Marvel Legends Team Talks X-Men ’97, Adding More Vehicles, and Crystar! (Who?)

Eric Goldman
TV Comic-Con
TV Comic-Con Comics Streaming Animation

With the ability to pull from classic comic books to the modern MCU and everything in between, Hasbro’s Marvel Legends figures continue to be a dominate force in toy aisles. At San Diego Comic-Con, many upcoming figures were revealed or displayed, from the first figure of Vincent D’Onofrio as the MCU’s Kingpin to a new comics-based version of Blade.

During SDCC, at the jam-packed Hasbro booth, I spoke to two core members of Hasbro’s Marvel Legends team, Dan Yun and Dwight Stall, about how they approach choosing which characters get new figures, including why someone like Vision is getting a new version of his most familiar comic book costume relatively soon after a previous release. We also spoke about the opportunities a new line like the one for Disney+’s upcoming?X-Men ’97 animated series offer, choosing which of their specific Legends lines a certain character may debut in, and if we could ever see Legends figures for some Marvel-based TV shows and films from decades ago.

MCU versions of Kingpin and Agatha Harkness are on the way from Marvel Legends

But as we kicked things off, I had to bring up the most surprising reveal at SDCC: Crystar. A character who will instantly make some go “What?!” and many go “Who?!”

Crystar getting a high profile new Marvel Legends figure is actually something of a full circle moment for the character, who was introduced in 1982 expressly as an experiment for Marvel to build a toyline (via the defunct company Remco) around a brand new character, but neither the toys nor the comic book, The Saga of Crystar, took off, with only 11 issues of the book produced. Crystar was then completely off the board until some fun cameos in crossover books for 2015’s Secret Wars storyline. Still, he’s not someone with any widespread mainstream visibility, making it pretty amazing to see him join Marvel Legends.


Dan Yun: Where you at our panel by any chance?

Fandom: I couldn’t be at the panel, unfortunately, so I was looking at Twitter and reacting as all this stuff was being announced.

Dan Yun: Anything that you liked or disliked?

Fandom: I mean, I could spend our entire time talking to you about how psyched I am for Crystar.

Dan Yun: Oh, you’re one of those!

Fandom: I am one of those!

The Marvel Legends version of Crystar makes his glorious debut at San Diego Comic-Con

Dwight Stall: I just talked to a guy who was like shaking and bowing to me [about Crystar].

Fandom: That’s one of those characters where I know a lot of people won’t know who Crystar is, but those of us who do are very, very excited. How fun is it for you guys when you get to announce something like that where you know ‘Okay, this is niche, but for the right people, this is a pretty damn special thing’?

Dwight Stall: You’re absolutely correct. And there’s something about niche and also, there’s something about ‘That just makes a really awesome looking toy.’ Even if you don’t know, sometimes, who these characters are, when you have a character that has that kind of a look to it, it’s just like, ‘I don’t know what that is, but I want it, because it’s really cool.’ You can’t ever underestimate just the cool factor.

Dan Yun: I think what’s really cool too was [Marvel’s] Jesse Falcon was there with us to actually announce the figure and that was one of his babies, his choices, so he was super pumped about it. And for me, I’m not familiar with the character at all right. But to Dwight’s point, it forces us to go back and research the character. And just to see him in figure form, he’s just so much fun to look at and play with. So now I’m so psyched for it as well.

Fandom: I’m just sending it out to the universe… Marvel Legends ROM one day?

Dan Yun: [Laughs] I see, I see…

Fandom: I honestly thought we’d get ROM before Crystar, so I’ll keep hope alive, because toy miracles happen, apparently! With characters like Vision, do you enjoy getting to go back to a character like that in their classic look again, from a new perspective? Obviously, you’ve done a classic Vision, but everything is always evolving, and figures are looking better and better. So how do decide when it’s time to refresh a character like that?

The upcoming new Vision figure

Dwight Stall: I think there’s kind of two things. There’s the timing, and then there’s the caliber of the character. Because even though we may have done a very good Vision two or three years ago, it’s not just that the technology has evolved for us to be able to do another one, but there’s also potentially now this giant [new] chunk of fandom that now was aware of the character, even though in this case, we’re talking about a classic form. But as those characters grow in popularity through movies, and Disney+, and other shows, more and more eyes and more and more fans get into collecting.

I am a big proponent of making sure that if there’s a character you want, you can buy it on shelf for a reasonable price. And two or three years doesn’t sound like much to a collector, which is fair, but if there’s that many more people out there wanting it, I don’t want them to have to go to the secondary market to find it. I want us to always be pushing to make a better updated version that you can find at a reasonable price, offered by us, so that you don’t ever have to have that. And if you’re the fan who has the one for two or three years ago that you’re perfectly happy with, fantastic. You’ve got one you love.

