My biggest pet peeve is when a new figure hits the pegs, you miss it, and a few hours later, you can only get it on the secondary market for twice the price.
Used to be the appeal of buying two-packs or multi packs was the price per unit decreased. Now the price per unit not only increases, but there is usually only one desired figure and the rest are fodder than you can never resell
Happens more and more. Especially when there's like 8 of them that come out right at once and you have to pick which ones to keep if you can even justify any of them...
How about when major big box companies cancel your preorder? Because reasons. Now, NO ONE gets a Year Two Batman with that sick sculpted cape! Not unless you have $100!
Sometimes we need store exclusives to get a store to stock a product. They sometimes outright refuse to stock the product without an exclusive, and then there's competition between stores about who gets what character. For the Boba Fett thing. A steel mould (tooling) costs $30,000-40,000 per mould. So if you're seeing lots of Boba Fett figures in different colours it's because that figure hasn't been supported (not enough purchased made) to pay for his steel mould or make him profitable. So what happens is they'll be run in different colours/paints to sell to the true collectors to help drive profitability because the casual collectors weren't interested. You could see it as a "necessary evil" but it's standard practice. Moulds are expensive. Plastic and paint isn't. Two packs are very similar. Sometimes a toy (like Yoda) is so small that he cannot be sold at standard pricing because casual buyers (moms, dads, etc) won't pay the same price for a 6" fig and a 3" fig. However the tooling cost doesn't change. To settle that and make them more appealing they're put into two packs, where Yoda is just a "buddy figure". To make back cost on a buddy figure (which have lower projected sales), they're tooled to be sold with an already released figure, a new figure, or some kind of accessory, to entice casual and serious buyers. The price is a little higher, but it's a better guarantee that the cost of Luke and Yoda's tooling will be paid for. It's tricky.
For me, it's the price increase for old reuse body molds, for example, bucky cap for a character like quasar, bucky cap shouldn't even be used anymore. Also, the lack of accessories and head sculpts. I think you're dead on Big Nerdy, and that is why i continue to purchase from your store. You keep it real. I've slowed down on collecting a lot of hasbro products, and it's made my wallet happier.
I'm with you on the not calling someone out on prices in groups KIND OF. If it's a brand new release and the day it releases someone is in a group selling it for $200 when it's a $20 release, they deserve to get called out. If it's a figure that is no longer in production and someone shoots their shot at a high number, I'm all for it. Let them try and get the most they can for it.
The "be kind" comment got me. I have avoided most interactions lately as I've got so much abuse for even being excited about what I collect that I don't even like to talk about it with anyone. I am an avid Super 7 collector and almostly exclusively buy their figures and have for years now. They make the lines I want, and I've always had a good experience with their stuff. But the moment I get excited about a new reveal etc. I have people reply to me with really nasty stuff. I appreciate all action figure lines and I think a lot of them are really cool, but at my age I am down to just collecting the Super 7 stuff now, but I don't go and trash what other people collect. We all get frustrated with these companies from time to time, but in the end I just want to collect what I love and have fun, not deal with man babies complaining to me about why what I like is inferior to what they collect etc. Do better people.
Well in some maybe good news, according to Dan, Walgreens exclusives for Legends are no more. Now we just need the same to happen for Walmart and Target!
PREACH! I'm so sick of either Todd, his company, or Target doing that whole, "We have an awesome BAF wave coming out. You only have to buy four figures.....BUT, you might miss one or two because they'll come out randomly once each quarter. Best of luck". Kill this with fire!!
I've been collecting since the 80s. I mainly collect Joe's and Legends, but as of late, I've branched to Mcfarlane and Valaverse as well. I absolutely love Mythic Legions figures and just got my first Super7 Thundercats figure. That being said, with Hasbro's nonsensical price increases accompanied by the windowless boxes, I think the smartest thing to do is to just move up. Example: Classified $25 - Valaverse $31 (w/stand and tons more) Classified $25 - Super7 $55 (better figure, box, & extras) So yeah, I would much rather just step up and get one of those figures over Classified. More bang for the buck. I have also extremely limited my Lengends purchases as well. Due to the price hikes and windowless boxes. The vast majority of my purchases lately have been $11 clearance figures at Target. I will continue to purchase those must-have Legends like the Blob, but where I typically would purchase 2, now I only have to purchase one. Thank you Hasbro!!
My biggest pet peeve is primarily with Star Wars The Black Series. When I go into a store there is NEVER anything on the pegs, unless it's the peg warmers nobody wants (looking at you General Lando). Same situation with GI Joe Classified Series (another Hasbro line, surprise surprise), and the only one I see on the pegs from that one is the Lady Jaye figure.
I think the tie up between collecting & social media increased the toxicity of the hobby.. I just graduated from college when the toy biz BAFs came out, & I dont remember getting anxious, but excited every Saturday just finding toys in stores, & not worried of anything else
@gerrysabron Those were the days. And I agree with you. I think the majority of hostility comes from the fact that there is no true community. A group of people with a shared common interest does not make a community. There is more involved than just that. For one, WORKING TOGETHER. But it's every man for himself out there, and it's undoubtedly stressful to be in competition with that many people. It's real easy to say, Fuck you all, when it's just a bunch of strangers in between you and your goal. I totally get it. It really sucks, though.
I remember when UA-cam had fragments of a community. Each YT channel, now, has a Jesus cult feel, dogmas and rules other than a place for people just wanting to share or join in. HASBRO and LEGO fans cause more damage to this domain than the zombies of the Twitterverse.
The distribution is so bad, its my biggest pet peeve. if there was enough product to go around scalping would go down and prices would as well. It's getting tiring spending 25 dollars on a TVC figure.
Not only do you have a clue, but your clues are spot-on. Which is why I have cut way back on my collecting. The only thing I'm really still full-steam on is the Black Series, but it's getting increasingly more frustrating, and I find myself skipping more and more figures (or skipping pre-ordering them and risking them going on sale/clearance before making a purchase), when I used to pre-order whole waves.
In a way it helps that the Black Series has been taking a real step back the last few years with lackluster waves and repaints, because it does save some money at the end of the day. I used to order full waves too but with the price increases and amount of clearancing that happens, it's easy to pass and wait for a cheaper price. Almost nothing gets sold out from the Black Series that isn't an exclusive anymore. It sucks the line has been so underwhelming but it's been a relief on the wallet at least...
I recently had a revelation with my wife about social media, largely due to a friend of mine who's chronically on FB... social media should be seen as a public toilet. As in, get it out, get it over, don't over analyze it, flush it and move on. A TON of the toxicity in the toy community, and every other community, is this who go on social media and then over-regard what they're seeing. Just stop looking at it, don't lend it any weight, don't swell with pride over what you've what you down, say your piece, feel ashamed, creep away. That said, figure pricing is indeed stupid. I don't excuse the whole "well the price of oil or steel has gone up," argument, largely because I watch commodities prices. You might be surprised to know, oil doesn't just go up in value. Neither does steel. More than once I've heard industry guys try to justify a new figure price because oil is up and I'm sitting at home fuming cuz my dude, oil is the lowest its been in 5 years. Steel too, as the industry invents new hybrid steels for specific applications, some of the large scale industrial steels have become DIRT cheap. Just as an example, when the original OG vintage Castle Grayskull was made, the cost of steel was 5 times higher than it was when the Classics came was made. But noy, when Scott was seeking that thing, he leaned on the "the cost of steel for the molding is enormous" as a price justification so hard, it chapped his armpit. If he paid that much for the steel molds, someone in that factory was gouging him on costs. It's the same exact reason people are paying hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars for a kitchen knife that is barely an improvement over a 30 dollar beater. Unless you're paying an artist to hand make a knife, shop between 15 and 50 bucks for a kitchen knife because the fancy steels are mostly marketing hype and perfectly workable steels are dirt cheap.
