The year was 1984. Marvel Comics decided to put together the greatest team-up of all time: Secret Wars. Like a lot of awesome things for those of us growing up in the ’80s, Secret Wars was created for the noblest of purposes — selling action figures.
Mattel, not ToyBiz or Hasbro, wanted in on the Marvel Universe, following Kenner’s success with DC figures. Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter decided he’d be the writer for the big event.
It pitted some of the Marvel Universe’s best heroes against some of the worst villains. Unlike most of the Marvel events these days that don’t mean anything weeks later, Secret Wars had a lasting impact on the Marvel Universe. Magneto began his face turn after the X-Men rallied to his defense. She-Hulk left the Avengers to join the Fantastic Four. Colossus cheated on Kitty Pryde. Julia Carpenter Spider Woman debuted, as well as Volcana and Titana. And most importantly, Spider-Man got a new suit … and enemy. More on that one later.
There’s no doubt Secret Wars holds a big space in ’80s collectors’ hearts as well. Who can forget those goofy hologram shields that made sense for no one besides Captain America? But for a figure line in ’84, these figures were pretty fun. The Mattel lineup was hardly comprehensive from the comic. The Fantastic Four were ignored, most of the villains failed to make the cut while characters that weren’t even part of the comic were produced: Baron Zemo, Daredevil, Falcon, and Hobgoblin all got figures.
Re-reading Secret Wars again and getting some of the recent Marvel Legends releases got me thinking that Hasbro needs to finish up the Secret Wars lineup. Hasbro has made a strong dent in knocking out the main players.
There’s just a few holdouts. For argument’s sake, I’m not gonna ask for redos on figures Hasbro didn’t quite get right, i.e. the super-sized Wrecking Crew. And I still haven’t found a need to replace the ToyBiz Professor X either.
Here’s who we still need made and their chances of ever making it to pegs.
Molecule Man – Years ago, I would doubt there would be any chance to see “Owie” made, but after Eel, Killgrave, and Copperhead, then anything is possible. Besides, Molecule Man has a pretty toy-etic costume with the lightning bolt shoulder flares.
Volcana – Volcana seems like a tougher sell since I’d prefer a non-powered-up version to be in rest mode. She didn’t always go fully volcanic to use her powers either so an effect blast would be fine. But she’s basically a woman in a swimsuit. Her best chance is to get included in a two-pack or multi-pack.
Titania – Titania, on the other hand, seems far more viable. She’s got that cool studded outfit and her status as She-Hulk’s main rival doesn’t hurt either. Seems like Hasbro could reuse a decent amount of parts from Valkyrie — just change the hips please — to get Skeeter done in time to squash the heroes.
Captain Marvel – Yes, I know Hasbro just released a Monica Rambeau figure with the A-Force pack, but that costume looks silly and nowhere near as interesting as her original outfit. Flared sleeves and all. This will take a while, but Hasbro could find the ideal time to release her as part of the Captain Marvel movie line. That wave can’t be all Carol Danvers, and it’s a sneaky way to work in another Captain Marvel.
Wasp – Hasbro released a modern Wasp as part of the Ant-Man line, which in some stores is still hanging on the pegs. But we need more of a classic Wasp for her Secret Wars look. While a single release seems unlikely, putting her in a two-pack or multi-pack could work?
Mohawk Storm – Secret Wars featured a lot of iconic looks for the characters and this is one of Storm’s most highly requested looks. The plus side is there’s no way this look isn’t at least on Hasbro’s radar and could and should be released in any X-Men wave.
Nightcrawler – ToyBiz released a pretty great version, but it’s time to see what Hasbro could do with the fuzzy elf. Like Storm, Nightcrawler can’t be too far away and this is his classic, timeless costume and has to be in the works by this point.
Colossus – Funny how these lists all tend to boil down to the X-Men now, huh? Similar to Nightcrawler, with the release of the classic old school Colossus costume, we’ve got his signature look down.
The Thing – I’m not including Reed Richards since we’ve already seen his upcoming figure. Not so for the ever loving blue-eyed Thing. By Secret Wars he was drawn the same height as the Hulk. Wherever you are on that scale, there’s no doubt we desperately need a new version of the FF’s heavy hitter.
Kang – I made a list of Marvel Legends figures in need of a Hasbro upgrade and somehow neglected to include this guy. Probably because he was hidden in my shelf for shame? But the conqueror desperately needs a better figure than his undersized version from the Fantastic Four line years ago.
Rogue – We’ve already gotten an amazing Rogue figure in the first Hasbro X-Men relaunch wave. But in her earlier stint, Rogue had more of a punk rocker style. I loved the simplicity of her green and white outfit. Rogue has a ton of outfits worthy of being made into figures, but for my money her early X-Men attire and Marc Silverstri-era costume are the biggest priorities.
Julia Carpenter Spider-Woman – Hasbro is running out of Spider variants, so Julia has to be on the shortlist. She was the only new hero to join the squad, and her costume inspired Spider-Man to go with a cooler black and white attire. Her last ML was from the final days of ToyBiz and her man-hand figure definitely needs an upgrade.
So what do you think? Will we ever get a complete set of Marvel Legends or will we have to settle for a nearly wrapped Marvel Universe version?
Photo Credit: Marvel Comics
