[hasbroherofan]

Hello everyone, first post here.

I was just curious but does anyone know why there is no Days of Future Past line this year? From what I read on on Box Office Mojo the movie is tracking well and in fact looks like it's about to have a bigger opening than The Winter Soldier or that Amazing Spider-Man sequel, so I don't think it's that Hasbro thought there'd be no market.

Is there some sort of issue since the X-Men movies are produced at Fox rather than in-house like the Marvel Cinematic Universe toys? I remember when I was younger there were figures for the first three X-Men movies and I think that putrid Wolverine prequel too, but I don't remember seeing any figures for First Class or The Wolverine either.

And related, does anyone know if any potential rights issues would also include figures for the Fantastic Four movie out next year?

[kylactus]

XMO Wolverine had a toy line as did the first three xmen, and FOX did Spidey also, but he got a line, a crappy 5POA line but there were toys. Hasbro has toy rights to all things marvel, I believe for some reason Hasbro is pulling back on movie lines, even the recent MCU movies Thor, Cap, IM3, all had sub par lines with relatively few figures. I don't know the answers for sure, but I'd guess it's a Hasbro problem not a movie company issue... but at the end if the day Disney makes there money no mater what.

[En Sabah Nerd]

Sony owns Spider-Man's movies.

[hasbroherofan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylactus

XMO Wolverine had a toy line as did the first three xmen, and FOX did Spidey also, but he got a line, a crappy 5POA line but there were toys. Hasbro has toy rights to all things marvel, I believe for some reason Hasbro is pulling back on movie lines, even the recent MCU movies Thor, Cap, IM3, all had sub par lines with relatively few figures. I don't know the answers for sure, but I'd guess it's a Hasbro problem not a movie company issue... but at the end if the day Disney makes there money no mater what.

Ah, thanks for the information. I had actually noticed that all things considered the Winter Soldier line looked kind of sparse so you could be right.

[VashTS]

Baf Sentinel is too big, why make fans happy?

They want to keep disappointing us to the point a baf jubilee is a good thing.

Think if this guys,x men is the most popular comic book brand and Hasbro, for the third straight movie refuses to make figure for it.

What can we do but accept it and be thankful for the jubilee baf, with previously used molds and canceled figures...yay.....

[warmachine6]

yeah , i think hasbro unless spider-man will only release figures that should've of been released agesss ago are now finding ways to add figures to particular lines as in "movie lines" I think big characters like the avengers and spider-man unfortunately not x-men get their movie figures .... Look at X-men for Hottoys theyy've only done 1 movie figure from the whole franchise Wolverine , from X-men 3 wolverine to x-men origins wolverine, where as captain america 2 they gave a falcon , blackwidow , and winter solider figure... it might be just X-men characters in general won't sell ??? possibly what they're thinking at hasbro as well as hot toys, even though they should do what toybiz did make every figure possible from movie & comics

[bmorr]

This is simple. There is little to no product cause these movies are essentially competition for Marvel Studios and Disney. Its all political. Yes, its a marvel movie, but its not like Disney is reaping the movie sales, and they sure as shit dont like that. Once Disney gets control of Spidey and Xmen you better believe we will be seeing toys on the pegs.

[trebleshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hasbroherofan

Is there some sort of issue since the X-Men movies are produced at Fox rather than in-house like the Marvel Cinematic Universe toys? I remember when I was younger there were figures for the first three X-Men movies and I think that putrid Wolverine prequel too, but I don't remember seeing any figures for First Class or The Wolverine either.

No, there is no specific rights issue that I am aware of which is preventing Hasbro from making toys based on X-Men-related films. There could potentially be some issues with actor likenesses, but that depends on each actor's contract and is not really up to Hasbro.

As for why there haven't been any toys, it is quite likely that Hasbro's Marvel division had too much on its plate this year to cover all four Marvel films, in addition to everything else. So far, they've done lines for Winter Soldier and Amazing Spider-Man 2. Guardians of the Galaxy will be out later this summer and they are still doing Marvel Universe/Infinite and Avengers/S.H.I.E.L.D. Gear figures on top of all that. Something had to give.

