This morning I went to Target to look for the DC SUPER HERO GIRLS Batgirl and Wonder Woman for my cousin's daughter. She and her little brother (my godson) are into super-heroes, LEGOs, Star Wars and even pro wrestling. I like to think that's because of my DNA but I digress.
Guys, that section was completely empty, not one doll on the shelf. It was like Frozen again! The horror!
But I did see a couple of neat things and a couple of disheartening things as well!
- I saw new Captain America: Civil War merchandise but no Spider-Man...yet!
- In their Titan series box sets, they included the BLACK WIDOW!! Granted she doesn't look like her movie counterpart with a very different outfit and much longer hair!
- Their "Build-A-Figure" series have a lot of Misty Knight, Hellcat and White Tiger figures left. Not a good sign for female action figures!
- I haven't seen a new, smaller MU figure in a long time!
- No Wonder Woman action figure yet except in their Titan-ish box set!
- But that box set includes a Lex Luthor wearing a helmet so we can't see his face!
- And it includes Roman Reigns Aquaman!
- Another large figure was the REVERSE FLASH!!!!
- Sadly no toy lines based on TV's The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl or Legends of Tomorrow!
- The WWE selection is miniscule to say the least. Mostly John Cena, Bray Wyatt and Cesaro with Undertaker Elite and little else.
- Even their new two-packs are disappointing: Stone Cold Steve Austin/Brett Hart and The Rock/Ric Flair!
The bane of collectors is always other collectors!
Replies
I can't walk down a toy isle without thinking of the scenes from Toy Story 2. I agree that the WWE isn't what it used to be.
I haven't walked down a toy aisle since I figured out I could find anything I wanted on the Internet, and have it on my porch in two days. I kinda miss the hunt!
Every time I walk by I wonder "Where was this stuff when I was growing up?" Some of the tech they sell in toys was science fiction back then.
Captain Comics said:
Part of it is buying action figures of characters that you never thought would ever be made when you were a kid like the Vision, Scarlet Witch and, miracle upon miracles, Batroc Ze Lepair!
Are Misty Knight, Hellcat, or White Tiger appearing anywhere outside of comics? Haven't seen the first two in many years and only recently heard of the third. I don't think most people would buy characters they never heard of. Wasn't White Tiger a guy?
Misty Knight is in Captain America: Sam Wilson.
Hellcat is starring in Patsy Walker, Hellcat.
The White Tiger is part of the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series.
The intended purchasers of super-hero action figures are those familiar with the comics. The general population may not know who the Vision, Hawkeye and the Black Widow are but they find out in the movies. Fans know who they are but it's a cycle of knowledge between the books, cartoons, TV shows and films.
Misty Knight will be one of the characters in Netflix's new Luke Cage series.
I've gone to Target numerous times without buying any action figures but yesterday it was an embarrassment of riches!
From the CAPTAIN AMERICA: LEGENDS, I got
Actually they had the rest of the series: Captain America (with a wolf head!), Crossbones, Taskmaster and Cottonmouth! COTTONMOUTH, by Odin's beard! But let's not get greedy or expensive!
The Build-A-Figure is the Red Skull in bulky Onslaught-ish armor which I'll assume is from Uncanny Avengers!
From the Spider-Man animated line I got Armin Zola whose rather plain and not in scale but it's a robot body and it's ARMIN ZOLA!
From the smaller scale Marvel Legends line, I got
The only DC figure I got was a mid-scale
------------------------------WONDER WOMAN from Batman Vs Superman! And her armor was more like her comic book version, with muted colors of course!
Also she was labelled as "Wonder Woman" while there was "Grapnel Blast Batman" and "Shield Clash Superman" so she may be the only version in this assortment. Still no Luthor or Doomsday!
The Wrestling section was awful again with now a bunch of "Adam Rose/The Bunny" two-packs probably due to his arrest.
Reality invades the Toy Aisle!