So clearly Hasbro has done well for itself with the Marvel Universe and associated 3.75" lines. After viewing the SDCC pics, it's pretty clear they are full steam ahead well into 2012, which considering the world ends in December '12, that's pretty bold of them.

But seriously, it can't go on forever. In the 80's Joe's eventually stopped, Transformers, He-Man, etc etc. It wasn't until geeks like us got older, got jobs, got money and started back up again retro-style.

I read I believe that Hasbro has a Marvel contract until 2018, but come on...9 years? There's no way they go on for 9 years. If they do, Jason Abbadon may finally get his 127 character wishlist.

Do we look to the Legends line as a cue? ToyBiz started it in '02 or '03, Hasbro picked it up...and dropped it, only to come back in late '11?

So experts, what's your take? Does it wind down after Avengers? Or will they keep pressing into '13 and '14 (at which point if I am still collecting I would ask someone to put a bullet in me.)

They'll keep making them as long as people keep demanding for them to be made. You made a thread about it, right?

Hmmm with the huge number of characters in Marvel comics it could go on the whole 9 years. But who knows. There are a numerous amount of characters that I still want or variations that I want that they haven't given me. But if it does drop before then. I may just pick up my Car hobby again. I'm not really into the legends series

My thread was not a demand for more figures. It was a question I was putting out there for discussion.

As long as the movies specifically by Marvel Studios do well, I don't see Hasbro stopping anytime soon.

Shin hit it on the head. I remember when I was a beginning collector I looked at this line and I immediately thought, "They can do a lot with this with the movies coming out." And this was back in the very first wave (Life long collector here! Proud!!!)

Anyway, MU has definitely risen to the ranks of one of the longest consecutive toy lines. Here are some potential pitfalls for what could stop it sooner then later:

1) Hasbro will have to keep re-releasing famous figures like Wolfie and Iron Man. This could create agitation by collectors and kids alike considering these guys will peg warm more quickly then anyone else. Kids won't buy it, collectors won;t and stores won't restock as much.

2) Quality goes down. We are always debating that the quality of MU walks a fine line.

3) The movies bomb and stop. Without an accompanying sister line MU is still powerful but a huge part of its existence deals with the credability of marvel in the media.

Hopefully long enough for me to collect a large portion of the late 1970's to mid 1980's Marvel Universe of my youth. Just give me a majority of the characters and costumes featured in THESE COMICS and I'll be happy.

I think this line has a lot of life left. If the Avengers movie is successful there's likely to be a sequel. The Avengers cartoon is great. There's a new Spider-Man movie coming. A new Wolverine movie is in the works. Marvel Comics may do a relaunch ala DC. All of those things may help the longevity of the Marvel Universe line.

I definitely don't see the line ending anytime soon, and easily continuing into '13 and '14 seeing as the sequels to Thor and Captain America are targeted for release around those years.

None of us know for sure how long the Hasbro Marvel Universe train will last, so enjoy the ride while it's here. If you want to ensure the existence of the wave then army build,customize, buy peg warmers, do reviews, donate toys to charity... all good things to help ensure retail sales which translates to Hasbro's yearly profits, more profits equals more toys. Because the subject matter is plastic representations on Marvel Characters, the world view and market share view aka disney will also rely as a major factor. If you have countless bombing movies in a row, word of mouth spreads, people don't buy the merch associated to the film, they maybe pissed off an iconic character was poorly portrayed like what Michael Bay did with the Transformer series. Point being if the movie sucks, your not gonna buy the dvd, the video game the action figure, the tshirt etc... and the hatred may crossover to all Marvel stuff.

There will be Iron man 3, Thor 2,the new spiderman movie... which will lead to a sequel, rumours of another Hulk movie, the Wolverine, possible a Hawkeye,Antman and Black Panther movie, also rumored a remake of DD. other possible venues that have been rumored are cloak and dagger, the watcher, more x-men films. |

Mean while they'll be pumping out video games, both regular and digital comics, animated shows and movies, artwork, tshirts,hats,coffee mugs, bed spreads, calanders the works... you name it Marvel has it, they must have 100+ product liscences. MU is just 1 of those, so if other major aspects fail, MU may follow suit, but to be honest we all want to be a superhero no matter the age, I believe marvel and marvel toys will be around for a long long time. The line itself has blossomed from the first figures to the newest stuff shown. The sculpt,detail and paint is awesome, mind you the QC can be the shits, which is almost as bad as distrabution. Minimum 2 pegs stocked per store should be a requirement, basically you want to sell all my other products well carry these or no go. Play Hardball Hasbro! I can see the line carrying on for years, how many well that's left to be seen, if QC can maintain at a good rate, the products are priced right, packaged well and look and perform to their abilities then I don't see anything stopping them.

It'll go on so long as it keeps selling. 2018 is the only potential cut off if there isn't a contract renewal. Otherwise it's all just supply and demand. ML only stopped because demand slowed too much. Original Toy Biz only stopped on X-Men and others because Demand stopped.

