It’s Marvel Legends Purge time. Now, let’s not get off on the wrong foot. I love Marvel Legends. Since I started seriously shooting pics of my toy collection in 2018, the Legends have definitely been the featured line. And I’m not getting rid of them all, because I’d have almost nothing to shoot!
And because many of them are great figures.
But I ran into a problem: the shots were getting harder and harder to get excited about. And I think I know why.
Here are the reasons, in list form, because SEO.
Related: Marvel Legends Photo Gallery
1. My Own Collecting Rules
I only collect 616 Legends figures, which (for the uninitiated) means I only get comic figures from the main Marvel comic book timeline. Yes, it’s highly nerdy, and possibly unnecessary, but it’s how I roll. Also, it helps keep spending in check.
After all, a million Wolverines aren’t cheap.
Related: Toy Collecting: What Are Your Rules?
2. Repaints Galore
When it comes to unique molds, the movie figures get most of the love. That means quite a few of the ones available to me, via my highly nerdy and possibly unnecessary rules, are fairly straightforward repaints. You realize you’re buying the same figure, several times over, with different colors and a new head to try to sweeten the deal. After a while, that kinda loses its appeal.
Unless we’re talking about Wolvie, of course.
I understand Hasbro needs to do this for cost / business reasons, but that doesn’t make the repainted figures any less boring.
3. Outdated Articulation
Before I even get started, the team at Marvel Legends – who are the most honest and transparent group I’ve seen from any toy company – are making leaps and bounds in this area. But like my multi-million dollar man cave with perfect action figure displays, Sasquatch butler, and ribeye vending machine, they’re not there yet.
Ball hinges at the waist aren’t standard. Neither is the ability to twist at the chest. And while the joints at some of the female figures’ elbows are getting longer, allowing a deeper bend at the arm, they still don’t have bicep swivels or double elbows. Which I was all about giving the Legends team a pass on, until I saw Lady Jaye from the GI Joe: Classified line. And that transitions me beautifully into the next point.
Related: GI Joe: Classified Photo Gallery
4. Marvel Legends’ Own Worst Enemy: Hasbro
Two other lines I collect: GI Joe: Classified and Star Wars: The Black Series, are both from Hasbro. And those lines are also contributing to my Marvel Legends purge.
GI Joe: Classified
Let’s start with GI Joe: Classified, and forget about the current problems that line has because I’m sure *gulp* they’ll be corrected.
We’ve already seen a ton of repaints with Classified. Straight-up repaints, even (I’m looking at you, Cobra Commander.) The thing is, unless it’s the same character recolored, it’s not nearly as in-your-face as Marvel Legends.
Instead of Firefly being just a repainted Beach Head with a new *ahem* head, he’s a mash-up of three different figure molds that inexplicably fit together. And he has a brand new overlay. Those overlays go a long way to ensure that every character is easily distinguishable from the next one.
But the real treat, for me, is how great the standard articulation is. Snake Eyes actually moves like he can do ninja things! And, weirdly enough, so does Duke. And Scarlett. And Destro. Though oddly enough, Storm Shadow (a ninja) got short changed. Weird.
As a line, the action figures in Classified are simply fun to move around.
Star Wars: The Black Series
Star Wars was my first nerd love. But to me, the Black Series didn’t seem worth the money. Then photo real (which prints actor likenesses on head sculpts) came along. And I was that six-year-old kid again. With photo real, the likenesses are great and the rest of the molds are nearly perfect. With greater frequency, these figures look exactly like they did on the silver screen.
Just like Classified, with few exceptions, the repaints tend to be obvious repaints. An Obi-Wan painted one way tends to get repainted as another Obi-Wan. And Stormtroopers get repainted into, well, other Stormtroopers. With different colors. Because repaints.
When it comes to articulation, they don’t have the range of motion you’ll find with Legends or Classified, but for the most part, they move like people. And if you’ve seen the movies, you’ll notice most of the actors are, indeed, people.
Side note: It always cracks me up when a reviewer’s disappointed because a figure’s legs won’t move very far back at the hip, because they almost all have greater range of motion there than I do. Seriously, try it. But don’t get caught. You only make that mistake once.
Transformers
Okay, I don’t collect those. But like that one dude you work with who always “forgets” his wallet, those recent releases are really begging for my lunch money.
In short: all of Hasbro’s lines want all my money. And none of them can have it all, so each figure has to earn it. Right now, more Black Series and Classified figures are earning it.
5. Toy Photography
I’ll admit it: I really enjoy my toy collection. It gives me a chance to unwind and get creative. But if I didn’t have fun taking pics of them, I wouldn’t have nearly as many as I do.
And what makes for a fun photo for yours truly? Dios? Fog effects? Lights? Well yeah, duh! But mostly, it’s figures that look like they’re supposed to look, and move like they’re supposed to move – bonus points if I’m not bored with the figure because I’ve seen the mold so many times.
And while there are an increasing number of Marvel Legends that meet those criteria, there’s currently a higher percentage of Black Series and Classified figures that pull it off.
Finally! The End
So yeah, I’m selling some Legends off. But only the ones I really don’t dig / feel like taking pics of. That way, I can keep a more quality-over-quantity toy collection, and it’ll help me add more quality figures to said collection. Plus, I’m keeping a lot more than I’m selling.
Besides, who’d ever want to get rid of a million Wolverines?
Have fun, and happy snapping!
-Photo Dave
