for Marvel, if it hadn’t been for the original Legends line, I doubt any of would be ‘in the business’, any more. they kept me collecting after the end of the 5″ line which is still a watermark in diversity for me. When the 6″ scale was basically shelved to concentrate/push the 4″ line, I only cherry picked a few new/unique characters, mostly ignoring the line until this past year’s Return of ML, which does have me excited to collect again, but I’m wondering how many IM and now CAP variants they can push? (an updated Braddock would be nice, but still…!)

The thing is, I was a diehard ARAH and TF-G1 collector, but the 4″ scale from DC and Marvel have left me cold and the newer Joes have me worried that they’re too fragile to do much! With TF, they keep recycling the same handful of characters in new iterations every year or two, so it does get repetitive and I’m passing on more than I’m picking up.

I do think we are at a breaking point, what with the “subscription” costs making one figure north of $20, and almost $30 for MOTUC! I balked at the Hasbro Hulk Classics line at first when they were the first to hit $15. I could never complete a Fin Fang Foom if I had wanted, as I never saw a few key figures to complete him, anyway. the Rulk ML wave I passed on half the figures for several reasons, least of which the BAF was a figure I didn’t “need” and was only vaguely familiar with, even tho I had several opportunities to finish him. The fact the DC and now even ML lines aren’t including the BAF/CnC incentive to buy more figures isn’t helping.

I just can’t wait for the day when we get those 3D tooling machine costs down so we can create our own figures!
#TrekReplicatorsFTW!

Regarding comics, I’ll never understand why DC had to tweak its company history around to sell video games and movies when Warners’ licensing wing had been doing its job so nicely for decades prior, using material such as Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez’ style guide even after the Crisis reboot and Byrne’s take on Superman had supposedly made the Garcia-Lopez versions null and void.

Same goes for Marvel having their print characters match the “movie universe” costumes and appearances right down to the Sam Jackson version of Nick Fury when we all know that general interest in the movie universe can’t possibly outlast its four-color lineage. In any case, that’s Marvel and DC’s ball for now and they are rolling with it. More power to them.

As for the action figure biz, it may never bounce back to the good old days given modern consumer preferences, but I don’t think it will go away completely. Its mainstream appeal has greatly diminished due to changing tastes (much like model kits or puzzles) but there will always be some sort of retail presence, collector support be damned or not. The 80′s nostalgia revival still dusts off a forgotten property each year (witness the Four Horsemen on Power Lords) and will continue to draw source material from history as the children of the 90′s and beyond begin to age.

In the end, it might be more of an endless loop than a slow demise for the action figure industry.

Much like the mid-90's – early 2000's (My Dark Age) saw FLOOOOOODS of McFarlane and JimLee and other rising artist specific product everywhere to the point that there was nothing nostalgic at all (excluding the emerging Marvel Legends) about the commercial toyhunt, this too must have an end SOMEWHERE. As I look back on my complete collection of 20+ Waves of DCU and start to pick my favorite children I realize hey, it was a good run. In just 2006 @ $10.00 a head to now $19.99 a head if your lucky enough to find what it is your looking for, we have clearly transcended some sort of cycle. From what seemed like one-shot waves of DCSH sets to then the DCU @ 4-5 figures a series +C&C to now 7+ figures +C&C @ double the price, we have clearly grown quite the profitable coats of wool for our toy producers. Our Unyeilding yeild is our gift to them and in exchange they gave us a little bit of our childhood back (except for that pesky work thing and other responsibilities). It's got to end somewhere right?… Some of us have kids to spoil!!!

If this is the end (mayanwise) then well, I guess Daniel Pickett wins, but if its the end (collectorwise) I've got enough toys to fuel 10 childhoods.

Like many collectors in the PolymerVerse, when I don't see the products I want… I'll just stick to making my own or ranting about it with the rest of you.

To give you an idea of the mindset at Hasbro, I had dinner with the current brand managers of ML this year (after David Vonner left, unfortunately) and when they talked about how surprised they were about the success of the ML relaunch, I said “Imagine how much better it could be if you had ToyBiz level figures, instead of Frankenstein-ing the same bodies over & over”. They told me their MLs were better than Toy Biz because “we don’t use recycled plastic”. Okay, that’s an improvement, but pack-ins. new sculpts, articulation, paint apps, character selection and EVERYTHING ELSE are wore. But hey – new plastic!

It’ll always be easier to sell an Optimus Prime, a Luke Skywalker and a Snake-Eyes than it is to launch new properties, but on the other hand these properties have been in toy aisles for 15+ uninterrupted years at this point – when the aisles used to turn over way faster than that. That’s where corporate greed comes into it – there are people who are risk managing the companies and the properties out of existence by over-exposing properties at the expense of developing new ones. Think about this – Vince McMahon has developed more marketable new characters in the last ten years than Marvel, DC, Hasbro & Mattel put together!

I would rather pay for & have one Hot Toys figure than I would 25 3 3/4″ Hasbro MU figures – and that’s the final reason why I’ve largely stopped buying American toys.

With the increase in cost of plastic, I wonder if the 6 inch lines will be replaced by 5 inch, which is the scale I always collected until 6 inch took over.

Would really like to see some kind of DC Nation line created to fill the retail void of DC product.

How many more Snake Eyes and Duke figures will be purchased when the line resumes in 2013? And how many other fans will be willing to continue to plunk down literally hundreds of dollars for just a handful of exclusive collector club figures?

You expect 2013 to be even better, and I would like to agree with you, but I think we’re going to see drastic changes within the industry.

I expect 2013 to be even better, so I can’t relate to your doom and gloom outlook, Ryan. If someone isn’t having fun anymore, that’s about the individual, not the hobby.

My problem with Marvel toy collecting these days is that most of the classic-look figures Hasbro is producing are either (a) their build-a-figures or (b) “randomly” distributed so that collectors can’t use reliable online resources to order what they want. I nearly tore out my hair in frustration trying to pick up Madame Masque and Thunderball, and now they’re pulling the same [expletive] with Hyperion. Since I’m not interested in modern-look Marvel toys, I find myself asking whether I REALLY want Arnim Zola so badly I’ll buy a bunch of toys I have no interest in ever displaying.

So what’s got me feeling optimistic about the hobby? I’ve discovered that the money I used to plunk down for a case of DCUC figures and instead buy a single high-end import toy from Soul of Chogokin, Figma, or Transformers Masterpiece. Expensive, yes, but WOW, you get what you pay for.

Truth be told, I NEVER enjoyed hunting for toys in stores. Sure, I enjoyed walking into a toy aisle and finding what I wanted, but how often did that happen in comparison to disappointment and wasted time and gas? Online ordering has made my life a lot happier.