Locked and Spring-Loaded

The times, they are a-changin’. Those of us who collect 3¾” action figures have seen articulation reduced in some lines to keep prices down around $6, while fully articulated figures cost in the neighborhood of $10. Green Lantern, STAR WARS, The Dark Knight Rises, Iron Man 3, Ultimate Spider-Man, and even G.I. JOE: Retaliation vehicle drivers have all the posing potential of a 1978 Luke Skywalker. As a collector, there are positives and negatives to be found in this new strategy. One obvious positive is that collectors still have options with a fantastic balance of sculpted detail and articulation in the single-carded G.I. JOE releases, Marvel Universe, and the forthcoming STAR WARS Black Series. Another positive is that $6 options in the action figure aisles help keep toys affordable for parents, and the significance of that for the future of action figure collecting cannot be exaggerated. Someday, many of the kids whose moms are buying them $6 Iron Man and Spider-Man figures will graduate to buying their own $10 Marvel Universe figures. The flip side, of course, is that we have fewer options for action figures featuring the full range of articulation we’ve enjoyed over the last several years.

Other trends include fewer weapons and accessories being packaged with some figures and a lack of stands. While it may bother some hobbyists, this is one direction with which I’m entirely at peace. I end up replacing most of my 3¾” figures’ weapons with items from Marauder “Gun-Runners” anyway. If I need stands, Marauder has those, too. But there is something I’d like to see packed with the figures more often, and so to toy manufacturers, I make my plea:

MOAR LAUNCHERZ PLZ!

Don’t Fear The “Scalper”

While reading some recent store report posts on another collecting site, I noticed some disturbing comments. Someone had failed to find what he was searching for in a toy aisle, but he noticed another man in the section with multiples of the figures he wanted in his cart. He asked the other fellow if he could have one of them, and his request was denied. Another collector responded by saying he would have simply taken what he wanted and dared the guy to “hit” him. To quote Obi-Wan Kenobi, So uncivilized. This deteriorated into the usual anti-”scalper” ranting, coupled with more Internet Tough Guy bravado. Another insisted he would have initiated a confrontation with the “scalper” so his child could get the toy instead. I’d imagine setting a good example for that child would be a more worthwhile gift, but perhaps that’s unreasonable of me. The sense of entitlement was so thick you could cut it with a knife. I always believed people were supposed to grow out of, “It should be mine here and now just because I want it,” before entering adulthood, but it seems to be a permanent frame of mind all too often these days. As I was reading this nonsense, I couldn’t help feeling a sense of appreciation for the “scalpers” in this hobby.

On Vinegar, Honey, and Flies

"The fans would get us to pay a lot more attention if they weren’t so negative. ‘Cause what happens is, there are so many people that are so negative, you just have to shut it off, because it would shake your confidence. And it’s unfortunate, because fans have helped us, too. You know, we want to know who the favorite characters are when you take a mythology like Transformers or G.I. JOE." – Lorenzo di Bonaventura [youtube]HlcYFzeweJs[/youtube]   No, this isn’t a defense of any of the movies with which Lorenzo di Bonaventura has been involved. He makes a very valid point, though, and it’s relevant to a lot more than Hollywood productions. It would behoove those of us who collect action figures and discuss them online to pause and consider his words. "The fans would get us to pay a lot more attention if they weren’t so negative." Just imagine how many times this very thought has run through the heads of Hasbro and Mattel employees.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Figures

With Toy Fair 2011 came an announcement from Mattel that this would be the last year for their Justice League Unlimited action figure line. For many of us, that’s going to leave a significant void in our hobbies. We’ve spent a little over eight years in our pursuit of these little guys and gals, but don’t panic. All good things must come to an end, and JLU has had a long, fun-filled life.

Reality Check: Action Figures Should Cost More

If you’ve been looking at action figure prices lately and thinking, "These things shouldn’t cost that much," guess again. Far from paying too much, we’re really not paying enough. It’s time to get over being so tight, break out those wallets, and prepare to pony up for your preferred plastic playthings. G.I. JOE makes the case pretty easily. Prices for Hasbro’s A Real American Hero line of 3¾" figures generally ranged from $2.00 to $3.00 in 1982, but stores like Macy’s sold them for as much as $4.00 (yep, just 88 cents less than Wal-Mart’s original price for 25th Anniversary figures in 2007). We’ll go with the average of those lower amounts and say a JOE cost $2.50 in ’82. Using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator, we discover that $2.50 in ’82 dollars spends like $5.65 in 2010 dollars (2011 isn’t available yet). But inflation doesn’t tell the whole story. While a dollar goes a little less than half as far as it did back in 1982, that year began with oil prices at $30.80 and ended at $28.02. Inflation would account for a price of $66.46 per barrel in 2010 dollars, but the current price of $89 per barrel is around 35% higher than our adjusted-for-inflation price. As we all know, the plastic used in production of action figures is a petroleum product, never mind the rising fuel cost for moving freight from China.