By the way, Hasbro did make a small 3.75" retail toy line for The Wolverine, as well as an exclusive 6" line. Both were released last year in conjunction with the movie. In fact, I can still find a couple of the 3.75" figures at my local TRU.

Quote:

And related, does anyone know if any potential rights issues would also include figures for the Fantastic Four movie out next year?

If Fox is able to successfully reboot the FF series, Hasbro would have the rights to do a toy line based on it. That does not necessarily mean it will get one, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylactus

... and FOX did Spidey also, ...

No, they did not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by En Sabah Nerd

Sony owns Spider-Man's movies.

Yup. All five recent films.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VashTS

Baf Sentinel is too big, why make fans happy?

Because Hasbro likes to piss off fans and collectors every chance they get, of course. Screw making the toys for kids and trying to make money and stuff.

The Web really does need a sarcasm font....

[Snowflakian]

There are potentially some extra costs to Marvel films that aren't in house developed. While Hasbro has priority, they may include additional fees that in house made do not.

Hopefully X-Men: Apocalypse will be an expanded sized line though as at that point Avengers may hit an oversaturation point on the movie front for figures.

It's a balancing act and also creates a form of increased demand to keeping them off shelves for a bit.

With Fantastic Four and X-Men both at fox and allegedly going to become a combined universe, it may be due time with X-Men:Apocalypse to do a line that caters to both. The new Fan4 film is too untested for a figure line potentially until the reception is tested.

Wolverine's lines have been the water testing for X-Men lines, but that's also flawed reasoning as the sales data created from that was partial to only wolverine fans and then more towards the inaction figure base which is already small.

The long duration between a real X-Men movie line though means they have a lot of coverage that can be done when they finally do make one. Though then it boils down to retailers and we all know how well they stock(top heavy on the first waves rarely on any after). This is the main issue that's killing many of the movie lines. Hasbro themselves has tried to factor it in by only doing 2-4 waves at most of movie lines, but even that isn't working with waves 3-4 never seeing shelves.

Which is rather a shame. There are plenty of X-men movie figures that kids and fans alike would eat up, plenty of concept figures that could be awesome, and plenty of other endeavors only suited to that merchandising route that could really help up the sales of action figures.

But again, without "sales data" to back that up, retailers are leery of the endeavors. Without major retailer demand, Hasbro has no major outlet to push through. So we(the collectors and kids alike) are blocked by the major retailer middleman system.

[Nymesys Prime]

Just my thoughts but unless you want another round of Wolverine repaints..they really have no invested interest into making new movie figures. if they do then it would most likely be in the vein as the last wolverine movie where the 6 inch figures were LCS or online only. Given how less is more that line was the most sought after lineup until the CAWS line came. The 3.75 Wolveine figures peg warmed because
1. they looked cheap and crappy
2. Unless you are a fan-boy no one knows who the Silver Samurai is.
3. they look cheap and crappy

personally I think we may end up seeing more of the 4 figure BAF with 2 figures without BAF parts similar to the wolverine sets.
Think about it..if Jubilee is a BAF then only 4 of the 6 planned figures realistically will have BAF parts. Most likely one of those figures will be Wolverine(again). Perfect setup to release that moonstone,phoenix 5 Cyclops, or even Redpool and others but they will give us the same repaints from the last few years.
So far the only movies getting the Legends treatment are coming from movies that have/are doing extremely well. GOTG gets the movie line as it will tie into the Avengers2 storyline
Xmen..not so much as it cant compete with the Avengers right now.

just sayin....

[Snowflakian]

If they do an X-Men movie line, realistically they could get away with doing only a handful of base bucks then different heads and arms.

The movie costumes outside of a few are pretty much all the same with only the head, arms and some gear being different.

