Out top story tonight: toy collectors want good toys readily available. Now here's Gary with the weather.
Here are Renew Your Vows Spidey, Amazing Fantasy 15 Spidey, animated Spidey from the 2-pack with animated Vulture, and Mafex Classic Spidey in the closest poses I could get to the equivalent McFarlane Spider-Man #1 pose that Hasbro included in the promo images for Maximum Spidey. Clearly the worst is animated Spidey since he has no lower ab crunch or diaphragm joint and his leg can't kick up at the hips nearly as much as the other figures.
I can't clearly tell that Maximum Spidey can do the pose any better than RYV Spidey or Mafex Spidey. It looks like he can get his leg to kick up at roughly the same angle as those two, and he can't get his heel any closer to his butt than the others whereas Spidey in the cover art is touching his heel to his butt.
Right now I can't identify many ranges of motion evident in the promos that isn't also on RYV Spidey. Maybe that shot with his foot out by his head is better, but I didn't realize Mafex could do that so it may be that I just haven't pushed RYV Spidey far enough to know his full limits. Certainly the extra ball joint at the bottom of the neck is better and that's why he can look up in the promo shot far better than RYV Spidey can look up in my shot below.
It's also key to note that the articulation differences between RYV and Mafex Spidey are VERY minor at this point. In some ways RYV is actually better. For example Mafex Spidey can't get his legs up as far when they're pointing forward as he can with his hips dramatically splayed open, so you can see in my shot below that to get his legs up as far as I did I had to have him almost doing full splits while in this crouch. RYV Spidey on the other hand can close his hips for a more naturalistic pose with his hips just as far up as Mafex Spidey is.
Out top story tonight: toy collectors want good toys readily available. Now here's Gary with the weather.
Thanks, Doug.
Well, it looks like it's going to be a very cold weekend with record low temperatures for a majority of the collector community as we have a low pressure system moving through just to our south, bringing with it sporadic snow flurries and wind gusts upwards of 40 mph. So dress warm and be careful out there all you brick-and-mortar action-figure shoppers.
Back to you, Doug.
"I guess we've been hearing for a while at the cons and someone speaking with the fans wanting classic versions of characters just to be readily available and released in the best way possible with the best articulation, the best accessories, the best deco..."
Yes, that was it - I interpreted that as they wanted an evergreen, "definitive" version of the heavy hitters that checked a lot of boxes and they could keep producing. Making these limited runs goes against that.
But then again, Hasbro to my bafflement hasn't done another batch of many of the army builders on Pulse that sold out...pretty much undercutting the army building nature of them.
For anyone still interested in grabbing one, they are still available from Deep Discount - and listed at 10% off, to boot: https://www.deepdiscount.com/account/optinconfirmation?token=aWg0azg5NWdvQG1vem1haWwuY29tfEJlbiBEZXh0ZXJ80
Do they ever actually close out item pre-orders? Some places just leave them open infinitely and then fail to deliver on highly in-demand items, but I don't know if DeepDiscount does that or not because I've never ordered anything from them.
They do close out preorders as far as I can tell. Plenty of things go up for preorder and after a while get marked as "Unavailable", or disappear altogether until they start shipping. I think the parent company of DD (Alliance Entertainment) may be a distributor of some sort.
Appreciate the transcript of the stream. I also remember thinking the way they introduced him implied it would remain readily available, but it's definitely open for interpretation.
I took the setup for the series to be "This series is how we're going to keep classic characters in rotation." You won't be able to just buy this figure whenever you want, but expect regular refreshes. We just don't know what the interval will be between productions runs. Could be a year, could be longer, but what it won't be is one and done. Max Spidey will come back and how well it's received a second time probably determines how soon we'll see it again. A good question to ask them around Toy Fair time would be if they already have the second run planned because booking a factory to do it is the biggest obstacle. If they're locked into a schedule for the next 12-18 months then it becomes a lot harder to make it happen, as we saw with the surge in demand for X-Men '97 product.
@normdapito Thanks man, it takes me back to years ago when this would have been everything. LooseCollector is doing that too. I'm not the same guy now as then, but somewhere inside is that child haha and I gotta get this. I know we both do Transformers and it gets costly, but not slacking on this one.
I think over time everyone will bite on something from this line - there won't be that many each year and more than likely will deliver some great figures - Deadpool seems obvious, Brubaker era Cap would be badass etc. I still think Reed Richards and Torch work for this line.
Also - this figure should be done from a production standpoint, right? Release date is May 1 which means closer to April 1 which means this dude is already on the water to beat CNY closures. The amount of the first run is set. I completely suspect they'll revisit, the only question is "when."
It's a nice figure and I genuinely don't mind paying 50 odd for what should be a premium figure, but I'd want more than what's in that box. Then again, if they made maximum Psylocke, I imagine I'd preorder it in a heartbeat.
I would be tempted with a Maximum Thor. Like I said earlier with improved butterfly joints that allow him to hold his hammer double handed in front of him and overhead. A whirlwind effect that is at least the same size as his figure. Some lighting crackle effects, one of which is the Kirby crackle, and blast effects that attaches to his hammer. Alternate beard head. Alternate yelling head. Alternate head without the helmet on. A belt that allows Mjolnir to be attached to it. The belt of power. Two removable capes, one is straight and the other sculpted like it’s blowing in the wind. Alternate hands.
No bendy or rubbery feeling joints. Particularly on the knees. All for $50. Get to it Hasbro
Anthony's Customs still being around surprises me, when I used to hang around him years back he always had a fairly abrasive personality.
If this has to be $50, whatever, it sucks but it's what we're dealt. What I hope most with these Maximum releases is that it allows them to finally reissue the most iconic designs of characters that are always in demand. No "well, they're part of a wave, so--". Just reissue them, they're in demand. Though knowing Hasbro, we'll likely have a $60 ULTRA MAXIMUM Spidey in two years that makes that not particularly necessary.
The scary thing is I can't see them giving us all of that for a larger character like Thor (not that he is THAT much larger) for just $50.
If they make a caped figure at a premium price then it has to come with a plastic and a fabric cape. People that dislike fabric can toss it in the trash, people on the right side of history that like fabric capes can finally have a figure not entombed in unplayable coffins.
I still think Reed Richards and Torch work for this line.
Really all the FF are. Sue with 3 heads, 5 clip in hair designs, 3 sets of hands, 5 or 6 bubble and projection parts, new body sculpt, raised 4 on chest, a few natural wrinkles on the body sculpt. Thing: new body (shorter more comic accurate) 3 heads & 3-4 sets of hands, fedora, cloth goods trench coat, Yancy Street sign / light, hunk of pavement to throw.
Obviously Iceman is another obvious candidate. These are not Spider-Man level A listers. With these higher price points the profits off a Spider-Man per see could help some of these see production.
So if this Spidey is going to be in regular availability do they mean THIS Spidey or next will be this redone with Romita paint job and Romita style Peter head. (Which I'd pay $50 for sadly)
I think it'll be a few years, assuming Hasbro still makes these, before we start having the "this not quite A-List character deserves a Maximum release" but it's inevitable.
Also excited for the first Con exclusive Maximum figure. A classic Spider-Man feels like a safe bet at some point.
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