Sorry to hear that, mate. While our last president unintentionally popularized the concept of malignant narcissist, the truth is, we suffer collectively as a nation from the personality disorder rarely considering ramifications beyond our borders for just about anything. What you highlight is why the current spate of events is hard to simply shrug off. A world full of collectors are about to be priced out of Marvel Legends and layer on top of that a global financial market that appears to be nearing the precipice of another recession, or possible depression. Toy related woes will be the least of the worries in the big scheme of things, but, for the purposes of this website, they'll function as a lens providing perspective on where things are going with increasing rapidity.

Cheers! lol

Well said.

Long story short………https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.e5631d47...pid=ImgRaw&r=0

I don't have a solo picture of it atm but I received the new Baron Zemo from Zavvi today. I ordered him the other week during a sale so I paid around the same price that I would have if I'd ordered one figure from Walgreens and paid the shipping.

I also picked up the Toy Biz Spider Sense Spider-Man loose on eBay the other day. The seller didn't clean up the figure before listing it so no one was interested in it. After I won the figure, I did some work on it to clean it up, tighten some joints, and correct some paint errors. It looks 1000% better than when I received it in the mail. I liked how it turned out so much that I was able to fix up my old McFarlane Spider-Man as well.

https://i.imgur.com/iTjctEG.jpg

Short PSA here. I figure what I used on my Spider-Man figures might help some others with their figures.

I picked up a couple of Pigma Micron 005 ink pens at Michaels on Sunday. The tips are 0.20mm which makes it easy to fill in the sculpted web lines on older Spider-Man figures. The ink comes out at a reasonable amount, not too much or too little. Cleaning up mistakes is as simple as wiping it off with your finger tips or a tissue. Because it's ink and not paint, the figures need to be sprayed with a clear coat to prevent the ink from wiping off.

https://i.imgur.com/AlKpGFg.jpg

I used Krylon Matte Finish to spray my Spider-Man figures. The particular spray that I used has the artist's paint brushes on the front of the can and it's intended to seal artwork. I picked it up at Walmart for around the same price as a tiny can of Testor's Dullcote spray at Hobby Lobby. The Krylon took away the shine on both of my figures with minimal spraying. It dried after 10-15 minutes but it needed about 24 hours to fully cure.

Well, all of my plans to have a nice room where I can have a nice table set up with dioramas on it for pictures has been axed as quickly as a burning forest. The other day we went through the process of getting a mortgage loan and were only approved for a load up to $392,000. That's pretty much the size of a rinky dink shack in the poorest of poorest neighborhoods here in Colorado. I just don't get how anyone can buy a house ever if even having a combined income of $100K a year can't get us a house. So now we're back to the drawing board on what we want to do because we've outgrown our current apartment, but there are no apartments big enough to allow me to have a full on figure room with the diorama plan.

That's unfortunate, but at least you can get a home loan. Imagine being a family in the "poorest of poorest" neighborhoods in Colorado with multiple children seeking viable housing with a household income far, far below $100K. What does that growing family do about their needs? I'm not minimizing the realities you and your wife are facing, rather, I'm pointing out opportunities for empathy and expansion of perspective.

That said, yes, the housing market is in a precarious place, again, and it has everything to do with the greed and avarice of the usual suspects. The kleptocratic class (think Batman, Tony Stark, or Elon Musk) is up to their regular antics and poised to tip the dominoes again triggering another implosion of the economy so they can be bailed out and transfer even more wealth to themselves at the expense of the other 99%. Guess who's buying the house next door? Not the Jones family, it's actually a hedge fund:

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/rea...-fund-n1274597

People are waking up far too late. Many Gen Xers knew that the American dream died with our parents.

Edit: wow, I've been on a roll and think I'll stop while I'm 'behind'. ;)

Back to toys: At least I'll get a Blue Marvel soon...

I don't post on here a lot. Always lurking though. But with the last few of pages of......differing outlooks on the state of the line, but also the states of life of people.

Perspective is a hell of a thing.

Silver Surfer with Mjolnir is up on the Walgreens website. I would share the link, but the forum won't let me because I am a newer member.

Apologies, the site will not let you add the figure to you cart. Stupid Walgreens.

On a related note, I did come across 3 Binary figures at a local Walgreens yesterday. Bought one and left the other two.

Are you building the BAF? I wasn't planning on getting the Blue Marvel, but I could use that part he comes with.

