Every now and then, I come across a Legends figure that is purported to have a variant, a variant whose price might even be documented in ToyFare as different from the standard toy, but in reality, there is no variant. Basically, there are two sorts of toys like these:

1) Toys that are adjusted mid-production so later ones look different than earlier ones; and,
2) Variants that are so incredibly subtle and weakly premised that I’m calling B.S. on the line.

Here’s a list of all that come to mind…

Series 1: Hulk with Articulated versus Bendable Fingers

Same figure, different hands. Here’s what happened: first, the Hulk had articulated hands, but Toybiz was new to the industry and the fingers kept breaking off, so they were soon replaced with the bendable fingers. Oddly enough, the articulated fingered versions are worth slightly more, even though they’re inferior. Any notions that Toybiz had its customers best interests in mind are dispelled by the fact that the late Series 2 Hulk with Torn Shirt variant had those defective, articulated fingers.

Series 2: Human Torch with a “4” versus without
The sculptors weren’t properly immersed in Marvel lore when they made the first Human Torch, so they mistakenly included the “4” on his chest. They soon removed the number, though I believe they should have added the classic, black, flame stripes to really fix the figure up. The incorrect, “4” version is rarer than the corrected model, so it’s worth a bit more.

Series 3: Daredevil with Beard versus without

First of all, they have the same UPC, so not even Toybiz is claiming these to be different toys. Also, the beard is barely visible. I actually had a “Variant” on the shelf for months before I realized. In fact, the guy who sold it to me never noticed at all.

Series 4: Punisher with Black Belt versus Grey
The black belt just didn’t look right, the Punisher just looks too much like he’s in a leotard. Toybiz noticed this and upgraded him with a contrasting, grey belt, but of course, the older, inferior one is worth more.

Series 5: Silver Surfer with Howard the Duck versus without
First off, is there any reason for the Silver Surfer to come with Howard the Duck? Of course not, but Toybiz pitched them as friends, which has zero basis from the comics. I have to say a bonus figure, even a nonsensical one, is better than nothing, so the later, duck ones should be worth more, of course, the earlier, inferior one is worth more.

Series 8: Ultimate Captain American with wings versus without, oh and with grey pants
First, it’s a chase figure to begin with, so it’s already rare. Of course it’s only a chase figure because there were production delays and the figures eventually got dumped in Face Off packages. The grey pants miss-paint, which I imagine has to be related to the production delays surround this figure, is supposedly the most valuable, but I’ve never seen one myself. Of course, I think it’s stupid that Ultimate Captain America doesn’t normally have wings on his skullcap, so the variant is simply doing the job right in my book, but the wings are so tiny, they don’t even turn up in pictures.

Legendary Riders: Wolverine with Green Khakis versus Blue Jeans
This is a proper variant, but it’s just such a lame one I have to call foul. When the only difference is the color of the pants and two grey flecks in the hair, that does not justify a new figure.

Apocalypse Series: Purple versus Black X-23s

The purple X-23 looked like garbage, so the black one, which looks a lot more like the prototype model that was pictured in ToyFare a couple months earlier, was soon released as an improvement. What’s remarkable is that the later, superior edition is the more valuable of the two.

Giant Man Series: Yellow versus Orange Sentries

Roll in the beards! The Sentry variant, a.k.a. Jesus, and his clean-shaven regular editions, all came in yellow and orange, making four possible editions. The yellow ones were earlier, and looked putrid, but the change happened later than normal so they’re more common. Toyfare once commented that the orange, bearded figure was never released to the public, which is ridiculous, all four are readily available.

Mojo Series Falcon and MODOK Series Wasp Variant Costumes
I’m calling B.S. here. The only difference between the Falcons is paint, which low-level modders could have accomplished, and besides paint the Wasps only have different hair, though they stretched that across three editions. They just didn’t try hard enough here.