"We want paint in our figures!" Hasbro: here, have wolverine, cyclops and jubilee. UA-camr Collectors: "here's a tutorial on how to remove the paint that we wanted in the first place" LOL
This where I disagree 8:36, they want to be the face the company so they have to take good and the bad that comes with it. I we don't like something it's not like we can go to hasbro and tell them but we can let "the face of the brand know". I am not saying to be rude but this is what they signed up for.
Very appreciative of this video. I'm really feeling ya on the price hikes. Of coarse you'd highlight Hasblow products while talking about it. It sucks when you're the new kid trying to get your first versions of all these Marvel characters that had better figures 3 years ago, but you were just beginning toy collecting and Legends wasn't even on your radar at the time. Now I'm stuck with the (apparently) horrendous retro carded Hobgoblin and the (supposedly) lackluster and overpriced? Walgreens Exc Zemo, and the Karen "I want to speak to the manager!" faced retro carded Invisible Woman. But, for some of us really, REALLY wanting to get into Marvel figure collecting, these are our only options outside of paying even more for older figures. I was disgusted at my weakness in making myself pay $76 for the Knull/Venom two pack. Weren't two packs like $40 to $45 before Hasblow tried to virtue signal with their plasticless packaging? As I generally state many times when talking about superhero figures, I'm glad I'm a McFarlane DC guy. They produce the best superhero figures. Best in design, sculpt, articulation (now), diversity of accessory, and recent character choice. Todd hasn't gone plasticless, isn't doubling prices, and hasn't turned into the Disney "they'll give us their money no matter what shit we give them" of the industry, unlike his most major competitor with superhero figures! Oops, I've said too much.
Love your content! Couple comments. As a female collector, I’m so excited for figures wearing more clothes! It’s all about options. I feel like there’s already a ton with skin showing. I have a whole shelf dedicated to badass women and I was so excited for Wonder Woman with more practical armor! Maybe that’s not your taste, or even the majority of collectors but some of us do like it. I’m sure the other versions will continue to be available. Pricing: McFarlane nailed it with the pricing on Avatar toys. Plus they are super high quality! I might get the whole wave, and I’ve never done that before. Hasbro should take note. Hell, I got into toy collecting in the first place because it was cheap!
My pet hate is Hasbro and there closed sealed boxes to " save the planet " you can't see what you are buying and I will never purchase a closed box , I like to have my figures on show in there window boxes
I am wondering if these companies would be able to put more money into the figures if they just sold these figures online and didn’t have to pay Walmart or Target for shelf/aisle space, you never see these in the stores anyways and if you do it is the figures no one wants. Gone are the days when you go to the toy aisle and you see tons of figures, now it’s figures that people have opened and stolen something from, cards and boxes are all bent, and the same figures are always on the pegs, make it purely online, shut out the bots and maybe it would help a little
I agree with you on not saying crap to the brand managers, but when Emily (GI JOE) comes out and says: You can ask about delivery on preorders, but we won't bother answering. She won't get respect from me. I won't call her names, but I won't respect her, people have paid for those figures, and they are not getting them, it's her responsability (as brand manager) to answer. Instead she told people to go F themselves. No respect for her.
Here are some: 1. When a figure is put in an oversized box that ends up raising shipping costs. 2. When characters that should have guns don't come with guns. 3. Dust. 4. Inaccurate product photos that make figures look better online than they do in person. 5. Paint and molding errors that make the figures look awful or prevent pieces from fitting together the way they should. 6. Loose joints. 7. Tight joints that break unless you use a hair dryer or heat gun on them. 8. Not including display stands with expensive figures. 9. When display stands can't hold the weight of the action figure that they came with. 10. Needing to buy something on the secondary market only to have the seller cancel my order after I've paid or give me a fake tracking number. 11. When figures have ugly, gappy joints. 12. Gummy plastic that bends under the figure's own weight causing it to fall over without a stand. 13. When accessories are missing with a new figure or it's assembled incorrectly at the factory. 14. Figures of characters that should be super poseable, but aren't. 15. Insanely high price tags for figures that don't justify the cost. 16. Getting a figure and immediately regretting it and then trying to sell it only to have no one interested in it or sending you messages saying they'll give you less than half the retail price even though you didn't enable offers. 17. Seeing a figure of a character I really want, but not liking that specific version and not being able to get the version I want because no one makes it. 18. Looking for something I really want and realizing that no one makes it at all in any version. 19. Wrists that don't bend vertically when the figure has a sword and as a result can't hold a sword like a sword. 20. Having a huge wanted list but not having enough money to buy them all, space to display them all, or time to enjoy them all. 21. Realizing that action figures will never fill that empty hollow feeling inside.
Aside from what you've noted so far (I'm about halfway through the video).... When you finally get an obscure character that you probably won't ever get again and they cheap out on everything. Examples are Marvel Legends Siryn and Speedball. We probably won't see them again unless we riot like with Cannonball's legs. These are 2 excellent characters that are so lackluster compared to what we could get, and we won't see them again.
The funny part about that etiquette and protocol thing is that right now there are two ex toy company employees going at it in a UA-cam cold war right now. So what do we do when two experts contradict each other?
@@Nerdzoic I understand. But when we get childishness from so called authorities and they ignore the obvious problems (Shills/Influencers, Price Hikes, QC) it really makes you loose passion for the hobby. But thanks for doing your part to address them.
Another great video my dude! 10K views in half a day is a long way from those early videos about Black Series values. Congratulations on your success. DUDE you nailed it with the pricing nonsense! Not only have I spent substantially less money on Hasbro stuff the past 16mos, I've also spent more money on other higher priced items like Hot Toys & Super7 Ultimates. I even ordered my 1st import last year. Why the hell should I pay Hasbro $40 for a Spider-Man when I can get the MAFEX for a little more. And the MAFEX comes with much more! I'm telling you, Hasbro is doing a damn good job at getting me to stop spending money on plastic crack!
If it helps, buy some small but strong N50 or so neodymium disc magnets. Then take a stand or if you’ve got a thin shelf, add a strip of stainless steel (you can get sheets of it very thin) or a much weaker magnet. Will never fall over😊
I agree with you completely on the last point, every time I go to look at black series figures at target, every figure is a different price despite all of them coming with the same amount of accessories, it doesn’t make sense at all.
Poor QC, especially as prices continue to rise. Sloppy deco, brittle plastic which breaks, and loose joints are unacceptable. This is doubly true for brands/figures with premium prices.
The exclusives piss me off! $27.99 for Retro Lizard and Spidey at Walmart, listed on the site but never in stock, because they’re all on eBay for $60! I’m done! Exclusives no longer count as far as I’m concerned.
My figures falling down were driving me crazy so I tried the magnet thing. 99%+ success rate! Haven't tried yet with Marvel Legends yet but it's working with NECA. 3mm x 3mm magnets on 5/8" flat washers, It works!!!
Matt, if you haven't already, checkout another youtube toy guy... "Spector Creative"... he used to work for Mattel, loves Marvel Legends & Star Wars, etc.... he's got all kinds of videos on how toy making, price points, etc.... should answer (maybe frustrate even more of) your questions, annoyances.... if I told you something you already know... apologies in advance.... Cheers!
epic and accurate on every point. the biggest one is the price.. its going to price people out at this rate.. its gonna be "do I want a half ass reuse for 30, or a higher end with more accessories for 35-45?"
