Patience and action figure collecting are the pinnacle of oil and water. They don’t match. Not even close. But if you’re a Marvel Legends collector, a little patience goes a long way. And Hasbro is doing a lot to justify that trust.
On any given post with figure wave announcements, there’s a mix of collectors who want the flavor-of-the-month modern outfit or those who want the vintage classic costumes. To tap into the current comic book readers, Hasbro will often go with the newer outfit, which explains that ghastly “red-X” costume Cyclops had in the BAF Jubilee wave. The outcries from collectors who preferred a more classic Cyclops seemingly went unheard.
But then a funny thing happened. After a not too terrible wait, Hasbro delivered both definitive takes on Cyclops — the classic Byrne-era attire and the pouch-happy Jim Lee version — this year. The Storm in that same Jubilee wave was also modern, but a classic ’80s punk version is on the way for 2018.
There’s a ton of evidence to support that Hasbro actually has a logical plan when it comes to releasing figures. It’s weird as a collector as so many lines lead way to second guessing about a company’s competence in satisfying its fan base.
WWE Flashback collectors can legitimately place a lot of blame on Mattel’s questionable release and attire choice, given the volatile nature of its line. Mattel also started off strong with the DC Classics line, but cost-cutting efforts and controversial character choices have left many collectors still bitter.
Hasbro seems to have found the perfect middle ground of working in newer characters like Gwenpool, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Punk and old school goodness like Mysterio, Invisible Woman, and Prowler.
More importantly, Hasbro is cutting the wait time for alternate looks of characters. At New York Comic Con 2017, Hasbro showed an updated classic Taskmaster. If you got the one in the BAF Onslaught wave, you got a decent modern figure, and now you can get the old school look.
The wait for a preferred version of a particular character isn’t taking decades anymore; now that time is down to one to two years. Collectors with a ’90s focus might have been obligated to get Cable and Deadpool to complete the Build-A-Figure Juggernaut, but they didn’t have to wait five years for vintage versions. Hasbro revealed both characters are coming out in their earlier outfits in less than two years.
That’s the main reason I didn’t get the A-Force set. One of the major selling points was Monica Rambeau, but she was in her modern attire, not the classic Avengers Secret Wars-era costume I wanted. But with a new Captain Marvel movie on the horizon, Hasbro has an ideal location and spot for that classic figure.
Maybe you “settled” for the Walgreens Namor just to have an updated Sub-Mariner even if you really wanted the swim trunks version. Next year, Hasbro is knocking him off the list. The best part of Hasbro’s release strategy is the double dipping doesn’t feel so terrible. In a lot of cases, the modern figures are OK and the resentment against them drops almost immediately with the reveal of that vintage look.
People like me wanted more classic versions of Havok and Polaris, but given Hasbro’s track record now, I’m almost confident they’ll deliver attires — or corresponding X-Factor variants — sooner than some vague TBD time frame.
The wait can occasionally be frustrating — we’re overdue for a classic ’70s-era Thor, Iron Man, Vision, and Quicksilver — but Hasbro is proving that, with a little patience, eventually we can check off our most requested list with the exact figures we want. Not too shabby.
Wanna check out my thoughts on the Inhumans TV show? Here’s my latest review.
