Have you never met a comic book fan before? Go to literally any comic book convention where the Marvel or DC editors appear and see how long it takes for them to be asked "when can we have a DC/Marvel crossover again?"
In fact, it happens so often they just announced they will be doing it again next year.
Comic book fans like to have their comic book characters interact. It is for that reason that fans of comic book action figures want their comic book character figures to be the same relative size - so, even if the comic companies themselves can't do crossovers, we can do our own... It is nice to have characters from different properties be able to interact in displays.
The fact that we can now have a relatively cohesive 6" display in which Captain America, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Destro and Snake Eyes interact is FUN.
When different universes scale differently those interactions don't work as well and it's less fun. That's it, that's why.
This is a broad overgeneralization. I thought Amalgam Comics was a novelty play back in the 90s and never bought any of the comics. Marvel vs DC was a thing around that time too and I would be pressed to think of any of of the comic collectors I knew who were actually excited for that or actually did more than thumb through the books on the shelf before leaving them there. Universe crossovers are just what you do when you when you're out of ideas. During my years attending comic cons, and weekly stops at the comic book store for over 2 decades I never heard anyone pining for what you described. Marvel is presently out of ideas, and DC is trying out the "ultimate" model Marvel did from the 2000's by going "extreme" to boost sales temporarily. The crux of it is that both companies have had sputtering sales for years that don't hold a candle to Manga any longer. I love comics, but typifying the wants of the comic/toy collecting community as anything but heavily varied is naive and presumptuous. You have folks in the same number as those harping on scale saying they don't mind it that much and would rather have McFarlane doing DC figures as opposed to the cookie cutter Mattel stuff. We get it, YOU want your display of in-scale Destro next to Darth Vader and Spiderman, but that's also YOUR version of "fun." Hence those out of scale are "less fun." Everyone's entitled to their biases and what they want; that's why these boards are as varied as they are. But let's not try to prosecute what the definition of correct vs. incorrect "fun" is.
Also, I don't know how you "guarantee" the McFarlane / Mattel handover was due to lowered sales, when no one's actually come out and said that or shown figures. Even if we were to have the sales figures of now vs. when McFarlane picked things up, is it due to whatever variable you're going to cite, or the fact that the economy has lessened discretionary spending? You're entitled to your opinions along with your obvious dislike of McFarlane, but you make these broad over-generalizations and then point to it as fact like it proves your point. @ninjak and those who did enjoy the McFarlane product are just as entitled to their assessments given that we don't actually HAVE the information for what caused the handover; whether or not it meets with your personal definition of what "fun" is, all scales considered.
The painting of Todd McFarlane as some kind of action figure folk hero out there fighting The Man is eye-rolling. It's all just business. Todd doesn't care about you. Nor does Mattel. They're not your friends. And you don't owe them any kind of allegiance. Hopefully you enjoy their product, but they're both out to make money.
At least we won't have chase figures anymore. Not knowing which figure you'll get until it arrives in the mail.
@jtmarsh
Like you said, we all have our opinions, and experiences vary. I believe fully that, in your experiences, cross-company fantasy battles are rare. Half the time I see my BIL, one of the first questions he asks is about "random Marvel character vs random DC character", go! Everyone has seen Wolverine vs Sabretooth. Everyone has seen Superman vs Darkseid. What they pine for, in my experience, is Wolverine vs Deathstroke. It's Rogue vs Wonder Woman.
I intend no judgment or aggression. I think it's fair to say that comic book fans are shadows of comic book figure fans, and vice versa. Not exact mirrored copies, but fuzzy reflections.
At least we won't have chase figures anymore. Not knowing which figure you'll get until it arrives in the mail.
I absolutely pity you DC collectors over this and dread the day it infects any line I collect.
Hasbro did do chase variants early on in their tenure up to the Return of Marvel Legends, they just seemed to realize it was stupid. If you’re gonna spend the money to make new tooling or paint apps, you might as well just release it in a way that actually allows people to buy it rather than the “THrIlL Of tHa hUNt” bullshit.
@jtmarsh
Like you said, we all have our opinions, and experiences vary. I believe fully that, in your experiences, cross-company fantasy battles are rare. Half the time I see my BIL, one of the first questions he asks is about "random Marvel character vs random DC character", go! Everyone has seen Wolverine vs Sabretooth. Everyone has seen Superman vs Darkseid. What they pine for, in my experience, is Wolverine vs Deathstroke. It's Rogue vs Wonder Woman.
I intend no judgment or aggression. I think it's fair to say that comic book fans are shadows of comic book figure fans, and vice versa. Not exact mirrored copies, but fuzzy reflections.
I have no issue with anything you've said, and can appreciate the respectful way in which you phrased it. I'm sure there are folks who likely go gaga for the prospect of hybrid heroes spanning DC or Marvel or one side fighting the other. I'm simply stating that in all my years of collecting I've never come across long time fans who were all that concerned by it, as it's mostly just a trope to boost temporary sales. I have no problem with those DO want everything in scale with everything else or whatever detail they obsess over. Mine is paint apps being messy, others may be scale. My issue is when folks say things are a certain way across the board, citing mostly opinion as if it were fact and dismiss anyone else's assessment as wrong because it's not their own. Clearly there are folks who love the DC / Looney Tunes crossovers, or even Looney Tunes / NBA crossovers, to each their own. Everyone's got their own experiences, I say let everyone enjoy the stuff they want, not issue a proclamation on what constitutes "fun" or speak on behalf of what "every" fan wants. In summary, I have no intention of reminding you all that "I dislike Mattel and wont be buying any of it!" daily. If you want it, buy it, it's your money, to quote J.G. Wentworth.