Annihulus Series Ultimate Iron Man with Helmet versus without
First, this toy should have had a proper, gold variant. Some guys were actually repainting toys with metallic paint and replacing them in proper blister packs to resell on eBay, but Hasbro never released an official variant. Hasbro did however sell some with the helmet in place, and others with the helmet alongside. Values spiked and quickly dropped when the market realized how silly this was. There were rumors that the Blob series’ Xorn’s helmet might create a similar situation, but thankfully, nothing came of it.

Blob Series Jean Grey with Dark eyes versus just Plain Crappy Face
Green Quicksilvers and Gold Yellowjackets haven’t been turning up just yet, so we’re left with crummy Jean Grey variants, which are basically just here with shadows under her eyes, making the crummy face look worse. I call foul!

Please listen to me guys: nobody but Hasbro knows! Annihilus shipments are still turning up in Wal-Mart. The Blob is shipping sporadically, and its variants haven’t hit shelves yet. Also, and I personally know this because I have a Hasbro account, the Brood series will be the last Marvel Legends series of 2007, so don’t expect it before the Christmas season, though that officially starts three months before actual Christmas. The Fantastic Four Legends line, which is even more mysterious, might push Brood forward a month, but nobody’s talking at Hasbro. I really like the promotional shots of the upcoming figures, so trust me, I want them ASAP too, but it’s not happening.

Of course, there are sites claiming they know when the figures are coming out and offering pre-orders, but DorkToys.com isn’t that underhanded. We’ll have plenty of cases at better prices, so stay tuned here. We’ll likely get the toys first too since we buy them direct. I know I’m biased, but if you want to pay more and get lied to about the release date, please check out http://www.toyglobe.com and http://www.cmdstore.com (As you can see, I’m the gracious type)

I’m sure this character has had a figure at some point already, but it probably sucked and a Legends toy is due! I personally hate how Spiderman isn’t rolled in with the Legends line. Now that we’re seeing a Fantastic Four Legends series on the way, Hasbro might warm up to mixing in a Spiderman Series. I really prefer this to Toybiz’s completely autonomous Fantastic Four Line that was expected to have issue after issue. It’s better to keep it to a special to mix in. After all, how many BAFs can they possibly dream up? MODOK was lame.

Anyways, back to Spidey. I remember when this comic came out. It had the cool, cardstock, foiled cover, and Spidey did indeed don the armor. Of course, the armor was destroyed in that same issue. I don’t know if Peter ever made a replacement suit, but it did make for a really cool issue. From a technical perspective, the knee and elbow caps could really conceal articulation. Also, let’s see some more villains! The Doctor Octopus legend was great, and the Green Goblin… well it was okay.

At one point or another, everyone has remarked, “You know, D.C. should really make its own Legends line.” Well it’s tricky business because while Marvel toys have always been under one wing (first Toybiz’s, then Hasbro’s), D.C. toys have been split between Mattel and D.C. Direct. The end result is that D.C. Direct doesn’t ever put out a toy articulated enough to actually appeal to a kid and Mattel doesn’t bother catering to collectors. Of course, Legends became so popular that Mattel eventually decided to give the Legends model a shot with D.C. Superheroes.

So today I’ll compare the Marvel Legends and D.C. Superheroes toy lines point by point.

Articulation
Legends A
Superheroes C
What more defines the Marvel Legends line than the insane degree of articulation that it imbues every figure with? Clearly, articulation is the right place to start our comparison.

First of all, I think Marvel Legends occasionally goes too far. Professor X, for instance, looked pretty bad since they decided to infuse his suit with ball bearing style joints. Come on, the guy is paraplegic! I think he could have been left slightly stiff in favor of a better looking toy. Also, some of Legends’ “36 Points of Articulation!” claims are questionable. They’re definitely double counting joints that pivot since they move through two planes of motion (lateral and horizontal), which is lame.

