Toy Biz Marvel Legends highs and lows

Opening those clamshells was difficult for sure, but between that, the comic and the base everything felt premium before we were even using that word.  I remember not knowing about McFarlane Spider-man at all, and I always was up on things; I discovered thefwoosh when I was looking for a replacement Classics Spider-man because my experiments screwed mine up.  Someone posted pics of this insane new Spidey that blew my mind, I went to Walmart and they had a bunch!  I bought like 3 and it was probably my favorite day ever for collecting Legends.  Toys made me pretty happy back then.

They still do now in a sense, but we pay more for less in my opinion and Marvel has just gotten way too big.  It was an arthouse toy company making amazing figures from comic books that I could still take seriously.  And always wondering "what will they do next"

ToyBiz ML was a ground breaking line really, from the articulation attempts to the paint to the running changes/variants to the BAF to the box sets. Comparing the current stuff is pointless - it's like comparing an Atari 2600 to a PS5 and saying the 2600 was terrible because it can't compete with the modern stuff - the PS5 is clearly superior, but the Atari 2600 was cutting edge at the time and was the beginning of a new era. 50 years from now when action figures are all mini-robots with voice chips and AI that let's you converse with the figure and they can fight each other on their own, people will think all of this stuff that excites us now is antiquated rubbish, the way we look at wood blocks painted as a cowboy which kids loved 100 years ago.

Pretty sure what got my buying from BBTS initially was them offering cases for ML, so you knew you would get all the BAF parts (and often the variants). But that might have been closer to the middle of the ToyBiz run. It was generally a lot easier for me to find stuff at retail then, as I had TRU, Kay-Bee, Target and Walmart all within about a mile of each other a few minutes away - now only the Target remains. 

I remember finding the floor display for the Giant Man wave and getting all the figures at once, and then never seeing any again at retail. 

The Spider-Man Classics adjacent line produced a fairly deep set of rogues, and then the Sinister Six boxset capped it off nicely. I have considered keeping all of those as my Spidey display instead of Hasbro, as much for nostalgia about keeping some of the ToyBiz era around. 

Some things might never get remade - not sure we will ever get another Impossible Man for instance. 

See one of the amazing things with Toy Biz is it's NOT like comparing Atari to Playstation.  In some cases yes, but Pitt hasn't been topped nor have some others. The textures, sculpt and paint on Dragon Man are just on another level. I don't mean to derail anything nor do I want to "piss" on today's stuff, but it speaks to the artistry of the line that it holds up like it does. 

Stuff like Parachute Spider-man and Rogue drove me nuts for sure and honestly I never really loved Toy Biz Gambit.  Hasbro has cleaned up and smoothed out those looks so well which constitute the bulk of the line, but the cool and "interesting designs" fuhgeddaboudit

Just started reading back on this thread and was reminded that I was in a very minor fender bender driving to Walmart looking for the Giant Man wave.  Even though it was a small tap on my back bumper, I was so ticked off at myself because it happened when I was specifically driving for toys.  I found all several days later.

I got a speeding ticket one time on my way to TRU to look for Star Wars toys. Turned right around and went home. That was so annoying.

Posted by: @ditko

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See one of the amazing things with Toy Biz is it's NOT like comparing Atari to Playstation.  In some cases yes, but Pitt hasn't been topped nor have some others. 

I agree.  Atari and Playstation, neither of those were ahead of their time.....they were in keeping with their time.  TB was ahead of its time in a lot of areas, no one else was doing the stuff they were doing, and I agree there are some offerings that have not been topped.

That PITT figure....man....absolutely insane.  My buddy has the BAF complete and it's an imposing piece in person.  Speaking of LCBH, the Conan is absolutely part of my ML collection being that it was a Marvel book at one point.  I actually just paired him with the new Crystar being that they are both 80's "swords and sorcery" type dudes.  I like that figure a lot.  And on the very off chance that anyone has the scabbard for his sword, I need it!

@yojoebro82 

I read Pitt as a kid and built him when the wave hit. Honestly I was crushed Toy Biz shutdown and Youngblood was supposed to appear.  Liefeld gets a lot of hate, or least criticism and it's justified in many ways, but his designs make for killer figures and.....we got robbed.  That's why I hope Loose Collector really steps up here in the next couple years.

I forgot that Conan!  He and Wraith were incredible.  SuperPatriot and Dragon were so impressive as well.  It would be neat if LC went after Top Cow and Larsen as well to complete that lineup.

I didn’t keep Pitt. Only Legendary Comic Book Heroes u hung on to were Dragon, Super Patriot, Ripclaw, Witchblade, Conan, Madman, Monkeyman and O’Brien.

For LCBH I have Conan, Marv, Judge Dredd, Ripclaw, Savage Dragon (no shirt).  LCBH Marv looks really good with TB Kingpin, Bullseye, and Daredevil for a mini Miller display.

Witchblade:  Well, this is the "highs and lows" thread:  I tried to like that Witchblade, it's got some good things going on with the armor bits, but in the end it's as bad as most of their other female figures.  Specifically a midsection that is so small that it would have no room for any internal organs.

Witchblade did zero justice to Michael Turner’s art. Biggest disappointment in the line.

I still have Witchblade and Conan. I think my Patriots gun arm broke though. Just weakened over time and snapped in storage, iirc. Also have Judge Dredd but I think I'm missing a bunch of his stuff.

Speaking of Witchblade though, I do have the Clayburn Moore versions, and while they're glorified statues, they do at least look really nice. I'm a little surprised alot of then went super cheap. Much better then the one mentioned. When I got the Legends esque one I was wanting a Witchblade to go with my Marvel figures cause I thought it was awesome to mix properties like that. The figure was such a letdown.  Kinda like the old Psylocke. They may even share some parrts, but I'm not sure cause she's been in storage as well for the longest time.

Here's a display I love setting back up every so often.  I think these figures look great together and give off that classic Avengers #1 vibe.  I got that soft good Thor cape last year for my Hasbro 80th Thor but at the last minute decided to give it to the Toybiz.  

[img] [/img]

Posted by: @ditko

↑

See one of the amazing things with Toy Biz is it's NOT like comparing Atari to Playstation.  In some cases yes, but Pitt hasn't been topped nor have some others. The textures, sculpt and paint on Dragon Man are just on another level. I don't mean to derail anything nor do I want to "piss" on today's stuff, but it speaks to the artistry of the line that it holds up like it does. 

 

Stuff like Parachute Spider-man and Rogue drove me nuts for sure and honestly I never really loved Toy Biz Gambit.  Hasbro has cleaned up and smoothed out those looks so well which constitute the bulk of the line, but the cool and "interesting designs" fuhgeddaboudit

i'm 50/50 these days on toybiz's paint. What most call great paint apps on Toybiz was mostly just a wash being thrown on... and tbh that often made the figure look muddy as well. From an art perspective it's kinda a simplistic way to make something look better than it actually is. 

Agreed. There were some paint applications that enhanced the sculpt, but many paint apps gummed up the joints to the point of breakage. Some just made the figures look sloppy. When they did it well, it looked great. But when they didn't, it could ruin a figure.

I still really like Face-Off Sabretooth and Fearsome Foes Rhino. To the point that they are still the primary versions in my displays. Is it a coincidence that they are Four Horsemen-designed? 

Honorable mention goes to Nick Fury. We still haven't gotten a proper update to this Steranko version. Even though his head sculpt is clearly meant to have a cigar in it, it's still magical. The overall design allows me to forgive that much of its body is a rehash of Kraven, who himself was a rehash of a wrestling figure (as I understand it).