Page Punchers my friend. That's my hope. I agree with you. Going into 2023 I had some positive expectations, but that "Collector Edition" shit really changed everything for me. I like Page Punchers Superman as a Earth-One or Bermejo figure but it is far far from classic. We'll see what's coming, but I might just bite the bullet and get the Mafex one.
I disagree with that philosophy 100% There are many artistic interpretations as well as figure changes to keep making more figures. MANY more.
Intentionally making flawed figures loses more business than making a perfect one would. It's a misconception that Todd might have. I would buy more stuff if I have iconic looks done right. If I don't....that's when I say Bye Bye.
I have tons of Transformers because they offered the best representations of the characters and I STILL buy Optimus. And more. That's how you do it.
Todd's initial strategy just ended up backfiring. Collecting in general has been in decline since its peak during the pandemic, but the truth is that these figures are more expensive and worse quality than they were when the line started, and that's not a great place to be 3-4 years in.
They started by hammering out tons of new molds, having great paint apps, and gaining market share by selling at a lower price than the competition. Those initial Metal Batmen are much better figures than what we get now. Even looking at the original Batman/Superman compared to Knightfall Bats, the difference in paint is alarming.
The scale, proportion, and comic inaccuracy were always there but it was OK when we had detailed sculpt/paint. At this point, we get mostly re-used, unpainted plastic that keeps most of the original flaws. Instead of making a mold with more figures in mind for re-use, they just take the first version of a mold and make it the default. Rebirth Superman, Blue Beetle, and Catwoman are 3 molds that were only accurate once, and have since been used for at least 12 inaccurate figures.
Figures like Hawkman/Firestorm are still there but we're paying a premium and most of the $20 figures have declined in quality. They haven't fixed simple issues like scale and won't create more standard base bodies for more economical re-use.
The thread still pops when a cool reveal comes out. Wonder Woman/Lobo created several pages of new posts. I just think the good reveals are becoming few and far between.
All very valid. And for me personally, I’ll say I’m posting a lot less because most of the recent reveals haven’t wowed me. We got some great stuff earlier in the year like the Batmobile and a few characters I’ve been wanting like Black Lightning, Supergirl and Hawkman, but the character selection for the line still continues to be a huge problem.
I’m by no means a stickler, but I like to be able to complete teams. That incentivizes me to buy more figures. But when we’re moving into year 4 of the line and are just now getting an evergreen Wonder Woman, that dampens my excitement. I know Todd has never made any secrets about wanting to focus on characters he personally finds cool, but getting an absolute nobody like Abyss while fan favorites like Hawkgirl, Starfire, Zatanna, Black Canary and Vixen continue to sit out in the cold is very annoying.
hopefully the 2024 reveals blow me away. I want to be excited for this like again.
I found a McFarlane Static figure at Ross on Friday for $5.99. I had skipped him when he first came out, but I couldn't pass him up at that price. Nice to add another character to the roster.
Still holding out hope that we'll get a proper comic Two-Face one of these days. Or even the Arkham City look. Which is close enough to use as the comic version.
Placed an order pick-up for 2 Supergirls at nearest Target for that 15.99 sale. Received one reg & the chase Platinum!
Wasn't that Batman and Robin set supposed to drop this week......like TODAY? My list of things I still want for this year is dwindling and this set it on it.
B&R set PO’s go up on Wednesday, 11/8
I think the natural life of any line is to start out really exciting and then kinda dwindle over time. Especially in regards to molds- they almost all get re-used from time to time. Heck, Mattel's DCUC classics were probably 95% reuse, and a lot of times, at least to me, the figures felt a little held back because of it- they didn't have that extra "oomph". They worked totally fine, and a lot of characters don't need anything fancy, granted, but still.
When Todd still used more of the rubber overlays, he could probably get a bit more uniqueness, but as he switched over to true sculpts more, there's gonna be more re-use. It's understandable, but I do totally get all the frustration to the oversights as well- there's no need to reuse some parts other than laziness. Don't get me wrong- I know there's plenty of overlays still happening, which does make it all the more confusing at times.
I still find Todd's DC to be quite charming. I'm a special case, I know- I was raised to like dark, spooky things, and metal and spikes and all that. Scarecrow is my all-time fav villain, and he's given us more Scarecrows than probably any other company, so for that, I have to skew a little closer to favorable. He's giving us the characters and variants we probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise. It's a wide net, though, and the pick-and-choose aspect of it at times is disappointing. We'll probably never get the rest of the animated Teen Titans, for instance. Or Ratcatcher II from TSS. He could totally kill some of the more unique Lanterns, but has barely touched that property beyond the main Green Lanterns. Even with his growing love of re-use we could still get a Saint Walker or something. A character like Kryb, I think he'd absolutely demolish.
