[perrych]

I don't think we have to worry about the movie figures going away any time soon, as Marvel properties were what kept Hasbro going in their latest financial statement (Transfomers and Beyblade were disappointments).

The balancing act for Hasbro is making MOVIE figures and COMIC figures. Comic figures sell to the adult collectors who have more disposable income, but movie figures are what gets kids excited. Typically, Hasbro launches a line with comic figures or concept figures because these are designed well before the movie gets made. GI Joe exemplifies this as the first wave of figures had little to do with the movie except in the vaguest of ways. The Avengers was more an "Ultimates" line as well. So, as you get passed the first wave, you get more of the movie figures. That is just how they have been doing this recently.

With Thor, they just dropped the ball all the way around. Poor distribution, poor choices, some really great sculpts with some really lousy accessories. But the worst part of this series was that there wasn't a comic figure. I do hope that changes for Thor 2.

Captain America wasn't bad. Yes, way too many Cap repaints, but so many great figures thrown into the mix. And then they smartly offered a "classic" Hydra repaint. There was a lot more they could have done with Red Skull and Hydra, but it wasn't bad.

The saddest thing those was Xmen: FC. Two comic packs that had nothing to do with the movie. We could have had an Emma Frost and Banshee figure, not to mention a couple of awesome Beast figures. But nothing. That was such a disappointment. I get that its not a Disney property, but, heck, Marvel could have released these in the MU line as comic figures. But, alas ...

The biggest problem I have with MU is this: it still fails to measure up often to the older SHS figures. And I don't understand this. How could an older Thor figure still beat out the MU Thor figure that they have remade about 5 or 6 times now? How many Thing figures have we received ... and none are as good as the SHS. It is just sad.