Dear Jesse Falcon and Dwight Stall,

Guys, I need to talk to you, and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be making this point, but, fellas, after what you just pulled, it is now requisite that you finish the “Blue and Gold” X-Men roster.

Yeah, after what you just pulled. What you just pulled was delivering possibly the very best Marvel Legends assortment EVER with Juggernaut series X-Men Legends. Holy wow, but I have had mine for several days now, and I still cannot get over how good these figures are. The figures are amazing, the character selection is really inspired, and boy, it sure does feel good to be back with the X-Men. While that sentiment might seem a bit sappy, I know I am not the only one who feels this way, and furthermore, I am positive I have a LOT of company.

The reception for this assortment has been almost universally warm, and I am comfortable with saying that you have delivered the very best figures EVER of some of these characters, and that includes Wolverine himself, who has had so many figures they haven’t invented enough numbers to count that high. Everything clicks in this wave and everyone from Kitty fans (like me) to Deadpool fanatics get in on the love train, so when you can satisfy such a large group of collectors, that deserves a high-five in and of itself.

So why am I here? Well, one of the BEST figures of this assortment is Rogue, and this version of Rogue in particular elicits a lot response from many collectors. This is, as you know, Rogue’s “’90s” look, from the 1991 X-Men relaunch when the group was split into the Blue and Gold teams, and it is (arguably) her most iconic look. Sure, that could be debated, but there is absolutely no denying its fame, and its favor among legions of X-fans. So, those legions should be VERY pleased with his new figure because I know we have been waiting for it for a long time, and it is exceptional. Nineties haters, or just not-fans, you might want to avert your eyes, but hear me out.

It is this figure that lead me to this point, and, again, I cannot even believe I am doing this because, well, this Rogue is from an incarnation of the Mutants that is not really even MY version of X-Men, so to spend the time and energy on making this argument seems strange. However, this Rogue figure is THAT good. Yes, this figure makes me want the rest of the proper team to go with her, and in all my years of falling on the “con” side of the 1990s X-Men in Marvel Legends argument, I am suddenly jumping ship because, well, because MARVEL LEGENDS.

Here it is, guys, while the ’91 reboot (X-Men Volume II) was a jumping-off point for some people, it was the jumping ON point for a whole lot more, and these fans are now of a certain age where they can afford to buy their own toys. See where this is going? That comic, and the subsequent uber-popular cartoon, the beloved arcade game, and the decade of support that followed makes the Blue and Gold teams very well known, and very, well, popular. Perhaps the most popular X-Men era ever? You can definitely make the argument, and with all of the chatter I hear online about the large population of collectors who want this team, I am pretty convinced that this is the way to go, even if you only make it from a business perspective. Trust me, with this new Juggernaut wave selling (seemingly) as well as it is, a couple of waves to knock out this team would be like a license to print money. I honestly believe that.

So you know you will have those fans, but what is really weird is that you would also have me, and likely a lot of others like me who, after getting this new Rogue, and even the new Wolverine, would complete the ’90s Blue and Gold. These new figures are that cool, and I would build an entire TEAM around that, and, yes, that includes characters I usually don’t care much about, like Bishop; characters I downright don’t like, like Gambit; and figures of characters in highly questionable costumes, like Jean Grey. I. Would, Buy. All. Of. Them. Every single one of them and put together that damned iconic X-Men #1 fold-out cover poster. Even Jean. And it would be rad. And it would be GREAT. Really, it would — here I am of all people saying this, but, man, with the figures you guys are making right now, these teams would rule.

Sure, I get it, it seems a little concentrated to devote releases based on a single era, and I understand the want and need to do current and never-before-done costumes before, but I have already thought about that. Personally, I think X-Men can be just as strong as Spider-Man when it comes to being able to support on-going themed Legends assortments. Thus, I can see a LOT of figures spread out over several years and several assortments. So, with that in mind, I can realistically see these figures getting done in just TWO assortments if you follow the footprint of what you just released. No, really — just two quick assortments would get us the anchors, and even some enemies.

Sure, some of the figures would require quite a bit of new tooling, but several of them would need minimal effort in terms of new parts, so a lot of the work is already done. Take Psylocke for instance: give her the Moonstone base with Phoenix’s sash, Deadpool’s Katanas as a bonus, and all you would need is a head and her psy-daggar. If you wanted to, you could even repurpose that new unmasked Silk head for Betsy. Plus, I would even support releasing the Archangel figure again (maybe with a new head sculpt) since it has been a bit and his last figure is going for big bucks. These guys could offset the cost of some of the more expensive figures.

I am not one to make hypothetical assortments of action figures anymore, but here, just to see that I am serious, you can do this, and knock ’em out in two assortments (and NO, I am not considering any current rumor lists):

BEAST Build-a-Figure Wave

Cyclops
Bishop
Psylocke
Storm
Xavier
Magneto
Toad
Sabertooth

 

COLOSSUS Build-a-Figure Wave

Wolverine (repaint, Tiger Stripe)
Gambit
Jean Grey (needs an upgrade)
Jubilee
Iceman
Archangel (possible re-release)
Mystique
Mr. Sinister

I am not going to take much more of your time going through these figures piece by piece to talk about new costs versus things that are already in the library, but it is easy to see that these guys are actually well-balanced in terms of new and existing. Also, certain characters could be subbed out for others, but I think just about everyone listed is essential and at least needs an upgrade to current standards. Plus, parts from guys like Beast and Colossus could be used for other guys around the Marvel Universe, so I would argue that none of these would be “one note” in terms of practical use. That is two assorts and most of everything required would be done. If you want to take out Archangel and give us a different character, that is cool too.

After these, you can quickly get back to doing other X-Men from other eras and spread the love around. However, even as pointed as these two assortments are, some of the characters take their most iconic looks from these lists, so even for those who are not of this era, I don’t see many collectors doing full skips of these two waves. However, even if they did, these would be so popular, the amount of people buying them would likely make up for the loss many times over, and the costumes for everyone are different and dynamic enough to satisfy the casual buyer, as well and moms and kids.

Dwight, Jesse, I cannot believe I am here doing this. I can’t believe I am arguing for this over some of the other squads like the Byrne/Cockrum or Astonishing, but here I am, and I am pretty unapologetic about it. The Blue and Gold Teams deserve their due, the many, many fans have been waiting for a long time to get all of them together in Legends. Your new Rogue makes them ESSENTIAL. No, really, she does, and even if you don’t follow “best aesthetic” argument (I don’t either), Rogue shows that the figures could be INCREDIBLE, and the popularity of this era would make these sell like gangbusters.

So, guys, it’s time. I will be at SDCC in a couple of days, and we’ll talk about it. From a popularity perspective that translates to sold units, it is time for the 1990s X-Men. People want it, and I believe that you and the guys at Gentle Giant will make them really amazing. At the risk of hell freezing over with me saying this: make mine BLUE and GOLD.