General Marvel Legends

[Damien]

I am sure the number of people who wait to buy A and B until they are know C and D are coming is not insignificant, given how people may pick and choose what to purchase and what to prioritize.

I'd be willing to bet it's actually not that many people doing this. I think the more common attitude is 'gotta buy it to show Hasbro we support this and want more.' Which is true. I think people also have that fear that if they don't buy it now, then WHEN the team gets completed, those original figures will be at least a couple of years old and may go for twice as much.
Not saying no one does it. But I'd be surprised if it's enough people to even be relevant. Although it's probably how we all SHOULD be buying things.

It isn't that big of a deal to me, but it is the sort of unforced error that probably shouldn't happen.

100%

but my thinking was more that once Hasbro sells the case to the retailer they don't care what happens - they already got paid. Obviously it's not that simple as they want all of their figures to sell well and not rot at retail, but only if it were to become a trend that figures weren't moving would it become an issue for them

Pretty much. They could definitely choose to not care if certain figures don't sell well. And I'm sure there are definitely one-offs and stuff that they were happy to get out there and aren't bothered about sales numbers for. But, as you said, if that were to become a trend that's a big problem with their retailers. And that may also be part of the reason we're seeing so much fan channel type stuff nowadays. Maybe Walmart and Target have gone a little gun-shy.

Too many releases look phoned in to accommodate the BAF part, but they must still be making enough money to where they don't see a need to just pivot to a different method of delivery that focuses on general releases and deluxe offerings exclusively.

You're probably giving them too much credit by assuming the BAF sticks around because they're making money. A lot of things, in a lot of industries (and I can tell you second-hand that definitely this applies to the toy industry and Hasbro specifically) are done just because it's always been done. There's no real logic or data to support it. It's just 'this seems to be working' OR 'it's not working well, but this is just HOW this is done so if we can't make it work we'll just stop altogether.' The amount of decision makers that can't see past their own noses is pretty unreal. Bunch of trust fund babies that paid their way through business school making decisions for the creatives and people who live and breathe the hobby.
I guarantee you that ML would look a lot different if people like Dwight were told to do what they want to do based on what they think will make the most money. Dwight knows what we want and understands fundamentally that maybe a little less profit on each figure could explode the popularity of those figures. He has bosses, who have bosses, who have bosses, that will never accept an answer like that.

It feels like we're at the point with Legends that the "too obscure to justify the costs," excuse is a hard sell given some of the stuff we've seen and the different avenues for release they've come up with.

I think it's more of a red herring answer. 'Sounds expensive to do' turns around two years later when we're complaining about these characters being in a boxed set no one wants, that includes figures we already have. And Dwight gets to say "well, we said it would be expensive to do these figures, so this is the way we figured out to make it work." They're not dumb.

 

[Lucid Silverback]

That Ch'Od BaF was objectively horrible all-around. In addition to the incorrect finger count, he was missing the fin details on his back and lower legs, the one meager paint application was inadequate, he was missing his crazy laser rifle, and he was waaaay too short. All this, plus the fact they lazily reused a decade-old figure flies in the face of the assertion that the BaF model allows for novel sculpts or larger figures to be included in the line.
I love me some Ch'Od, but I begrudgingly passed on attempting to build him or even consider picking him up on the secondary market. That was some seriously phoned-in bullshit. If they try repackaging that turd in a boxed set, I will have a conniption fit.

 

[Enforcer]

He said they weren't as functional as he'd like so the next time they do faceplates the engineering will be different.

Wonderful, can't wait haha

Will I be periodically noticing Medusa doesn't have a face because it's fallen off? Will there be a massive seam? I really didn't like the McFarlane Superman movie figure because of the seams, and it really takes a specific type of character design for this to work. Like... Kang.

 

[NORM]

They should just do a 2pk of Hepzibah and Raza. No repacks. We have who we need already.

 

[Damien]

They should just do a 2pk of Hepzibah and Raza. No repacks. We have who we need already.

They won't. I would bet money on it.

 

[NORM]

They won't. I would bet money on it.

I don't need that kind of negativity in my life!

 

[bat]

That Ch'Od BaF was objectively horrible all-around. In addition to the incorrect finger count, he was missing the fin details on his back and lower legs, the one meager paint application was inadequate, he was missing his crazy laser rifle, and he was waaaay too short. All this, plus the fact they lazily reused a decade-old figure flies in the face of the assertion that the BaF model allows for novel sculpts or larger figures to be included in the line.
I love me some Ch'Od, but I begrudgingly passed on attempting to build him or even consider picking him up on the secondary market. That was some seriously phoned-in bullshit. If they try repackaging that turd in a boxed set, I will have a conniption fit.

You are objectively right and far be it from me to disagree about tge Ch'od BAF with a guy who has Ch'od as his avatar. But ... I really love that BAF regardless. I think all credit goes to the original design because, despite the inaccuracies, the colors pop, the face has so much personality (and a rare-for-ML articulated jaw), I love his pet's pose more than that for the old Toy Biz figure, and he's still big enough to make an impression stamding behind the rest of the team (Corsair, Mechanic Liya standing in for Hepzibah, and an in progress Raza). I love him.

 

[TFitz]

That purple/green Sentinel is going to make a fine base for some Lex Luthor customs.

Slice of the gems from an extra infinity gaultet and attach them to the armor like kryptonite. Might be easier ways of accomplishing that, though.

 

[NORM]

Do the new colored arcade Sentinels have special abilities or weapons or something that differentiates them from the pink and purple ones? Like in the TMNT arcade game, the yellow Foot soldiers maybe threw a boomerang, the red ones did something different I can't remember...

 

[Misfit]

Do the new colored arcade Sentinels have special abilities or weapons or something that differentiates them from the pink and purple ones? Like in the TMNT arcade game, the yellow Foot soldiers maybe threw a boomerang, the red ones did something different I can't remember...

I don't think so. From my memory they're all just fodder for the X-Men to smash and bash, but it has been awhile since I played the game.

 

[PanchaMaestro]

Any time someone says they prefer a Jim Lee costume to a Dave Cockrum one you should be concerned.

 

[TFitz]

re: Starjammers - You are all delusional. We don't have any, basically.

Ch'od - Don't get me started on that woefully undersized, 4 fingered POS.
Corsair - old body with pins that won't match will with a new Raza or Hepzibah, so he'd need remade. Oh, and it didn't have the gem-things on his gloves that made his guns appear.
Sikorski - He's the best we got of the bunch, and he's a slug!

 

[NORM]

re: Starjammers - You are all delusional. We don't have any, basically.

Ch'od - Don't get me started on that woefully undersized, 4 fingered POS.
Corsair - old body with pins that won't match will with a new Raza or Hepzibah, so he'd need remade. Oh, and it didn't have the gem-things on his gloves that made his guns appear.
Sikorski - He's the best we got of the bunch, and he's a slug!

Corsair is pinless, he uses the Vulcan body.

 

[Lucid Silverback]

I really love that BAF regardless.

To each is own, and I don't want to diminish that love. I guess I probably should have said SUBJECTIVELY horrible.
I know it won't happen but, I would love to see them revisit that character and give him a proper, devoted sculpt with attention to the details.
If they did that, I would have no problem with them packing him into a Raza/Hepzibah set or, better still, offering him as a Made-to-Order figure.

 

[PanchaMaestro]

I didn’t need a 9” tall Ch’od. He’s maybe a little smaller than need be but that’s so rare in this line that loves to scale creep things up. Cough cough Odin cough cough Gorgon. He did need his rifle and anothe pass with the paint (something I can do sometime)