Todd is definitely giving us his DC, which is a total love-it or hate-it thing. He's right when he says that if you want a classic Batman or Superman, there's no shortage of options, but I do also think that doesn't excuse the fact that he hasn't really made any of the "classic" looks himself. They're well made figures, and people want those classic looks in his style/scale.
I do think that eventually he'll get around to ticking off most of people's wish lists, or at least a good solid chunk. It's commendable that he's so up-to-date with things and giving us plenty of modern looks and storylines, or little mini-waves like the Page Punchers we probably would never have gotten otherwise. I think he's mentioned before too that DC will sometimes come to him and ask him to make waves based around certain comics to help promote, so at least in some ways, his hands are tied.
On the flip side, Todd being his own company and not having to meet certain demands or criteria is both a good and bad thing. Good because it keeps costs down and means a wider swath of choices. Bad because it means he has more creative control, and he's a guy with very unique interests. But hey, he's trying, and it does feel like he at least hears the people and tries to give them what they want, unlike some other companies. That's commendable, I think.
Whenever his DC run comes to an end, which may be a while, I think most of us will look on it pretty fondly, and some might even miss some of the weirder choices down the road when whatever company comes next releases the safe choices.
And speaking of weird and not safe, I can't wait to get that Batman & Robin line. In 2023/4?! Only Todd!
(regarding LooseCollector)
Very recently he teased Grendel and possibly Evil Ernie, but not in The Vault. It's a new line called Iconic Heroes and the logo is very reminiscent of Legendary Comic Book Heroes. Grendel was actually one of the LCBH figures we didn't get. I want Youngblood.
Yeah - Iconic Heroes by LC could be problems for me. The base starting price per figure is so high, but the figures are nice. Will be all the way in if he drops a Grendel figure and will be watching carefully for what he does after that.
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I don't own any of his figures because they don't appeal to me except for Hyde. This would be a game changer though - I have wanted something like this for a long time.
Not even his Red Sonja? That figure is super nice and she's a classic Marvel heroine if you're a child of the 70's. Surprises me that you wouldn't be tempted by that one.
I found one too!
Looks like the Supergirl Rebirth comes in a case of 3 as the helpful Target worker pulled them from the back for me. He brought out 3 and one of them was the platinum. After the already discounted price of 15.99, I had additional discounts of 25 percent off a toy and a 10 percent off a in store or online purchase that brought it down to 11.38.
11.38 for a Platinum, thanks Target!
Page Punchers my friend. That's my hope. I agree with you. Going into 2023 I had some positive expectations, but that "Collector Edition" shit really changed everything for me. I like Page Punchers Superman as a Earth-One or Bermejo figure but it is far far from classic. We'll see what's coming, but I might just bite the bullet and get the Mafex one.
Can you clear up some confusion regarding that PP wave? I thought I read somewhere (hear or Instagram) that it was going to feature the Earth-2 Val-Zod Superman. I have zero interest in alternate versions when we still don't have a Superman that's accurate to the majority of his comic interpretations from the past or today. The AC1K figure is great, but the piping and cuffs are inaccurate.
As for that recolored Bermjejo Superman we've seen, I may grab that and swap the trunks out and call it a day. I don't have much hope anymore, and with a classic WW coming out, I'll be able to complete a non-Mattel Trinity and move on. I would have given Todd so much money over the last two years if he'd truly honored Superman's milestones: accurate Doomsday and new Superman (maybe based on Dan Jurgens' art), the original version of the Supermen, a long-haired Superman and bigger Doomsday (Hunter/Prey version) and then, finally, a true "collector's edition" of Superman with a new body, head sculpt, extra hands, flight stand, cloth cape, and maybe some kryptonite or a copy of the Daily Planet.
Instead, we just got loads more reuse and post-Rebirth designs. There's so much wasted opportunity and my Mattel Death and Return of Superman figures are still untouched it terms of accuracy.
I think the natural life of any line is to start out really exciting and then kinda dwindle over time. Especially in regards to molds- they almost all get re-used from time to time. Heck, Mattel's DCUC classics were probably 95% reuse, and a lot of times, at least to me, the figures felt a little held back because of it- they didn't have that extra "oomph". They worked totally fine, and a lot of characters don't need anything fancy, granted, but still.
When Todd still used more of the rubber overlays, he could probably get a bit more uniqueness, but as he switched over to true sculpts more, there's gonna be more re-use. It's understandable, but I do totally get all the frustration to the oversights as well- there's no need to reuse some parts other than laziness. Don't get me wrong- I know there's plenty of overlays still happening, which does make it all the more confusing at times.
