[Snowflakian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MESH

Im releifed im not the only one, ohew :P

This is what im refering to - the ability to change from your "everyman" character to your hero self is what makes heroes so what shall i say ... organic?

Think of RPGs for example, the main element that plays deep within the mind of the player is the fact that you start off as an ordinary everyman - undergod and slowly start to build up - similar to the hero mytholgy of the ancient greeks.

Now in terms of action figures - it would be great to produce cash cows (batman , superman, spiderman) characters with their dual identity - I realise DCC is somewhat aware of that - in their recent productions they released the batman Arkham collection where its like 5 batman and one bruce wayne figure.

Yes - I agree that the mass audience are not interested but for big time fans and maybe few collectors - the demand exists - I dont mind paying a few bucks extra just to get the "human side" of my favorite superhero.

A real example from my life would be , the DC direct Secret Identity Clark Kent to Superman figure released in 2002 or 2006.

Old toy companies used to produce alot of these human to hero production figures I remember buying almost most of them:

1- Toybiz - Peter Parker interchangable clothes to Spiderman (the PVC sucked because it can wear out after alot of use - plus its hard to change from to spierman, thus I just keep him in human form and imagine he changes with another spidey figure)


2- Kenner - Bruce Wayne to Batman (Great figure, except that the mask and the hands look really bulky - but as a kid imagination got that covered :P - PVC got hard after ten years and literaly broke down - bad Rubber quality I guess )

3- Superman Returns - Clark Kent to Superman ( really nice adaptation of the Superman returns movie character - the problem is that changing from to superman is exhausting because the cloth can get damaged as well after multi use.)


Anyway sorry for ranting, Im just glad that Im sharing my experiences with other action figure lovers - through my life I always thought I was the only person who is into action figures - not to mention my community finds it awkward so I had to hide it :P

1. Spider-man TAS had a dedicated Peter Parker figure. They also did head swaps ones briefly. They also did Eddie Brock Venom with a mask. And later on Marvel lines did James Rhodes with a removable mask.

2. The Keaton batman one was perfect, the bulkiness kind of added to the protective armor he had in the suit. The cowl lined up perfectly to the chest plate, and I still love those gloves for customs, though sadly I only had one pair. The Batman TAS one they did was even better, though yeah it had kind of a biker helmet vibe to the mask. Dick Grayson robin got one too. Ditto to the batman forever & Batman and Robin movie versions of Dick Grayson. (They were experimenting with temperature controlled masks for that one. Like color change hotwheels.)

3. Superman TAS did a car coupe changing version that later on got adapted to other lines. I think originally it was even a batman one. At one point, I think they even considered using it for Ironman. So the Supes TAS had both figures.

These are all kid dedicated lines I'm referring to. Not collector lines. Collector lines, and yeah, anyone that's a mainstay and more known out of costume as much as in, is iconic enough for a figure. High profile lines that have cross market support of kids and collectors though, you have to stick to the big known out of costume names. Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker, Tony Stark, James Rhodes, Ben Reilly, Miles Morales, Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, Flash Thompson, Eddie Brock, Barry Allen, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, etc. Mostly in the ones that their side characters or main hero has had mainstream toon or show exposure and movie exposure for mainstream recognition. Spider-man for example in having that newspaper comic strip for so long has tons of mainstream recognition on top of the cartoons. Same to characters like J. Jonah Jameson, Lois Lane, and Alfred.

Though other characters are more known for their in suit personas. There are also many that barely have any out of suit appearances at all even in the comics let alone other media. Like the Thing in the 90s TAS toy line did have an incognito mode figure, but even in the comics that was a trenchcoat, hat, and sunglasses with still the fan4 costume underneath.

The mainstays with wide exposure will eventually get versions. But if you're expecting obscures to get civilian clothes figures, that's highly unlikely. Outside of the Hawkeyes, there really aren't many civilian outfit heroes even collectors would buy. At least not in large enough quantities to warrant getting made to make a profit.