Fractal Dreams

Ever since Toy Biz sold their Marvel Legends line of toys (and the license for the Marvel movie toys : Spiderman, Fantastic 4, Ghost Rider…) to Hasbro, a lot of collectors gnashed their teeth in despair. For good reason: Hasbro’s Wave 1 of their Marvel Legends was a failure, because of several reasons:

1.) Poor Sculpt on most figures (On Wave 1, Emma Frost was the most Hideous, Wolverine on the second wave)
2.) Poor paintjob, most figures lacked drybrushed textures that ToyBiz MLs were famous for, hence, most looked really like kid’s toys (rather than collectibles)
3.) The removal of the comic book included in the figure(although a good portion of the fanbase liked the idea, because they think it’s just an unnecessary cost)
4.) Given the complaints above, Hasbro MLs retail at an increased price

So there you have it. Why most ML collectors were disappointed. Hasbro tried to make amends in their second wave, and indeed, more decent figures were introduced, albeit retaining poor paintjobs and increased prices.  Response was a little warmer this time, but the figs still aren’t selling well.

Despite the cold reception, there are still figures from this line that are sought after. Wave 1 had Ultimate Iron Man and Wave 2 had Thor (in his standoff costume). Being an Iron Man fan, I was disappointed by the way it was made, and I wasn’t willing to pay a premium to buy one of the last few stocks available in hobby shops. But I did get the Thor figure, and made a simple photo with the Thor Buster Iron Man, his enemy in the standoff storyline in the comic books. (Click on the thumbnail to see full image.)

Hasbro wave 3 has been announced long ago, but still hasn’t reached the Philippine markets. I just hope Hasbro listens to its customers and amend their mistakes…