Okay they have a higher price point, and they fill up a shelf real quick, but man, do some of these Icons look cool! My all-time favorites are Dr. Doom and the Silver Surfer, either one of those toys command some attention.

Okay, bad stuff first…

Room for Improvement

One critical selling point that I think Icons need to really grab hold of is that accents are critical. The plastic hunk of a Punisher would have been much better off with a T-Shirt, and Magneto’s cape just didn’t cut it. On the other hand, Doom’s cloak rocks and the Human Torch’s translucent flames make the figure. Now and then a figure like Cyclops gets away with conventional plastics and still looks good, but with figure’s this expensive, you should always look for some special feature and execute it well.

On a less critical note: always use matte paint for the skin! A couple of these figures have gleaming cheeks.

Also, where’s a girl? I know they have to be very careful about this since female figures are never as popular as male ones, but surely a Dark Phoenix figure could sell. Mix it in with some regular, green Phoenix toys just like back in Series 6. In truth, I can’t think of another bankable, female figure I would risk an Icon on, besides maybe an Invisible Woman around movie time, but surely a token female would be advisable.

Suggestions

Hasbro’s third and fourth Icons waves came out practically at the same time, please continue that! With just two figures apiece, I think that’s advisable. I know we can’t have as many Icons at a time since it’s a smaller market, but two at a time is just spreading it too thin.

SLIP COMICS IN! I know it wasn’t considered cost-effective to supply a comic with every 6” figure, but these guys cost more, wouldn’t it sweeten the deal?

While Brood is a good BAF, Modok was garbage. It seems to me that they are running thin on giant characters, so why not use Icons-scale heros as BAFs? Unless of course there are plans to include a larger bodypart with each Icon so that we can assemble and even bigger (life-sized) figure…