"We want figures that match the art!"
Hasbro: Not a problem, here's Tigra in her iconic bathing suit!
"But that doesn't match the art I'm talking about, why is it not a thong and why is her top covering her entire breast?!? AND SHE NOT THICC"
Hasbro: Well because making characters in a 'cheesecake' manner for male gratification is no longer appropriate in 2024!
"HOGWASH. damn you woke soccer moms!!!!!"
How is "make the figure match the official comic art" a negative argument sometimes, and a positive argument other times? Feels very subjective.
Because the argument of "we just want the figures accurate to the source material" is a front, mainly brought up about female figures who were drawn in revealing and over sexualized costumes, just so you can get away with having your toys look "hot". It's not the get out of jail free card you think it is.
So why is Kazar ok?
And Hasbro's figures won't match the comic art you salivate over!
And if Marvel Legends don’t look like the art the figures are based on, I won’t buy them. Easy enough.
To chime in on the GameStop debate, I find they’re usually pretty reliable. I just found half of the X-Men wave there, and I have the McFarlane SA Green Lantern preordered there.
"We want figures that match the art!"
Hasbro: Not a problem, here's Tigra in her iconic bathing suit!
"But that doesn't match the art I'm talking about, why is it not a thong and why is her top covering her entire breast?!? AND SHE NOT THICC"
Hasbro: Well because making characters in a 'cheesecake' manner for male gratification is no longer appropriate in 2024!
"HOGWASH. damn you woke soccer moms!!!!!"
How is "make the figure match the official comic art" a negative argument sometimes, and a positive argument other times? Feels very subjective.
Because the argument of "we just want the figures accurate to the source material" is a front, mainly brought up about female figures who were drawn in revealing and over sexualized costumes, just so you can get away with having your toys look "hot". It's not the get out of jail free card you think it is.
So why is Kazar ok?
Because muscles and six packs are not deemed by many to be sexual appendages in the same way buttocks or breasts are. The "double standard" rhetoric would only function if there wasn't a huge disparity between people asking for hotter females figures compared to hotter male figures.
Surely you knew this.
Surely.....?
Lol. I don't mind the debate as long as it stays civil. Everyone likes things the way they like things. I prefer my figures look like the art, risqué clothes and all. Male or female, doesn't matter to me, as long as it looks close. And for the record I'm a straight male.
I am honestly a little more curious about Cable now. I looked deeper at the figure, and those straps are...something... I'm not sure I like them or not. Luckily, if I don't, it looks like I can just mod them to look better. But I'm not sure who thought that was a good idea. And it may hurt the sculpt a little with how they're folded under his abs. I will have to decide in person methinks.
Those trunks may be a case of the source material looking ridiculous. I would have not had a problem with them being completely blue, but I don’t think I’m the target audience for a MvC Cable. I’m actually trying to think of how I can give him a bare right arm and massive shoulder pads to turn him into some kind of Toy Biz series 6 homage.
I’m using a spare Thunderstrike to donate his right arm to Cable from the bicep down, the left is already set aside to be painted light grey so my Random has a normal left arm because I don’t often care for figures with “powers always on”.
I really hate that MvsC artist’s character profiles, they almost all seemed a bit wonky in some way, and some having bad misinterpretations of costume details like Cable’s trunks were the worst offenders. I’ve tried to find out who specific artists at Capcom were from time to time but often unsuccessfully as several share similar styles and the credits from older games weren’t in English. A few of the best pieces of source art are from around the release of SNES/PS1 era, only used for magazine spreads to promote Super SF2, Darkstalkers, Children of the Atom and the like, so I only occasionally find a lo res scan from very early internet days - if only they existed in hi res digital versions and could turn up as the first results on Google!😖
"We want figures that match the art!"
Hasbro: Not a problem, here's Tigra in her iconic bathing suit!
"But that doesn't match the art I'm talking about, why is it not a thong and why is her top covering her entire breast?!? AND SHE NOT THICC"
Hasbro: Well because making characters in a 'cheesecake' manner for male gratification is no longer appropriate in 2024!
"HOGWASH. damn you woke soccer moms!!!!!"
How is "make the figure match the official comic art" a negative argument sometimes, and a positive argument other times? Feels very subjective.
Because the argument of "we just want the figures accurate to the source material" is a front, mainly brought up about female figures who were drawn in revealing and over sexualized costumes, just so you can get away with having your toys look "hot". It's not the get out of jail free card you think it is.
So why is Kazar ok?
Because muscles and six packs are not deemed by many to be sexual appendages in the same way buttocks or breasts are. The "double standard" rhetoric would only function if there wasn't a huge disparity between people asking for hotter females figures compared to hotter male figures.
Surely you knew this.
Surely.....?
My wife would disagree with you. So would several other women I know. But I think you know that people find six pack abs and muscles sexy. It’s all over ads, tv, movies. For whatever reason, you like to argue.
Also, some people here are acting like we’re asking for figures that look like how Bart Sears drew Power Girl. We’re not. We want them to look like they do in the comics. I get why they wouldn’t do comic Maddie. It’s pretty risqué. But Shanna shouldn’t be a problem. Classic Moondragon, not the thong version, shouldn’t be a problem. Gamora, etc. If I want TnA in plastic action figures, as someone else mentioned, it’s out there. I’m looking for Marvel figures that look the part. And I don’t buy the “it’s ok for men but not women” argument. People aren’t asking for “hotter” male figures because the figures look like they do in the comics already. But color a section of costume wrong or make a backpack on Iron Man the wrong shape and they freak out. But somehow that preference for comic accuracy is ok. And don’t get me wrong. They’re right. The figures should be made accurately. It’s just the difference in the response from some people that makes me shake my head.
