50 Marvel Legends

‘Twas the night before the night before Christmas Eve and everyone was desperately trying to buy more stuff. Luckily, I was able to find the Siege Voyagers in time for Christmas. I had a choice between Prime and Megs, and went for Megs because there was only one left. First impressions very good, it looks great. He's a good size, weight and suitably chunky. There is the battle damage, which on the black looks pretty good, the stuff on the chest less so. The altmode is a Cybertronian tank so a bit vague, but the transformation is solid. Overall, very excited for the line! I'm going to hold off on Prime, because I want to see what they do with the rumoured leader Optimus. I am rather attached to the idea of Prime and Magnus sharing a core mode if that's possible.

I want to like the new Starscream, but can’t quite convince myself based on what I’ve seen so far. Conversely, I really want to not like the new Omega Supreme because I don't want to replace my Year of the Snake figure, but I have a feeling it's going to be absolutely amazing.

I've opened Bishop and Psylocke (purple hair). Fantastic figures, Bishop's one of my favourites from the 90's cartoon, so it's great to have a figure that does him justice. Psylocke is also very well done. Need to put together the rest of the teams!

Looking back over the last year it’s amazing how Marvel Legends have taken over my collecting, what seems stranger is that it’s at the expense of Masterpiece - I had to save money somewhere, and so I no longer have Masterpiece Megatron or Starscream, and never bought Shockwave or Dinobot. I have gone back and forth over what characters to collect so many times and I’m not done yet.

I've hit a bit of a milestone - 50 Marvel Legends figures. Technically the 50th is a preorder for Professor X, and it's only 33 different characters because several are Iron Man armours or MCU versions of characters, but it feels significant. I've also now ordered Black Widow, Black Bolt, Namor, Ant-Man and Hawkeye. That means I've got 7/8 Avengers from Avengers: EMH, 5/6 of the Illuminati (I love the idea of that group), 3/4 Fantastic 4, 4/9 of the 90's cartoon X-Men and 8/14 of the comic X-Men blue/gold teams. I have 5/7 of the first comic lineup (2008) Guardians, but Gamora is almost unavailable and Quasar/Phyla-Vell seems unlikely (though Genis Vell is coming). The one figure that is available that I need is Thing. Hoping he gets a bit cheaper, but I might have to just bite the bullet.

Now I've pretty much caught up, I'm sure my brain will be working out what to collect next. It hasn't given me any hints what yet, but it's bound to be something which I've quietly admired, but held back on. For the time being at least, it's time to concentrate on getting a Titans Return Fortress Maximus as well as keeping up with Siege.

It occurs to me that these Legends have come at the expense of Masterpiece Decepticons, which I have to admit I would likely have never transformed. Though I’ve spent a lot, I think I have and am getting more enjoyment from the choice I’ve made.

I’ve tried to stay away from ‘want’ lists recently, though I find it hard not to comment when I want a particular figure to complete a particular set. That said, part of the reason is being so close to completion on many lines. There are several figures I want for Classics/Generations Transformers, but I think Scorponok is the essential one. For Masterpiece similarly, Jazz is badly needed. There are others of course. Marvel Universe there are a few, but I have customs lined up so it doesn’t seem quite so necessary. Legends is where I have most of my wants. Most of the X-Men are coming, but I need Jean Grey, Storm and Colossus, plus I need a classic Thor and Doctor Strange. I'd also really like a Nightcrawler since he's my favourite X-Man. If I can get all of those then great!

Sometimes it is fun to put together a 'top ten', as you have to make some compromises. Of lines that aren't running anymore, I'd also love a Classics Tygra and Cheetarah, as well as a Mega Bloks TMNT blimp and (classic) lair. I think of those original figures I mentioned, Jazz and Colossus would have to make way for the latter four. I miss TMNT Mega Bloks, was really hoping for some more sets.

Speaking of TMNT, I’ve picked up Donatello to go with Mikey and Raph, I prefer his skin colour to the other two I have. I’ve realised (like with many toys), the sculpt is great, but the colours and paint are not quite there. I will try and track down Leo (sadly not available in discount stores), then perhaps consider doing a bit of painting.

I’m very happy to have caught up with Legends (bar Thing). I’ve been in the habit of checking eBay and Amazon every day, so there’s a bit of a routine change now. Not sure what I’m going to focus on next - there’s always something that sends me scuttling back to eBay. It occurs to me that so far only Transformers, Marvel and Star Wars really have had the range of characters necessary to really pull me in - for almost any other franchise I’m only interested in the core, generally heroic, characters. Also, I tend to stay from really expensive stuff. There will be something though I’m sure. Happy New Year!