A to Z Challenge Topic! And My Philosophy on Collecting

 Since this blog started I've done the A to Z Challenge most years.  A few years I just used it to promote my stuff--like the first year.  Other years I did more intensive things like Books that were also Movies or my extensive Rifftrax/MST3K lists.  A few other years I did childhood favorite properties:  Transformers, GI Joe, and Robotech.  Last year I kind of half-assed it with Star Wars Black Series action figures.

At the end of that I thought about doing other toy properties, maybe even finding one for each letter...and then I never really got around to it.  So...I'm just going to sort of half-ass it again with Marvel Legends figures!  

For the most part I found one that I actually own at least one figure of, though some of the more obscure letters I couldn't.  I mean there are only a couple for Q, Y, and Z so what are the odds I own them?  I did fudge something for Q but Y and Z I had to go with something I don't own.  Still 24/26 is pretty good.

I inadvertently posted K back in January and while I quickly deleted the entry, if you follow this blog you might have been tipped off to that entry and the challenge theme already.

Here's one I couldn't include in the challenge because it took a while just to figure out who the hell it was:

I got just the figure loose with a couple of Deadpools from eBay so I didn't have a box or anything to say who it was and I don't think the listing on eBay said either.  When I looked up Marvel Legends figures on Amazon and Walmart I never saw him pop up.

Finally I went to a Wiki-type page and found out this is Speed Demon from the Superior Foes of Spider-Man batch in 2016.  Who is he?  I don't know.  What does he do?  Don't know.  What's the deal with that little car with a head on it?  Wish I knew.

As for how I choose what to collect, what you'll see with these Marvel Legend figures is I have three basic categories:

1. Stuff I Really Want
2. Stuff That's Really Cheap
3. Stuff To Complete Something

The first one should be pretty obvious.  Some figures are for characters I really want like Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, or Deadpool.  In most cases I want at least one basic one just so they're represented.  It's like that with DC too where I wanted to have at least one of the main seven Justice League figures:  Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Cyborg so it doesn't feel incomplete.  I should probably get a Hawkeye so I have all the original MCU Avengers, though I do have a Ronin movie figure I got from Wish.

The second category, sometimes I see something cheap and buy it for the hell of it.  Pre-pandemic that would usually be clearance bins at Walmart, Meijer, or Target or discount stores like Five Below or Ollie's, though I've only ever seen one Marvel Legends figure at an Ollie's and it was one I already had (Sharon Carter) so I didn't buy it.  Ollie's has been better for Star Wars Black Series or Mattel DC Multiverse figures.  Anyway, during the pandemic sometimes I'll see something at a reduced price on Amazon or something really cheap on eBay or Mercari.

The third category is most Marvel Legends figures are released in batches of 6 and at least 5 of the 6 will have a piece that like with Voltron you can merge them to make a larger figure.  A couple of times I've been close enough to making the big figure that I bought some figure I wouldn't otherwise want.  Also a couple of times I've bought just the part on eBay; it just depends which is a better deal.

These three categories create a mix of basic characters and more obscure ones.  It also means while I'm missing some figures I'd really like I also have some weird ones I've never even heard of.  Like the aforementioned Speed Demon or Grey Gargoyle I think his name is that I got for $4.50 from a Walmart in Fowlerville just for the hell of it.

The result looks sort of like this, though I have few Marvel Legends figures in other places.  Still, this is the bulk of them.  And since I made room I put some Star Wars, GI Joe, and DC ones on the shelf too.

Anyway, come back in April for more great content like that.  Or if you thought that was stupid, just come back in May.