I'd take McFarlane over Hasbro any day of the week. Yeah, some of the articulation is not great, some sculpts could be better, but Marvel Legends have looked like kids toys for years. I'm on these threads because of Marvel Legends- I joined back in the day when it was on hiatus and Marvel Universe was Hasbro's main focus (used to post here as the other boywonder before the great purge and couldn't get back my old username for some reason). I hated some of the articulation choices when the line returned, and they're still doing it. They never learn- never progress (for the life of me I cannot get why anyone is impressed with their gimmick of pinless joints when there's a whole raft of other flaws they could and should have worked on by now). Everything is pretty much homogenised and none of it looks anything like the comics they're supposed to be based on. I'm a Legends collector at heart- I don't hate the line, but it just bores me these days.
I'm much more into what McFarlane does than the old Mattel license, the sculpts and articulation scheme just never really did much for me. There seems more variety in the line- like the sculptors get a bit more artistic license. They look closer to the source material. I'll always be more of a Marvel fan than DC, but out of the two lines, I can appreciate what McFarlane does a lot more. I pick and choose stuff- but I'm happy with the ones I've picked up.
Saying that, the lack of variety and making more classic outfits chase variants/more difficult to obtain is annoying as anything. Wish they could just get out of that 90s mindset.
I noticed that nothing on that newest leaked list is labeled “platinum”, even the alt-versions of Cyborg Superman and such. So maybe they got the message? Hard to say until it plays out.
All these lines have their ups and downs, but for me specifically the Multiverse line is amazing for a reason it might annoy others: I’m building an amazing survey of Batman through the years and eras of his career. Much as I loved DCUC, a lot of their “historical” characters were not the best. McF has already given me *much* better versions of era-specific Batman stuff like the ‘Tec 27 figure, “Silver” [Golden] Age with Ace, two different Zurr-En-Arrh eras, etc. I know a lot of folks are anti-Batman over saturation, but he and the Joker are my favorite characters in comics and I am all here for the incredible output those two have gotten. And upcoming Fleischer Studios deco Superman?? Lifelong dream. If McF can keep up the stream of Bat-villains, I will be ecstatic.
I TRULY hope I've never come across as a bully when I express my dislike for something. I'm a fairly vocal critic of Todd, but it's not because I want the line to fail, and I hope I haven't made ANYONE feel marginalized or maligned for expressing their opinions. One of the reasons I really love the Fwoosh is it seems to have far less of the toxic collector mindset than many other online communities, and I don't want to contribute to bringing that mindset over here at all. I apologize if I've EVER made anyone feel like they couldn't express their opinions.
Also, I'll NEVER understand anyone who is a loyalist to a line or major corporation. It's such a dumb, tribalist mentality to ONLY like the product one company produces. Personally, I love Marvel Legends, but there are plenty of times I've been critical of decisions made in the line. I'm not blind to mistakes Hasbro has made along the way, anymore than I am to the successes McFarlane has had. Todd HAS produced some great figures...heck, I have a small-but-stellar display in my office of his DC Multiverse figures. To me, those successes just make it more galling when his team phones it in, which they often do. We KNOW they can produce some great stuff, so I hope to see them doing more in that vein.
Ahh, you can always tell the lulls in releases because the "should McF have the license or not" discussion always pops up lol 😋
These days I think whether you're team Todd or team anyone-else is probably dependent on your toy purchasing perspective. Allow me to explain...I was all-in on Multiverse from 2020-2023, I purchased nearly everything that came out even if I wasn't a huge fan of the character. I just had to collect them all. Eventually I grew disillusioned a bit, the constant repaints of bodies with inaccurate details, the gummy accessories, lack of completed teams. It drove me off except for some random stuff here and there, and even today I'm still only picking up certain things.
I moved on to more expensive offerings - Mafex, Mezco - and eventually I picked up a couple Hot Toys and I was immediately hooked on those. Hot Toys and third party companies are churning out some incredible stuff. So I'm currently a 1/6 and 1/12 (1/9?) scale collector...and you know what? Purchasing the higher end stuff has started to have the effect on me of making me appreciate the "lower end" stuff. I used to get mad about McFarlane's offerings, the cheapness sometimes used, all of that...but once I got into more expensive products, the $100 Mafex's, the $125 Mezco's, the $250+ Hot Toys, it all sort of gave me some perspective on McFarlane and Marvel Legends and the like. I realized that, at the end of the day, these are $20-$30 toys for the most part, and when you look at them as just that - $20-$30 compared to the "higher end" prices out there - these $20-$30 offerings are actually pretty damn nice. Most of my McFarlane's have FAR more articulation than any Hot Toy I own, and you can put them in a pose and leave them without fear of damaging them. You can't say that about Hot Toys, and certain kinds of Mezco's. My Mafex's are nice, but they are often a pretty blank body that's just repainted.
