IIRC, the thing about Bug was that he was deemed to be legally distinct from the toy he was based on ("Galactic Warrior"), which is why they could still use him even with the license expired.

https://ehtcomics.files.wordpress.co...ic-warrior.jpg

James Gunn claimed he was not allowed to use Bug in the Guardians movies because Marvel doesn't actually own him, but the situation is a bit murkier than something like Rom, Godzilla or the Shogun Warriors, where they 100 percent cannot use the titular characters anymore.

Anyway, a leak is claiming the last two Retro FF figures are Psycho-Man and High Evolutionary as rumored. That's exactly who I wanted so I'll be ecstatic if this turns out legit.

Unexpected but completely awesome. I have my list but homestly it's just wonderful seeing the Fantastic Four get some attention. Those two have amazing designs. I can't wait for Psycho-Man or High Evo-fuschia-nary.

https://i.redd.it/n1jqdpz0z9871.jpg

Some listings for the What If? wave. This is also presumably where the Sylvie figure from the start of the week ends up.

D'oooooohhhhhhhh jeeeeeeeezzzzusssss

I loved the Micronauts (comics and toys - I had many as a kid), but I loathe the long lasting reverberations of this messy licensing. I won't even get into Rom (it truly depresses me)...Zilla and Starvengers/Force Five were/are also very near and dear to my heart, but at least they make sense given the sheer preponderance of Japanese independent media associated.


Mark me down for High Evolutionary and Psycho-Man.

High Evolutionary - hell yes. Psycho-Man maybe but much better than official images of creepier than all hell Puppet Master, so it's a win.

I don't think I ever saw Ant-man 2... or Thor 2... or GoTG 2 or Captain Marvel... pretty sure I saw the rest of the MCU though. Not really interested in all the D+ or Phase 4 stuff either to be honest.

IMO Legends has lasted this long because of how successful the MCU was... and how well MCU Legends sold. I mean we even got the live action X-men figures from the Fox movies... don't know how well those sold though. If the MCU didn't take off I doubt Legends last as long as it does.

@MeLikeJinx - Sorry, but I have to agree to disagree on this one, buddy. Legends has lasted this long because the figures have been good and because people love the characters, plain and simple. Even when Toy Biz had Marvel Legends and the M.C.U. didn't exist yet, their Legends figures sold well. I don't know how well the FoX-Men figures sold either, but I still see plenty of fan comments who wanted/still want new original trilogy figures like Wolverine, Storm, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Magneto (the original Ian McKellen suit, not the 'Days of Future Past' suit), Rogue, Beast, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Deathstrike, etc., and of Quicksilver from 'Days of Future Past' and 'Apocalypse'. Pre-pandemic, I got to see just as many M.C.U. figures sit unsold on the shelves along with their comic book counterparts. Heck, look how well Marvel Legends sold in 2020, and there were hardly any M.C.U. figures last year. The M.C.U. certainly helps the line, but it also does get its share of nitpicks, like fans who were hoping for a Marvel Legends wave to be comic-based being annoyed that one or two figures were M.C.U. based. That said, I can't wait to see what reveals we'll get to see in July for the Marvel Legends toylines.

I hope you all are having a great night and stay safe, True Believers.

^^This. :thumbs

I'm inclined to agree to a point. It's anecdotal evidence so feel free to dismiss it as conjecture, but I think the lack of a hugely successful franchise like the MCU is why the ToyBiz line only lasted for about four years. I'm not privy to all the details but ToyBiz got axed because of Marvel's bankruptcy so the line probably wasn't raking in that much or Marvel would've held on to it longer. Hasbro started out their Legends in 2007 but it kind of meandered through to '09 before taking a nap so they could focus on the 1/18 scale lines (both MU and movie specific lines). After The Avengers blew up in 2012 Hasbro brought Legends back and it's been running ever since. The line doesn't crutch on the MCU but I do feel like if the MCU hadn't been a hit then we might not have seen the line's strong return and the volume of figures that we have which includes a lot of comic figures.

Regarding the Fox X figures from Hasbro, in my area it was a pretty mixed bag. All of the Deadpool 2 stuff sold really well except for Domino but then the only X-Men figure that sold was Wolverine and I had plenty of Mystique figures and the Professor/Magneto packs shelf-warming all the way to the clearance aisle. The Amazon exclusives both sold very well, but then it might've been because it was another Wolverine and Deadpool.

I for one would LOVE a Bug figure. I loved the comics when I was a kid and I have the HEROCLIX figure on my desk.

The MCU has absolutely played a major role in the longevity of the line. It's not even really conjecture, it's stuff the people working on the line themselves have said in the past regarding how they were able to get such a large amount of retailer interest after the initial Hasbro run went so poorly that they wound up shelving Legends for several years in favor of Marvel Universe.