Dan Yun: Overall, our approach to everything is to have a balanced approach. You’ll have niche characters like Crystar, but we also need to consider, like Dwight was saying, the newer collector. The new casual fan who might not know what Legends is, might not know the history of Legends like you do. Normally, if we ever do a character that we’ve just done, in a small gap period, like two or three years, there’s usually significant upgrades to it. So, for instance, Vision, he’s on our newest Vulcan body. And so usually, even for the collector, we try to entice them and be like, ‘Hey, there is newness.’ There’s a new accessory or something like that. We’re really proud of Vision and we can’t wait to tell you guys when it preorders.

Fandom: With X-Men ’97, you’ve gotten to touch upon the classic X-Men animated series before, obviously, but is it pretty cool for you guys that there’s a new show and you get to really dig into this very beloved version of these characters?

Dwight Stall: Yeah, absolutely. The best thing about the X-Men ‘97 is those designs look so friggin amazing from the show and they also are pretty seamless to how a lot of people remember them from the comics. So it’s awesome to be able to do something with a little bit of a fresh take and look. But also know that if you have gaps in your classic shelf, these things kind of dual path fill both those roles. And sometimes it’s nice just to have another opportunity to do an updated version on a character that you love. We do a lot of these things and sometimes we’re not happy with how things end up at the end of the day either. We always try our best, but not everything always lands. So getting the chance to revisit them and take the learnings that you have from previous years of convention-going, oif hearing what people like and didn’t like, gives you a chance to revisit them and take that input to try to make a more superior version of the figures.

The upcoming X-Men '97 line

Dan Yun: The animated shows are the gateway for so many fans to comics versions. And just to know that that X-Men ‘97 show can be the new gateway for even a younger audience. that warms my heart. That’s awesome.

Fandom: Does it seem like maybe there’s also an opportunity to slowly stagger in some characters from the original incarnation of animated series that you haven’t gotten to?

Dwight Stall: That would be really sweet, yeah. It’s definitely possible. It would just be working with Marvel to find out where they’re comfortable with that divide.

Dan Yun: Just two years ago, we did the VHS line dedicated to the original 90s X-Men show and we’re always thinking about maybe dipping back into that well too with the OG show as well.

Fandom: I wanted to ask about vehicles, because there’s been some really cool ones. I was just looking at Hawkeye?on display with the Sky-Cycle. I was a huge fan of that thing as a kid. At six inch scale, you can’t do everything. But do you look for those opportunities and think, for instance, ‘Hey, this guy used to have this flying bike. How can we work that into the line?’

Dwight Stall: Yeah, it’s also fun to mix with the format of the line, right? Six inch figures are great, but we know that there are guys that are 12 feet tall, or 30 feet tall, or vehicles of all different shapes and sizes. It just kind of completes the fantasy and allows fans of all ages to build those stories in their minds and their collective shelves. Everybody loves a different piece, whether that’s a signature guy on a vehicle or not. There are always interesting challenges when vehicles come into play too. This one, for instance, we don’t often do soft goods on characters. But in order for Hawkeye to sit on that, he required the fabric loincloth, so in this instance, it made perfect sense to do that, so that he could sit down. And that is just an absolutely ridiculous vehicle! [Laughs]

Just a Hawkguy and his Skyfly

Dan Yun: I really miss the Legendary Riders that we did just a couple years ago too. That Cosmic Ghost Rider with his bike, I love that. I think vehicles are something that the development team work so hard to innovate. And so getting to do something like a Hawkeye Sky-Cycle, and something that we’re cooking up for next year is going to be amazing. I’m telling you, there’s going to be… Just to give you guys some news, there’s something coming out that’s vehicle-esque that we think is going to be awesome.

Fandom: Well, now?I’m very intrigued. You mentioned the VHS line, and here you had the reveal of the Peter Parker and Smythe set. Like X-Men, the 90s Spider-Man series was one of those iconic, formative shows for people. So is it always thinking, ‘Okay, what have we not done yet?’ and realizing a character like Smythe is pretty damn distinctive?

Dwight Stall: Yeah. And that’s the cool thing with these different shows. Dan’s always helping to educate us on the different nuances of the show, and find these things that were show-centric, right? The character existed [in this form] because of this. So to be able to do them here it was really cool under Dan’s watchful eye to make sure we get these pieces just right.

Dan Yun: No, no, no. I just bug him about the animated shows, that’s all!