Let’s Get Those Tots Some Toys

The U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program kicked off its 2010 campaign this week. With our nation’s poverty rate at its highest level since 1994, this is as important a time as ever to help deliver holiday cheer to millions of less fortunate children across America. Toys For Tots is one of my personal favorite charities, so I felt compelled to highlight the organization and its mission here.

Finite Heroes?

"I can’t see buying many of these." "With only a couple of exceptions, this line looks really cheap, like some Lanard The Corps! figures." Those were my initial reactions upon seeing the first Toy Fair images of Mattel’s DC Universe Infinite Heroes line back in 2008. I was less than impressed, to say the least.

“Aw, man… They NEVER Have Snake-Eyes!”

Those were the exact words I heard from the mouth of a boy who couldn’t have been more than ten years old Monday evening. I stopped by Big Lots after reading that collectors were finding wave 11 25th Anniversary/Modern Era G.I. JOE figures at some of their locations. After picking up two Cobra Eels, Matt Trakker, and Airborne from their selection of JOEs, I walked around the toy aisles a bit to see if there was anything else interesting. When I circled back to the action figures, this kid was looking through the G.I. JOE pegs. That’s when he complained about not being able to find Snake-Eyes.

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

Sure, action figures are the focus around here, as evidenced by the name of the site. If you’re anything like me, though, your collecting habits involve more than just little plastic men. With STAR WARS, DC Direct, Justice League Unlimited, G.I. JOE, Marvel Universe, and anything I can find from my favorite comic books, movies, and television shows, I am definitely an action figure junkie. My hobbies extend beyond toys, though.

Kalibak and the Forty Bills

Okay, so not quite $40, but $38.70. That’s what you want from me for a Justice League Unlimited four-pack, Mattel. And that was cool, at least until you dove headfirst into the deep end of the crazy pool with some of the character selections. For a team that was so concerned about the sales of a pack with a JLU Clock King and TNBA Harley Quinn, Bane, and Scarecrow, you guys really made a couple of odd choices with the Doom Patrol and Justice Guild sets. Even an army builder pack of four identical Parademon figures would have made more sense (especially on your end, since you’d only have one new figure to tool). I bought two of the Gotham Criminals sets, and I bought your Legion Of Super Heroes set, even though the Legion has never had much appeal for me. Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel are winners; the Doom Patrol is okay. You can get forty of my dead presidents there. Could have had it for Jonah Hex, Bat Lash, Ohiyesa Smith, and El Diablo from "The Once and Future Thing". Even young Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern from "Kid Stuff" would have been fun. I have some news for you on the Justice Guild set, though: I ain’t buying it.

Happy Independence Day

Here’s wishing everyone a fun and safe holiday as we celebrate our independence. We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for …

Diversity In Action (Figures)

Building on a topic I had briefly mentioned on my own site’s blog recently, and one that came up last month on the AFI forum, diversity in comic books, animation, and action figure lines is a big issue for me. This is something that dates back all the way to my childhood. Since coming into its own as a toy concept in the late ’70s and early ’80s, some action figure lines have done better jobs of being inclusive than others have. Despite the overwhelming success with children of the day and the lasting popularity with collectors enjoyed by some brands, they had a lot of room for improvement in what they offered to their young fans.

(Not Quite) Like It’s 1989

So my girlfriend and I encountered something peculiar at a local Wal-Mart on May 1st. This particular store had previously reduced the space dedicated to G.I. JOE figures to one peg for singles and one peg for comic book two-packs, in addition to its glut of Combat Heroes sets. When I walked into the action figure aisle that evenening, however, they had expanded JOE’s area to five pegs for single figures and two pegs for the comic packs. What was really interesting, though, was what was on those pegs.

Remember When “Exclusive” Meant Exclusive?

Maybe I’m older than I feel, but it doesn’t seem like it was all that long ago when a convention exclusive was actually exclusive to a convention. If you weren’t going to be there in person, you either had to have a connection who could cover you, or you had to hunt for that figure and pay a little (or a lot, in some cases) more for it. These days, the big toy manufacturers make their convention "exclusives" available to non-attendees via their web sites after the shows. I have a request for those companies: Stop.

Snakes… Why Did It Have To Be Snakes?

In what could only be called a massive disappointment, Hasbro launched a new line of action figures based on characters from the Indiana Jones movies last year. The manufacturer was disappointed in lackluster sales that quickly resulted in retailers pulling their support. Collectors who enjoyed the toys were disappointed in the line’s quick demise. Others were simply disappointed in the figures themselves, seeing them as substantially inferior to other lines in the 3¾" scale. Count me among that final group. While my local Wal-Mart can’t seem to give these away at $1.00 each, I found a way to actually make use of something from this now defunct line.