If it sells, they'll make it. It's really just that simple, and if they make it people will buy. So I don't see this stopping anytime soon at all. We're good to go for at least another 7 years easily. Especially with all the Marvel movies coming.

As many have said, it's all about the movies. if the Avengers series continues to be good, the figures will sell.

Just consider Star Wars. There was a gap of like 10 years between the end of the the 80s retail and then the 95 rebirth. And now it hasn't left shelves since. 16 years.

I'm confident that it'll die at some point, which is why I'm always pissed off when they release repeat characters and completely new teams before completing old ones. I get a lot of grief when I say this but I don't OWE Hasbro anything, I don't OWE it to them to buy their figures no matter what. Forgive me for a sense of entitlement but I feel like as a part of their consumer base, we deserve a completed list of figures before they end a line in return to our continued commitment and loyalty to a line. They should make better provisions to end a line, as well.

I mean I'll give Mattel some props in that when they ended DCIH, they gave us a chance to get Aquaman. DCUC is obviously winding down and they gave us Prof Zoom, Al Pratt, Sandman, JSA Hawkman, Stargirl and STRIPE and they're giving us Jay Garrick to complete the original Justice Society and Poison Ivy to tie up a lot of loose ends. JLU is ending and they released the last members of JSA that were not previously released. I can see this line ending in a couple of years. The interest is already depleting with many figures that used to sell for mad cash going for far less value than before.

This baiting method of business almost always ends badly for the fans because we get disgruntled, stop buying, the company either does a last hurrah with some too little too late closure figures or they give us a big F-U and end it with some garbage figures. I can see Hasbro ending the line with Wolverine, Ironman, Hulk, Spider-man and Thor as their last wave because they're jerks like that and meanwhile, Jim Lee era Beast, Forge and Bishop, Claremont's 80s run Dazzler and Polaris, Fantomex, X-Factor Beast, Cyclops and Jean Grey to fill out the rest of the team since they're doing X-Factor Angel and Iceman will go unmade.

oh god dont say relaunch! Leave mah comics alone! and if anything a couple years down the line, they might start doing the gimmicks thing for MU to stretch things out. for legends, didnt they do a whole wave of avengers with small vehicles?

Don't forget about the economy being a factor on the continuation of this line. I don't think pumping out waves for another 10 years would be a problem with the amount of Marvel Universe characters and also variations if costumes over comic books that have a range of 60 years. I think the biggest factor is if the economy stays where it is or gets even worse than those same collectors that keep the market alive now will stop buying even more and cause the line to end. I don't think its a question of a movie being successful because then you'd see a lot of racks cleared of products from the numerous superhero movies that have already been made and were successful. At the same time, Hasbro has to try and keep the character selection fresh and pack the cases accordingly with what would be in demand or else you'll see what we see now. The same iron man suits, ninja spiderman, snowboard cap shelf warming.

Exactly. And don't forget, when money gets tight, our wallets get tighter and we're even pickier about what we're willing to spend our money on. I'm already at the stage where I'm not going to buy just anything they shovel onto the table anymore. How long do you honestly think Hasbro is going to be able to release repaints and crap and get away with it?

The movies are in many ways the salvation of the MU line -but for the simple reason that they are release valve for Hasbro to release popular characters outside of the MU line. For example, you can sell IM, CA, Spider-Man, Thor - not to mention other minor comic characters - within the movie lines, and allowing the MU line to continue to produce new characters that collectors want. MU is not really for kids at all - that tends to be the movie lines. But by releasing a Wolverine movie every now and then, it frees the MU line from needing that character. MU was likely in trouble due to the number of IM repaints it was producing - and not selling - but when IM2 came out, it freed MU from having to release IM figures (why they keep doing it, though, I'll never know!). Spider-Man's line freed up MU from releasing the Lizard and Scorpion (and Shocker, in Canada). Thus, the movie lines are letting core characters get released as well as some villains, and freeing the MU line to get to characters that might not get movies but are figures fans want. It really is working well for now, as they have released a ton of figures in a short time.

Repaints - So long as it's a character people will buy, pretty much forever. Repaints are cost effective, the line itself wouldn't last long at all if every character had an entirely all new mold. It's just not smart business. This also recoups mold costs faster, and keeps figures within a certain price margin.

The movie blockbusters have to do with retailer ordering amounts. Until retailers don't want it, or don't order it. Yes hasbro will keep making em. We've seen this happen in reverse recently too. Hasbro passed on doing X-Men First Class, and retailers started clamoring for something. So TRU got wolverine claws, and the First class comic packs were out there(the only planned hasbro one). The same happened with Captain America being more successful than probably planned initially. All of a sudden it got comic packs, and target wanted an exclusive. Lines that aren't selling don't get that or even continued retailer support. (For example, one walmart here has GL figures at normal price, another just one town over has already started to clearance them out with no plans to order more.) Thor here surprisingly is doing decent, the figure are picked pretty clean cept for loki, odin and thor himself, but those have higher case ratios than the others to make sure any kid can walk into a store and get them. The opposite happened with Green Lantern in many areas. The blockbuster was expected to move large amounts of merchandise, so retailers wanted exclusives, but in turn with how mattel made the figures, they didn't sell in many areas. Mattel needs to learn that collectors buy for higher articulation, and kids want to be able to pose their figures too while they play with them. Staction figures rarely sell well in any medium.

