It's not even a Marvel event, it's a Hot Toys event. It is that bad.
I saw someone post what they released for the 10th anniversary of Hot Toys... My God.
I mean I'm not fully on board with the hate Hot Toys gets in other regards. For me I think they release/reveal a lot of new character every two weeks, and for how many they're pumping out it's a lot more than what they used to. I actually preferred collecting years ago because of how fewer releases there were, each one felt special. Now with how many new ones there are it makes it feel like if there's something you don't like that they're just doing stuff you don't like, which isn't the reality at all.
But with context in how much they're in bed with Marvel/Disney, to have their "big" 20th reveal be a repainted Iron Man and a plethora of cosbabies is insulting. People I'm sure know my stance, especially in this thread, but if ever there was a time for a company, and particularly Hot Toys, to give back something to the fans that helped get them this far this time would have been it.
I think they're at a tipping edge potentially now. Go on KGHobby and you can see Endgame Black Widow can be added to the buy now basket and is already at a reduced price. For some reason most of the Endgame line are still on pre-order etc. I have mine on pre-order, but to get my deposits back I'll go through with final sales and then sell them on. I wonder how many people like me are looking at statues now or going down other routes, or just plain turned off.
They do need to wiseup, some things can be taken as a given and part and parcel. But when you start to combine the feeling of being left out, the long wait times, no direct dialogue with the customers, heavily pushing lines that aren't your main line, heavily pushing brands more than others, repainting/revisiting the same brands instead of investing in others, some key fans I imagine will start to turn sour. I don't know how many of them would for it to impact Hot Toys, I don't think they will be impacted to be fair. But the vocal online voice across the year has really started to turn sour across all their social media platforms.