Definitely commiserating in the theme. The plan to build a house, 5 years ago...sold a small house to move into a "temporary" place, got approved for the loan last year, to do without a contractor in place and line up all the work ourselves (BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER). And having no time to do so, so here we are a year later probably going to cancel the loan and come up with a new plan altogether. Housing prices in Nashville are through the roof as are apartments. It's absolutely absurd but here we are with the dream dead and cramped into a place that looks like a tornado hit a train wreck inside.

Definitely hard to stay positive, on top of many losses, work stress and the pandemic years.

All of this has tied into my depression, which has been part of why I've become so non-engaged with Legends. The other part is the offerings themselves. I keep saying that in 2020 for sure, it was one of the bright spots. 2020 wasn't as good as 2019 but it was still pretty awesome. 2021 was okay, and 2022 has just sucked, legends wise.

Well you probably don't want to hear any more advice, but very few people get their dream home as their first home right off the bat. But if you want a bigger loan, you really should consider getting out of the renting game that gets you nowhere with the bank, and maybe going with a house that, while less than ideal right now, owning it will build up some equity towards getting the kind of home you really want in the future. Plus if you're talking almost $400K, you might be able to find something older in that range that would be great but it just needs a bit of work and fixing up to be great again, even in Colorado.

Edit: And oh yeah, the larger the down payment you can make, the more likely it is for banks to play ball with a larger loan, too.

Sorry, I'm actually in the market for a new place so all of this stuff is fresh in my mind and I feel your pain. But no more derailing the thread, I promise.

While yes we’re getting a bm fig i still have to make a custom one cause i wanted the version you have as your avatar.

Yeah, it is. These last 12 years have been some of the most challenging of my life. And the last six have stretched my patience with and faith in humanity in both ways that I've come to expect and in ways I never imagined. But that IS 'the human condition' and I ain't giving up, nor am giving in. We'll see our way through this season of madness and be better for it on the other side.

I got you. I ordered three! lol We'll do the thang when they come out.

Damn dude, I feel for you and all of us that have dreams that seem to be sliding out of reach. I remember you alluding to this a couple years back and I commend you for always maintaining an upbeat attitude in light of the many challenges you've faced. You are a better dude than me and your positive energy has been inspirational. Things are crazy, no doubt, but it won't always be this way.

As for Legends, we've watched things end before only to reemerge better and stronger.

Yeah, I want that one as well, but I'm happy to get 'speed-suit' Adam.

The speed suit is how we know he's a super-scientist and he gets to wear it for the rest of his life.

You are the BEST!

Truth right there.

I got Lady Deathstrike today on sale for $34.99

https://i.postimg.cc/5XP4ncXs/24475-...-A057331-C.jpg

Much love for everyone going through hard financial times right now.

That amount of money would buy you a Victorian mansion in West Philly. Just sayin’.

That’s a damn nice house in most areas of SC. You’re starting to see more people move to the ‘poorer’ areas of the country to take advantage of the cost of living. Especially people with the “work from home” or traveling option. That just drives up costs for the poor people living out here, but does does artificially drive up wages over time, which increases costs, and drives the spiral we are currently in.

Damn, saw that on the shelf at a GameStop a couple days ago. Was probably clearances too.

He worked for a Toy Manufacturer. Good to know. He did not work as a Buyer at Retail. He definitely had insights but never walked a mile in my shoes as a Buyer. Very different jobs. As a Buyer, we control the POGs. We decide how much space goes to which products based on previous sales and what we anticipate sales will do. You can show your little graphics all you want but you are still a nobody with no idea how things work.

Keep the faith. Housing markets heat up and crash all the time. If you can be in strong financial situation to take advantage when the market dips down, you might end up with something close to what you want. My place lost nearly 50% of its value 3 years after I purchased it. It took 15 years for the value to climb above what I paid. NOVA area house prices are beyond crazy as well.
Back to toys, saw Thor Love & Thunder at 2 Walmarts in the past week. Hopefully anyone who needs the figures will be able to find them. I see a few Dr. Strange figures still on the shelf at the Walmarts. No ML at local Targets. Plenty of other lines. Target is putting on clearance He-Man figures including their exclusive King Greyskull. He just came out recently like Dr Strange Defenders exclusive. Curious if they have clearance prices uploaded in their system right item setup process. Very odd to have a short shelf life. The buying team might be under pressure to increase inventory turns.

Sure, if you say so, nothing to get so upset over.