The random oddities like snowboarding captain america do end up selling for birthdays, kids, and holidays, besides those interested in them. TBH, I've never even seen one in the wild, the cap selection here is pretty barren unless you go shopping on restock day, but again each store moves different volumes for their area, what you see doesn't reflect the nation. Heck what you see in suburb may not reflect the next. (One target here moves high volumes faster than another, so while one has the newest GL wave, MU waves, and more, the other still has slightly older stuff and older revision cases to work through.)

I can see this line lasting all the way until the renewal date on the contract so long as hasbro keeps balancing mainstays alongside obscures. Mainstays make sure the kids can always get the characters they want, the obscures keep the collectors coming back and comic fans. Revision waves make sure the demand will be met too. I just finally found a thanos the other day for my collection, and he was someone in a wave way back in january, so the revisions helped me personally too. This is also why we see so many spider-mans, wolverines, ironmans and so on. They sell. Even if it's just that random grandma buying ironman for their grandkid, or the random kid begging mommy for a wolverine figure while they are shopping for toilet paper or whatever else. Last christmas, Ironman 2 figures were on just about every kids christmas list. It's not overstock you're seeing at retailers of that line, it's the continued ordering of it because it sells, unlike say tron legacy or green lantern in many areas that are already clearancing those out and trying to move them to get rid of them.

Even in this economy, Hasbro profits keep going up, except for the board game division which is why you see the new promotion about trading in old games for new ones now. Board games have a generational, and handed down issue associated. Once you have checkers, or monopoly, typically you won't need another for a good long while. Whereas with action figures, everyone wants their own toy of whichever character. Board games are played with people, action figures typically one plays with themself, or if they have friends over or are at a friends house which in turn also raises awareness of certain figures, and kids will want their own for when they get home from said friend's house.

Wallets get tighter for collectors, but the market itself isn't collector driven. It's a hit across the board with kids and collectors alike. That's what keeps it alive. This alongside with hasbro's knowledge of product refreshment by rebranding or changing up packaging keeps the line going strong. (Hence the Nick Fury, Osborn, Now Steve Rogers packaging.)

I think it's got two more years as is before they rebrand it somehow.

Yes and would rebranding also mean a complete retooling? That's my biggest gripe with the movie stuff with the giant Cap heads.

How do you know this? I find it hard to believe.

Snowflakian wins the thread.

Considering they have reused molds for every toy line they've ever done, Hasbro will probably continue the practice as long as they remain in the toy business.

You also have to understand that even though collectors may not like it (even loathe it), it is a common practice in the toy industry and it's not just Hasbro. You only have to gaze over at the Mattel section of the aisle to see that (DCUC was practically built around the concept). Or even the Lego/Building Block aisle. Talk about reusing parts.

Like Snow said, it's a cost-cutting measure and it also helps fund R&D for future releases and even new molds. Which, in turn, are reused and the cycle starts all over again.

Don't assume that a redeco/remold is taking the place of a new figure/character. In fact, in many cases that redeco/remold is actually paying for that new character to be made down the line.

If it helps any, consider it a necessary evil. So you really like that X-23 or Darkhawk mold, huh? And the new articulation is awesome, too. Where do you think the money came from to make that stuff happen?

Google.

(Also, Hasbro is a publically-traded company [NYSE:HAS] and they do release quarterly stock & financial reports, which can be found on the web from various sources, including fan sites and message boards.)

I didnt know a thread had winners and losers. Arent threads for discussion and opinions?

If MU is still here in 2013 i want thigh swivels on every figure damn it.

You are so spot on in your post. If it weren't for repaint figures we wouldnt be here even talking about this line of figures..it wouldn't be being made any longer.

There is so much more that goes into it than a lot of people here give them credit for. Some people act like the meeting about reusing magnetos head was.." yawn..Im too lazy to sculpt another..get Mike to repaint the old one...pass me the doritos"

..and the guy saying that Hasbrow would end the line with a spiderman/hulk/ironman/thor wave because "they are jerks like that". Id like to know where you base that off of..or are they just "jerks" because they make a lot of versions of characters that MAKE THEM MONEY..instead of making character XYZ that YOU want? Let them sell the "Big 5" with every other wave..how in the hell do you think we get the lesser know interests that come along.

new collectors emerge everyday... and they will need those base characters. makes it easier than trying to find older ones from the first waves.. i'm a new collector and i was able to find a phasing Vision... this way i don't have to pay over $50.00 for a older figure... i like this...wish they would release another Blade or a damn Secret Wars Hawkeye! lol