Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Action Figure Roll Call for Feb (and Mar?) 2004...

spoilers

I guess


Follow this link...

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0307/15/dcdirect.htm

Looks like the Legionnairess drought continues...

But I'm very excited by one of these, very pleased by how one looks, not at all surprised at a third, and shocked that they chose one of the characters before so many others.

Anyone want to guess which is which:)?

TN

Okay, I'm kinda ticked no girls again. What does this make, 12 male and 1 female Legion action figure? Who the hell is making these decisions?

I'm also curious as to why only two of the four figures got a write up.

Interesting choices though. I won't say who I like yet until everyone is okay with spoilers though.

And what happened to Brainy and Mon-el? Why aren't they in the picture?

I'm glad DCD is continuing to bring us Legion action figures.

But I, too, would like a few more females. I'm confident that they'll make them eventually though.

How can a product announcement have "spoilers," though? To me, that pertains to stories. I won't mention names, if that's what you prefer, but I must be missing something here.

And, yeah, where's my sister?!?!? Or her Legion girlfriends? Pretty one-sided, once again. Legionairess drought, indeed!

Well I guess we don't really need spoilers. I was just following Todd's lead.

So here is the list for those who haven't look over at Comics Continuum:

Invisible Kid - okay.
Colossal Boy - appears to be shorter than the others.
Ferro - my favorite, nicely done.
Timber Wolf - eh, okay I guess, but now I expect a Chemical King figure since they should have been released together.

Ehhhh. The head sculpts are pretty good, but it's disappointing that they continue to use the same generic "Legion" body sculpts.

I can't believe they're producing a Adventure era Timber Wolf. Truly one of the most baffling costume designs ever. And why no more girl Legionnaires? That's just odd.

My understanding of the action figure industry...

I have an extensive action figure collection (over 400 at last count a few years ago)... Don't know if that makes me an expert or not, but just letting you know my qualifications.

Action figures are generally regarded as toys for little boys. And it is widely believed by the toy industry that little boys don't want to play with girl action figures. This has been interpretted through the relatively poor sales of female figures versus male action figures over the years. This makes it very hard for toy companies to justify the production of obscure, female action figures.

It could be that DC Direct is suffering from this type of thinking...

To my mind, DC direct products are more for the collector type, so the reason for so little females being produced could have more to do with the fact that they would have to produce all new body parts instead of just new head sculpts. Otherwise they could just put new heads on the Imra sculpt and produce the Legion ladies. I for one would have a hard time buying those given the limited articulation. It's still about the bottom line and right now its alot more cost effective to keep producing new head sculpts for males with generic bodies than to produce all new female figures.

I'm guessing that INVISIBLE KID and COLOSSOL BOY will be released in March, 2004... therefore solicited in August.

TN

It looks like they're going to go all the way through the Legion boys first. Who's left? Element Lad, Chemical King, Karate Kid and Matter-Eater Lad (my prediction for the next wave-- unless we get a 'semi-wave' like Mon-el and Brainy)... Bouncing Boy would require a whole new sculpt. Did I miss anyone?

Then maybe they'd start the girls?

If DCD issues the subs or the Fatal Five first, THEN we'd really have cause to be ticked off. Especially if they left out Night Girl and Emerald Empress.

But, like you, I'm glad they're doing any at all- since they're apparently not the greatest sellers. Though haven't I read that they've sold out of Mon and Brainy, at least?

TN

Was Brin ever even called Timber Wolf in this outfit? I guess just for an appearance or two after he joined...

TN

No one bit--so here's my mini-'roll call'...

INVISIBLE KID-- the one that excited me. Lyle's one of my faves, though I would greatly prefer his reboot outfit.

FERRO LAD-- this is the one whose looks pleased me. I'm sort of surprised they didn't do a 'Shooter Four' wave with Nemesis Kid, Jeckie and Val. Oh, well-- none of the waves except for the founders have made much sense.

COLOSSOL BOY-- the one that didn't surprise me. The only surprise is that it took so long- since all the others 'immortalized' in PVC set-dom have long since been issued.

TIMBER WOLF-- the surprise. You could easily have made a case for not even releasing an ADVENTURE Brin and waiting for the hoped-for Cockrum-Grell inspired editions. I guess I'm pleased since this sort of indicates DCD's willingness to complete the silver-age set. ELEMENT LAD, DREAMY and SHADY would complete my personal favorites.

Personally, none of the other girls' costumes have me excited at the prospect of plastic realization. For me-- they could skip right ahead to the bronze age looks.

Apparently, I'm in the minority- and for all the folks hankering to line up their complete Legion figures, raise their arms and just wait for a lightning storm-- I'm happy.

