One of my biggest problems with Mafex (besides the price) is that the joints don't have the ratcheting tech. It just seems that over time with too much posing those joints will be so loose that the figure won't be able to hold a pose at all. I could be wrong, but that's one of the things that's kept me from getting into them.
I assume this new Maximum Spidey will have the standard Hasbro ratchet joints, which is great with me. If possible I'd like at least 4 of them, because I do a lot of posing with my figures. The price will have something to do with that though.
@ninjak Gwenpool and Cyclops are my oldest Medicom figures and their arm, leg and torso joints are still fine after all these years, I think you're really reaching there. Likewise, Figuarts and Sentinel don't have ratchets either and none of mine have had any issues, touch wood, it's totally a non issue as far as I'm concerned.
Certainly, I've had way more joint issues with Classified Joes than I ever have from any of the import firms.
I dislike ratchet joints because the detents never seem to line up, especially in the ankles/knees. It makes standing the figures a pain.
I've owned at least 20 MAFEX figures and haven't had any loose joints. Aside from the infamous C-3PO, anyway, but that figure's issue was engineering.
I don't have a ton of MAFEX, but nothing has become loose over time or has ever been loose from the start. My oldest is Hush Batman from his first release. Only thing I've ever had to do was actually apply some lubricant to the Scarlet Spider because his hips were super tight out of the box. Just a little silicon spray did the job there and they've never been an issue since. Medicom's product isn't perfect, but if you like the aesthetic and are okay with the price then I think most people will be quite happy. They definitely don't need ratcheted joints. I only like to see ratchets on very large, very heavy, figures because they do take away from the range of posing. For a small scale like MAFEX (which also uses very lightweight plastic), give me an ungodly amount of buttery smooth ball joints and hinges where needed. As long as ball joints are engineered well, they really don't degrade much over time.
My mafex figures are fine outside of the ocassional hand that that falls off
Now I don't own the new JADAs and I'm sure there's a conversation in the future about just how much something like this should be priced.
Jada's edge is that their design team has clearly studied the state of the art in sculpt and articulation design and hit the ground running with their Street Fighter line at the same point that lines like Marvel Legends, Medicom Mafex, or Bandai S.H. Figuarts are at but without the existing investment in molds that prevents them from making every new figure great. They've also innovated in sculpt and design right out of the gate.
None of that necessarily costs money so they've been able to do that at a $25 price point. Should that design talent fetch a higher premium? I think so, yes, so perhaps the Jada designers are underpaid, or maybe they're sacrificing what they should be paid so they can do what they love for a living.
Jada's only weakness as reflected in their Street Fighter line is that their QC can be up and down as compared to the other companies--but it's absolutely good enough for the great majority of what they make and what most customers expect at a $25 price point. The quality of their plastic isn't anywhere near as good as the import companies, but it's still really good. I would argue the current plastic Legends is using is slightly better than Jada, but it's such a slight edge I'm picking nits. And they're undeniably leading the market in articulation range as compared to every other company making figures at their price point, and they're directly comparable to the articulation of the import figures.
One of my biggest problems with Mafex (besides the price) is that the joints don't have the ratcheting tech. It just seems that over time with too much posing those joints will be so loose that the figure won't be able to hold a pose at all. I could be wrong, but that's one of the things that's kept me from getting into them.
I suppose that depends upon what period of time you have in mind. I can say that the 50+ Mafex I own that I started buying in 2019 aren't getting looser at all, and the overall tightness in the joints of new releases has been getting much better over that five-year period. The ones I bought up through 2022 started out with several loose-ish joints, but since then almost every joint is nicely tight, and there's no sign of them getting loose no matter how extreme a pose I put them in and leave them in for months or years.
Only thing I've ever had to do was actually apply some lubricant to the Scarlet Spider because his hips were super tight out of the box. Just a little silicon spray did the job there and they've never been an issue since.
I'm assuming this is a coincidence but Legends and Mafex have both been having tighter and tighter joints since 2022 in really similar ways. I also have some overly-tight Mafex joints, but I'll take that every time over any joint that's loose. Legends also frequently has overly-tight joints since 2022, and I love it as compared to the loose joints that were common in the 2010s.
In the last version of this forum prior to Wordpress I started a thread pointing out that by far the best innovation with Legends in recent years is the improvements they've made in plastic quality and joint tightness. I would say the exact same thing about Mafex over the same period of time. Mafex's overall QC has also dramatically improved every single year.
