I think having comic con panels is good for the fans to know what every product is coming out and to make informed buying decisions to buy a few or them all. It gives companies who sell the product such as comic stores and 3rd party avenues a chance to set marketvalue not retail value. It gives scalpers a chance to calculate which is the rare 1 and what variants to look for.

It does take away from going to a store and looking at toys and looking for a particular figure rather then deciding which awesome toy to get. As kids we typically only were given 1 toy so we checked the back of the box and decided who had the most accessories, the best costume and was the coolest of them all from there we made our selection and felt proud and happy on the way home. We'd hang on to the backing and then figure out which 1 to get net or what Santa would bring. I love card backings they tell ya what's going on lol.

In all seriousness I do like knowing because distrution is shit around me and without it I'd be clueless what waves are what and what to keep an eye out for. Plus internet avenues for purchasing is almost hand it hand with toy collecting, because even if you are able to find 99% retail you will always be on the hunt for some oddball/variant item.

If Hasbro's toy section was the same at every store this wouldn't be an issue but it is so it's on us to know what's being made so we can find other avenues to find these items.

Looking at all my MOC figs... playing with all my loose figs... that's fun. Collecting them... is not. LOL.

My toy budget is very limited now... so I like knowing a year in advance exactly what is coming out and when, so I can plan ahead. I try to plan it down to the dollar... what I can afford to get from each wave... from each brand (meaning Joes, MU, or something else). Impulse buys always mess me up though and I gotta do some on the fly toy budget recalculations. LOL.

Just keep telling yourself "It's cheaper than ciggarettes!" and you'll be fine..(unless you smoke too).

I definitely feel like I want the figures less now that the surprise is gone. I used to just wait for them to go on preorder on BBTS to find out. Now I don't really care. *shrug* The collector mania is gone.

Wow. Really?

Huh. I'm much more psyched knowing that each month has it's own awesome figs to find or order- nad knowing what's coming out lets me know what I can skip on making a custom of!

I think it's more excitement all at once like this? Or multiple forms of excitement? Seeing a few waves at a time is pretty epic and, in this day and age, it's definitely preferable to waiting until your locals *might* get a specific wave in (as many skip waves).

It's certainly nice to know what to expect so you don't miss out on entire things if you never see any of it at retail. The older system might have more worked back when we weren't seeing as much merchandise hit store shelves.

At any rate, I'm still excited at least twice: one for the announcement and one for finding it at retail (assuming I can get it at retail which is a smaller & smaller thing). And I can't say that my excitement has been any greater lately when I wasn't aware of a specific item hitting shelves.

Also, those Kenner booklets were awesome. I probably enjoyed them more than the toys at times =p Used to carry the Action Fleet or whatever ones with me.

old toy booklets own for sure. i think i kept one of those action fleet books.

anyways, i like knowing whats coming out in the future cause it shows me how much im going to spend some months down the line and which ones i want. I prefer the surprise from the con pics than seeing figs in the pegs ive never heard about.

It does change the instore surprise, but I like the fact of knowing what I'm looking for too ahead of time, otherwise I wouldn't be out hunting to begin with.

That being said though, hasbro does toss surprises and curveballs our way with the unannounced variants. Those make for some pleasant surprises while shopping even though most arkers will cry 'fake' until they see it themselves on shelves.

That wave just hit my local Tesco,so i may be able to help you(or anyone else needing them) out if you fancy doing some figure for figure trading,expect a PM shortly!!

As for the topic,i love the toyfair/comic con photo coverage,the excitement is still there,but is dampened by the inevitable wait for product to hit shelves (Hasbro,im looking at you and that Zombie-viper in particular DAMMIT!!!) my worst personal wait was the 12months between Mcfarlane toys previewing Zombie Spawn in Lee's or Tomarts and it actually hitting release.....but MAN did it feel good when i walked in the comic store,saw him on the shelf,and took him to the till to purchase!!

I think it does make it less fun to hunt. But at the same time it helps on what you are looking for BC the card back only has three pics.

True. I miss the days of going to the toy store and having to look at the back of a GI Joe or Ninja Turtle package to see what else was out there.