I agree with many of these points (the inaccuracy to the source material being the biggest), but most of these pet peeves really boil down to Hasbro as a company. All those peeves have led me to collect other lines and I say it all the time, but I'm much happier now as a collector now that I've moved my budget from Legends and into other lines
No man, you're spot on. At least IMO. Just look at the newly revealed Endor Rebel Commando - it has the same content as the Hoth Rebel, but now it's Deluxe (the Hoth rebel wasn't) - probably because of the bazillion paint apps, and they should have used a green base instead of grey, because that grey knee-joint is an eye sore. Do I want the figure? Yes! And several even. Do I want to pay the deluxe price? Absolutely not. The deluxe price point feels like a greedy tax on figures they know we really want.
I totally agree with all of these points. Especially, the one about generalized pricing. I sincerely enjoy collecting but inflation has made it less fun.
I only have one peeve, and it's scalping. I got my kid into collecting when he was just a toddler, and back then if I couldn't find something in stores I could usually just order it for slightly more online no problem. Even con exclusives were doable with nowhere near the egregious markups we have today. Now if it's a con exclusive you might as well just forget it. I've been at this my whole life, but now every time a new figure is announced I don't feel anything but anxiety and dread anticipating the headache it'll be trying to acquire it. My kid gets so excited, whereas I just feel like crying, because I know it's probably already out of my reach. It shouldn't be this hard. If I want to buy something, and I have the money to pay for it, then I should be able to get it, but thanks to scalpers that option is rarely available. They make it damn near impossible to even collect anymore, and if it weren't for my kid I'd quit and never look back.
i LOVE THIS VIDEO, because I feel that there is a lot more to be discussed about toy collecting. You have given valid comments about the industry and hobby, and I respect that! Thanks Matt!
My biggest pet peeve right now, is something that has evolved into something more dastardly than The Legion of Doom. Of course I'm talking about. SCALPERS! Coming from the sneaker culture world, I had to deal with these, make a quick buck bandits and let me tell you something it was frustrating as all heck, especially when they had mod bots buying everything online and those bots had special software programs. That would inform the bots anytime anyone purchases that product, anywhere on the internet. Once it did that the bot can go ahead and locate the website where the item is being sold, cancel your order, cancel everyone's order, and buy out the whole supply. And in fractions of seconds the item you wanted would be sold out everywhere and you Gotta try to get it at a decent price online but Expect to pay anywhere from 100 to 250 bucks over reg.price. Now that method of scalping has moved over to everything. No one seems to want to work any more. Everyone wants to find that golden goose and try to screw everyone in the processes. I recently saw a pack of oreo cookies, the small tiny pack, the one that usually brings like 6 cookies being sold for 5 bucks like seriously?
Nerdy, you are 100% correct about your pricing criticisms. I, too, understand that sometimes prices have to increase and/or change, but in the last few years, it's been so much (especially by Hasbro in all lines) that it's been kind of insulting. It's definitely affected my excitement for the hobby, feeling that the toy companies themselves are acting like scalpers. A little consistency (in Black Series, for example) would go a long way.
Store exclusives are the absolute worst. The cel shaded Spidey and Retro Lizard being Walmart exclusives was the worst. I work there and we have only had one case of each come in our store, and that was it. The Spidey case was buried in our storage room for TWO MONTHS. It was supposed to be out in November and I checked the toys every day for it and nothing. Only found it cause a customer was looking for it and one of our CSRs came in the back asking me about it and we looked through the entire toy storage and found it in the middle of January.
Your a 100% right about the marvel legends price hike.. it’s insane how a spider man can be $35 the same price as a base sh. Figuarts figure like goku or naruto and the quality is night n day in difference
Dang, that really put it into perspective. I paid about $35 for my S.H. Full Power Super Saiyan Goku. Crazy to think that I've paid significantly more for new Legends that are half the figure!
Great video! I'm right there with you on so many of these points. And yes, as strange as it may sound, the sudden modesty at Hasbro is so weird. However, I did hear that Marvel Legends are no longer going to have Walgreens exclusives.
International distribution by Mattel. Especially for WWE figures. In Australia, it's virtually ground to a halt. Elites are either way behind or just skipped. If we do get a wave (I think wave 92 or 93 was as far as we've got) it's only half a wave. I used to hate the basics, but I'd even take those being more reliably released. Ultimates... forget about it. It's all online, sadly. I can order from Amazon, but the bare minimum price is closed to $50. And if it's the Legends line, then if I can get that for under $60, that's a win. There are "online stores" who import. But you're looking at paying through the nose there. I can order from Ringside, but shipping doesn't get any cheaper if you order more compared to ordering just 1. Much like BBTS, international shipping just jumps up at the same amount per figure, there is no way to save. It's really at the point where eBay sellers who score these from China, loose, are the most reliable but even they jack up the price, because there is absolutely no way around getting figures for stupid amounts. Makes one very much a cherry picker.
I actually get the inconsistencies on What Is and What Is Not appropriate. That's a tough target. There are probably disagreements even within the design teams. Just a guess, but likely all product put out by a big name company has to meet a certain level because there is always a chance it may end up on a retail shelf (Big Lots, Ollie's, Target end-cap when Disney cancels an event). An on top of that, there's the IP holder approvals process. (blame social media) If it's a real sore spot, CUSTOMIZE!
I collect Star Wars. The Star Wars section in the store is literally the smallest one. It's like 3 pegs for black series, TVC, and retro collection combined. Meanwhile, Marvel gets an entire isle all to itself. Jurassic Park of all things has a HUGE isle presence! Not only is there no shelf space but there's only Landos taking up all of it!
What I hate is the "Collect to build" figures, the ones that have a body part to build another figure. I collect mostly to display and I hate when a figure has a spare body part, i.e McFarlane's Kyle Rayner Green Lantern figure.
Dude everything you sed was spot on especially about the prices my biggest pet peeve is bad joints if you pay I pretty good amount of money you’re figures arms or legs shouldn’t pop out and the joints shouldn’t snap
Star Wars Black Series character selection is pretty much my biggest pet peeve. So many characters that people have wanted forever but the Boba Fetts must flow! I’d go on a rant about my contempt for soulless publicly traded companies that hide behind buzzwords and rigid thinking, but I’d just be captain obvious at that point.
It's mind numbing to watch them on their Pulse streams and be overly excited about how they "finally" are going to release Wicket. Really? It took you this long to release him but there's a dozen Mandos out?
I mean there are a few mini painters that dip the mini into washes however most don't and a bit of a outdated technique, most apply a wash with a brush and target certain areas rather then all over nowadays. dipping a mini leads to a very heavy muddy and grimy look (same with applying a wash all over just to a lesser degree), useful in speed painting though becoming less of a thing as contrast paints are gaining more popularity ( paint and wash all in one ) But yeah it's honestly amazing how the painting techniques have changed over the years in the mini world
I 100% and fully agree with the last statement about just moving up. I bought both of the new spider-man figures from Mafex the black suit and the comic suit because I didn’t feel like buying a two pack and paying 20 dollars above the og price for the black suit that basically came with nothing. Yea with tax their close to 90 or 100 dollars but I get amazing poses, way better accessories and will have better QC. I love hasbro but with Spider-Man paying that extra is worth it imo
Scalpers and greed is what kills anything that suppose to bring joy. Spoke to people in the community and heard this story that a Walmart employee says that there is one guy that shows up every morning and buys all the inventory of TMNT. I wonder why i can never get one.
Definitely agree on the going up to higher end. I just got the new Mezco Conan and he literally has it all. Detail, soft goods, accessories, hands, etc. costs more but you actually get more.
I think the problem with having release dates for toys is that some retailers will have locations that just can't swing it. If the Marvel legends Quantummania figures are supposed to come out on March 5th, but a store still has Wakanda Forever figures on the pegs March 4th, what are they supposed to do?
I think you nailed it on what pisses off adult collectors. and I HAVE been making the jump to the higher end figures and away from the hasbro and Mattel. big mistake on their part.