So we're STILL arguing about a Shanna figure that doesn't exist? Oh, you nerds.
Tbf I did mention Cable. I wanna bitch about that a little. But there's not much else news wise, and we really want a good Shanna. I didn't buy the last set cause it was all just terrible, and exclusive. I feel like Shanna only gets maybe 1 shot. They need to do it right. Kazar may get a second figure, probably rereleased with Shanna and Zabu in a 3 pack (I bet he has the arms fixed). But not Shanna. I can't see them giving her the Psylocke treatment let alone the Wolverine treatment lol.
"We want figures that match the art!"
Hasbro: Not a problem, here's Tigra in her iconic bathing suit!
"But that doesn't match the art I'm talking about, why is it not a thong and why is her top covering her entire breast?!? AND SHE NOT THICC"
Hasbro: Well because making characters in a 'cheesecake' manner for male gratification is no longer appropriate in 2024!
"HOGWASH. damn you woke soccer moms!!!!!"
How is "make the figure match the official comic art" a negative argument sometimes, and a positive argument other times? Feels very subjective.
Because the argument of "we just want the figures accurate to the source material" is a front, mainly brought up about female figures who were drawn in revealing and over sexualized costumes, just so you can get away with having your toys look "hot". It's not the get out of jail free card you think it is.
So why is Kazar ok?
Because muscles and six packs are not deemed by many to be sexual appendages in the same way buttocks or breasts are. The "double standard" rhetoric would only function if there wasn't a huge disparity between people asking for hotter females figures compared to hotter male figures.
Surely you knew this.
Surely.....?
My wife would disagree with you. So would several other women I know. But I think you know that people find six pack abs and muscles sexy. It’s all over ads, tv, movies. For whatever reason, you like to argue.
Also, some people here are acting like we’re asking for figures that look like how Bart Sears drew Power Girl. We’re not. We want them to look like they do in the comics. I get why they wouldn’t do comic Maddie. It’s pretty risqué. But Shanna shouldn’t be a problem. Classic Moondragon, not the thong version, shouldn’t be a problem. Gamora, etc. If I want TnA in plastic action figures, as someone else mentioned, it’s out there. I’m looking for Marvel figures that look the part. And I don’t buy the “it’s ok for men but not women” argument. People aren’t asking for “hotter” male figures because the figures look like they do in the comics already. But color a section of costume wrong or make a backpack on Iron Man the wrong shape and they freak out. But somehow that preference for comic accuracy is ok. And don’t get me wrong. They’re right. The figures should be made accurately. It’s just the difference in the response from some people that makes me shake my head.
I like to argue, you like to intentionally swerve around the issue, we all have our crosses to bear in this life!
@trunks3540 I do believe that if/when they make Shanna (seems like a safe bet given Ka-Zar and Zabu) they'll base her on the same art they based the Marvel Infinite figure on, and this conversation will happen again because "it's not comic accurate" is a stand-in for "it's not based on a sexy enough design" even though there seems to be some embarrassment about admitting that.
That's a solid design and I'd be very happy for the figure to be based on it.
The main thing I want out of Shanna is better torso articulation - none of this "only articulating at the top of the ribcage" nonsense. Start giving everyone the Target exclusive Black Widow torso artic, please and thank you.
I don't have an extremely rigid preference for Shanna, but I do have a certain nostalgic tie towards the first time I ran across her character, which was in the Spider-friends cartoon.
And that would be fitting since Ka-zar is dressed like he was in the Spider-man cartoon one year prior. Which is where I first ran across his character. (which is also how he was dressed in the comics, but still.)
Not thicc enough!
Re: boy abs and girl midriffs:
Absolutely, many folks attracted to male bodies are gonna find “beefcake” sexy, just as many folks attracted to female bodies are going to find “cheesecake” sexy. And many folks are gonna be put off by those things, for a variety of reasons.
So, how much “super-fit male bodies in undress and/or tight/revealing costumes” is actually said “beefcake” in comics?
I think the trick is to evaluate who the material is (traditionally) for. Given that (traditionally) the audience for comic books has been presupposed to be cis-het (young) men (again, traditionally), I would contend that much of the portrayal of superheroic male bodies in comic books are (again, traditionally) linked to a male power fantasy (as in: I [the reader] want to fantasize about *being* the sexy/jacked/powerful hero] rather than a fantasy involving attraction to male bodies (as in: I [the reader] want to fantasize about *being WITH* the sexy/revealed body, and also fantasize about that body *wanting* to be with me). So while there is certainly “beefcake” in comics and thankfully times are changing from the worst excesses of sexism and objectification in comics, I think it is reductive and inaccurate to create equivalence between the portrayals (and intentions of portrayals) of male and female bodies in comics. It’s a power fantasy vs a fantasy of (sexual) conquest, both traditionally aimed at the same audience (cis-het men) and both ultimately involving social constructs of what “peak” maleness is supposed to be and supposed to value.
So, I don’t think it’s an apples-to-apples comparison.
That said: I’m not particularly fussed about what version of Shanna we get, I just want to get her. I wasn’t “offended” by the Cho-inspired figure from a decade+ ago, and I won’t be upset if we get that or if we get a more practical version.
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