And pouches. Lots of pouches LOL

Like it's just in his left hand at the Toyfair display but I just realized what it was, like I just realized that the end of his bazooka has a boxing glove.

@Von

Yes! He drew Storm with a great deal more personality and conviction, back then. But that might have much to do with his (I suspect) becoming bored with Spidey. A lengthy run, combined with growing up with your dad drawing Petey, would make anyone grow stale on the gig. X-men and Daredevil were new journeys and he flourished on the books creating a great deal of the mystique behind the titles. Back to Mohawk Storm: oh man, did I ever love that fight between her and Cyke, with the winner becoming leader of the team. What a fight! The result changed the direction of the character, the team, and the book!

It's a crispy taco with guacamole...just saw it.

@TBM, I just love Storm. :p Claremont clearly loved her as a character, and during that era (post-'Dark Phoenix Saga'), she was essentially the protagonist of Uncanny. The pressures of leadership, her "invasion" by the Brood, her duel with Callisto, all leading up the the drastic change in appearance. Compile this with her deteriorating relationship with Kitty, and the crux of losing her powers, oy! Storytelling at its very best! Then she went and beat the cojones out of Cyclops and remained as the team leader. Whadda woman.

Once again I must iterate that we need a First Appearance Storm in Marvel Legends form. Hasbro, heed our call!

Filled with tacos and chimiechangas. Hes got real feet so he can't be based on any leifield designs thats for sure. ;)

I was hoping for the sheep launcher

@Von

That's right, she "retained" leadership after that fight. Cyke had returned following the sabbatical he took after Jean's death. A great time for the X-men! That fight with Callisto was also awesome, as was the Brood arc (some great Carol/Rogue-development in there too!). Beyond nostalgia, those were fantastic stories...I wish I still had those books.

I'd be happy with getting any version of Storm at this point. The best Storm on the market IMO had awful distribution and now costs my entire college tuition to get.

Well I decided after seeing the wonderful Dazzler Custom by Byrnes a few pages back...I needed to tackle that custom myself. So here she is so far...still needs a few more touch ups and the jacket. I went with the look from the 1989 cartoon "Pryde of the X-men" I used a ML Wasp body and obviously a Capt. Marvel head...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29...psztdvjtbx.jpg

Also I wanted to show a few more pics of my Legends Display below:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29...psxriytpwc.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29...ps4zfo5mgh.jpg

OBVIOUSLY this classic X-men display is missing four KEY Characters...FA STORM,POLARIS,THUNDERBIRD and SUNFIRE.

Thats lookin great!

I have wanted a nate grey blue and yellow xman and aoa blink but i dont have that good of skill required to make em!

Amazing work. That's what I wanted mine to be. That body is way better also. Skinny look fits it better than that muscle look on the body I used.

Thanks guys... I appreciate the kind words. I really like the way she has turned out.. So I'm making a second one for my Outback X-men display. This time I'll make her Starburst smaller on her chest.

Oooorrrrr make the chest BIGGER then the star won't seem so big. ;)

Great job on the custom Starlord67!

Considering he tends to have the same treatment as Cap and Iron Man where they feel compelled to put him in every wave, I rather expect some version of Wolverine will show up. Maybe the Laura one for something different?

If they made a Wolverine figure in the size he actually should be it would be more impressive. If you want to see what I mean, check out Jin's custom in the custom section from a few months back.

That is one of the main reasons I got back out of comics again. I cannot justify the price anymore. I would probably still pick up a few issues through digital means if the price was not even more absurd for that format. Marvel is definitely lacking in the art department right now. At least as far as styles I enjoy but to each their own.

finally bought a Cap and taskmaster !!!! as of today they were available around my neck of the woods in south florida. the TRU i went to had the whole wave available basically, i just wasn't really into the other characters that much. while i wouldnt mind an red onslaught to later make the real deal onslaught i think i'll just hold off on the the rest.