That was the straw for me that killed any chance of my funding the Engine of Vengeance. I was hoping to use the stretch goals as eBay fodder to make my money back on the item, and when I saw how they screwed the pooch, I said "no"
This is all very spot on, but the one thing I gotta say is that I’ve been loving all the Boba Fetts over the last couple years. I’ve bought every single Black Series Boba except the SDCC and Credit Collections figures, and I’m sure I’ll buy whatever version comes out next. I just wish they didn’t charge deluxe prices when it’s just the figure with a blaster.
Agree fully with the lack of hard release dates, standardized pricing and proper figure balancing. It is way more difficult than it should be to get the ladies and the Ranger Turtles to stand up straight on a flat surface.
I gotta pet peeve being a collector in Australia and having to rely on third parties for certain figs, higher prices even AFTER currency conversion, certain retailers just straight up closing up shop in Aus or leaving, poor selection etc. Us in Oceania cop it pretty bad
My padawan Anakin has a slightly deformed foot, so I struggle to make him stand up. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve set him up on my display stand, only for him fall over like ten minutes later. The worst part is, I have Ahsoka positioned directly in front of him, so every time Anakin falls, he ends up taking his Padawan with him!😭😭😭
My peeve I suppose is the reaction on re-releases and re-used parts on new figures. Firstly there's always a new collector that couldn't get the figure when first released and is not willing to pay huge prices on eBay. Plus it's not like the companies are stopping new releases so they can re-release old figures so why the hate? Same goes for re-used parts. Sometimes it works and we gotta keep in mind it is a business that needs to be profitable so if the re-used parts make sense just take it or don't buy it 🤷🏻♂️ Exceptions would be re-releases with re-used parts and high prices. Even worse if the parts re-used don't make sense for the figure - like the many many figures made using the Pizza Spidey body... Disagree on soft goods. Yes most times they look great but they never ever - ever! - last. As for the 'protocal' (English as second language and I still know it is protocol 😂) all I can say is if you're doing it wrong for 30 years yeah I can still say you're doing it wrong even if I just started doing the same thing or never done it before. The time you been putting on doing your thing doesn't always mean you do know what you're doing - and I've seen A LOT of that where people are obviously doing it wrong but are too stupid to know better 🙄
Yes, the falling over randomly bugs me the most. Can't set up a diorama for long, anything other then a neutral standing pose. I actually quit collecting marvel legends for that and poor quality face paint. Just recently got back in with clearance buys and zombies what if
exclusives in general grind my gears, for example a recent figure was supposed to be walamart exclusive, it sold out online and it never showed up in stores EXCEPT months later it was on clearance, which means that the only walmart near me had the bloody figure they just didn't put it on shelves, and don't even get me started on walgreens, why does a pharmacy have exclusive figures?
Great video Matt I'm based in Ireland and have been collecting Marvel legends and DC StarWars for 30 years I'm a 70s kid who began with my original SW figs For years it's been extremely difficult nigh impossible to get certain waves Credit to BigBang comics in Dublin for improving that but still very hard to get anything exclusive to WalGreens and weirdly some of the old Toybiz variants I've managed to get multiples of over the years *unmasked GreenGoblin Bishop and Sasquatch for reduced prices I don't buy everything in a wave I'm only interested in comic related characters and I'm quite happy once I have a version I like for display Female figures are the worst for all the reasons you listed and the manufacturer always says Female figures don't sell but if they're done right then do smaller numbers and we collectors will buy em Keep up the good work All the best from Galway Ireland
Store exclusives are the worst. I live in a fairly large city with multiple Target Wal-Mart stores and I've never been able to find a single store-exclusive figure at any of them. I don't think my Wal-Marts even got the recent Retro Lizard. Make the figure standard everywhere and make a deluxe one with more accessories if you need an exclusive.
I can give a little leeway on "release dates" as no store can control when they get in inventory. With a movie they can send a secure download at the same time to movie theaters all over the world. But making sure every store gets inventory at the same time and stocked. Well tall order and absolutely impossible for Walmart. Like literally if Walmart was a vampire. Stocking figures is sunlight on a rainy day where that rain is holy water. But this "several months early" Hasbro has been doing needs to end.
I can't stand when I see a preorder sell out. Like how do you sell out of a figure that isn't even produced yet and not listed as limited? And can't stand Pulse exclusives that sell out that aren't limited. They'll "sell out" and never get restocked. It's like, is Hasbro afraid of money which we know is not the case with their constant price increases? Nintendo pulls this crap too on their store exclusives. Makes absolutely no business sense to me.
What kills me especially is Haslabs, but the community part, anytime they announce something, it's like the entire community wants it to fail, like chill out, hype it up, let people enjoy awesome toys. It kills me every time I see someone comment about how cool it would be to have a scale rancor, well we could have had one, but major voices in the toy community rallied enough toxicity that it didn't happen 😢
I felt social media added more gas to the fire of this issues and I left it . Let me tell you I think so much more clearly and the temptation has died down . Stepping away is a sign of relief
Store exclusives suck major balls. Especially when the only local big-box store is a whack walmart that doesnt get anything good. Even moreso when you have to drive an hour north or south to find a Target. Say it with Nerdy: **ALL. **CAPES. **SHOULD. **BE. **SOFT. **GOODS.
Store exclusives are a necessary evil, but they should be repaints and not series figures that are not available anywhere else (I'm looking at you Doctor Mindbender and Serpentor)
My biggest pet peeve is availability. For instance, here in Quebec, it was impossible to snag Netflix Daredevil. Now his cost is through the roof, assuming you can find one complete. Still don't have one.
What is your BIGGEST collecting pet peeve?
🔥 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐨𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐩: nerdzoic.com/
Target and Walmart exclusives
Exclusives that sell out in minutes.
When pre-orders hit at different retailers at different times, or when you pre-order directly from the company and they ship to consumers last.
@@dahhmlife Or after the shelves are cleared you're informed your pre-order was cancelled (Thanks, Walmart).
The Black series teams weird obsession with over producing lando.
My biggest pet peeve is when a new figure hits the pegs, you miss it, and a few hours later, you can only get it on the secondary market for twice the price.
Then don't miss it.
@@sideshowonacid great idea Einstein. How is everybody supposed to know when a new figure hits the peg? Shop at walmart or target 24/7?🙄
@Sideshow OnAcid Most people have jobs, kids, commitments,...most people don't have the luxury to go hunting anytime they want, dummy.
Hateeeeeee thiiiis
Getting Mezco and Mafex figs is extremely tough because of this, especially if you are an international buyer like myself...
@@sideshowonacid Damn bro, great idea, never thought of it. Idiot
“Being kind” is my biggest issue with collectors. So many just can’t do it.
"Like what you like, don't be a dick" is one of my favorite philosophies. Don't know why the toy community is so toxic sometimes...
@@dogmd7 between angry little men and people that swap stuff out in packages in the store…. Gross
100%
It's common with all collecting circles. Gun, knives, and comic book collectors are just as hostile.
Used to be the appeal of buying two-packs or multi packs was the price per unit decreased. Now the price per unit not only increases, but there is usually only one desired figure and the rest are fodder than you can never resell
When your preorder comes through and you're broke :|
CHURCH!!!!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Happens more and more. Especially when there's like 8 of them that come out right at once and you have to pick which ones to keep if you can even justify any of them...
Idk why they don’t take payment when the order is placed lost a couple toy’s because of that
How about when major big box companies cancel your preorder? Because reasons. Now, NO ONE gets a Year Two Batman with that sick sculpted cape! Not unless you have $100!
That's why I use my credit card 😂
Also, loose joints. Which also often leads to figures not being able to stand. There's a lot of floor polish in my collection.
Sometimes we need store exclusives to get a store to stock a product. They sometimes outright refuse to stock the product without an exclusive, and then there's competition between stores about who gets what character.
