Well, now that man pictures are bing released of Marvel two new Animated Series I must say I am disappointed that they took so much liberty with the characters. I am very flexible to change, but setting the avengers 20 years in the future, it doesn't make sense, and then to have cross overs with the X-Men... Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself.

The biggest problem with the action figures, is that the costumes of all the character are changed. I'll admit that some of them look good. It's just a matter of why? Why they felt that they needed to change them at all? Is it that they wanted to distance themselves from the Iron Man show?(I know I would) That is not to say that these figures look bad its, just that they aren't the classic characters, and I think that they should make those first.

Spider-Man Unlimited has the same problem, it is an alternate universe with alternate versions of Spider-Man character. Unghh!!?? Well I'll give it a chance. Batman Beyand turned out to be great, so there is a chance that this one could be good as well.

But I'm not totally pessimistic about the new lines. Sure I admit that I will buy them, heck I even like some of them(the Ultron and Wonderman look great). The reason for this is that just like the marvel animated series before it, they started with the animated versions of the figures and then moved on to comic version as the lines expanded. So there is hope for more classic versions as well as versions of MachineMan and The High Evolutionary from the Spider-Man Unlimited line.

So the future is all gloom and doom, just not as bright as I had hoped for the Marvel toy universe. To see prototypes of the Avengers figures CLICK HERE.

-Adam Perry Editor

Initially in 1994, when the whole collecting hullabaloo about action figures I thought it wouldn't last very long. I figured that it would be a fad for a year or two and then go the way of the Pog. Now I have an incredible amount of hope for the future of action figure collecting. We are so lucky to be in a time where there is an action figure for just about any licence you can imagine.

I guess it all has to begin somewhere and I think that the beginning of modern action figures belongs with He-Man. He-Man was the first cartoon show that had an action figure tie in after the ban on tie ins was lifted. This led to a constant flood of action figure licences from G.I. Joe & Transformers to She Ra and My Little Pony.

The modern action figure market began to heat up after Batman the movie kicked comic sales into an uproar. In 1992, riding the wave of heat from comics the Batman: Animated Series and then the X-men cartoon emerged on Fox. The Batman and X-Men cartoons spawned action figures that had never before been seen in Plastic.

As I had said earlier, the 1994 was the benchmark. Why? Because Canadian Todd McFarlane created Todd Toys, and released several figures based on his popular creator owned comic Spawn. This whole new level of sculpting revolutionized the action figure market and opened the door for many other independents to make action figures as well.

The Star Wars Special Edition movies and the hype preceding them, proved to be a major vehicle for action figure collecting. When the new Star Wars action figures were released by Hasbro, a frenzy for the toys erupted.

So now, why do I see such a bright new future for action figure collecting? Well on the horizon there is the new Star Wars movies, of which the first one's licensed products were expected to gross over $1 billion. On top of that there are the new Superman, Spider-Man and X-Men films coming out in the next few years. Star Wars Episode 3# will be released in 2003, because of these movies I feel that at least until 2004, the collecting community will be very excited, with many things to look forward to.

- Adam Perry, Editor

People are constantly inquiring, what on earth possess me to spend so much of my money on action figures. Often I find myself at a loss for words and, I say something like "Cause I enjoy it!". Well, I feel that that answer is a valid, but unsatisfactory answer. It always leave the noncollector standing in the same confused wonderment that they were in before the question was asked. So this brings me to the title of my first toy editorial, desire.

Some of us seem to have this inherent need to aquire things, it isn't just being materialistic. It is similar to those who are trying to costantly outdo their rneighbors by having the best looking lawn. But the thing is, that neighbior is yourself. For me and many others, it feels like you are trying to be the best, but there is no one to compete against. Again, as I write this, I realize that this is no closer to an answer to the question 'why do I collect'. It begs the question as to why do collectors have this competive bone to pick with themselves. Although it doesn't explain the 'why', it does explain what it feels like and that there is this motivating felling that propells many collectors forward.

I see this same feeling in many people, such as golfers who spend a fortune on golfing supplies and acessories that they don't need. They just want it. It doesn't matter why. I think almost everyone has had this feeling sometime in their life. So it isn't necessarily odd to have this feeling, it just seems more pronounced in people who chose collecting as their hobby.

Again it all comes down to desire, I know that I can never collect all of the toys that I want, wether it be because of money or location it just isn't feasable for me to get them all. But thats great, if I could get all of them, it wouldn't be as fun. It wouldn't be a challange. Collecting needs to be a challange that you cannot win. As soon as you get one item, another new one appears. It seems the collection is never complete. Again 'why' do something you can never accomplish?

For some of us it is money. Some feel that their collecting now will bring them riches in their future. Most of us now relize that as the collector market increases in size so does the increase in unopened boxes, thereby reducing value of the toys. So new items nowdays aren't going to appreciate as fast as they may have 6 or 7 years ago. I feel collecting for monetary value is a legitimate reason, but it is not one that I personally hold dear to my heart. I beleive toys were made to be played with.

Maybe for some of us there is a real competition with another collector, where you really are trying to out do someone. In this case, Go get 'em.

Perhaps the mystery behind collecting should remain a mystery. As I try to search for an answer to the question, I realize that maybe I don't wanna know 'why?'. If I know why I collect the things I do, I may not want to do it anymore. Maybe I'll want to do it even more! I'm just not sure. So to end I say I collect toys 'Cause I enjoy it!'

- Adam Perry, Editor