Some fans may not like the movie figures, and while that is totally fine, it's clear that the popularity of that franchise is a major reason retailers are so hot on Marvel merchandise as a whole. Case in point, there was an ex Mattel employee who worked on DC Universe Classics who chalked up the lack of character diversity in the current DC figure line up (look at how utterly the Batman franchise dominates DC Multiverse from McFarlane, for interest) is because the mixed track record of DC's film franchise has left the Walmarts and Targets of the world much less interested in carrying anything they don't see as Batman or Superman related.

It's definitely not the sole reason for the line's success and obviously, as this forum can attest, a great many buyers prefer comic figures anyway, but it's pretty undeniable that the success of the films made Marvel as a wider brand the most attractive and profitable it's ever been.

@hasbroherofan - I know it played a major role, but I still think the Legends line would've been successful regardless. Granted, having a TV series or a movie always helps sell figures. Look how well all of Toy Biz's figures sold in the '90s with the Marvel animated series and in the early-to-mid 2000s when they had their movie toylines for 'X-Men' and 'Spider-Man'. But I still think that the Legends line would've sold well with or without the M.C.U. We can agree to disagree on that, right?

I honestly can't say, since the line was effectively dead before 2012. Now maybe it would've come back regardless, but I've seen them say in interviews that the renewed overall interest in Marvel as a whole caused by the movies was a driving factor in getting Legends revived and back into stores.

But yes, I'd be willing to buy that the line may have returned on its own, but even then just looking at what happened with DC as an example, I'd expect far fewer deep cuts on the comic front.

Who knows what the financials were at the time, or the strategy employed, but when a company is insolvent and files for bankruptcy, restructuring firms (think Mitt Romney's former affiliation with Bain Capital) are brought in to facilitate the existing debt and begin paying off owners of said debt in ranking order - from largest to smallest. The idea is to bring in a turn-around manager (Bain) to get you out of the red, as much as possible and to level off and maybe look attractive enough for purchase vs complete dissolution. When this is happening, certain activities cease, assets are sold and the fat is trimmed. Stopping the Toybiz Marvel Legends line may not have had anything to do with their performance, but was resultant of general constriction of business in a global sense. Or, maybe Hasbro was willing to pay more seeing the potential of the pending Disney buyout.

Regardless, if the canon figs weren't selling, while MCU figs were, logic would dictate phasing canon figs out or abandoning them outright. Especially considering that MCU figs likely have budgets tethered to built-in marketing for the films. In that circumstance, why spend any money on developing so many comic waves, retro lines, etc that require line budgets unsupported by ticket sales? Again, who really knows; I can't foresee any instance in which Hasbro divulges raw numbers to anyone other than principle share holders. The truth of most things lie somewhere in the middle. I suspect that Hasbro's formula for success is a fine balance between MCU and canon wares.

This I firmly agree with, especially the bolded point.

Pfft. Wesley Snipes is the real reason behind Marvel’s current success, lest we all so conveniently forget.

The key history of making Marvel the greatest thing ever goes Liefeld>Jim Lee>hologram foil covers>having characters come out of the closet >3 for $10 Toy Biz figures at Kay-Bee>BLADE>Raimi Spiderman… yadda yadda yadda. The point is, you never make it to the Sony Spiderman Nexus of All Realities without Wesley Snipes.

And if not for Wesley Snipes, Heath Ledger would still be alive and they would still be making Nolan Batmans. Shit, we might still be on Schumacher Batmans 0_0

That’s how important this whole chocolate war is. Marvel wins on the movie front, so ML is still chugging along while DCUC and Mattel Multiverse went the way of the dodo.

e2a: To clarify, I’m indifferent to Heath Ledger’s death and consider Nolan a self-indulgent prima donna who gets high on his own farts, so read the above in that context :D

That shit about Wesley is true tho'...

Avi Arad gets a hearty handshake for his role also.

True, but people more readily associate Avi with the early success. Wesley somehow lives in some pocket universe shunted off from the rest of the continuum.

https://i.imgur.com/7magxUC_d.webp?m...fidelity=grand

…like I said, just a li’l handshake for Avi :p

Lol you gotta start somewhere. I liked Spiderverse.

Your mileage may very, but I went to quite a few Walgreens yesterday and noticed that many are having varied sales on Marvel Legends. Depending on the store, I saw a Marvel Legends on sale for $4.99 , $7.99 , & $15.99. Then of course some stores didn't have any on sale. Quite odd. I did pick-up a Taskmaster with the new Black Widow film around the bend.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2a6f43f6_c.jpg

I'll agree with that. Blade leads to X-Men, X-Men leads to Spider-Man, and Spider-Man leads to every freaking comic imaginable made into a movie.