For the Boba Fett thing. A steel mould (tooling) costs $30,000-40,000 per mould. So if you're seeing lots of Boba Fett figures in different colours it's because that figure hasn't been supported (not enough purchased made) to pay for his steel mould or make him profitable. So what happens is they'll be run in different colours/paints to sell to the true collectors to help drive profitability because the casual collectors weren't interested. You could see it as a "necessary evil" but it's standard practice. Moulds are expensive. Plastic and paint isn't.
Two packs are very similar. Sometimes a toy (like Yoda) is so small that he cannot be sold at standard pricing because casual buyers (moms, dads, etc) won't pay the same price for a 6" fig and a 3" fig. However the tooling cost doesn't change. To settle that and make them more appealing they're put into two packs, where Yoda is just a "buddy figure". To make back cost on a buddy figure (which have lower projected sales), they're tooled to be sold with an already released figure, a new figure, or some kind of accessory, to entice casual and serious buyers. The price is a little higher, but it's a better guarantee that the cost of Luke and Yoda's tooling will be paid for.
It's tricky.
Retroblasting needs to watch this. Gets annoying & grinds my gears having someone bash a fave hotline.
For me, it's the price increase for old reuse body molds, for example, bucky cap for a character like quasar, bucky cap shouldn't even be used anymore. Also, the lack of accessories and head sculpts. I think you're dead on Big Nerdy, and that is why i continue to purchase from your store. You keep it real. I've slowed down on collecting a lot of hasbro products, and it's made my wallet happier.
That was an epic "get off my lawn" rant. And I'm 100% behind you on it. Agreed and well done Big Nerdy.
I'm with you on the not calling someone out on prices in groups KIND OF. If it's a brand new release and the day it releases someone is in a group selling it for $200 when it's a $20 release, they deserve to get called out. If it's a figure that is no longer in production and someone shoots their shot at a high number, I'm all for it. Let them try and get the most they can for it.
No, shut up and move on
The "be kind" comment got me. I have avoided most interactions lately as I've got so much abuse for even being excited about what I collect that I don't even like to talk about it with anyone. I am an avid Super 7 collector and almostly exclusively buy their figures and have for years now. They make the lines I want, and I've always had a good experience with their stuff. But the moment I get excited about a new reveal etc. I have people reply to me with really nasty stuff. I appreciate all action figure lines and I think a lot of them are really cool, but at my age I am down to just collecting the Super 7 stuff now, but I don't go and trash what other people collect. We all get frustrated with these companies from time to time, but in the end I just want to collect what I love and have fun, not deal with man babies complaining to me about why what I like is inferior to what they collect etc. Do better people.
Well in some maybe good news, according to Dan, Walgreens exclusives for Legends are no more. Now we just need the same to happen for Walmart and Target!
PREACH! I'm so sick of either Todd, his company, or Target doing that whole, "We have an awesome BAF wave coming out. You only have to buy four figures.....BUT, you might miss one or two because they'll come out randomly once each quarter. Best of luck". Kill this with fire!!
I've been collecting since the 80s. I mainly collect Joe's and Legends, but as of late, I've branched to Mcfarlane and Valaverse as well.
I absolutely love Mythic Legions figures and just got my first Super7 Thundercats figure.
That being said, with Hasbro's nonsensical price increases accompanied by the windowless boxes, I think the smartest thing to do is to just move up. Example:
Classified $25 - Valaverse $31 (w/stand and tons more)
Classified $25 - Super7 $55 (better figure, box, & extras)
So yeah, I would much rather just step up and get one of those figures over Classified. More bang for the buck.
I have also extremely limited my Lengends purchases as well. Due to the price hikes and windowless boxes. The vast majority of my purchases lately have been $11 clearance figures at Target. I will continue to purchase those must-have Legends like the Blob, but where I typically would purchase 2, now I only have to purchase one. Thank you Hasbro!!
My biggest pet peeve is primarily with Star Wars The Black Series. When I go into a store there is NEVER anything on the pegs, unless it's the peg warmers nobody wants (looking at you General Lando). Same situation with GI Joe Classified Series (another Hasbro line, surprise surprise), and the only one I see on the pegs from that one is the Lady Jaye figure.
I think the tie up between collecting & social media increased the toxicity of the hobby.. I just graduated from college when the toy biz BAFs came out, & I dont remember getting anxious, but excited every Saturday just finding toys in stores, & not worried of anything else
@gerrysabron Those were the days.
And I agree with you. I think the majority of hostility comes from the fact that there is no true community. A group of people with a shared common interest does not make a community. There is more involved than just that. For one, WORKING TOGETHER.
But it's every man for himself out there, and it's undoubtedly stressful to be in competition with that many people. It's real easy to say, Fuck you all, when it's just a bunch of strangers in between you and your goal.
I totally get it. It really sucks, though.
I remember when UA-cam had fragments of a community.
Each YT channel, now, has a Jesus cult feel, dogmas and rules other than
a place for people just wanting to share or join in. HASBRO and LEGO fans
cause more damage to this domain than the zombies of the Twitterverse.
I hate when it’s a challenge for the figures to stand up. I definitely felt that with my Marvel Legends Shuri.
The distribution is so bad, its my biggest pet peeve. if there was enough product to go around scalping would go down and prices would as well. It's getting tiring spending 25 dollars on a TVC figure.
Not only do you have a clue, but your clues are spot-on. Which is why I have cut way back on my collecting. The only thing I'm really still full-steam on is the Black Series, but it's getting increasingly more frustrating, and I find myself skipping more and more figures (or skipping pre-ordering them and risking them going on sale/clearance before making a purchase), when I used to pre-order whole waves.
In a way it helps that the Black Series has been taking a real step back the last few years with lackluster waves and repaints, because it does save some money at the end of the day. I used to order full waves too but with the price increases and amount of clearancing that happens, it's easy to pass and wait for a cheaper price. Almost nothing gets sold out from the Black Series that isn't an exclusive anymore. It sucks the line has been so underwhelming but it's been a relief on the wallet at least...
I recently had a revelation with my wife about social media, largely due to a friend of mine who's chronically on FB... social media should be seen as a public toilet. As in, get it out, get it over, don't over analyze it, flush it and move on. A TON of the toxicity in the toy community, and every other community, is this who go on social media and then over-regard what they're seeing. Just stop looking at it, don't lend it any weight, don't swell with pride over what you've what you down, say your piece, feel ashamed, creep away.
That said, figure pricing is indeed stupid. I don't excuse the whole "well the price of oil or steel has gone up," argument, largely because I watch commodities prices. You might be surprised to know, oil doesn't just go up in value. Neither does steel. More than once I've heard industry guys try to justify a new figure price because oil is up and I'm sitting at home fuming cuz my dude, oil is the lowest its been in 5 years. Steel too, as the industry invents new hybrid steels for specific applications, some of the large scale industrial steels have become DIRT cheap. Just as an example, when the original OG vintage Castle Grayskull was made, the cost of steel was 5 times higher than it was when the Classics came was made. But noy, when Scott was seeking that thing, he leaned on the "the cost of steel for the molding is enormous" as a price justification so hard, it chapped his armpit. If he paid that much for the steel molds, someone in that factory was gouging him on costs. It's the same exact reason people are paying hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars for a kitchen knife that is barely an improvement over a 30 dollar beater. Unless you're paying an artist to hand make a knife, shop between 15 and 50 bucks for a kitchen knife because the fancy steels are mostly marketing hype and perfectly workable steels are dirt cheap.
Public toilet. Good one.
"We want paint in our figures!" Hasbro: here, have wolverine, cyclops and jubilee. UA-camr Collectors: "here's a tutorial on how to remove the paint that we wanted in the first place" LOL
This where I disagree 8:36, they want to be the face the company so they have to take good and the bad that comes with it. I we don't like something it's not like we can go to hasbro and tell them but we can let "the face of the brand know". I am not saying to be rude but this is what they signed up for.
