[Benn Roe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thor Laserpunch

He looks perfect. I checked the site for Dover Delaware, Baltimore, & DC and nothing came up

Philly doesn't seem to have them yet either. I'm content to wait for my preorder, and if it gets cancelled I'll start properly looking. This will be my first non-X-Men figure... a slippery slope.

[Dr Kain]

Well a Target about a half hour away did get in the Spidey wave today so after a little trip and an employee pulling them out of the back for me, I walked away with five new figures. YAY!!

I took some pictures, but since it is getting really late, I didn't get to do as many as I would have liked. Oh well.

I tried to take Peter's glasses off gently, but sadly, they tore off on one side despite my heating it up. Bummer, but I definitely like him better without them. He's great. I did put the Peter head from the MJ 2 pack on him only for the head to be way too big for the body. It just looked weird.

Gwen is cool, though it sometimes seems hard to get her to stand. The MJ head is fantastic. However, do know that the skin tone is not as dark as the MJ body. I'm fine with it, but others may not be. I also tested the head out on a slight alteration I made to the extra Target Black White Widow I had.

The cool thing with Green Goblin is that I got two figures out of him since I put the Norman head on the Ross body I had been using for Peter. I could have sworn Hasbro said they were going to decrease the size of the pupils on Goblin's eyes which was clearly not the case. I do wish they had included some fists for him.

Electro freaking rocks. No complaints and his paint apps are stellar.

As for Spider-Man, oh boy, he would be absolutely perfect had it not been for the barbell neck peg. It feels very fragile so every time I switch heads around I feel like I am going to snap it off. In fact, I attempt to the put the pizza Spidey head with the mask slightly raised on the body and it got stuck. I'm pretty sure I bent the barbell to get it off. Aside from that, and some sloppy paint apps on the head, I love this guy. The funny part is I know this won't be the last time I buy him as I'm certain Hasbro will release a Symbiote Spidey and classic 2099 one using this body. Probably even the Ben Reily version. Furthermore, I wouldn't mind them repainting him to match the light colors of Romita Sr with the M legged spider emblem in a deluxe set that comes with a figure stand, additional hands, and many more web accessories. Come on Hasbro, you know you want to!!

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maczero

Wait isn't Jason Wyngarde Mastermind? Are you thinking of someone else or are you referring to another Jason?

Yes, but they look like two different people. That's why it would make a great two pack.

[MeLikeJinx]

^ Great spidey pics! I definitely like the new Green Goblin better seeing them next to each other like that... didn't think that would be the case.

[omega145]

Slightly bummed I missed out on the Storm/Thunderbird 2 pack. Gives me something to hunt for at Target when out grocery shopping.
Why is the pack $50 though? Aren't the figures 19.99 each usually? Shouldn't it have been 39.99? Larger box? They know fans will pay it?
Thoughts...

[Thor Laserpunch]

My thought is buy it at $50 cuz it won’t be around long enough to hit clearance.

[Shinzero02]

Quote:

Originally Posted by omega145

Slightly bummed I missed out on the Storm/Thunderbird 2 pack. Gives me something to hunt for at Target when out grocery shopping.
Why is the pack $50 though? Aren't the figures 19.99 each usually? Shouldn't it have been 39.99? Larger box? They know fans will pay it?
Thoughts...

Hasbro did say last year that the costs of some figures were going to go up as a result of production costs rising. Though that seems to have just shown up as a $2 markup on Pulse and sometimes Amazon.

Though 'premium' figures and exclusives have consistently been about $5 more per figure the past two-three years or so.

[Captain Nash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

Well fuck. As I expected, that was pointless. Why even have them up for preorder if you aren't going to actually let people preorder? The point of preordering is to know how many you need to order for your store. There should NEVER be a limit.

you hit the nail right on the head on these. If it's an "in stock now" and not a preorder I can understand running out of current stock. A preorder should definitely be used to determine how much of a production run they need to do. For large retailers like Target, Walmart and Walgreens there really should not be situations where they have preorders up for mere minutes before their preorder limit sells out. It's beyond frustrating.

[Benn Roe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Nash

you hit the nail right on the head on these. If it's an "in stock now" and not a preorder I can understand running out of current stock. A preorder should definitely be used to determine how much of a production run they need to do. For large retailers like Target, Walmart and Walgreens there really should not be situations where they have preorders up for mere minutes before their preorder limit sells out. It's beyond frustrating.

