Random minifig of the day: sh826

Did they change something with the figures eyes? They don't look like they used to.

If I had to identify this minifig, I don't think I could. A month from now, I probably won't be able to anymore.

The Sorcerer Supreme himself!

@R1_Drift said:
"I do not get why Marvel axed the leg printing for most of their characters. Ninjago has it, Star Wars (mostly) has it, so why are they cutting corners now?"
So they can release better versions in the future and collectors still feel the need to buy the new one as well

Now we just need a Maddisyn to go with him

I agree with everyone who believes that no leg printing (and arm printing) is Wong.

I have no idea, not REALLY being a fig collector at all, and really only having interest in LotR or Star Wars when I start tending in that direction at all, but if anyone here *IS* a Marvel fig collector... does $5.20 sound right for a unique character fig that came in one massive set?

Is it just that there are other Wongs out there and that the uniqueness here is a technicality? Or is it the low number of unique parts (or parts at all) in the fig? The fact that the set isn't retired? What am I missing?

@R1_Drift said:
"I do not get why Marvel axed the leg printing for most of their characters. Ninjago has it, Star Wars (mostly) has it, so why are they cutting corners now?"

It has to do with budget. Each theme is allotted a certain number of prints each year, and there are so many different characters to choose from. The Marvel line convers stuff from the movies, but also a number of things from the comics and other adaptations like animated shows, and there are just so many different characters. That's not to say that Star Wars and Ninjago also don't have a bunch of characters, but with Ninjago you can have a few sets across the wave that repurpose the same fig and in effect get the money's worth of the print, and there's also often some kind of horde enemy that allows for villains to appear in multiple sets, too, and similarly with Star Wars, when you look to see how many Clones, Stormtroopers, and even Rebels there are, there's these big armies that can be made, not to mention that if a set is based off The Mandalorian, chances are Din Djarin is going to be in it, allowing for these printed figures to be used multiple times and justify all the printing that is applied to the character. I'll be candid though, we get a number of pretty pointless prints in Star Wars sometimes (If a character is always in a cloak or wears a cape, we don't need back printing, and sometimes the leg printing isn't all that necessary either for Jedi), and I think there are ways for the design teams to trade amongst one another like getting more of a recolor or new mold budget for less prints that can then be shared to other themes. When it comes to Marvel, there's really only so many cases a character can come up and it make sense, and then there are so many sets occurring at the same time that all the characters are competing with one another for that print budget. When I am looking back at the 2022 lineup, there are actually a number of characters that use leg printing, and some of it does feel essential to the character (also some of those costumes from the movies are just way overdesigned, but if you overdesign the torso and it goes to the legs, it will look weird if it's not on the legs, too), and not that Wong isn't deserving of some leg printing, but if his is in mostly just some cloth pants and there isn't a very important sash or his tunic does not droop much past the hip, then it's absolutely acceptable that he receives no leg printing. A line has to be drawn somewhere, and sometimes it's at the hip.

I didn't realise I had this figure!

I bought 76218 - it came in a big box.. put box in corner.. put things on top of box.. put a cover over the box and things to tidy it up a bit.. forgot about box.. that was 6 months ago! Thanks for the reminder.

@MCLegoboy:
Each theme is not allowed a specific amount of prints. They are allowed a specific amount of new elements. This includes not just new prints, but recolors of existing molds, and new molds have to fit in there somehow (just not sure if it’s 1:1 vs recolors).

The person who came up with Brickheadz talked about this in an interview, and said that minifigs chew up a lot of the new element slots because of all the prints, on top of needing recolors to make the models. Since he didn’t need to include any minifigs, he said he was able to use those slots to exclusively use printed elements, as well as having more freedom in terms of recolors.

@PurpleDave said:
" @MCLegoboy:
Each theme is not allowed a specific amount of prints. They are allowed a specific amount of new elements. This includes not just new prints, but recolors of existing molds, and new molds have to fit in there somehow (just not sure if it’s 1:1 vs recolors).

The person who came up with Brickheadz talked about this in an interview, and said that minifigs chew up a lot of the new element slots because of all the prints, on top of needing recolors to make the models. Since he didn’t need to include any minifigs, he said he was able to use those slots to exclusively use printed elements, as well as having more freedom in terms of recolors."
Tomato Potato
Close enough, or maybe not at all. XD