Very appreciative of this video. I'm really feeling ya on the price hikes. Of coarse you'd highlight Hasblow products while talking about it. It sucks when you're the new kid trying to get your first versions of all these Marvel characters that had better figures 3 years ago, but you were just beginning toy collecting and Legends wasn't even on your radar at the time. Now I'm stuck with the (apparently) horrendous retro carded Hobgoblin and the (supposedly) lackluster and overpriced? Walgreens Exc Zemo, and the Karen "I want to speak to the manager!" faced retro carded Invisible Woman. But, for some of us really, REALLY wanting to get into Marvel figure collecting, these are our only options outside of paying even more for older figures. I was disgusted at my weakness in making myself pay $76 for the Knull/Venom two pack. Weren't two packs like $40 to $45 before Hasblow tried to virtue signal with their plasticless packaging? As I generally state many times when talking about superhero figures, I'm glad I'm a McFarlane DC guy. They produce the best superhero figures. Best in design, sculpt, articulation (now), diversity of accessory, and recent character choice. Todd hasn't gone plasticless, isn't doubling prices, and hasn't turned into the Disney "they'll give us their money no matter what shit we give them" of the industry, unlike his most major competitor with superhero figures! Oops, I've said too much.
Love your content! Couple comments.
As a female collector, I’m so excited for figures wearing more clothes! It’s all about options. I feel like there’s already a ton with skin showing. I have a whole shelf dedicated to badass women and I was so excited for Wonder Woman with more practical armor! Maybe that’s not your taste, or even the majority of collectors but some of us do like it. I’m sure the other versions will continue to be available.
Pricing: McFarlane nailed it with the pricing on Avatar toys. Plus they are super high quality! I might get the whole wave, and I’ve never done that before. Hasbro should take note. Hell, I got into toy collecting in the first place because it was cheap!
what's my pet peeve? Your Millenium Falcon not being lined up correctly.
My pet hate is Hasbro and there closed sealed boxes to " save the planet " you can't see what you are buying and I will never purchase a closed box , I like to have my figures on show in there window boxes
I am wondering if these companies would be able to put more money into the figures if they just sold these figures online and didn’t have to pay Walmart or Target for shelf/aisle space, you never see these in the stores anyways and if you do it is the figures no one wants. Gone are the days when you go to the toy aisle and you see tons of figures, now it’s figures that people have opened and stolen something from, cards and boxes are all bent, and the same figures are always on the pegs, make it purely online, shut out the bots and maybe it would help a little
I agree with you on not saying crap to the brand managers, but when Emily (GI JOE) comes out and says: You can ask about delivery on preorders, but we won't bother answering.
She won't get respect from me. I won't call her names, but I won't respect her, people have paid for those figures, and they are not getting them, it's her responsability (as brand manager) to answer. Instead she told people to go F themselves. No respect for her.
Agreed. I have an issue with the way she has interacted with fans and even her own team when folks are watching.
I don’t enjoy when I never see a figure once on the pegs and then I see people posting giant clearance racks on FB. I just wanted one…
Here are some: 1. When a figure is put in an oversized box that ends up raising shipping costs. 2. When characters that should have guns don't come with guns. 3. Dust. 4. Inaccurate product photos that make figures look better online than they do in person. 5. Paint and molding errors that make the figures look awful or prevent pieces from fitting together the way they should. 6. Loose joints. 7. Tight joints that break unless you use a hair dryer or heat gun on them. 8. Not including display stands with expensive figures. 9. When display stands can't hold the weight of the action figure that they came with. 10. Needing to buy something on the secondary market only to have the seller cancel my order after I've paid or give me a fake tracking number. 11. When figures have ugly, gappy joints. 12. Gummy plastic that bends under the figure's own weight causing it to fall over without a stand. 13. When accessories are missing with a new figure or it's assembled incorrectly at the factory. 14. Figures of characters that should be super poseable, but aren't. 15. Insanely high price tags for figures that don't justify the cost. 16. Getting a figure and immediately regretting it and then trying to sell it only to have no one interested in it or sending you messages saying they'll give you less than half the retail price even though you didn't enable offers. 17. Seeing a figure of a character I really want, but not liking that specific version and not being able to get the version I want because no one makes it. 18. Looking for something I really want and realizing that no one makes it at all in any version. 19. Wrists that don't bend vertically when the figure has a sword and as a result can't hold a sword like a sword. 20. Having a huge wanted list but not having enough money to buy them all, space to display them all, or time to enjoy them all. 21. Realizing that action figures will never fill that empty hollow feeling inside.
Aside from what you've noted so far (I'm about halfway through the video)....
When you finally get an obscure character that you probably won't ever get again and they cheap out on everything. Examples are Marvel Legends Siryn and Speedball. We probably won't see them again unless we riot like with Cannonball's legs. These are 2 excellent characters that are so lackluster compared to what we could get, and we won't see them again.
There is a rightward shift happening in the UA-cam toy community. Keep your eyes peeled.
The funny part about that etiquette and protocol thing is that right now there are two ex toy company employees going at it in a UA-cam cold war right now. So what do we do when two experts contradict each other?
I tell my children this often: "many of the truths we cling to depend largely on our own point of view."
@@Nerdzoic I understand. But when we get childishness from so called authorities and they ignore the obvious problems (Shills/Influencers, Price Hikes, QC) it really makes you loose passion for the hobby. But thanks for doing your part to address them.
Another great video my dude! 10K views in half a day is a long way from those early videos about Black Series values. Congratulations on your success.
DUDE you nailed it with the pricing nonsense! Not only have I spent substantially less money on Hasbro stuff the past 16mos, I've also spent more money on other higher priced items like Hot Toys & Super7 Ultimates. I even ordered my 1st import last year. Why the hell should I pay Hasbro $40 for a Spider-Man when I can get the MAFEX for a little more. And the MAFEX comes with much more! I'm telling you, Hasbro is doing a damn good job at getting me to stop spending money on plastic crack!
If it helps, buy some small but strong N50 or so neodymium disc magnets. Then take a stand or if you’ve got a thin shelf, add a strip of stainless steel (you can get sheets of it very thin) or a much weaker magnet. Will never fall over😊
I agree with you completely on the last point, every time I go to look at black series figures at target, every figure is a different price despite all of them coming with the same amount of accessories, it doesn’t make sense at all.
Poor QC, especially as prices continue to rise. Sloppy deco, brittle plastic which breaks, and loose joints are unacceptable. This is doubly true for brands/figures with premium prices.
When Target cancels your orders, and doesn’t tell you why.
The exclusives piss me off! $27.99 for Retro Lizard and Spidey at Walmart, listed on the site but never in stock, because they’re all on eBay for $60! I’m done! Exclusives no longer count as far as I’m concerned.
My figures falling down were driving me crazy so I tried the magnet thing. 99%+ success rate! Haven't tried yet with Marvel Legends yet but it's working with NECA. 3mm x 3mm magnets on 5/8" flat washers, It works!!!
Matt, if you haven't already, checkout another youtube toy guy... "Spector Creative"... he used to work for Mattel, loves Marvel Legends & Star Wars, etc.... he's got all kinds of videos on how toy making, price points, etc.... should answer (maybe frustrate even more of) your questions, annoyances.... if I told you something you already know... apologies in advance.... Cheers!
epic and accurate on every point. the biggest one is the price.. its going to price people out at this rate.. its gonna be "do I want a half ass reuse for 30, or a higher end with more accessories for 35-45?"
I agree with many of these points (the inaccuracy to the source material being the biggest), but most of these pet peeves really boil down to Hasbro as a company.