TN

I think he went by Timber Wolf first in the "Adult Legion" 2 parter, and the first "in-continuity" use was when he joined the team along with Chemical King in the villain Academy story. But you gave me a moment of near panic that I'd made a total TW error, and him being my fave and all.

Hey...

Does anyone happen to know where I might be able to purchase some of these Legion action figures?

--Jeff Hall

they look pretty good [ and i will buy them ] but i do wish they'd release some of the girls .....

Matthew.

They're available at your local comic shop - if they're not sold out at DC, they can order them for you. If you don't have a local comic shop try an online one or eBay.

exactly, stories, not products.

This may be old news by now, but the I-Kid and C-Boy figs will be released August, 2004. Which is also probably why they didn't get a write up.

Check out DCBS -- they've got these presolicited, plus most of the older Legion figures available, as well as Mordru, for $12.50 each.

A question for everyone else... is Fe Lad supposed to have his symbol on his forehead?! The picture for DCBS's listing has it there and where it's supposed to be, on his chest:

oh yes, he did have two symbols on his facemask and chest...the only Legionnaire to have two symbols.

Thanks, I'd forgotten whether or not he in fact had a second symbol in his first appearance. When did he LOSE it? He doesn't have it in any of his cover appearances-- ADV 352, 353, as a memorial statue on the cover of 355 and as a ghost on 357. Did he only have the "Fe" on his mask for Adventure 346???

Hey Pov,

I did some back issue digging, and it seems Ferro Lad's helmet symbol was never consistently used.

In his very first appearance, Adv #346 it is not on the cover (more of a profile shot of the 4 newbie Legionnaires) nor in the first panel or two with Ferro Lad, but it makes random appearances throughout the issue.

The same is true for #347, with the only cover shot of the "Fe" on the helmet. Again, the symbol comes and goes panel to panel.

The other notable appearances, specifically Adv #352-353 when he died, it appears the symbol is not generally present, but pops in for a panel here or there.

In Adv #354, the Adult Legion story, the "Fe" is never on the statue or flashback appearances of Andrew but do show up when his twin brother Douglas is revealed to be the guy messing with their HQ. Douglas' helmet has the "Fe" present.

In later issues it is again hit or miss:

LoSH #300, the symbol is never on the helmet.
LSH #31 (Baxter), the symbol is not on Ferro's helmet on the cover nor on the memorial statue on the splash page, but is in every panel of the interior that shows a good headshot after that. I'd say this was the most consistent use of the helmet symbol in any other appearance.
LSH #59 (Baxter), Ferro appeared as a memorial statue only in a number of panels, but never shows the "Fe" symbol. This story is remniscent of Adv #357, where a ghost of Ferro Lad may be thought to roam the halls of Legion HQ.

So it's consistently been inconsistent over the years, prebootically speaking! I think it looks rather good that way on the figure.

And from a financial perspective, I hate that 4 more figures are due out this year. I just finished paying for the last 4, for grife's sake!!

But they should take the Legion figures to the next level. Not only should there be a Ferro Lad figure, there should be a way to turn him to iron (even if it's a deluxe two pack set, one "human" and one "iron").

For Gim, have a two pack set as well, with the standard figure and with a 12" G.I. Joe type figure size as well (so he looks like a giant).

For Lyle, release a super-limited edition version of his figure using his power. Imagine all the fanboys fighting over an empty blister pack-type container, trying to outbid each other on ebay for this rare gem! And just imagine how easy it would be to lose!!!

I shouldn't be coming up with these ideas, as I can't afford the upcoming figures to begin with...

And I almost forgot: We need more women figures for sure!! Triplicate Girl and Phantom Girl were the next two Legionnaires after the founders. It's almost criminal that they aren't immortalized in plastic shrink wrap yet!!

Since they're issuing Timber Wolf now, DCD sure isn't paying *any* sort of attention to the order of joining. I think they want to keep us all surprised about who'll be next.

I *never* would've picked Brin in that costume. I'm stoked, though, since that means Chemical King has a good shot at being produced.

I think it'll be 2006 before we see any more girls, unfortunately. I'd bet a bundle that the next wave will consist of Element Lad, M-E Lad, Karate Kid and Chem King. That leaves Bouncing Boy- who'd make a good companion to Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel.

Then the girls... unless they're released in one of those five-packs I keep seeing references to on the DCD message board.

If they decide to make the SUBS or the Fatal Five or something before anymore girls, THEN I'll really be disappointed.

TN

I hate to say it, but I don't think there's much of a chance of getting a Bouncing Boy figure, since it would take a new body sculpt. Maybe they could reuse it for a fat Matter Eater Lad figure to help make it more economically viable.