I officially quit collecting Marvel Legends today. I have been collecting since 2001 when they were known as Spider-Man classics. They retailed for around $6 or $7 back then, which wasn’t that bad.
I snapped this picture from my local Toys R US today.
There’s no way I’m paying $18 for an action figure. That would be $126 to build an Arnin Zola figure which is very cool, but not $126 dollars cool. What are your thoughts? I’d really like to support new figures but who can afford this hobby?
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March 4th, 2012 at 1:28 am
Unfortunately, that’s just the way its been going for toy collecting. Either prices raise dramatically, or the toys get worse (see:Transformers Prime toys). Honestly, I’ve been focusing more on importing toys than on domestic stuff, since, while they are more expensive, you get extremely high quality.
March 4th, 2012 at 1:53 am
well ur just going to have to be more selective and not try for ‘completism’ but make ur own collection.
March 4th, 2012 at 2:04 am
Also, Toys R Us always has higher prices. Check Wal Mart or Target. They’ll be a little cheaper.
March 4th, 2012 at 2:04 am
Haven’t been in the action figure collecting world in a while and even when I was, I wasn’t the biggest of collectors. Still… that shit’s steep. Like, crazy steep. It’s stuff like this that just makes it even harder for younger people to get into comics and the like.
March 4th, 2012 at 3:12 am
And THIS is why I’m not into action figures. I get much more out of comics.
March 4th, 2012 at 6:59 am
Christ… this means they’ll be $24.99 in Canada… even though the Loonie has been at least on par if not worth more than the Greenback since Bush Jr. decided to start a war one day….
March 4th, 2012 at 7:28 am
I’m out, too. I can’t afford toys now, let alone the books I want. My LCS charges $23 for new DC Direct, too, making me have to be even choosier. Sucks.
March 4th, 2012 at 7:46 am
Your unwillingness to pay ridiculous sums for action figures means you hate Marvel and want them to fail.
March 4th, 2012 at 8:25 am
i must say here in germany is this a standard price for action figures. we pay round 16-20 euro for one of these for special figures even more >_>
March 4th, 2012 at 8:31 am
I know what you mean there Brad. I was at toys r us this past monday on my weekly Spidey hunt. And there were four guys standing around this poor toys r us employee. I asked “what was going on?” and they told me they were buying up the new Marvel Legends. I asked if there was any Spidey figures in it, and they said yep, and they bought them up. I was a tad upset, until I asked how much the figures were, the poor employee dude said “$17.99″ I was like, holy crap! Then I said “my wife thanks you guys for buying them up, so I don’t waste that much on one figure” They laughed.
Keep On Thwipin’!!!
Sam
March 4th, 2012 at 8:50 am
I got Hope from WalMart for $14.99. It’s a shame because it seems they’ve finally improved on them. Yeah, Toys R Us… I recommend not going there unless they have something you can’t find anywhere else. Save that money for something important. I hear gas prices are going up again.
March 4th, 2012 at 8:53 am
And sadly, they’ll use this to justify the cancellation of the Legends line, and continue to gouge you with the bastard spawn Universe line. Now THERE’S a ripoff line if I ever saw one.
March 4th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
You stuck it out longer than I did … I stopped bothering a couple of years ago.
March 4th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
$3 per inch?!
March 4th, 2012 at 3:36 pm
I was at my own Toys R Us just yesterday looking for something else all together. But I did see a lot of “AVENGERS” toys out too in the MARVEL LEGEND line and yep way to pricy indeed! It’s sad that a kid can’t have a choice really of entertainment over ten bucks a pop if even that? All well I guess toy collecting isn’t what it used to be for anyone!
March 4th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
I saw some of the Avengers movie tie-in figures yesterday at Wal-Mart and Toysrus and not only are they overpriced, they just don’t look good at all. Very disappointed with what I’ve seen so far. As far as the price of figurines, I’m not surprised. The same thing has happened with Disney Cars vehicles and playsets. I used to collect them with my six year old son but we did not collect them for the second movie because the prices doubled for them. Totally ridiculous…
March 4th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
I encourage everyone to not give in to Toys R Us’ price gouging. This isn’t the first time they’ve done this to Marvel Legends collectors. They charged $35 for $25 Marvel Legends 2-packs back in 2010 around Christmas (Sadly, they were exclusive to TRU). They charged $18 for Marvel Legends styled Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo before anyone else got them, but when they finally hit Target and Wal*Mart for $12-$15, isn’t it funny how TRU lowered their prices to $15, too?
So yeah, resist the urge to buy at TRU if you can and wait til they hit your Target or Wal*Mart.
March 4th, 2012 at 6:04 pm
I know what you mean guys.I collect transformers and now it has become so expansive i seriously have to be carefull with my spending. They went from 9.99 to 16.99 in just under 2 years.
March 4th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
It also helps is you cherry pick instead of trying to be a completist.
March 5th, 2012 at 11:45 am
Buy them used? That’s what I do with videogames.
March 5th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
@#20
Try doing that with figures that they know people want. You can see how that would work out by going to eBay… I know this all too well.
March 5th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
@14 – I’d be rich if I charged $3 per inch.
March 5th, 2012 at 5:22 pm
@22 CrazyChris.
Be carefull, that’s the kind of joke Slott would do.
March 5th, 2012 at 6:30 pm
@#22…good one. lol
March 5th, 2012 at 8:24 pm
At the risk pf perpetuating the $3/inch joke (and wondering why CrazyChris isn’t employed in the porn industry if his less than humble estimation of his proportions is correct) , it is also distressing to some degree to see that the 3-4 inch action figures going for $8-9 at Wal-Mart. I don’t know if its the price of petroleum products that are responsible for some of this, but I used to be able to grab an action figure off the rack on impulse on the way home for a little surprise gift for Spencer, and that’s no longer possible. And part of the fun is collecting IS being a completist. I remember that from my days collecting baseball cards, and how the flood of products helped cripple that industry.
And what’s this “Squeeze the legs together” on the larger Avengers action figures? I mean, OK, maybe for the Black Widow action figure for her own good….
March 5th, 2012 at 9:50 pm
Apparently you weren’t around when they were pushing at least $10 for MU figures. Looks like they’re quietly trying to pull that s*** again.
March 5th, 2012 at 9:51 pm
Ohhhhh, you people should have heard me ranting about those Universe figures on Toyark.com
March 14th, 2012 at 2:26 pm
hehe you have it all and still complain. Here in Brazil we earn lot less than you guys and a marvel legends is no less than 30USD