S.H.Figuarts Marvel MCU General Thread

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

Found these comparison pics.

 

[Plastic Bateman]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

What everyone said about Hasbro is mostly right, the only correction is that their master license extends throughout the United States and likely a few other Western countries. Bandai, Max Factory, etc. have free reign over the coveted Asian markets with their figures. If they didn't, they wouldn't likely be able to produce anything with Marvel and Star Wars as the market wouldn't be large enough for profits. Thanks to that Asian market, we're able to get these fantastic figures.

My understanding is that the "Master license" covers figures in the 6" inch scale. Sideshow managed to wrangle the 12" Star Wars "high end" scale and it's believed they inked a sub-deal with Hot Toys which benefits them both. The Force Awakens is Hot Toys' own original deal with Disney while the remaining product such as the PT and OT items thus far is a sub-contract between Sideshow and Hot Toys. That's partially believed why Hot Toys has been releasing figures that Sideshow has already done with some exceptions.

Hasbro has every right to be concerned because Bandai is developing figures of superior quality and detail and diving right into Hasbro's customer base. Once Bandai-Tamashii started releasing amazing Star Wars figures it has put them on everyone's radar and even led some collectors to perhaps give us on the Black Series.

The quality dip in the Marvel Legends line vs the best of the Toy Biz years is laughable. The 6" Black Series figures are an embarrassment considering they're marketed as higher-end figures for older collectors and fans.

I'm not ashamed to admit it was Tamashii who single-handedly dragged me back into collecting Star Wars merch where even Hot Toys had failed - I knew I was going to get a quality product based on the various Iron Man and Kinnikuman figures I'd had from them, but they've stepped up their game even further, and are now passing on those advances to their future Marvel output.

I just received their Bruce Lee this morning, if somebody had told me five years ago this kind of quality and realism would ever be viable for 6" figures I'd have probably laughed them out of the room, but here we are...

 

[FSLAR]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

The quality is really there on Bruce and Luke, like, it's really top notch. I have no interest going back to Bandai's Star wars line but still....

Hasbro, I just never liked them, even when I casually collected or passed them. Looked way too cheap and crappy, clearly aimed for children...the Black series looks ok, but for serious collectors, I agree Bateman.

 

[kryptonianmutie]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

Somebody out there, please do a stop motion animation with these two fighting each other.

Figuarts, Mafex, and Mezco are truly doing incredible stuff on a small scale.

 

[hbhf]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

The reviewer did this after he got the Figuarts Hulkbuster.



And yeah, the gap in quality is just ridiculous. The only area I'd give Hasbro an advantage is that they have a much bigger character selection (still holding out hope for Tamashii to eventually do Finn and Rey).

 

[Auel]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

If you remove the caked paint on the figures, they have pretty decent likeness. But I think it only applies on the SW lines.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

There's no excuse to own the BAF HB considering how lame the figures of that line were and how relatively inexpensive the MAFEX is.

 

[hbhf]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

The other thing is that people have been beginning to complain about the price of Hasbro's figures going up while the overall quality has been going down. Unlike a lot of people, I really don't mind the underwhelming figures they're mostly doing for kids. They're not my thing, but I'm not offended by the mere thought of their existence. If kids like 'em, more power to 'em.

But if you're asking me to pay over 20 bucks for a poorly painted, mediocre sculpt on the grounds that it's a collectors item aimed at adults, I might as well just go the extra mile and spend that money on an actually well made collector figure from Tamashii or MAFEX.

 

[yacobschlomo]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

Agree with the comments about Habro's figures. I used to buy a lot of the marvel legends figures up until a few years ago, but the quality was getting pretty bad (and I've heard it's gotten worse) - got tired of figures with crooked legs/arms and horrible paint apps. The Marvel Select figures are a larger scale, around same price, and much higher quality (although sometimes hit or miss) so I started collecting those instead.

 

[kryptonianmutie]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

Agree with the comments about Habro's figures. I used to buy a lot of the marvel legends figures up until a few years ago, but the quality was getting pretty bad (and I've heard it's gotten worse) - got tired of figures with crooked legs/arms and horrible paint apps. The Marvel Select figures are a larger scale, around same price, and much higher quality (although sometimes hit or miss) so I started collecting those instead.

I hardly ever see toy reviews or enthusiasm for Marvel Select and to me they look far superior to Legends. Is it the scale that collectors don't seem to like?

 

[hbhf]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

I hardly ever see toy reviews or enthusiasm for Marvel Select and to me they look far superior to Legends. Is it the scale that collectors don't seem to like?

The chief complaint I've seen is the limited character selection. They do a much smaller number of figures per year than Hasbro, and especially with the Disney Store exclusives, they tend to chiefly go with really popular, recognizable characters, or whoever is in the movies that year. And since Marvel's movies are so heavy on sequels or recurring characters, this means you get a lot of figures of the same people.

For instance, just recently, I saw a lot of grousing when they announced that the only three figures they were doing for Civil War were Cap, Iron Man, and Bucky. Bucky was a nice addition but there have already been so many Cap and Iron Man figures that people were hoping for someone like Vision or Scarlet Witch instead.

 

[kryptonianmutie]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

The chief complaint I've seen is the limited character selection. They do a much smaller number of figures per year than Hasbro, and especially with the Disney Store exclusives, they tend to chiefly go with really popular, recognizable characters, or whoever is in the movies that year. And since Marvel's movies are so heavy on sequels or recurring characters, this means you get a lot of figures of the same people.

For instance, just recently, I saw a lot of grousing when they announced that the only three figures they were doing for Civil War were Cap, Iron Man, and Bucky. Bucky was a nice addition but there have already been so many Cap and Iron Man figures that people were hoping for someone like Vision or Scarlet Witch instead.

