I have to say, the last two decades completely soured me on Batman. I'll still get a Baleman and a Battinson because I want the character represented and I like the actos, but the constant Bat-Spamming left me utterly cold, at best, towards him, his rogues gallery, basically everything and anything that has to do with the brand. I'm too tired to even go beyond the Morrison run and some Absolutes comic-wise. I'll probably buy something like X-Treme X-Men before I buy any classic O'Neil Batman collections. I'm that burned out. Part of it is the afformentioned spamming, since it reached the point where DC's current output is literally around 80% Batman. Characters like GL and Aquaman don't even have a solo out now. Another part are the rabid fans who, after Tower Of Babel and the Nolan flicks, ruined comic book forums back in the day. And then there's the fact that Batman, as a character, is a downright moronic sociopath at this point. Put all of that together and while I still like the concept of "Modern Day Gothic Knight" enough to buy a doll, I'm past any attachments.
And I will agree that while most of these licenses are boring, it's just the way it is. Normies want more Batman. I hate it, but it is what it is. Hell, I'd rather the world was Superman crazy and we were getting his villains all over. They might be somewhat corny and dated, but I'll always take crazy space dictators over Batman's "serial killer with an animal gimmick" ones. Hell, beyond Ock, Goblin and Venom, I never got the love for Spider-Man's villains either. But I'm rambling again. Anyway, 80s guys like this board want 50 different Ahnulds in black leather, in contrast with the Bat-obsessed General Consumers. To someone like my whose tastes are literally all over the place, both are boring. I want characters like Elric, or say, Captain Flint from Black Sails. Things I'll likely never get. Even my more conventional wants like a Commander Shepard are still way behind more Batmen and Predators. So no matter if I see Batmen, Ahnulds, or [hot new flavour of the month] get spammed, I'm used to being "disappointed" merch-wise. I'm sure IA will make some Terminator dollies in the near future, maybe they'll ge to Berserk some day soon, but I doubt I'll ever get to put the Big 3 of Fantasy together (Aragorn & Sauron for LotR, Conan and Elric), or have Adam Jensen next to a comic accurate Dredd. I figure within the decade I'll grab most of my Marvel & SW wants, some one-offs here and there, and will get out due to boredom.
