Posted by: @darkxorn

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This latest episode adds even more options to the fold for future waves

Spoiler

Most importantly, Deathbird. Shi'ar Xavier would be another cool addition, and now that Storm's adopted her Giant Size costume, throw on a new head to the existing mold and voila.

I'm so giddy they chose this costume as her new look. I'm looking forward to seeing it lined up with the 90's costumes, as it's pretty timeless and she often goes back to it in different incarnations.

 

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@fenrys oh, I disagree completely. I think they're all intertwined when it comes to character selection. If you're doing X-Men, you have to have Wolverine so you can toss him out, but I think the VHS line avoided Rogue, Gambit, and Beast because of their proximity to the retro card releases which were either still available (in the case of Rogue and Gambit) or about to come out (Beast). And I think that's why we got 97 versions of Rogue and Gambit in the first wave (as well as Magneto and Bishop) because they might get a few sales from those who saw them as replacements for the VHS line. Other decisions are likely made for purely budgetary reasons as it's clear they had a per line budget so they need a few figures that require either no new tooling (like Sinister) or minimal new tooling (Storm, Mystique). The further we get into the X-Men '97 line the less this will likely matter as it should be able to largely stand on its own after the third wave when it's possible, if not assumed, we'll get the likes of Beast, Morph, Cable, and so on.

Posted by: @misfit

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@fenrys oh, I disagree completely. I think they're all intertwined when it comes to character selection. If you're doing X-Men, you have to have Wolverine so you can toss him out, but I think the VHS line avoided Rogue, Gambit, and Beast because of their proximity to the retro card releases which were either still available (in the case of Rogue and Gambit) or about to come out (Beast). And I think that's why we got 97 versions of Rogue and Gambit in the first wave (as well as Magneto and Bishop) because they might get a few sales from those who saw them as replacements for the VHS line. Other decisions are likely made for purely budgetary reasons as it's clear they had a per line budget so they need a few figures that require either no new tooling (like Sinister) or minimal new tooling (Storm, Mystique). The further we get into the X-Men '97 line the less this will likely matter as it should be able to largely stand on its own after the third wave when it's possible, if not assumed, we'll get the likes of Beast, Morph, Cable, and so on.

If they didn't release Rogue and Gambit in VHS due to their proximity to the Retro card releases, why did we get Cyclops, Jean, Storm and Wolverine in the 97 line despite their proximity to the VHS releases?

@fenrys The cast is what it is, there's no way to avoid duplication of some kind without hurting the legitimacy of the show. If I had to guess, Storm was in the first wave because she was able to feature a hairstyle people have likely wanted for awhile. Her tooling costs are low, and she has a big moment in the show's first episode. Cyclops is pretty damn essential, but they held off until the second wave. He's also the unshaded version so many wanted of the VHS version and he gets to come with an effect head which some people would buy just for that. Wolverine is included in the first wave because he's Wolverine. You're not going to do an X-Men line without him in the first wave. Plus, it's the VHS version without shading and its pinless - something people wanted. As for Jean, she has been the most surprising inclusion for me because we had the VHS one and because she even received a lot of new sculpt. She too was held off until the second wave though and I don't think the approach to wave two was to be as complementary to the VHS line as the first. She's also basically a 2 in 1, as we've come to find out, and what toy company would avoid a character that a few completists may buy multiples of?

Posted by: @misfit

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@fenrys The cast is what it is, there's no way to avoid duplication of some kind without hurting the legitimacy of the show. If I had to guess, Storm was in the first wave because she was able to feature a hairstyle people have likely wanted for awhile. Her tooling costs are low, and she has a big moment in the show's first episode. Cyclops is pretty damn essential, but they held off until the second wave. He's also the unshaded version so many wanted of the VHS version and he gets to come with an effect head which some people would buy just for that. Wolverine is included in the first wave because he's Wolverine. You're not going to do an X-Men line without him in the first wave. Plus, it's the VHS version without shading and its pinless - something people wanted. As for Jean, she has been the most surprising inclusion for me because we had the VHS one and because she even received a lot of new sculpt. She too was held off until the second wave though and I don't think the approach to wave two was to be as complementary to the VHS line as the first. She's also basically a 2 in 1, as we've come to find out, and what toy company would avoid a character that a few completists may buy multiples of?

Storm was low tooling costs? Wasn't she at a minimum, new limbs and a new head? She's pinless whereas her previous figures were not.

Yeah, I would think that the proximity to a previous release doesn't necessarily matter in this case. Hasbro LOVES re-use. It saves them money, and most of the X-Men 97 figures are darn near close to full re-use, just with some new parts here and there and some new paint (arguably less paint apps in places, since there's no cel shading). It saves them money, and the fact that they already had some of those molds hot and ready to go from the VHS releases just makes sense. The distribution makes sense to me, as well- you wanna save some heavy hitters for each wave if possible, and Wolverine is THE face of X-Men nowadays, so Cyclops in wave 2 (along with both of his girlfriends) seems like the logical choice. Something tells me that, had they thought the show was going to be a success and already greenlit a wave 3/4, then we'd probably have seen some of the characters we got now a little more spread out. Morph, Jubilee, Beast, and Sunspot are important characters, no doubt, but they're not on the same level as Wolvie, Cyclops, Storm, etc. I can see one or two of them being peppered in to the first 2 waves to fill a spot of a heavy hitter, which they could then use to anchor some of the later waves. But luckily for them, the show is proving hot no matter what, so they can get away with some more secondary characters in later waves, if not a variant of a main character.

