CandidGamera vs. Collectoritis

I'm a collector. I'm driven to collect things. Not just random things, mind you. It has to be a set of things, and I'm usually able to resist until I buy the first one. Once I've got one, I have a strong desire to buy them all.

I'd been able to resist superhero action figures for a very long time, but then DC and Mattel came out with The DC Infinite Heroes line.


These are 3.75 inch figures (aka 'G.I. Joe scale') with good articulation and nice detail. What sold me, though, i s that they lead off the line with lesser-known figures like Adam Strange. They come as singles, 3-Packs, and 6-Packs most commonly.

The downside is that the female figures, in an effort to give them realistic proportions, have arms and legs too thin to support middle joints. So no elbows or knees for the ladies.

Complimenting that line is the Marvel Universe line.


Also 3.75" scale, the Marvel Universe line is slightly more upscale - the figures tend to have more articulation, and nearly all of them include an accessory. And like Infinite Heroes, the first batches included some more obscure characters like Union Jack. Of course, the price point is a little higher.


The Marvel Universe line includes mostly 1, 2, and 3-packs.


The downside here is that some of the accessories are pretty forced or lame, andthey've already shown a fondness for producing pointless variants. Two Spider-Men, Two Punishers, Two Hulks, Three Iron Men, Two Johnny Storms, Two Ms. Marvels.. The upside is that the women actually have the same articulation as the boys.

The last line I started picking up has actually been running for a long time, necessitating a lot of catch-up buying on my part - the DC Classics line. These are 6-inch action figures with excellent detail and articulation. They go for about $12 or $13 apiece, which isn't too bad. Collecting all the figures in a given 'wave' of figures give you the pieces to build a larger 'extra' character, which is fun, but hell on someone with collectoritis.


So, I will, from time to time, post some pictures to talk about these lines of toys. As soon as I get used to Blogger's picture-posting conditions so I can do it more creatively than I did this time.