Knowing now what is coming out it's easier to have a plan of attack. I can expect certian toys to be available. With all the sightings threads I def know what's around.

I do not think it takes any of the fun or thrill of the hunt out of it. You still never know what you're going to find and surprises/ variants do pop with out us knowing.

Toys R Us used to be like that for me. The closest one was 2 hours away. And I started collecting the first series of WWF figures as a kid, so I HAD to have them all, before I could even drive. So when I'd get taken to a TRU by grandma or parents I was damn near sprinting through that store. I was so excited I'd almost pee my pants.

Those days may be gone, but I think it's more with age than the actual information leaked.

I'm enjoy knowing, it saves me money.

By that I mean, I really want a gambit for my collection, but the only xmo ones I can find are all 40 bucks from asshole scalpers, which I would eventually end up paying because of the urge to have it.

But knowing that there is one coming down the pike, even though he looks like a guy who's dressed for the gay day parade, quelles my impulse and saves me 30 bucks because for less money I get a Gambit and a Mister Sinister.

Just remember kids, knowledge is power.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle, or half the hunt in this case.

A little post script, a good hunter doesn't go out to the forest with a sling shot just hoping he doesnt run into somthing big. He takes the proper weaponry and knows exactly what types of creatures he may encounter.

Yes and no, yes because the element of surprise is gone and I enjoy it as much as anyone else. But at the same time I like to know what to expect and if I should even bother hunting. Most people I think share this same kind of viewpoint or very similar views.

Nuts, now I'm worried about my local stores skipping waves!

I'd love to have a collection of those Kenner booklets. Just seeing pictures of them takes me back.

I think as a kid the surprise was seeing the selection, and not knowing that these were even made and that there's not just 1 but 6 in the set sweet. As adults the surprise is finding stock of what you want. You know exactly what gaps are missing in your own collection, but finding it and retail and at the same stores who had nothing the week earlier, that's the rush factor. To walk into a walmart and see freshly stocked pegs full of awesome figures, helps if the wallet is there 2 lol.

Double edged sword, which most folks seem to agree. It is what it is and yeah, of course coming on here and finding out there's a variant or an exclusive that I may not have known otherwise is totally helpful. But again, a figure sitting on a peg that you've NEVER seen before?! thats a treat, like the very first time I stumbled on the X-Force Wolverine.

Yeah, but even in the 80's they included pamphlets with the years worth of releases, and most toylines put all the figures released on the back of the card. If not for the I ternet, how would we know what was released, since at best, they only put 2-3 figures on the back now.

The element of suprise is still there for me as my stores seriously do not restock much. I will see a figure I want online and soon forget about it only to see it pop up at retail...SCORE. If feels all new to me again.

I should add to my story that the internet helped my Tron collection... I would have kept searching for Castor for months had I not cecked online and found out he was moved to wave 3, and then wave 3 was cancelled.

LOL. I remember the Norman Osborne Iron Patriot variant... like some dude in Alabama (I think it was) was the first one to find it at Walmart; he found 2 and stashed one for his friend and then posted a camera pic of it and then everybody thought it was a repack with ROC Duke's head because no one in China/Hong Kong/Malaysia saw it first. LOL.

Then BBTS had one for sale for $200 saying something like they opened up 200 cases and only found one... blah, blah, blah.

Then people were buying them on ebay for like $50... then people realized they were being released 2 per case in the Wave 9 revision case and it actually ended up being one of the easiest variants to find.

All this happened in like a week's time too. LOL. Hasbro needs to do that again and freak everyone out. LOL.

My brother and I used to look at the back and pick the guys we were each going to get.

I personally believe knowing the future does not the thrill at all. For the simple fact that I'm Canadian, we're given release dates but they NEVER show up on time in Canada. So, when I walk into a Walmart or something and I FINALLY find wave 16 (which won't happen for a while) I know I'm going to be pleasantly thrilled. Same goes for every new wave of course.

for me, knowing what is coming out six months from now MU wise has the same feeling as a awesome movie i want to see based on what I saw from the trailers.

Best Answer right here.
I totally agree- no matter how good the pics are, you never know how cool something is untill you have it in hand.