.

Like come on, Both Ghost Riders in the old ML line came with BIKES, and a comic! Damn those where good times...

Other than that, good read and I agree with everything =3.

For sculpt and coolness factor I say Marvel.....quality of plastic DCUC, yeah there are a few rubbery ones but for the most part DCUC has stronger plastic from what I have seen. I love my Marvel figs but they are way to weak in construction.

one of the biggest issues is Pricing.. For instance Walmart and Target charge like 14 - 17$ for either while the Major Toy Store is like 18 - 22$

Yeah, I definately feel that a comic would help with the DC figures a lot. If not that, perhaps a DVD with an episode of JL/JLU that character appears in.
Marvel's not as bad off as their b, c, and d listers end up in a lot of marvel's spinoff fiction.
Sooner or later, just about everyone passes through an episode of X-Men, Spiderman, or Ironman. DC unfortunately is far more conservative.
Batman usually deals only with Batvillains. Superman usually only deals with super(man) or made-up villains. it's only been just relatively recently that shows like JLU, Young Justice, Smallville, and BatB have started to really explore the whole DCU.
So while both companies/toylines could still benefit with a comic reprint showcasing the character that the figure represents, I think it would help push DC a lot more.
If you don't know who the hell Khomandi, or Forager are and get them just to get the BaF piece... at least you'd have a piece of fiction that sowcases them a bit more.

Dcuc gets the nod for sculpt consistancy, but ml takes it for innovation. They beat dcuc by how long?

I still haven't forgiven mattel for my wave 3 figures turning chalky white and ruining. My nitewing and hal. The only toy biz figure I ever had a major issue with was morbius from the spidey line and his plastic melty shell.

In closing, I freely admit to being a marvel zombie, but I was always slightly jealous of dcuc having the same 'style' of sculpt throughout the line.

Odd. I have those same two figures, and don't have that issue with either.

I will say 97% of my collection is DCUC/CI/DCSH/YJ with 3% ML. I put Captain America with the Justice Society of America it just feels right

I wonder when you got the Wave 3's and if perhaps it hit some liquid (acid, Alchole, Thinner) at some point even if you didn't do it. I know I had a scare when at Christmas a dog spilled Milk on Mary Marvel I dried her off right away.

okay i have only 2 dc figures which were a two-pack batman and superman
the thing i have an issue with is articulation and detail i look at the figure i have and try to get them all to near enough articulation so they all look good although dc lacks the articulation detail wise amazing but when i got my DC two pack batman had 11 points of articulation where legends has approx 32 or 16 so i stopped with DC although tempted to get batman arkham city / asylum figs but it just didn't feel right or look the best so i stuck with legends ever since detail wise both epic

I buy what I like, which is usually based on the character not the publisher.

Most of it happened to be Marvel (and therefore ML), but I do own one DCUC figure and might still get All-Star Hal Jordan at some point (the Targets near me are clearancing DCUC figures. Marked as NCF too ).

I don't own that many of either these days mostly due to the size and scale. The smaller scales are easier to store and take up less room in displays.

I don't think you have Mattel DCUC figures. Both Bats and Superman have 23 points of articulation each. That's the standard for DCUC.

yh its mattel



reason why ml wins though

Yeah, those aren't DCUC. Those are from the 2003 Batman line. They might have reused some bucks from that line in 2005-2006 DCSH line, but not the more recent DCUC line.

DC fails on two fronts-
1) their insane re-use of the same buck- to the point where the 5' tall Justice Society Atom had a Superman body!

2) that awful and glaring missing chunk from the inner thigh- why dont they fix that?!? It's such an eyesore on otherwise nicely sculpted figures!

Add to that some frankly terrible character choices to make the BAF like Killer Moth and you really hurt the percieved value of a figure that retails for almost twenty dollars.

On the plus side, thigh notch aside, DC has much better looking female figures than ML. Those are in my opinion really worth the cash if you love the character- I bought a Raven (for $6 on clearance at Marshalls) to make a MU custom and the quality of both sculpt and design are exceptional....except that thigh thing, which is hid by her skirt thingie.

yh i see now but its a reason it put me off dc figures , okay i did collect the movie figures 5 inch scale but they went down hill only thing kept me up was marvel really