All those peeves have led me to collect other lines and I say it all the time, but I'm much happier now as a collector now that I've moved my budget from Legends and into other lines
No man, you're spot on. At least IMO. Just look at the newly revealed Endor Rebel Commando - it has the same content as the Hoth Rebel, but now it's Deluxe (the Hoth rebel wasn't) - probably because of the bazillion paint apps, and they should have used a green base instead of grey, because that grey knee-joint is an eye sore. Do I want the figure? Yes! And several even. Do I want to pay the deluxe price? Absolutely not. The deluxe price point feels like a greedy tax on figures they know we really want.
I totally agree with all of these points. Especially, the one about generalized pricing. I sincerely enjoy collecting but inflation has made it less fun.
I only have one peeve, and it's scalping. I got my kid into collecting when he was just a toddler, and back then if I couldn't find something in stores I could usually just order it for slightly more online no problem. Even con exclusives were doable with nowhere near the egregious markups we have today. Now if it's a con exclusive you might as well just forget it. I've been at this my whole life, but now every time a new figure is announced I don't feel anything but anxiety and dread anticipating the headache it'll be trying to acquire it. My kid gets so excited, whereas I just feel like crying, because I know it's probably already out of my reach. It shouldn't be this hard. If I want to buy something, and I have the money to pay for it, then I should be able to get it, but thanks to scalpers that option is rarely available. They make it damn near impossible to even collect anymore, and if it weren't for my kid I'd quit and never look back.
"Can we get a Hunter reissue?"
"A Jyn Erso reissue? You got it!"
i LOVE THIS VIDEO, because I feel that there is a lot more to be discussed about toy collecting. You have given valid comments about the industry and hobby, and I respect that! Thanks Matt!
Very accurate point about us just buying higher priced items instead of Hasbro.
My biggest pet peeve right now, is something that has evolved into something more dastardly than The Legion of Doom. Of course I'm talking about. SCALPERS! Coming from the sneaker culture world, I had to deal with these, make a quick buck bandits and let me tell you something it was frustrating as all heck, especially when they had mod bots buying everything online and those bots had special software programs. That would inform the bots anytime anyone purchases that product, anywhere on the internet. Once it did that the bot can go ahead and locate the website where the item is being sold, cancel your order, cancel everyone's order, and buy out the whole supply. And in fractions of seconds the item you wanted would be sold out everywhere and you Gotta try to get it at a decent price online but Expect to pay anywhere from 100 to 250 bucks over reg.price. Now that method of scalping has moved over to everything. No one seems to want to work any more. Everyone wants to find that golden goose and try to screw everyone in the processes. I recently saw a pack of oreo cookies, the small tiny pack, the one that usually brings like 6 cookies being sold for 5 bucks like seriously?
Nerdy, you are 100% correct about your pricing criticisms. I, too, understand that sometimes prices have to increase and/or change, but in the last few years, it's been so much (especially by Hasbro in all lines) that it's been kind of insulting. It's definitely affected my excitement for the hobby, feeling that the toy companies themselves are acting like scalpers. A little consistency (in Black Series, for example) would go a long way.
Store exclusives are the absolute worst. The cel shaded Spidey and Retro Lizard being Walmart exclusives was the worst. I work there and we have only had one case of each come in our store, and that was it. The Spidey case was buried in our storage room for TWO MONTHS. It was supposed to be out in November and I checked the toys every day for it and nothing. Only found it cause a customer was looking for it and one of our CSRs came in the back asking me about it and we looked through the entire toy storage and found it in the middle of January.
Your a 100% right about the marvel legends price hike.. it’s insane how a spider man can be $35 the same price as a base sh. Figuarts figure like goku or naruto and the quality is night n day in difference
Dang, that really put it into perspective. I paid about $35 for my S.H. Full Power Super Saiyan Goku. Crazy to think that I've paid significantly more for new Legends that are half the figure!
Great video! I'm right there with you on so many of these points. And yes, as strange as it may sound, the sudden modesty at Hasbro is so weird.
However, I did hear that Marvel Legends are no longer going to have Walgreens exclusives.
International distribution by Mattel. Especially for WWE figures. In Australia, it's virtually ground to a halt. Elites are either way behind or just skipped. If we do get a wave (I think wave 92 or 93 was as far as we've got) it's only half a wave. I used to hate the basics, but I'd even take those being more reliably released. Ultimates... forget about it. It's all online, sadly. I can order from Amazon, but the bare minimum price is closed to $50. And if it's the Legends line, then if I can get that for under $60, that's a win. There are "online stores" who import. But you're looking at paying through the nose there. I can order from Ringside, but shipping doesn't get any cheaper if you order more compared to ordering just 1. Much like BBTS, international shipping just jumps up at the same amount per figure, there is no way to save. It's really at the point where eBay sellers who score these from China, loose, are the most reliable but even they jack up the price, because there is absolutely no way around getting figures for stupid amounts. Makes one very much a cherry picker.
I agree a lot with the "stop fighting and be friends" things
I'm not really a fan of soft goods capes, but that's a matter of personal taste. Aside from that, I agree 1000% with you.
i request a remastered video with the "grind my gears" as a permanent filter.
I actually get the inconsistencies on What Is and What Is Not appropriate. That's a tough target. There are probably disagreements even within the design teams. Just a guess, but likely all product put out by a big name company has to meet a certain level because there is always a chance it may end up on a retail shelf (Big Lots, Ollie's, Target end-cap when Disney cancels an event). An on top of that, there's the IP holder approvals process. (blame social media)
If it's a real sore spot, CUSTOMIZE!
I collect Star Wars. The Star Wars section in the store is literally the smallest one. It's like 3 pegs for black series, TVC, and retro collection combined. Meanwhile, Marvel gets an entire isle all to itself. Jurassic Park of all things has a HUGE isle presence! Not only is there no shelf space but there's only Landos taking up all of it!
I'm a doll collector, and it's so interesting to hear the similarities and differences, especially within one company.
At least 2023 will have no Walgreens MLs.
What I hate is the "Collect to build" figures, the ones that have a body part to build another figure. I collect mostly to display and I hate when a figure has a spare body part, i.e McFarlane's Kyle Rayner Green Lantern figure.
So, I take it you didn't get the rest of the best wave McFarlane has ever released?
Dude everything you sed was spot on especially about the prices my biggest pet peeve is bad joints if you pay I pretty good amount of money you’re figures arms or legs shouldn’t pop out and the joints shouldn’t snap
Star Wars Black Series character selection is pretty much my biggest pet peeve. So many characters that people have wanted forever but the Boba Fetts must flow!
I’d go on a rant about my contempt for soulless publicly traded companies that hide behind buzzwords and rigid thinking, but I’d just be captain obvious at that point.
It's mind numbing to watch them on their Pulse streams and be overly excited about how they "finally" are going to release Wicket. Really? It took you this long to release him but there's a dozen Mandos out?
It just bothers me how Patrick has that smile, while he presents garbage. But good point Nerdzoic.
I mean there are a few mini painters that dip the mini into washes however most don't and a bit of a outdated technique, most apply a wash with a brush and target certain areas rather then all over nowadays.
dipping a mini leads to a very heavy muddy and grimy look (same with applying a wash all over just to a lesser degree), useful in speed painting though becoming less of a thing as contrast paints are gaining more popularity ( paint and wash all in one )
But yeah it's honestly amazing how the painting techniques have changed over the years in the mini world
I 100% and fully agree with the last statement about just moving up. I bought both of the new spider-man figures from Mafex the black suit and the comic suit because I didn’t feel like buying a two pack and paying 20 dollars above the og price for the black suit that basically came with nothing. Yea with tax their close to 90 or 100 dollars but I get amazing poses, way better accessories and will have better QC. I love hasbro but with Spider-Man paying that extra is worth it imo
Scalpers and greed is what kills anything that suppose to bring joy. Spoke to people in the community and heard this story that a Walmart employee says that there is one guy that shows up every morning and buys all the inventory of TMNT. I wonder why i can never get one.