Anywho, I now begin my long, arduous process of gathering all the figures myself. I snoozed on them the first time around, which is totally on me. I'm debating picking them up piecemeal as I find them, or waiting for some of the full waves to restock. Not sure which would be cheaper in the long run. Ahhh, figure collecting. Always manages to prove me wrong every time I try to be mature about things and save money.

Posted by: @joshsquash729

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Yeah, I would think that the proximity to a previous release doesn't necessarily matter in this case. Hasbro LOVES re-use. It saves them money, and most of the X-Men 97 figures are darn near close to full re-use, just with some new parts here and there and some new paint (arguably less paint apps in places, since there's no cel shading). It saves them money, and the fact that they already had some of those molds hot and ready to go from the VHS releases just makes sense. The distribution makes sense to me, as well- you wanna save some heavy hitters for each wave if possible, and Wolverine is THE face of X-Men nowadays, so Cyclops in wave 2 (along with both of his girlfriends) seems like the logical choice. Something tells me that, had they thought the show was going to be a success and already greenlit a wave 3/4, then we'd probably have seen some of the characters we got now a little more spread out. Morph, Jubilee, Beast, and Sunspot are important characters, no doubt, but they're not on the same level as Wolvie, Cyclops, Storm, etc. I can see one or two of them being peppered in to the first 2 waves to fill a spot of a heavy hitter, which they could then use to anchor some of the later waves. But luckily for them, the show is proving hot no matter what, so they can get away with some more secondary characters in later waves, if not a variant of a main character.

Anywho, I now begin my long, arduous process of gathering all the figures myself. I snoozed on them the first time around, which is totally on me. I'm debating picking them up piecemeal as I find them, or waiting for some of the full waves to restock. Not sure which would be cheaper in the long run. Ahhh, figure collecting. Always manages to prove me wrong every time I try to be mature about things and save money.

And this is exactly why I initially was saying that the previous releases don't really have any bearing on character selection for X-Men 97. If they did, then we would likely have not gotten a few of the figures we already have gotten (at least not yet).

@fenrys that's a lot lower than it would be for a figure like Jean, no? They can still leverage some previous molds when going from a pinned joint to a pinless one too. I don't know if they did, I also don't see what purpose this serves. I gave you my rationale for how I see character selection works in this case - agree or disagree as you see fit.

Spoilers for episode 6.

Yep, I need it. Even if it'll likely be a retool/redeco of the previous one. Throw some of those new pinless limbs on it!

Also hoping that this episode gets us either Deathbird or Xavier in Wave 3.

Posted by: @fenrys

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Personally, I think Beast, Jubilee and Cable should all get updated pinless bodies to match the rest of the figures that have been released, all have been completley pinless except Gambit.

 

Agreed, don't half ass this.  I don't see what existing parts make Cable.  He should have fabric style legs, not muscley like the Zabu one.  Should be all new.  That being said, I doubt they have only designed and proto'd 12 figures.  Most likely they have more that didn't fit in Wave 1 or 2 so while the lead time is substantial, I don' think it's forever.

I also called Professor X in Shiar Warlord gear for the retro card, now I want a '97 one.  And more Shiar, maybe army builder troops.  Show is excellent! Really hitting the 90s sweet spot greatly.

@joshsquash729 

They're hardly full reuse.  Goblin Queen, Jean, X-Cutioner are all new and Nightcrawler is more different than I realized.  I get that Hasbro reuses stuff sure, but this line is a great opportunity for some really satisfying figures of characters including some deep cuts

Posted by: @ditko

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Posted by: @fenrys

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Personally, I think Beast, Jubilee and Cable should all get updated pinless bodies to match the rest of the figures that have been released, all have been completley pinless except Gambit.

 

 

Agreed, don't half ass this.  I don't see what existing parts make Cable.  He should have fabric style legs, not muscley like the Zabu one.  Should be all new.  That being said, I doubt they have only designed and proto'd 12 figures.  Most likely they have more that didn't fit in Wave 1 or 2 so while the lead time is substantial, I don' think it's forever.

 

I also called Professor X in Shiar Warlord gear for the retro card, now I want a '97 one.  And more Shiar, maybe army builder troops.  Show is excellent! Really hitting the 90s sweet spot greatly.

 

What if the "Retro card" Xavier is actually on a 97 card

That last episode was amazing! Gives an excuse to make so many great characters as figures. 

I hope they use this opportunity to finally give us a Vulcan. They should put him on the Sunfire body.