Legends’ overkill aside, Superheroes never tops 19 points, so it’s all close-fisted heroes, which in the case of Batman, means his half dozen Batarangs only slip into a slot under his thumb, as if he’s holding a flower. Of course, Hasbro threw a few ham-fisted Legends figures at us, but they’ve since been bringing back the knuckle articulation. Legends really takes the cake with its foot articulation, which makes its toys far more pose-able than Superheroes.

Variety of Figures
Legends A+
Superheroes F
Legends absolutely demolishes Superheroes when it comes to variety. First of all, in its 18 series, Legends has reissued precisely 3 toys. Superheroes debuted its first reissues in series 3, and in its 7 series has reused 8 toys whether it’s from its own line or some sister one. Considering that Legends issues are often 8 figures (before variants) and Superheroes average just 4 per series, these stats are dismal.

Legends digs deep in Marvel cannon to bring us figures like
Toad, Taskmaster, Captain Britain and Pyro, while Superheroes just gives us Superman after Superman.

Detailing
Legends B+
Superheroes B+
While neither line approaches McFarlane toys in detailing, Legends and Superheroes are both far ahead of anything else available at Wal-Mart when it comes to the sculpting. Granted Legends have to work harder at integrating the extra articulation, but they don’t always succeed at that since a lot of figures end up with have what I like to call “Ball Bearing Shoulders.” Both lines boast deftly handled faces and fine details in belts, and guns, and boots, and muscles, and clothing folds… well you get the point: they’re tied.

Paint
Legends A-
Superheroes C+
There are two ways to bring tonality to your paints. Both involve a basecoat followed by a second, contrasting layer. The first method, the Legends choice, is to apply that topcoat and then “Wash” through it with a light solvent and scrub, revealing some of the basecoat. Washing usually results in high points exposing their base coat. The second, Superheroes technique is to “Dry Brush,” which is when the second layer is applied with a nearly dry brush of paint so that coverage isn’t complete. Dry brushing results in hairline strokes stretching over the basecoat. Either method is effective, and while it would be nice to see a company use both, once you have tooled up for one, you don’t invest in the other.

Where Legends sets itself apart from Superheroes is in how it always paints the entire toy, while Superheroes often cheaps out and uses a base color plastic for much of the figure, like blue for Superman or grey for Batman, which sounds all right until you consider the side affects, see “Plastics” below…

Plastics
Legends A
Superheroes C
The Legends line debuted with Toybiz’s very good quality plastics and hairline seams, but Hasbro upgraded the toys with hefty plastic and near invisible seams. Compared to Legends toys, Superheroes figures look like stitched up Frankenstein’s creations. The main issue is that Mattel took the shortcut of using solid colored plastics instead of painting the entire figures. Bare plastic will never be as smooth as painted figures. Besides the paint, Hasbro has clearly invested more in its moulds and materials.

Comics
Legends B+
Superheroes C
Of course Hasbro nixed our accompanying comics, which I think was a mistake, but Toybiz really set itself apart among toy producers by slipping a proper 32-page comic in with every Legends figure. Superheroes set out to copy this feature, but just try to find a toy with a comic. The toys were reissued in so many streams that the vast majority of them ended up with “Dioramas” instead of comics. Toybiz fell short with comics in Series 1 and 4, replacing them with foil posters in the last toys out the door, but it was really only in exceptional cases, as opposed to Superheroes’ widespread screw-ups.

Sister Lines
Legends A
Superheroes D
There’s really no comparing the Legends sister Icons line and its imposing, detailed, statuette-sized figures and how Superheroes slapped its name on the larger Justice League Unlimited figures. For one thing, the Legends Icons are in the same vein as their highly-detailed 6” counterparts while the Justice League Unlimited characters are inspired by a cartoon. Secondly, Icons throws us some cloth features now and then, while Justice League Unlimited Superheroes toys are just giant hunks of plastic.