Definitely agree on the going up to higher end. I just got the new Mezco Conan and he literally has it all. Detail, soft goods, accessories, hands, etc. costs more but you actually get more.
So lucky! You didn't pay over $200 on the secondary market I hope.
I think the problem with having release dates for toys is that some retailers will have locations that just can't swing it. If the Marvel legends Quantummania figures are supposed to come out on March 5th, but a store still has Wakanda Forever figures on the pegs March 4th, what are they supposed to do?
I think you nailed it on what pisses off adult collectors. and I HAVE been making the jump to the higher end figures and away from the hasbro and Mattel. big mistake on their part.
The censorship one hurts hard lol that goblin queen one pissed me off heavily
That was the straw for me that killed any chance of my funding the Engine of Vengeance. I was hoping to use the stretch goals as eBay fodder to make my money back on the item, and when I saw how they screwed the pooch, I said "no"
@KingRandor82 SAME I did pre order but after the Goblin queen debocial I threw my hands up
Some points are very similar here in France. But toys are harder to find with toys stores disappeared.
This is all very spot on, but the one thing I gotta say is that I’ve been loving all the Boba Fetts over the last couple years. I’ve bought every single Black Series Boba except the SDCC and Credit Collections figures, and I’m sure I’ll buy whatever version comes out next. I just wish they didn’t charge deluxe prices when it’s just the figure with a blaster.
Great video! I agree the toxicity in groups is just horrible. I don't understand why people have to comment on everything just let it go!!!
Agree with all these points especially the Black Series variety. But I think my biggest peeve is limited exclusives.
Agree fully with the lack of hard release dates, standardized pricing and proper figure balancing. It is way more difficult than it should be to get the ladies and the Ranger Turtles to stand up straight on a flat surface.
Preach. Big Nerdy!
My biggest pet peeve big, empty spaces in the packaging with a figure that could clearly come with accessories or power effects.
Speedball.
I gotta pet peeve being a collector in Australia and having to rely on third parties for certain figs, higher prices even AFTER currency conversion, certain retailers just straight up closing up shop in Aus or leaving, poor selection etc. Us in Oceania cop it pretty bad
As Anthony's Customs said, make a better figure & it will sell. All I see long time fans fed up with Hasbro just selling.
My padawan Anakin has a slightly deformed foot, so I struggle to make him stand up. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve set him up on my display stand, only for him fall over like ten minutes later.
The worst part is, I have Ahsoka positioned directly in front of him, so every time Anakin falls, he ends up taking his Padawan with him!😭😭😭
HELL YEAH BRO! 🤘🏼
My peeve I suppose is the reaction on re-releases and re-used parts on new figures.
Firstly there's always a new collector that couldn't get the figure when first released and is not willing to pay huge prices on eBay. Plus it's not like the companies are stopping new releases so they can re-release old figures so why the hate?
Same goes for re-used parts. Sometimes it works and we gotta keep in mind it is a business that needs to be profitable so if the re-used parts make sense just take it or don't buy it 🤷🏻♂️
Exceptions would be re-releases with re-used parts and high prices. Even worse if the parts re-used don't make sense for the figure - like the many many figures made using the Pizza Spidey body...
Disagree on soft goods. Yes most times they look great but they never ever - ever! - last.
As for the 'protocal' (English as second language and I still know it is protocol 😂) all I can say is if you're doing it wrong for 30 years yeah I can still say you're doing it wrong even if I just started doing the same thing or never done it before. The time you been putting on doing your thing doesn't always mean you do know what you're doing - and I've seen A LOT of that where people are obviously doing it wrong but are too stupid to know better 🙄
Yes, the falling over randomly bugs me the most. Can't set up a diorama for long, anything other then a neutral standing pose. I actually quit collecting marvel legends for that and poor quality face paint. Just recently got back in with clearance buys and zombies what if
exclusives in general grind my gears, for example a recent figure was supposed to be walamart exclusive, it sold out online and it never showed up in stores EXCEPT months later it was on clearance, which means that the only walmart near me had the bloody figure they just didn't put it on shelves, and don't even get me started on walgreens, why does a pharmacy have exclusive figures?
I never understand when people get upset about legends female figures not being curvy. I just think it’s a weird thing to be mad about. No offense.
I think it’s more that they do not represent the character art they are based on. Or that’s my thought on them at least.
Great video Matt I'm based in Ireland and have been collecting Marvel legends and DC StarWars for 30 years I'm a 70s kid who began with my original SW figs For years it's been extremely difficult nigh impossible to get certain waves Credit to BigBang comics in Dublin for improving that but still very hard to get anything exclusive to WalGreens and weirdly some of the old Toybiz variants I've managed to get multiples of over the years *unmasked GreenGoblin Bishop and Sasquatch
for reduced prices I don't buy everything in a wave I'm only interested in comic related characters and I'm quite happy once I have a version I like for display Female figures are the worst for all the reasons you listed and the manufacturer always says Female figures don't sell but if they're done right then do smaller numbers and we collectors will buy em Keep up the good work All the best from Galway Ireland
Store exclusives are the worst. I live in a fairly large city with multiple Target Wal-Mart stores and I've never been able to find a single store-exclusive figure at any of them. I don't think my Wal-Marts even got the recent Retro Lizard. Make the figure standard everywhere and make a deluxe one with more accessories if you need an exclusive.
Yes! Let's make collecting a positive thing. No need to put other collectors down.
I can give a little leeway on "release dates" as no store can control when they get in inventory. With a movie they can send a secure download at the same time to movie theaters all over the world. But making sure every store gets inventory at the same time and stocked. Well tall order and absolutely impossible for Walmart. Like literally if Walmart was a vampire. Stocking figures is sunlight on a rainy day where that rain is holy water.
But this "several months early" Hasbro has been doing needs to end.
I mean this couldn't be more spot on. I can't even think of something to add to the list😂
Big time Happy Birthday Matt and many more to come, you will never grow old.
2:17--I reiterate: Tigra's covered in fur.
I can't stand when I see a preorder sell out. Like how do you sell out of a figure that isn't even produced yet and not listed as limited? And can't stand Pulse exclusives that sell out that aren't limited. They'll "sell out" and never get restocked. It's like, is Hasbro afraid of money which we know is not the case with their constant price increases? Nintendo pulls this crap too on their store exclusives. Makes absolutely no business sense to me.
What kills me especially is Haslabs, but the community part, anytime they announce something, it's like the entire community wants it to fail, like chill out, hype it up, let people enjoy awesome toys. It kills me every time I see someone comment about how cool it would be to have a scale rancor, well we could have had one, but major voices in the toy community rallied enough toxicity that it didn't happen 😢
My pet peeve is when your favorite figure, the one you want sooo badly is sold out. Rumble I am looking at you
I felt social media added more gas to the fire of this issues and I left it . Let me tell you I think so much more clearly and the temptation has died down . Stepping away is a sign of relief
Store exclusives suck major balls. Especially when the only local big-box store is a whack walmart that doesnt get anything good. Even moreso when you have to drive an hour north or south to find a Target.
Say it with Nerdy:
**ALL. **CAPES. **SHOULD. **BE. **SOFT. **GOODS.
Store exclusives are a necessary evil, but they should be repaints and not series figures that are not available anywhere else (I'm looking at you Doctor Mindbender and Serpentor)
My biggest pet peeve is availability. For instance, here in Quebec, it was impossible to snag Netflix Daredevil. Now his cost is through the roof, assuming you can find one complete.
Still don't have one.