This scaled down is what the Maximum Series Wolverine needs to be. Add that extra torso articulation, toes, and match this body shape. Also... pinless 🙂
@enforcer When they revealed Maximum Spidey, they said they planned on having a couple more this year and we know that Hulk is the second one (seems like an odd choice). I'm fully expecting Wolverine to be the 3rd and agree this is the likely look, but I could also see them putting it off a year after all of the Wolverines they put out just last year. If it's not Wolvie then I'm expecting Cap.
I don't hate the new torso articulation (lower ab crunch + upper twist) they've been using, but it just simply is not as good as a ball joint waist + torso ball/twist - the Jada articulation setup. My biggest want from any of these Maximum Series figures is to see them incorporate that set up on Wolverine, Hulk, etc. That's the number one thing they can do to make them MAXIMUM in my mind. Of course, I realize they didn't do it on Spidey and I shouldn't get my hopes up for the rest.
I would have to agree to disagree in regards to the quality of plastic when it comes to JADA and say S.H. Figuarts. If I can take a $25 action figure and throw it at the wall at a speed of 35-40 mph and it doesn't break and then do the same for $54-$124 action figure and it does break then the plastic in the $25 action figure is better quality to me.Now I don't own the new JADAs and I'm sure there's a conversation in the future about just how much something like this should be priced.
Jada's edge is that their design team has clearly studied the state of the art in sculpt and articulation design and hit the ground running with their Street Fighter line at the same point that lines like Marvel Legends, Medicom Mafex, or Bandai S.H. Figuarts are at but without the existing investment in molds that prevents them from making every new figure great. They've also innovated in sculpt and design right out of the gate.
None of that necessarily costs money so they've been able to do that at a $25 price point. Should that design talent fetch a higher premium? I think so, yes, so perhaps the Jada designers are underpaid, or maybe they're sacrificing what they should be paid so they can do what they love for a living.
Jada's only weakness as reflected in their Street Fighter line is that their QC can be up and down as compared to the other companies--but it's absolutely good enough for the great majority of what they make and what most customers expect at a $25 price point. The quality of their plastic isn't anywhere near as good as the import companies, but it's still really good. I would argue the current plastic Legends is using is slightly better than Jada, but it's such a slight edge I'm picking nits. And they're undeniably leading the market in articulation range as compared to every other company making figures at their price point, and they're directly comparable to the articulation of the import figures.
@enigmaticclarity “…studied the state of the art in sculpt and articulation design…..”
I see what you did there.
Those are exactly the things that will get my money with this release. It is exact to that artwork I loved so much and there is literally no other figure out there from anyone matching it. Like I said it's not for you if you don't like McFarlane - I think the AF Spidey or even Retro Spidey can fill that void.
It feels good to get something I really wanted from this brand that usually misses or omits what I like. I'm eating good now at least 🙂
This scaled down is what the Maximum Series Wolverine needs to be. Add that extra torso articulation, toes, and match this body shape. Also... pinless 🙂
For what may potentially be $50 or even $60 bucks I'd be expecting more. I pass on almost no Wolverine, and even this seems a bit sparse. No claw swipe effects, no gesturing hands, minimal battle damaged pieces, not even bone claws. "Maximum" should be just that, something that almost guarantees a fan of the character will most certainly buy it. The draped down cowls that sit on his neck don't even sit flush and ride up, so I've never used the ones I have. Multiple heads with different iconic artists looks might help boost this. But they need to actually be GOOD. The Adam Kubert homage we got for AOA Weapon X looked like he had a genetic disorder. Phoenix was a basic figure with a massive impressive base the figure could fit into. If they did the same for Nightcrawler with a/multiple BAMF portals, or Iceman with a substantial ice slide I'm all over it. If it's just a regular figure with a collection of accessories that look like they just came from other figures of the same name, I'm not that interested. This series needs to impress to stay on anyone's tongue as anything more than a money grab. And there's only so many Todd McFarlane-level iconic looks to go around for most of these characters. The advances in articulation should just be baked into the newer figures at this point. We shouldn't be paying for better articulation for every character from now on beyond maybe 2-3 dollars in perpetuity because Hasbro wants to say "look, it's not our usual half-@$$ed attempt at what you wanted!"
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