For the most part, Marvel Legends figures are trying to give us as much as they can for the money. It’s fairly standard with import toys that you can expect to get a number of extras with nearly every figure purchase, and it was something that was missing from ML until very recently. Nowadays, we often don’t have to be satisfied with open hand when you really want a person to punch—you can do both.
Obviously, it’s not always going to work out in our favor. Some characters that might have needed alternate heads—Cottonmouth is the first to come to mind—don’t get them, when an alternate head showing off his powers might have made the figure more agreeable to those less Serpent-Society-friendly consumers. Other characters are missing hand options—like the upcoming Iceman—that might have added another dimension to the character.
It’s not an easy balancing act, and it all boils down to budget, which is a huge component in what we get and how we get and who ends up losing out.
For my purposes, I will gladly accept as much as possible. I like options with my toys, and buying import toys has spoiled me a little bit in how much I like toys coming with. Even if they just end up in plastic bag, it’s very nice to see a tray full of heads, hands and weapons.
I do have my priorities, though, so the following is what I think of as the least important up to the most important accessories we get with each marvel Legends figure.
From the least:
Effect pieces.
I have nothing at all against effect pieces. From gunshots to fireballs to those bubble-circle things to lightning and laser blasts and explosions or whatever, they all add a certain something to a display or a cool picture setup. Those burst effects that came with the recent Infamous Iron Man figure are dynamic and have a great comic-book feel to them. But stacked up against other items, they end up on the lowest rung for me. If the budget called for sacrifices, I’d rather have another head or hand set than an effect piece. Saying that, I do believe Jubilee should have come with fireworks.
Unmasked heads
Again, like the effect pieces, I have nothing specifically against unmasked heads. I do like the option depending on the relevance. However, they’re not something I ever use as a default for any of my figures. I don’t mind a Peter Parker head, for instance, but if the choice is between a Peter Parker head I can put on Spider-Man or another set of hands, I’m going to want the hands. A lot of people really want that perfect unmasked Steve Rogers for their comic Captain America, and I’d take it if it was included, but it’s not a pressing urge for me to have Steve unmasked while in costume.
Alternate Expression heads
In keeping with my previous point, if I had the option, I’d rather get a different expression than a fully unmasked version. The best example for me is the most recent Thing figure. There was a head with exposed teeth for those who are wrong about the Thing having teeth, and then a closed-mouth head for those of us who are right. This is where having alternate heads featuring powered and unpowered would come in, like Cottonmouth and his expanded mouth, or someone like Banshee with a screaming mouth along with a neutral face. I’d much rather have a Spider-man with smaller eyes on his mask than a Peter Parker head. It’s not an option that is necessary for every figure, so it works only on a case by case basis. But when it’s relevant, an alternate expression really elevates a figure’s potential.
Hands
Getting alternate hands really opens up a ton of options. The days of heavy hitters only having to make do with slaphands seem to be gone. Hulks have fists. Things have fists. But they also have expression hands. Spider-Man is no longer just stuck thwipping—he often gets first and wall-crawling hands too. This is a huge leap from the frustrating early days of the line, where a figure was stuck doing just one thing with his hands. There are some characters where I would like this implemented more. Punisher figures need the trigger hands of course, but they also need fists or weapon-cradling hands. I’m not expecting options on the level of lines like Figuarts, Mafex or Mezco, but getting a wide variety of hands for a Marvel egends figure increases their play value exponentially. Some of the sword-wielding characters could use an alternate set of hands with the up-down hinge for sword…ing. Swording. That is exactly what I’m calling it.
The most important is kind of obvious, but I’m including it anyway, and that is Weapons. For the most part, this has not been an issue at all. Thor gets his hammer, Cap gets his shield. When necessary figures get swords staffs or various whatnots whenever they need them. I think there are areas where we could get more guns, or in some cases better guns, meaning guns that don’t look like they are Nerf guns, but otherwise most figures do well in this area.
So basically, Legends figures are doing pretty good in most areas. As long as the trays are loaded up with relevant heads, hands and weapons, I feel like I’m getting a pretty good deal. I still feel that way even if the release is a bit barebones, but nobody has ever poopooed a full tray of stuff.