@Von
I feel like I should elaborate on my comments regarding modern comic art. I can appreciate the talent of many of the artists you've named, but stylistically, they don't move me to the point of following their work. When I shared my feelings about the lack of separation between styles, I'm referring more so to the rut that the industry seems to be in, rather than any artist(s) in particular. While I recognize and respect the quality of art contemporary illustrators produce, it doesn't draw me in. Classic artists like Byrne and Perez compelled me to follow them from title to title. Not only that, their work inspired me to draw and create...to imagine. I have yet to find a modern penciler that has elicited that kind of response from me. I want to experience that again, it simply hasn't happened in quite some time.

Regardless of aesthetic tastes, I'd say contemporary art as a whole has an advantage over classic simply because it's allowed to actually differentiate itself to suit a story. Byrne and Perez and Buscema are fantastic technicians, but they were still limited to working within the "Marvel Style." Artists now have the freedom to tailor the art to the story rather than some blanket house style. This lets you have something like the painterly Mike Del Mundo art on something like Weirdworld recalling Boris Vallejo or Frank Frazetta sitting on a shelf next to the manic, cartoonish energy of a Skottie Young Rocket and Groot next to brooding, almost monochromatic noir art by Ron Garney on Daredevil. You can't really define a house style for Marvel anymore. There were always exceptions even when everyone was shifting towards XTREME Image-immitation in the 90's, but the sheer diversity of style within the mainstream is an all-time high.

Now I don't want this to sound beyond insulting, because my intention couldn't be further from that, but do you suspect that to be a case of jaded nostalgia? I only say that because I came into the game late, around 2004, so I don't have that innate passion for the classics akin to those who were buying each issue as they were released with such insatiable gusto!

I like to think that because of that, I'm a little more open-minded about which art I love? Is that a fair thing to say? I have gone through the history of the X-Men over the years, and there is so much to love! Kirby, Roth, Cockrum, Byrne, Smith (Smith! My personal favourite), Sienkiewicz, Bachalo, Quitely, Jimenez, Larocca, Cassaday, Ramos, Choi, Tan, Sook, Ryan, Young, Crain, Mann, Opena, Ribic, Lopez, Coipel, Immonen, etc, etc. They all span a wide spectrum of what can be considered art in the medium, but I see qualities in them all which can inspire.

To me, a comparison between Jack Kirby and Clay Mann is impossible, but that doesn't mean that they aren't both as awe-inspiring as the other. That could just be my own jaded perception, mind you! :p You're not going to find anything classical in the works of Humberto Ramos or Clayton Crain, but David Lopez and Victor Ibanez? I like to think so! Personally, I can't think of a time I've been more inspired recently than witnessing Lopez's jaw-dropping opener to X-Men #33:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gJvRE3Xcy8...v13112_pg2.jpg

You have a powerful team, Storm leading the fray with a sheer look of determination. It's atmospheric, it's striking, and it instantly connected me with the art of David Lopez, who I have followed ever since. I dunno, perhaps it's just me!

Meanwhile, this is extremely off topic, so apologies for that. Bringing it back around, Starlord, those are some great displays! Is that a makeshift psimitar I spy with Cable? Excellent. :D Likewise your late 70s squad look pitch perfect (although the dust is starting to linger I see). That Phoenix figure is still gorgeous, and the Select effect works really well with her. I might even mod that head to put on the upcoming Hasbro figure, and hey presto: the quintessential Jean!

@Van Pooten... Yes that is in fact a Psimeter I stole from a DC Direct figure(Magog I think)
Yes it is time to break out the dust cloth. My wife complains Alot about dusting.. I just avoid it at all costs lol! I do love that Phoenix and will have a hard time replacing her when the new one comes out... But I really like the new bucks they are using

@kirathis... Thank you. I'm finishing her up today and will post more pics later.

I don't worry about it getting off topic in regards to comics myself. I mean really that's what Marvel Legends are based on for the most part. I'm finding it fun to have a connection to the comic and the figure.

Sometimes I'll see a figure and have no clue who it is. And I'm like that sucks. Then I read a comic and I'm like sweet, Machine Man has some cool powers. Now I like the figure way better.