I know that not everyone is buying those other lines, and if all you're collecting are the domestic items in the $20-$30 or $35 price range, then I can absolutely see how McFarlane could be letting you down. But honestly, compared to what the more expensive import options are, McFarlane's Multiverse is pretty darn good. I have a much higher appreciation for them now after venturing out to other things. Not perfect, but you're not really paying for perfection. In my opinion, anyway.
I don't hate McFarlane's stuff, but there are definite areas they could improve. The hip articulation with the restrictive diaper could be a lot better if they were just traditionally articulated. Mattel's Masterverse line has better articulation in that area, and that's taking into account the sculpted fur peepee flaps.
The body proportions can be super wonky, and the relative scale can suck.
The character selection has been pretty cool, with things like Clock King and AMBUSH BUG and such. If I don't care about it, I don't buy it. I'm not aiming to be a universe collector with this line, so I'm only buying figures that I have a super-powerful connection to for one reason or another.
The biggest negative by far has been the monumentally ridiculous marketing approach, with all kinds of absolute bullshit chase variant idiocy that sucks every single iota of fun out of the entire process. And no, I don't care how much I want a figure, I am not entering a lottery/drawing to be granted the opportunity to buy a figure from a mass-market company. That is the number one most ludicrous thing ever and the entire concept needs to be taken into a dark alley and put down like a mangy dog.
I do not miss the ridiculous Fwoosh days of McFarlane cultists popping their heads into Marvel Legends threads and yelling at the top of their lungs that Marvel Legends are stupid poopoo toys and that Todd McFarlane shits plastic gold at rock bottom prices because Todd is a millionaire.
And finally I would definitely like to see a DC line the same scale and quality of Marvel legends from some company.
I've slowed my MCF purchases way down in the past year, partially because the characters I wanted were impossible to find in-store platinums and I hate to feed the flippers on ebay, and partially because the character selection hasn't been quite as exciting for me as I would like.
That said, I just got the Page Punchers Shazam! in yesterday and it is fan-freaking-tastic. I mean, look at this guy!
So glad I never got the previous versions, because this one is damn near perfect. Funnily, of the 4 most recent MCF toys I've picked up, 3 are lightning themed. Shazam!, Lightning Lad and I got the old Page Punchers Black Adam for 5 bucks shipped off of ebay.
The non-lightning figure was platinum Geo-Force, which was the same price on ebay as the regular version, and I've been a huge Outsiders fan since I was a kid, so that was the only MCF figure I've ever paid more than retail for on the secondary market. It was worth it for the nostalgia factor, but God damn it I wish I could have grabbed him at MSRP.
Wow!! 🤣 😱 😆
https://www.reddit.com/r/McFarlaneFigures/comments/1hw0iv1/whats_this/
hahahaha wow indeed! Gotta admire the dedication a bit lol
Wildcat & Orion now hitting Target.
https://twitter.com/InPursuitofToys/status/1876768187510837311
I'm beyond annoyed that Target can't just list these figures online. I've still never found Geo Force and likely will never see Orion or Wildcat either, except on ebay. Really hate the Gold Label and Platinum nonsense.
Since they're not platinum, I'm sure Orion & Wildcat will be hanging around like Commander Steel & Sinestro Parallax.
I'm beyond annoyed that Target can't just list these figures online. I've still never found Geo Force and likely will never see Orion or Wildcat either, except on ebay. Really hate the Gold Label and Platinum nonsense.
I actually spotted both versions of Geo Force last week at 1 of my local Targets, so he is starting to hit stores. All I've seen prior to this is a small collection of Paralax Sinestro, Commander Steele and the ugly a$$ red/green Metallo.
Reeve Superman chase figure finally arrived. I like the heat vision eyes on the second head sculpt. I don't know why we can't get more Superman figures with heat vision eyes.
I'd take McFarlane over Hasbro any day of the week. Yeah, some of the articulation is not great, some sculpts could be better, but Marvel Legends have looked like kids toys for years.
To each their own but face sculpts and prints on Marvel Legends seem way better than McFarlane's, no? I don't get this critique.
I'd take McFarlane over Hasbro any day of the week. Yeah, some of the articulation is not great, some sculpts could be better, but Marvel Legends have looked like kids toys for years.
To each their own but face sculpts and prints on Marvel Legends seem way better than McFarlane's, no? I don't get this critique.
I wasn't so much thinking about face printing, which never seems really add anything in my view for comic figures. Figuarts began the trend by using them for movie figures, but not for anime figures for that reason. I get that some people like the semi-realistic looks, but I just don't see the point if these are supposed to be representations of comic characters.
In any case, my comment is more for the sculpting of the figures themselves and articulation choices- no matter what the heads look like, its the way the overall figure looks which isn't my cup of tea. You can put a semi-realistic head on a Happy Meal toy, and its still going to look like a Happy Meal toy.
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