Thanks. You're right, they only do a few characters from a movie or line while Legends releases wave after wave and so on.

 

[illproxy]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

they are also not consistent with scale. do like getting them occasionally tho. the newer comic thor they did is perfect.

that select bucky is not new its a re-release

 

[yacobschlomo]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

I think the Bucky one is new right? I thought the last one was the comic version. Yeah, that Thor is a great figure. My favorite is the Juggernaut. Not much articulation, but that's one massive, highly detailed figure for just $20.

I wonder if their license with Marvel restricts them to a certain number of figures per year. I know that they used to have restrictions in terms of articulation point and where they could sell the figures.

 

[ImABarRoomHero]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

DST also individually sculpts their toys as if they were statues. For a while I would only buy items from DST that was made by Rudy Garcia just because I would hang out with him every year at Planet Comicon and it was cool knowing he sculpted my toys. Anyway, that process makes for a superior product but it takes a much longer time to produce.

 

[Bardoon]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

The other thing is that people have been beginning to complain about the price of Hasbro's figures going up while the overall quality has been going down. Unlike a lot of people, I really don't mind the underwhelming figures they're mostly doing for kids. They're not my thing, but I'm not offended by the mere thought of their existence. If kids like 'em, more power to 'em.

But if you're asking me to pay over 20 bucks for a poorly painted, mediocre sculpt on the grounds that it's a collectors item aimed at adults, I might as well just go the extra mile and spend that money on an actually well made collector figure from Tamashii or MAFEX.

Extremely good point here. The quality of American brand toys (mainly Hasbro and Mattel) has overall took a HUGE down-turn while the prices have just gone UP! What's going on? I remember when you could get Toy Biz Marvel Legends for around $8-$10 a figure. They did gradually go up but you could see with Toy Biz's efforts on their figures that it was certainly worth it.

Then somewhere in the past few years, around the time Hasbro got the Marvel license, the overall quality on US-company action figures dropped. We started seeing crappy 5-jointed (neck, arms, legs) figures released again. Sculpt, poseability, and paint application quality went down. It's like companies like Hasbro knew they seized a monopoly and could start losing step. Toy Biz had their duds with the ML line and Hasbro has their shining stars. But in comparison, Toy Biz rarely would re-use sculpts, gave you HUGE Build-A-Figures and even more accessories for half the price of current Hasbro Marvel Legends. Hasbro does better female figures and has had some great figures with slightly more reasonable proportions than some of Toy Biz's figures, but overall, their Marvel Legends doesn't compare.

Somewhere, Asian companies picked up on this and instead pumped their game up to new levels. Hasbro and Mattel just can't compete...

Anyone who has actively been collecting Marvel Legends, Star Wars, and/or DC Universe for a LOOOONG time care to chime in? If anyone, you all have noticed the differences the most.

 

[Bardoon]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

MODS - Can we change the title of this thread to "S.H. Figuarts Marvel"?!?

 

[hbhf]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

that select bucky is not new its a re-release

I think the Bucky one is new right? I thought the last one was the comic version. Yeah, that Thor is a great figure. My favorite is the Juggernaut. Not much articulation, but that's one massive, highly detailed figure for just $20.

I wonder if their license with Marvel restricts them to a certain number of figures per year. I know that they used to have restrictions in terms of articulation point and where they could sell the figures.

Correct. Some wires were crossed. They're (apparently) releasing the old comic Bucky figure they did along with comic book figures of Captain America and Black Panther, but they're also releasing an MCU Bucky figure for their Civil War wave.

MODS - Can we change the title of this thread to "S.H. Figuarts Marvel"?!?

That might be easier, yeah.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

 

[hbhf]

Re: S.H.Figuarts IronMan

Extremely good point here. The quality of American brand toys (mainly Hasbro and Mattel) has overall took a HUGE down-turn while the prices have just gone UP! What's going on? I remember when you could get Toy Biz Marvel Legends for around $8-$10 a figure. They did gradually go up but you could see with Toy Biz's efforts on their figures that it was certainly worth it.

Then somewhere in the past few years, around the time Hasbro got the Marvel license, the overall quality on US-company action figures dropped. We started seeing crappy 5-jointed (neck, arms, legs) figures released again. Sculpt, poseability, and paint application quality went down. It's like companies like Hasbro knew they seized a monopoly and could start losing step. Toy Biz had their duds with the ML line and Hasbro has their shining stars. But in comparison, Toy Biz rarely would re-use sculpts, gave you HUGE Build-A-Figures and even more accessories for half the price of current Hasbro Marvel Legends. Hasbro does better female figures and has had some great figures with slightly more reasonable proportions than some of Toy Biz's figures, but overall, their Marvel Legends doesn't compare.

Somewhere, Asian companies picked up on this and instead pumped their game up to new levels. Hasbro and Mattel just can't compete...

Anyone who has actively been collecting Marvel Legends, Star Wars, and/or DC Universe for a LOOOONG time care to chime in? If anyone, you all have noticed the differences the most.

I have no idea how accurate this assessment is, so if I'm way off please correct me, but I've heard the theory that it's because of the output the MCU has brought on. Toy Biz primarily did Marvel toys, and they were doing them before the superhero craze really took off like it has since Iron Man came out. The sudden explosion of characters to make toys for from the MCU plus all the other big franchises they have (Star Wars just came back in a huge way and they've been doing tons of Transformers and MLP stuff) has stretched their resources, so the quality control has gone way down.

While conversely, a lot of the newer Asian studios have far less of an output, so they're able to put way more quality into it. Look at the 7 Age of Ultron figures we got from the SH Figuarts brand vs. the bajillion Hasbro put out for the movie.