At this point it’s safe to say that we know what our Marvel Legends budget is going to look like next year. As you know, I’ve been doing an update of what your Marvel Legends toy budget will look like on a yearly basis, and while I tend to do this early in the year for the following year, I’m hitting you late.
I’d first like to thank Fwooshers Bleuboia and Jojo_W. for putting together a current list of 2016 and 2017 (check it here); it makes my work easier. If anyone is curious, you can find the previous lists for 2015 here and 2016 here. First, let’s wrap up 2016. Below is Bleuboia’s wrap up and it matches my earlier list with some variations. I predicted that the “main releases” would cost you $1,359 and round out about 82 figures. We had seven waves at 7.5 figures per wave for 52.5 figures, plus nine BAF’s for 61.5 figures, and nine figures released in two-packs or exclusives for a total of 70.5 figures so far. With the SDCC box set, that makes a total of 76.5 figures in all. And your total cost? About $1,450. But let’s not focus on the price. These are some of the best Marvel Legends and action figures produced in 2016. There’s not a single one that I regret owning.
2016
1. Spider-Man – Absorbing Man BAF wave: Feb
2. Captain America – Red Onslaught BAF wave: April
3. Captain America – Giantman BAF wave: April
4. Walgreen’s Namor: June
5. Spider-Man Space Venom BAF: July
6. X-Men – Juggernaut BAF Wave: July
7. Walgreen’s Punisher: Aug
8. Captain America – Abomination BAF wave: Aug
9. Target Exclusive 2-pack War Machine: Aug
10. Walmart Winter Solder/Falcon: Aug
11. Toys’R’Us Vision/Cap/Kate Bishop: Aug
12. SDCC Exclusive Raft Set: July
13. Dr. Strange – Dormammu BAF Wave: Sep
14. Civil War 3 pack: July
Looking to 2017, we are seeing about the same formula. JoJo W. has a listing of nine waves, but I don’t see that happening. Seven waves seems to be the lucky ticket. One of his waves could get thrown into an SDCC box set, and we could see another wave split into two-packs, three-packs or another exclusive box set, which we did not see in 2016 like we did in Entertainment Earth’s 2015 Guardians of the Galaxy set. But cost and count (let’s use an average of $159.99 (BBTS prices http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/search.aspx?search=marvel%20legends)), and an average of 7.5 figures a wave (not including BAFs) and we end up with the same total for 2016 and pretty much 2015. The only question is how much is this going to cost? My guess is the same, I’ll be surprised if we see a dramatic increase in price; the volume of figures combined already pinched collector wallets has me doubting they can charge more.
2017
1. Spider-Man wave 1 (Dec.)
2. Guardians of the Galaxy wave 1 (Jan./Feb.)
3. X-men wave 1 (Feb./March)
4. Guardians of the Galaxy wave 2 (April/May)
5. Spider-Man wave 2 (May/June)
6. Guardians of the Galaxy wave 3 (Jul/Aug)
7. Defenders wave one (Aug/Sept)
8. Thor wave 1 (Sept/Oct)
9. Thor wave 2 (Nov/Dec)
I think that after three consecutive years that we can call this a business plan, one that we will continue to see as long as there are media tie-ins and consumers that continue to buy into it. And this collector has no complaints; we are seeing some the best-looking figures and one of the widest varieties of characters that we’ve ever seen. It’s simply fantastic.
And it means that we can probably start spelling out the next couple of years. We know the movies, we know the TV shows, and we know the games. It should be pretty easy to make a calendar through the next couple of years of Marvel Legends. Most collectors know villains, heroes, and other characters that can tie-in to the themes.
As noted in the thread on the forums, there is a question about the Fantastic Four. Outside of a single figure, we haven’t seen a wave or listing for them. I’ll take a guess that they are a box set. The ninth listing in JoJo W.’s list is probably another wave of figures that will be split out into two-packs, three-packs and Walgreens exclusives. I also don’t see there being three waves of Guardians of the Galaxy, but I could see that third prediction being rolled over into the SDCC box set.
So there it is. Get your wallets ready, start selling old stuff, and get that paper route ’cause your wallet’s gonna need all the help it can get next year.
