Do People Chase Variants Anymore?
 

I've been wondering, do people go variant chasing anymore? I've often times been chastised by people because I wanted the error card and corrected cards for Metalhead from the new TMNT series, and as of recent been told I was ridiculous because I wanted a Shredder figure because the belt was of a light purple color as opposed to the dark purple, or chocolate color of the rest.

Am I the only one still getting excited by variants?

I'm still hunting for Sota Street Fighter variants.

I don't. If I see the variant and like it more than the regular, I might plump for it, but I don't hunt for them.

I say it depends on the variant itself. Like take Amazing Bagman, people are going nuts looking for that while not as many people care about the FF Spider-Man which is the regular figure Bagman is the variant to. On the other hand does anyone really care if Winter Soldier's hair is long or only kinda long?

I think its a matter of how different the variant is, new sculpt, HELL YEAH!, slightly different shade of paint on an accessory...not so much. but I'm a completest too so I get where your coming from, I bought several MU figures for a different name plate on the stand, I did it, dosnt mean I don't think its stupid.

Packaging errors (unless they're silly, like the figure is packaged upside down or backwards), or minor color variations, such as someone's belt being a slightly different shade, do not interest me.
Production errors only interest me if it's something unique, sunch as the recent DS Enterprise-B being labeled as the Excelsior.

When the "varient" is a chase figure, then I only care about it if it's something I care about.
I'm of the mind that those kinds of chase figures should then be something that only hardcore collectors would care about. The Amazing Bagman as mentioned above is a great example. Can't imagine that being anything more than a shelfwarmer if it were the main figure, but has huge appeal to the hardcore fans out there. It's something that doesn't appeal to everyone.
I also like varients when they get multiple costumes out (but usually in 50/50 ratios), since as Marvel Legends Angel coming in both blue and red costumes.
But in such cases, I usually pick up what I can find.

What I don't like are when the version that should be common is made rare. Such as DCUC Sinestro. His iconic Sinestro Corps version was impossible to find, while his classic costume just rotted on pegs. It should have been the other way around. (And I don't just say that as sour grapes because I never found it. It really made no sense, now or then)

Depends on the variant, I'll hunt for it if I want I want the figure and the variant looks better then the original, usually the variant costs/is worth more then the regular release as it's harder to find. In the case of ML, they now call it a "running change" usually same mold but repainted, in some cases different figures. But in the case of Steve Rogers, the variant is idential to the regular release, except for the clear sheild and slightly darker color. But those 2 differences make the variant $30-40 more in the price.

I tend to not care too much about chasing variants as well as the standard figure, and usually I just pick up the one that appeals to me best. I mean, I would have preferred to have gotten the orange-flame Ghost Rider, and if I found it somewhere for cheap I wouldn't think twice about it, but right now I'm just as happy with the standard blue flame. Some people do go a little crazy with the variants, though. I've seen some heated discussion about ML silver shirt Luke Cage, and I once sold a Mcfarlane Spidey to a guy who picked up all the variants of that body ( that's a few.)

I think you can ask just about any ML fan whether they would seriously consider killing a man for a ROML Redpool or Blade and I'd expect their answers would indicate that there are still some serious variant hunters around.

I only hunt variants that are not really variants. Paint and color slight variations I could care less about, but when a variant is a completely different character or costume, then I tend to go for those. I mostly do DC classics and Marvel Legends. Like when DC classics had 2 versions of robin, one was basically Jason Todd Robin and one was young Dick Grayson. The head was a different sculpt so I did not consider them variants because they were different characters. They did the similar to a lot of the DC classics like Steppenwolf, the Parademon, and Mantis. Same character, but totally different costumes and from different eras. Now What they are doing with CURRENT Marvel Legends, some are variants and some are not IMO. Like stealth Extremis Iron Man, Orange Ghost Rider and White FF Dr. Doom are variants that I don't hunt for but get if I find them in the wild. But the ML that are totally different characters like Punisher/Blade, Mystique/Moonstar and Hyperion/Sentry, I think as separate figures and NOT variants because they are new characters just using the same mold ( which is what 90% of toys are anyway).

I think the lowest point of variants (even lower than wave 3's nonexistent ones) was the AoA Wolverine in the Giant Man series. I mean, It's bad enough that we have to buy a lame version of Wolverine, but then to put a different BAF piece in with his variant is just low, especially since ToyBiz seemed to be so good with getting fans what they want (dog-faced Ultron and no Hero Armor Maestro aside)

I don't think many collectors ever cared too much about packing variants or errors. It has to be a special case for it to become sought after. Actual figure variants that are hard to get and people like still get chased. I mean, most people won't care if War Machine from the IM2 line has a red or a blue Arc Reactor but figures in a completely different costume or using translucent plastic matter.

This place was crazy last year with people clamoring for MU packaging variants. Some people(completionists) got excited over seeing the same artwork reversed or the hammer logo replacing the shield one. It was a weird time.

Well it's good to see that some people still love the variant hunt.

I hate the hunt. I want to be able to go out and get what I want, and not spend $50 in gas trying to find a $10 toy.

Some people feel they need them for their collection but I rare see packing variants go for a higher price on ebay. A lot of the listings don't even know they are variants.