Fandom: I’m looking at The Rose figure over Dan’s shoulder, who was a favorite character of mine when I was a kid, but he wasn’t actually on the Spider-Man animated series. I’m just happy that we got him, but sometimes do you guys look for almost a ‘what if?’, no pun intended, in terms of what packaging a figure falls under? ‘We haven’t gotten to him, and we can incorporate him in that manner’?

Every Rose has its figure! (well, at least this one does)

Dan Yun: I think actually, to be honest, we wanted him to also be historically accurate to ToyBiz, too. If you remember the old 90s [Spider-Man and X-Men figures] too, not all of those looks were from the animated show either. So we were kind of extending on that a little bit and putting some characters in that might have made cameos and stuff like that. But also, we work with our Marvel New York publishing team, and they really thought that the old school characters are more appropriate for the Spider Man retro line card backs.

Fandom: You also have the figure on display?for the upcoming?Justice?figure. That’s another situation where right now — and maybe that’ll change in a few years, we’ll see! — but right now,?New Warriors is not well known by a mainstream audience. Do you look for when and how you can kind of pepper in characters like that and slowly but surely people can build up an entire team, like the New Warriors?

Dwight Stall: You always got to tease the fans a little bit too, you know?? Yeah, team building is always important. And we try to get there. Some things are way, way larger than others and can be lot more challenging to complete. But, for instance, we were very pleased to very quickly be able to create the Squadron Supreme of America and get all of them done in pretty short order, revealing the final one [here] with Power Princess.

We realize that Justice adds one more first time [New Warrior] to the shelves. We do know for that core era team, we still need Namorita, so she’s on the shortlist to get out there as well and be able to check off one other piece of a team. Those things are always being thought about. And then what are the right costumes and era to start new teams and mix it up with the old ones. Those things are alwas being throught about. We can’t give you everything you want!

The Justice Society of America (image via @DanYunIsTrying on Twitter)

Fandom: Alright, look, I’ve gotta take my shot while I’m talking to you…

Dan Yun: Here we go… Plant the seed!

Fandom: Here’s mine. Here’s my wish list one. I’m dying for you guys to make a classic Magik in her original New Mutants costume, with the metal arm. I’ve got the Jim Lee-inspired X-Men figures in the blue and yellow team uniforms you did those sets for and now I’m thinking, ‘Well hey, what if there were a classic New Mutants set like that?”

Dan Yun: You’re not the first person to talk to New Mutants to me. Dwight gets it the most. Everybody talks to him about characters that they want to see and New Mutants is definitely a trend.

Fandom: I really want a version of [Magik as the] Darkchild. I’ve been wanting that for a long time.

Dan Yun: Yeah, he’s been wanting that!

Fandom: There’s such a history to Marvel. And we’ve talked about getting to do the animated series versions from back in the day. Are there opportunities you’re looking for in terms of live-action, like how you did the?Japanese Spider-Man?figure? One day, could we possibly get, say, David Hasselhoff as?Nick Fury? How wild can you go?

Dwight Stall: Absolutely. I’ve wanted to figure out the opportunity to do a Lou Ferrigno Hulk for a long time. In this modern era, I think that would be cool. David Hasselhoff, Dolph Lundgren’s?Punisher… There’s a lot of things out there from the past. You have a lot of amazing actors that became massive icons of their era. It’d be a lot of extra work…

Dan Yun: It would be!

Dwight Stall: But, I think those things are always on the table to see if we’re able to pull off something unique like that.

Doctor Doom and Captain Marvel go back to 1984's Secret Wars in their new figure set

Fandom: We’re standing near the logo for the Avengers: Beyond Earth’s Mightiest branding you’ve been doing. I really love that you’re getting to stuff within that line like the?Doctor Doom and Captain Marvel set based off of the original 1980s?Secret Wars. Do you look for those spotlight moments of Marvel history you can hone in on?

Dwight Stall: Yeah, whether it’s a snapshot of some incredibly epic story arc that meant a lot to millions, or you’re building out massive themes… Secret Wars is something that our Marvel partner Jesse has been wanting for a long time and he was very happy to see that in the case. As well as doing those things that we’ve never done before… Super-Adaptoid, we’ve never had a modern version of an action figure of him. It’s finding unique takes on characters and those snapshots in time. We all know what our favorite arcs were or favorite trades back in the day… And we still need Beyonder!

Eric Goldman: And his beautiful perm!

Dwight Stall: And that glorious suit!


Eric Goldman
Eric Goldman is Managing Editor for Fandom. He's a bit obsessed with Star Wars, Marvel, Disney, theme parks, and horror movies... and a few other things. Too many, TBH.
seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com