I will never understand this strange fascination with having every figure line match Marvel Legends...why can't ML exist over there as 6" ML, while DC Multiverse exists over here as 7"? Why do they have to match? Why does every figure line have to "fit in with Marvel"?
Holy shit, this could be the best comment, ever!............I agree
👍 👍 👍
I will never understand this strange fascination with having every figure line match Marvel Legends...why can't ML exist over there as 6" ML, while DC Multiverse exists over here as 7"? Why do they have to match? Why does every figure line have to "fit in with Marvel"?
Have you never met a comic book fan before? Go to literally any comic book convention where the Marvel or DC editors appear and see how long it takes for them to be asked "when can we have a DC/Marvel crossover again?"
In fact, it happens so often they just announced they will be doing it again next year.
Comic book fans like to have their comic book characters interact. It is for that reason that fans of comic book action figures want their comic book character figures to be the same relative size - so, even if the comic companies themselves can't do crossovers, we can do our own... It is nice to have characters from different properties be able to interact in displays.
The fact that we can now have a relatively cohesive 6" display in which Captain America, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Destro and Snake Eyes interact is FUN.
When different universes scale differently those interactions don't work as well and it's less fun. That's it, that's why.
Your answer is not really convincing, I agree with TheRealSmallville
For me, it doesn't have to match, but it sure would be nice. Most of my figures are separated by franchise or toy line. That said, not all of them are. I have a shelf of miscellaneous video game figures. I have a new Figma Elden Ring knight that looks absurd next to NECA Kratos or 1000toys Master Chief. They don't have to share a common scale, but it'd look a lot better if they did.
The bigger issue for me is that I prefer the feel of a 6" figure (get your jokes in, fellas). I've had 5" imports and 7" NECA and McFarlane figures. 6" scale is in the Goldilocks zone.
Your answer is not really convincing, I agree with TheRealSmallville
Thank god... I know for sure I'm on solid ground when Nightwolf disagrees with me.
Obviously, Mattel (like McFarlane) can do whatever the hell they want to with scale as it concerns a new DC line. They're not beholden to anything and their only obligation is that there is a consistent scale within their own line and that Batman looks appropriate next to Robin. However, I don't think it's exactly a big assumption to assume the majority of collectors would prefer their super hero lines to scale relatively well with each other. Should Mattel go more in a 1:10 direction, I would have to assume it's either to keep the scale consistent with what McFarlane did and build off of that assortment to some degree, or just for the sake of being different which isn't going to have a positive impact on sales. It probably won't have much of a negative impact either because DC fans are going to buy DC figures if they turn out well enough, but I would be willing to bet that if you polled the action figure community the majority would be in support of the main DC line scaling with the main Marvel line. And since Legends is far more established than any DC toyline at this point, it makes the most sense for that approximate scale to be in play.
I will never understand this strange fascination with having every figure line match Marvel Legends...why can't ML exist over there as 6" ML, while DC Multiverse exists over here as 7"? Why do they have to match? Why does every figure line have to "fit in with Marvel"?
Have you never met a comic book fan before? Go to literally any comic book convention where the Marvel or DC editors appear and see how long it takes for them to be asked "when can we have a DC/Marvel crossover again?"
In fact, it happens so often they just announced they will be doing it again next year.
Comic book fans like to have their comic book characters interact. It is for that reason that fans of comic book action figures want their comic book character figures to be the same relative size - so, even if the comic companies themselves can't do crossovers, we can do our own... It is nice to have characters from different properties be able to interact in displays.
The fact that we can now have a relatively cohesive 6" display in which Captain America, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Destro and Snake Eyes interact is FUN.
When different universes scale differently those interactions don't work as well and it's less fun. That's it, that's why.
How long was DCUC in production? Don't you already have a DC collection available to "interact" with your Marvel Legends? Judging by most of the collection photos posted on Fwoosh, most of you are putting things on your shelves in museum poses so it's not like you really need the newer articulation for them to "interact."
One could also argue that if "interacting" was such a vital part of collecting, Marvel Select was right there for scale purposes. It's going to be hilarious if Mattel comes out with Masterverse scaling for DC next year.
I unapologetically want a DC line that fits in both aesthetically and articulationally with Marvel Legends, because having Thor and Superman fighting Doomsday while looking like they fit (reasonably) within the same line is as self explanatory as it gets.
Don't they make Marvel Select Thor's that are scaled to reasonably fit with a McFarlane Superman fighting Doomsday? So in essence, you already had this as an option.
This is the point I'm trying to make. A lot of people here and online are dancing on the grave of McFarlane because "we get to go back to 6 inches for pew pew bang bang Iron Man vs Batman, baby!", but that was already an option. Between SHF, Mafex, and Mezco, that option was there to mix companies. Marvel Select fits in just fine with McFarlane DC for your spandex-clad characters to "interact." DCUC exists, it's there, you can even still buy the figures new in package. At my local toy show, there's a guy who has hundreds of them every show. Those "interact" great with Marvel Legends. For those of us who were enjoying McFarlane's line precisely because it was 7", for those of us who don't give a shit about recreating poorly written and poorly drawn intercompany crossovers on our shelves, we lost quite a bit here.
Someone will say "yeah, but that's what happened to us when Mattel lost the license!" No...it isn't. When Mattel lost the license, you had every character under the sun made by them because they had the license for so long. We don't have that complete collection from McFarlane yet...they aren't the same thing at all.
Copious amounts of jackassery supplied by Deadpool and Ambush Bug.
All kinds of monkeyshine with those two.
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