And vise versa, I'll be super excited when a figure from a comic I like is released.

@ VanPooten, is that recent X-men? My head spins when I'm in the comic shop trying to find an X-Men title to read. I started picking up the new Uncanny-Men, it's not bad. But the All New All Different is horrible. But that art looks really good. Is it just simply "X-Men"? With all the comic changes lately after Secret Wars it's hard for me to figure out what's out there.

@Ars
I agree that there's more freedom within comic book art today than there was in the 90's. I also acknowledge the boon this paradigm shift represents to both artists and consumers. However, there is also value in creating a signature look or taking a traditional approach to comic art from a publishing perspective.

Everything in life is about balance, for me. The 90's had it's share of comic art painters and expressionists. I enjoyed Brereton's Giant Killer and Alex Ross' Kingdom Come. I liked many of that era's more impressionistic artists: Sienkiewicz's New Mutants (Moon Knight, Power Man & Iron Fist), Mignola's Hellboy (I loved a good deal of Mike's work for both DC and Marvel), and Jae Lee's Namor (just to name a few talents). However, I always came "home" to artists who illustrated in a more classic format (ie Davis, JR JR, Perez, Byrne, etc)

Today, I find fewer traditionalists and I think many fans are turning away due to the absence of "familiar" presentations. My favorites of this modern term tend to be of the variety of Divito, Pelletier, Garney, and even Grummett. Obviously, art is subjective. My tastes won't carry the day, nor will the tastes of anyone else. I just wish there were more artists reflective of the style that I find appealing. I have grown up appreciating both fine and pop culture art, so I can see the quality of today's work. But try as I may, I just can't find my groove with a large swath of contemporary artists.

@Starlord I know, dust on figures is a pain, but it's also a real pain cleaning them! Hence why I invested in a couple of cheap-ish cabinets, which help with upkeep, and they make the display of "children's" toys in an adult's house look more... professional. :p

As for Jean, I am certainly going to mod ToyBiz's Phoenix head to fit on the new figure. Not a big fan of the head they chose. It's fine for Jean Jean, but it hardly screams "Fire and Life Incarnate."

:thumbs I feel exactly the same way. I wasn't too familiar with the BAF Hobgoblin aside from him being a part of Dan Slott's run, so I read the relevant story, and he's an interesting character! A little willingness to read up on characters you don't know gives the respective figures far more value.

As for that series I posted an excerpt from, it was from 2011/12 I believe, just before Avengers vs X-Men. You can find the story in the trade "X-Men: Blank Generation." It was Brian Wood's first venture into X-territory, and he does a bang up job! His Storm in particular is wonderful, and as you can see, David Lopez has the chops.

4-5 dang that's Marvel too yeesh glad I stopped buying comics then...
I was hoping they would have gotten rid of the all new X-Men, the ones that Beast brought from the past into the present...what is going on with the x-titles recently?

@Von
It's not an insult to ask whether I'm being nostalgic. Feelings are an important component of art. Jaded? I don't think so, I haven't said new artists are complete "trash." I've enjoyed many of the artists you've listed and would have named most of them if not for attempting to keep this tangent short. I think when people talk about art, at times, it becomes an overly cerebral conversation. Academic. Almost verging on pretension. Sterile and highbrow. For me, it's simply a matter of whether it moves me or not.

Sensibilities vary, and while I can look at the panels you've provided and see your appreciation, I don't find it iconic. It doesn't leap out at me. It doesn't speak to me on a gut or visceral level. Is it presented well? Definitely. But it smacks too much of "ready-made for film," IMO...almost, "try-hard." And this is where much of today's comic art leaves me. I don't mean to come off as closed minded, that couldn't be further from the truth. I enjoy a wide variety of art forms. The pictures I'm inspired to take are an expression of that fact. I also enjoy many modern artists, but I "love" ( a term I don't bandy about in any circumstance) none.

I'll keep searching for my niche...