I still find Todd's DC to be quite charming. I'm a special case, I know- I was raised to like dark, spooky things, and metal and spikes and all that. Scarecrow is my all-time fav villain, and he's given us more Scarecrows than probably any other company, so for that, I have to skew a little closer to favorable. He's giving us the characters and variants we probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise. It's a wide net, though, and the pick-and-choose aspect of it at times is disappointing. We'll probably never get the rest of the animated Teen Titans, for instance. Or Ratcatcher II from TSS. He could totally kill some of the more unique Lanterns, but has barely touched that property beyond the main Green Lanterns. Even with his growing love of re-use we could still get a Saint Walker or something. A character like Kryb, I think he'd absolutely demolish.
Todd is definitely giving us his DC, which is a total love-it or hate-it thing. He's right when he says that if you want a classic Batman or Superman, there's no shortage of options, but I do also think that doesn't excuse the fact that he hasn't really made any of the "classic" looks himself. They're well made figures, and people want those classic looks in his style/scale.
I do think that eventually he'll get around to ticking off most of people's wish lists, or at least a good solid chunk. It's commendable that he's so up-to-date with things and giving us plenty of modern looks and storylines, or little mini-waves like the Page Punchers we probably would never have gotten otherwise. I think he's mentioned before too that DC will sometimes come to him and ask him to make waves based around certain comics to help promote, so at least in some ways, his hands are tied.
On the flip side, Todd being his own company and not having to meet certain demands or criteria is both a good and bad thing. Good because it keeps costs down and means a wider swath of choices. Bad because it means he has more creative control, and he's a guy with very unique interests. But hey, he's trying, and it does feel like he at least hears the people and tries to give them what they want, unlike some other companies. That's commendable, I think.
Whenever his DC run comes to an end, which may be a while, I think most of us will look on it pretty fondly, and some might even miss some of the weirder choices down the road when whatever company comes next releases the safe choices.
And speaking of weird and not safe, I can't wait to get that Batman & Robin line. In 2023/4?! Only Todd!
do you really think the Todd is trying to give people what they want? Because it seems to me that he’s trying to give people what he wants.
do you really think the Todd is trying to give people what they want? Because it seems to me that he’s trying to give people what he wants.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's still pretty disproportionate. Maybe 60/40, or even 70/30. I do think Todd is more self-indulgent than need be at times. He certainly gives us what he wants, or what he thinks looks cool. I'm sure DC tells him what to make at times- the newer stuff, which works out well for him, since it tends to skew more toward "creepy/kooky heavy metal" designs at times.
But I also don't necessarily think he'd have finally given us a more-or-less correct Hush Batman if collectors hadn't complained (yeah, it's kinda silly that it took so many tries to get it right, but credit where credit's due). Same with Knightfall Batman & Catwoman, or classic Riddler, etc. They're easy remakes, yeah, but he didn't have to make them. Yeah, he's mentioned that he's a fan of some of the older stories and looks, but I do think he'd be happier just doing the more modern, DC Metal-esque designs.
At the end of the day, no matter what he releases, it'll both please and anger fans. As rare as they may be, there's someone out there who's been clamoring for a Batman & Robin wave. Or Caveman Batman or Vampire Green Lantern. Every story resonates with someone, even if it doesn't for others. He has a point- people do buy things just because they look cool, even if we come to regret it later. I know I'm certainly in the minority, but part of me appreciates that he does give us designs we more than likely wouldn't get normally.
I think his biggest problem is just that he jumps around so much. Having dedicated waves like B&R or the Dark Knight waves is awesome because he so often just gives us one or two characters from a thing and then hops around to something new. That sort of creative ADHD is frustrating, no doubt, but I wouldn't say that he never gives fans what they want. I think, if anything, he does what any business sets out to do, and in a way tells you what you want, or shows you what's considered "cool" and "now". You don't have to go for it, but it's there if you want it. Everyone complained about the Jokerized waves, but at least in my neck of the woods, they all sold- at full price, no less. It's fun to jump on the hate train online, but sometimes you secretly really like something, especially when you see it in person; we're all guilty of it- I certainly am.
Ultimately, it's up to the individual to decide whether he's giving fans what they want or not. We moan and complain when he does a wave we don't like, but the moment he gives us something we think is cool, we're back on board. It's the Collecting Circle. He plays it safe most of the time by giving us bigger names (the same bigger names over and over, I'll grant you), but they sell, and for what is ultimately a small company in the grand scheme of things (at least when compared to Mattel or Hasbro), that's McFarlane's goal.
He's giving me the Poison Ivy I've wanted for 25 years! 🙂 As a 99% bystander on Todd's DC line, I think you nailed it when you said when the waves/releases are themed, it's better. One random thing plus one more random thing don't necessarily equal two.
Plus, I think he's very close to 1701'ing his own line. That's when near the height, or just after the height of 90s Playmates Trek they released only 1701 versions of three specific characters which pretty much pissed off everyone and a lot of people quit the line in frustration and because they couldn't get them. Platinum Label, Gold Label, etc, etc - the gimmick feels like it's backfiring into frustration.
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