I wrote a long, long post explaining this over on MarvelousNews if you want to read it, but the reality is that preorders would need to be cut off probably six months before release for this to be true. There's not an infinite amount of stock available, making more takes significant time, and history has shown that opening preorders up that far in advance normally decreases overall sales. As a retailer, my Legends preorders are locked in with my distributors way before I'm allowed to start taking preorders from customers (or even mention the product to them). As for Target and Walmart, they don't want you to buy Legends from them. They just want you to want to buy Legends from them, but end up buying batteries or sandwich bags or something instead. They have every incentive in the world to make their exclusives feel scarce by opening up preorders that sell out in 10 seconds and then slowly leaking out their remaining stock to keep you coming in to their stores over and over again. Once you make your purchase, they've lost the game. As a practitioner of "ethical" capitalism (a fraught term, I'll concede), I hate everything about Hasbro's distribution model, but the reality is that the model was very carefully constructed to make the line appealing to collectors without sacrificing profitability, and everything's connected. Artificial scarcity is the price we pay for the continued representation of relatively obscure characters and $20 MSRPs.

[Benn Roe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by omega145

Slightly bummed I missed out on the Storm/Thunderbird 2 pack. Gives me something to hunt for at Target when out grocery shopping.
Why is the pack $50 though? Aren't the figures 19.99 each usually? Shouldn't it have been 39.99? Larger box? They know fans will pay it?
Thoughts...

For the last few years, their "anniversary" lines have routinely been priced at $25/figure. The MCU 10th figures from a few years ago, last year's Marvel 80th figures, and this year's X-Men movie 20th figures have all been priced this way. The Storm/Thunderbird, Old Man Logan/Hawkeye, and Nimrod/Psylocke/Fantomex sets are all part of this branding, even though they're comic-based, and presumably the Rogue set will be too.

[Archangel]

I like the idea of Hasbro doing more deluxe figures with stands and accessories, buy I think they could get easy money by making their own figure stands and a few display pieces available on Hasbro Pulse as single items. I know I would grab a few off their site just because I would have the safety in knowing the stands work with their figures. Amazon and EBay can be a crap shoot if you’re not careful, or don’t know what you’re looking for.

[kenm2474]

Why do we suppose that the New OML and Hawkeye 2pak that Hawkeye has one loaded bow with Cams and the same bow unloaded without?

[omega145]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benn Roe

For the last few years, their "anniversary" lines have routinely been priced at $25/figure. The MCU 10th figures from a few year ago, last year's Marvel 80th figures, and this year's X-Men movie 20th figures have all been priced this way. The Storm/Thunderbird, Old Man Logan/Hawkeye, and Nimrod/Psylocke/Fantomex sets are all part of this branding, even though they're comic-based, and presumably the Rogue set will be too.

TBH, I didn't know that. I actually haven't bought a Marvel Legends figure at retail for probably about 8 years and just browse the figures at Walmart/Target looking at the $20 price tag. I usually do my buying on the 2nd hand market and try to either trade for higher priced figures or buy at/under the 20 bucks a figure.

[tierneygreen]

Regarding Benn Roe's post, I believe every word. And I understand the strategy from Target's perspective, just not Hasbro's. Would they (Hasbro) not sell more of an item if it were, say, a Fan Channel exclusive versus that of a single retailer? Or are they able to charge Target more per unit/case for that exclusivity? Sorry if this has been covered before.

[Spyne98]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Archangel

What a list! I definitely see some things...

I didn't see this yesterday. Thanks man! There's plenty still available.

[webz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benn Roe

I wrote a long, long post explaining this over on MarvelousNews if you want to read it, but the reality is that preorders would need to be cut off probably six months before release for this to be true. There's not an infinite amount of stock available, making more takes significant time, and history has shown that opening preorders up that far in advance normally decreases overall sales. As a retailer, my Legends preorders are locked in with my distributors way before I'm allowed to start taking preorders from customers (or even mention the product to them). As for Target and Walmart, they don't want you to buy Legends from them. They just want you to want to buy Legends from them, but end up buying batteries or sandwich bags or something instead. They have every incentive in the world to make their exclusives feel scarce by opening up preorders that sell out in 10 seconds and then slowly leaking out their remaining stock to keep you coming in to their stores over and over again. Once you make your purchase, they've lost the game. As a practitioner of "ethical" capitalism (a fraught term, I'll concede), I hate everything about Hasbro's distribution model, but the reality is that the model was very carefully constructed to make the line appealing to collectors without sacrificing profitability, and everything's connected. Artificial scarcity is the price we pay for the continued representation of relatively obscure characters and $20 MSRPs.

