Warning - Non-Jp Vinyl Alert - Non-Jp Vinyl ALert - those with weak stomachs avoid.

I know a few people here collect, or have collected, Marvel Legends Figures. Before ebay and Yahoo Japan, when all I had was my vintage Denys Fisher toys to sate my Henshin Cyborg lust, I started collecting the X-men figures that Toybiz released. Not easy as they didn't come out in the UK. Looking back , those figures seem like Cavemen renditions of teh characters now, but at the time they were a breakthrough. The first series from maybe 1989, paved the way for releases of charcaters that I thought I would never see in plastic form. Obscure characters form the depths of the X-men (mostly) Marvel Universe. One much less obscure, but an old favorite was Venom. He came with a voice box unit that said amongst other thing (in an ULTRA creepy voice) "I want to eat your brain". So cool, I used to take it to band rehearsals, and blast it thru the PA! I later found out that Glenn Danzig used it as his answering mesage for a while....lol

So, when Marvel Legends hit a few years ago, I'd long since given up on superhero figures, but when I saw these guys it just drew me back in again. Great sculpts, amazing 30 to 40 point articulation, great retro packaging, and some off the wall caharcters amongst teh old mainstays. Then, having taken a leaf out of the Asian toy scene, the series started including a piece with each figure of a much larger figure that you assembled yourself - each one surprisingly well done with amazing large size multi-point articulation, like the first one they did: a Sentinel from series 10:


or Mojo, which was co-sculpted by Nathan Cabrera:



So, this brings me to my question: Is anyone disappointed with the new series? I was looking forward to the Hercules figure, and of course not the X3 related figures (ugh), but when they finally dropped in a local Target (no Yahoo Japan for this s##t), I hated them. The packaging is horrible. I loved the old skool style square packaging with a repro classic comic book in it, plus they are great for stacking (sadly, no room to display with all my Jp vinyl, so with the exception of series 1, mine are all in their boxes still). The new packaging sucks. Then the figures themselves seem to look smaller, less comic booky and the colors look weird. Hercules looks almost orangey pink. PINK - for god's sake, Hercules wouldn't be seen dead in pink. End result is - no new series for me, and I really wanted to collect the build yourself Anihilus figure as well....the best thing about the series:



A couple of other pics of some nicely designed, fun to collect, super low priced, mass produced (shudder) TOYS which are FUN, especially for old comic book fans:



HulkBuster Ironman:

I have a handful of MLs- mostly Iron Man figures, though.

I've seen the new Hasbro MLs. Mixed feelings, I guess. The Ultimate IM looks like a throwback to the 90s Toybiz line (in a good way); White Queen and Hercules are just awful. I think I'll just buy the Annihilus BAF as a set and hopefully save some money (I was able to find Onslaught for $8 ).

I appreciate the obscure references in some of the MLs, as well. Finding the variants can get a bit ridiculous, though. Don't even get me started on the infamous Walmart exclusive set...

Die Spiderman! that toy was cool... he sounded funny when the batteries were low. I know i still have one of those somewhere

Yeah - Wal-Mart - luckilly there are none near me (LA has some legislation which prevents super large vampiric life sucking stores form opening here - i.e. Wal-Mart) otherwsie I would have been tempted. I don't chase teh vraiants, which makes it hassle free and more fun. I save all teh hassle for my JP collection.

So, are teh new series by Hasbro? I guess I didn't notice, and that explains the suckiness.

Yep, Hasbro. Hasbro's done a decent job in the Spiderman Origins figures so far, though.

Really, no Walmarts allowed in LA? I used to live there until a few months ago, and there were a couple in town to my recollection. The only catch was that they were in the worst possible neighborhoods, so I never visited those anyway.

I don't k now the legislation in detail, but I know tehre are none allowed centrally, or something like that - I remember listening to an NPR story on it.

I have a few, but when it comes to Marvel I just spend my money on Medicoms Comic RAH's. They're priceier but I love them, they also make some VCD's like the Danzig and Mickey Runaway brains in Marvel form.

I really like the Galactus you can build from one of the sets though. I actually just found my Capt. America from this set.

I believe LOKASH collects ML to the hilt!!!

Ive got them all baby!!

Seriously, the new Hasbro legends (as they are reffered to) are weak, the paint apps are hardly there, and the lack of comicbooks sucks.I did buy the Herc figure and he fits well with his fellow Avengers on the shelf.This is Hasbros first try at the ML figures, so Ill wait until I see the next 2 lines before I really decide to give them up.

Carl, check out this link and look at what the Marvel toys(formerly toybiz) has coming out this year and it puts Hasbro's Legends to shame.I for one am super stoked on being able to get a Legends style Savage Dragon, and Madman.If you ever come up north , Ill give you a tour of the Legends cases, and my secret buying spots around here so we can get you that Destroyer you were looking for.

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/toyfare/003428920.cfm

Heres some old pics of my Legends, Ive got tons more stuff since, and am building custom risers for them, so Ill take updated pics soon.Carl, you need to display those toys, set them free!
http://www.skullbrain.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5982

I agree the Legends series has gone downhill since Hasbro took over.
The White Queen looks like a heroin addict; Ultimate Iron Man would be ok except Tony Stark would have to be built like Barney Fife to fit in that armor; it is too thin. And why do a movie Beast when there is already an X3 figure line out there? I miss the clamshell packaging, too. The 90's Toy Biz sculpts of Beta Ray Bill and the Maestro are much better than their newer counterparts, although out of scale.
On the postive side, the Spidey figures are nice. I got a Spider-man in his 'Iron Spider" armor the other day; it rocks.

Just saw the Hasbro Legends in the stores, suck. Weak character choices, weak delivery.