Conclusion
In case you haven’t guessed yet, Legends beats out Superheroes by a wide margin, roughly an A versus a C. I guess the Marvel Legends line is a bit of an anachronism. Toybiz was an outsider in the toy industry, so it decided that instead of putting out junk, it spent a ton on developing highly-articulated, finely-detailed, well-painted figures. While Legends was a great success, which basically ensures Hasbro won’t mess with the formula, it’s just not in a dominant company like Mattel’s nature to invest like that.

Can you imagine an expensive comic book without its bag and board? You know, pay $50 for it, then just roll it up and stuff it under your arm. No? So why are your $100-plus toys being exposed to the elements? Well where would you go to get the backing boards cut? Where would you go to get the bags? With comics, you just pick up fifty slips and boards for a few bucks and you’re on your way.
Well just in time for the Blob series, we’ve put it all together for you! Hasbro’s new packaging made all us collectors a little nervous. Our Legends were suddenly naked without their rugged clamshells. Hang tags were getting bent, corners dented, blisters ripping free…

Soon we’ll offer protective packaging as an option on older Toybiz toys, but it will remain standard on Hasbro toys because of their cardboard cards. It will also become standard on more expensive figures.

Should I be calling him “Magnus” right now? There’s really no way to abbreviate the House of M storyline here, but it’s all written up on Wikipedia if you want to catch up, so let’s leave it at this: the uniformed, leader of Genosha Magneto is cool. Xorn just got a figure, so why not Magnus? Switch the head out and retune the paint and they could even have a complimenting Quicksilver variant.

When we devised the DorkToys rating system, we followed the K.I.S.S. strategy: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Of course, not everybody approaches things the same way…

Instead of using a simple ordinal scale like ours (Mint, Near Mint, Very Fine…), A.F.A. actually applies a percent score to every toy. While I suppose they could assert that a 100% toy is absolutely perfect, and a 0% toy is one that has been reduced to dust, you can’t possibly tell me they can differentiate between two 73% and 74% toys. Scores like those have to be quantitative, measurable and “average-able,” and their ratings are none of those things. They are both complicated and meaningless at the same time.

Also, they cost a lot! If you have a moment, check out their price list and you’ll see your cheapest figures will cost $18.00 to grade, and that’s before you pay to ship it to them and back to you. Oh and if you want one of those nice acrylic cases that they always picture (as opposed to the plastic bags that come standard, but they oddly never display), well those run an extra $20. At roughly $58.00 per figure, how many toys would you encase?

A standardized rating system and protective packaging are both long overdue for collectible figures, but A.F.A. isn’t the solution.

Remember how everybody was worried that the first Hasbro line was too simple, that Hasbro was going to turn this into a cash cow and not take the care that ToyBiz did, well remember how I said things would improve? Well okay, you probably didn’t read my blog, but I did write about how I thought things would get better here.

I explained that it takes times to build up a bank of parts for more articulated figures. Toybiz shared a lot of pieces amongst different figures, it’s pretty unvoidable since molds are so expensive. Well as you can see here with Yellow Jacket, the shoulder articulation has returned, along with the feet (not pictured), and the Iron-Spider-Man is complete with finger articulation. I’m not sure how many points this brings the total count up to, and I never could figure out how they counted so many points on earlier figures (this part turns and lifts, that’s two!), but there don’t appear to be missing anything anymore.

Of course, there’s still room to improve on the paintwork, and those comics are still missing, but we’re almost there!

Black Bolt (sorry, “Blackagar Boltagon”) is definitely a gap in the Legends lineup. While he’s primarily from the Fantastic Four pages, I doubt he’ll ever be in one of their movies, so I think they might as well make him a Legend. On a sidenote, did I ever mention how weak that F4 Legends line was? Also, Black Bolt was also pretty predominant in the recent Planet Hulk storyline, well its beginning and end at least.

So Black Bolt, how should they do a figure? Well the Bullseye figure and its smiling variant didn’t make any great splash, but a yelling Black Bolt variant would make a lot of sense. If there’s enough money for some extra sculpting, they could have his costume ripping to shreds as he’s yelling at full volume.