[SymbiSpidey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boy Blunder

As someone who never got into the TB-era Legends or Marvel Select, despite ample opportunity to do so, let me give my two cents on the matter.

Continuity.

Sure, there's a ton of parts/body reuse going on in this line, but as a result, it makes the line look generally uniform, with an aesthetic that maintains across all the figures. Also, parts reuse like this means that, when a particular character needs some unique parts, those can happen thanks to the overall money saved on the reused parts elsewhere. Need a specific gauntlet on a figure? Or some recognizable boots? A belt? Those can be added easily, since the figures take advantage of a roughly universal set of body molds. This is especially handy when doing the MCU versions of characters, since they require more individualized molds.

As for why we may or may not "need" certain characters that have already been done, it's still continuity. I look at the TB Marvel Legends, and they exceptionally well-sculpted... to the point of overdoing it. So many figures have weird, rough textures on body parts that should be smooth (or smoother, at least)... not to mention how many characters (Juggernaut, Cable, etc) have giant veins popping out of their arms that are painted blue, like they've had some drug problems while suffering varicose. A number of figures suffer from poor engineering decisions (coughFALCONcough) that make them look awkward at best, and messy at worst. And the same is true with Marvel Select - I'm not building a set of Capcom's X-Men: Children of the Atom figures, so I don't need Juggernaut to be that ridiculously massive compared to everyone else. Plus, his engineering and aesthetic don't match the current line as well as the new BAF, at least for my purposes.

Lastly, and this specifically targets the X-Men wave, there's a number of us who just, for whatever reason, can't/won't be able to go back and get older figures on the secondary market, and having brand-new versions, with new sculpting and newer engineering, is great for us. I love Rogue, but there was no way in hell I would ever be able to get the old TBML Rogue, nor would I really want to. But Hasbro's got me covered now, and I couldn't be happier.

Yup. If Hasbro has done nothing else right, they've pretty much nailed maintaining a clean, consistent aesthetic across the entire line. Don't get me wrong, I still love the ToyBiz figures, but it's clear that ToyBiz did a lot of experimenting when they held the license. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did often result in some inconsistencies across the line, quality-wise.

With Hasbro, they don't stray too far from their formula, but the formula is so good that, for the most part, you can always expect at least a decent figure. This means that if you're anticipating a certain character, and you know it's going to be on a certain buck, you can expect it to be, at worst, serviceable, and at best, fantastic (disregarding paintwork and head sculpts, the former of which Hasbro is known to struggle with at times). You don't have to worry about any experimentation that just doesn't work, and then the impending doom of knowing that your beloved character might not get another chance at a solid figure for years.

If Hasbro tells me they're doing a Moon Knight on Bucky Cap, then I can already expect that it a) will fit in with the bulk of my collection and b) it will at least be decent enough to shut me up (if it isn't just nigh perfection already the way the Hobgoblin Wave Daredevil is to me).

As long as they can get the head sculpts right, do a good job painting them, and add in necessary tooling when the design calls for it, I'm 100% fine with them reusing parts. If nothing else, I can expect consistency from Hasbro.