Yes. The numbers on these were etched in contract stone long ago, with Hasbro and Target knowing exactly how much they stand to make from the deal before the first CAD image was sent to a 3D printer. Target CAN order more, and usually they do at least one or two more batches. Walmart usually doesn't. Very few toys are made to reflect orders(mostly crowdsourced tiny lines and a few Super7 lines). As Ben said, no matter whether you order from BBTS, Hasbro, EE, etc, they all negotiated their first order 6 to 9 months ahead, and their preorders are a percentage of that (with some being held back for exchanges). Once all the first orders are placed, the distributor will look at the numbers and offer what's left, so they sell out as well. If the retailers put enough pressure on the distributor, the distributor might contact the manufacturer to make more, but usually it has to be tremendous demand, in order to maintain the MSRP.

Many toys could be "printing money" if sold on an "as needed" basis, but usually most stores look at it as "We'll be making $10 on a $30 toy, times X number of cases of 12. Ok. That was profitable. Let's order the next wave, rather than restock and risk getting stuck with items we have to clearance."

[Veronica Mars]

Is this really how it's gonna be?

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veronica Mars

Is this really how it's gonna be?

I suddenly have this desire to start harassing these worthless scalpers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeLikeJinx

^ Great spidey pics! I definitely like the new Green Goblin better seeing them next to each other like that... didn't think that would be the case.

Really? I loved the newer GG instantly better because it was more comic accurate.

[warmachine6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

I suddenly have this desire to start harassing these worthless scalpers.

It's a bit pointless as its not the sellers fault but the bidders, that have given these figures those prices because they want them asap. I'd understand if it had a buy it now option. To my knowlegde that 2 pack isn't out yet, dont harass someone who isn't even the scapler. At the end of the day the bidders loose more money.

[Captain Nash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warmachine6

It's a bit pointless as its not the sellers fault but the bidders, that have given these figures those prices because they want them asap. I'd understand if it had a buy it now option. To my knowlegde that 2 pack isn't out yet, dont harass someone who isn't even the scapler. At the end of the day the bidders loose more money.

I agree with putting this more on the bidders. I took a look myself and in addition to those two and a $299 item for right now, there's also two starting out at less than MSRP.

Will they stay at that price, no of course not, and I'm sure the sellers know this, but the people driving those prices up higher and higher when they actually started lower, are the bidders.

If a seller listed it at a low price and Buy it now at hundreds of dollars that would be different.It's likely the hoped for result after the bids, but if the bidders all decided to stop bidding at $50 then it would go for that.


Unless target gets more online or I happen to see it in a store in october...if I ever go to a store again....then that's great. I'm determined to get this at some point though but unlike the hellfire club set, I'm determined to play the long game on it. Hellfire Club 3 out of 4 figures I was clamoring for, this has one.

[Bo Ttef]

StrongGuy is AWESOME! so glad to have him- now to wait for Wolfsbane or just due the standard polaris kit-bash?

20200721_083428 by lowanbing, on Flickr

20200720_205724 by lowanbing, on Flickr

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bo Ttef

20200720_205724 by lowanbing, on Flickr

Dazzler - "Oh Mr Batou, you're eyes look even dreamier up front."

Stronguy - "Uh... I'm not Bat... I mean HELLO!"

[Archangel]

Start hitting those GameStop clearance sections. 30% off clearance figs.

[Boy Blunder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Archangel

Start hitting those GameStop clearance sections. 30% off clearance figs.

I don't even know if any Gamestop stores out here are open right now, but thanks for the head's up.

[Veronica Mars]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bo Ttef

StrongGuy is AWESOME! so glad to have him- now to wait for Wolfsbane or just due the standard polaris kit-bash?

20200721_083428 by lowanbing, on Flickr

20200720_205724 by lowanbing, on Flickr

The way it sounded in the interview, I don't think we'll see Wolfsbane until late 2021 possibly not until 2022