So they could do wolverine and cyclops off of the same movie costume buck. Colossus might need to be his own. Blink would need to be her own. Kitty pryde would be a base costume female buck(unless they did the open jacket version, in which case they'd have some parts fodder for the IM3 Pepper Potts too). Storm would need her own for the future costume but otherwise could share the same buck as Jean Grey as it would be the base costume again but they're a little taller than Kitty Pryde. Iceman would be the base costume again, but would need to be a little shorter than cyclops/wolverine. Could probably get a warpath out of that one too.

So maybe 4 base bucks. 2 male and 2 female, and you've pretty much covered all the normal costumes(non future versions). Some minor variations in the arms and legs and heads would add more diversity. Throw in some parts and gear from previous lines to bolster it (which also could create fodder for a Pepper Potts figure later). Costs would be lower overall and easier to recoup plus it'd provide fodder for future usages too depending on what characters get introduced later in the X-Men cinematic world.

The same could be done with First Class yellow and black costumes, as most were the same only with minor variations.

So it's entirely possible because of how non-individualized the costumes mostly are.

I wouldn't mind seeing a re-release of the jacketed wolverine from his initial movie line either. Then they could round it out with some comic figures like Emma Frost and some others the have the parts for but never found an extremely decent release route for. Maybe even an alpha flight box set that had both Aurora and North Star.

The draw back to Avengers movie figures at least is that unless they introduce more characters, we'll hit an oversaturation point after Age of Ultron. Outside of Ultron and any future villians, the core cast is so well covered in the scale that even the minor costume variations may not be enough to keep moving units.

It seems they are planning ahead on this though. With GOTG not getting covered that well in the scale yet, and others still waiting in the wings for the expanded side like Falcon(when he gets a costume) and Ant-man, or even an unmasked bucky/winter soldier, there's still some fodder for Avengers, but not much. Outside of Hawkeye's costume variation, black widow's different hairstyles, and minor Captain america revisions and ironman armors, there's not much that'll change with their figures, or for most, possibly not enough changed to warrant purchases. That leaves the focus mostly on the new characters as the sought afters, and hopefully means we might see some shield expansion as well. (Personally, the only figures I'm looking forward to out of AoU are Ultron, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver, but Witch and Quicksilver may not get real costumes until next movie after it too. Then there's the cinematic ant-man costume coming up too.)

So the smartest thing all around right now would probably be to run a dedicated MCU line that allows them to bolster it out with Agents of SHIELD stuff as well as the movies(GOTG included) which allows for repacks of older that didn't quite make it to shelves before(Sif, Warriors 3, tony stark, Ironman Mk 42, etc,) alongside some of the previous that never got figures like Rhodes, Pepper Potts(extremis with ironman gauntlet), Deathlok, etc. This would hopefully also open the shelf space up to do the same for the X-Men Cinematic that could include the rebooted Fantastic 4. We already have a dedicated comic line with the Infinite toys.

They need to find a way to consolidate shelf space but also still get the figures out that are in demand and the ones people will still buy too. So that'd be the direction I'd lean, with the rebranding/new packaging happening to spotlight each current movie of the time.

We're really starting to near that point of "how many times will people re-buy the same character" over-saturation point. So there needs to be some reason to push the why on that. Like doing better articulated figures, or some other reason to replace previous purchases.

Assuming that 3 or 4 is around the limit of repurchases of the same character barring major costume changes and a civvie clothes figure. That limits it some. Captain America for example is at the limit now with past costume, avengers costume, commander rogers costume, and next movie's costume possibly. He's not exactly like Ironman where a new armor is almost expected every movie. X-Men has a similar potential though. With the time periods altering the costumes each outing, 3 variations of Magneto already would probably be bought up without a second thought. Same to two different Wolverines (DOFP future and trilogy suit). The whole time periods and evolving costumes presents a mild solution to that problem for the X-Men cinematic universe as a toy line as does how the movies keep expanding exposure of characters like Blink, Warpath, etc. It really depends on how it's approached overall though. Each movie we don't get a line for X-Men is that much more that can be covered later. Which is beneficial to Hasbro once Avengers reaches that point of them only repackaging the previous movie figures and a new villian or two.

[ukmu]

My son said it best....
"Avengers are for cool people... And X-Men are for Dads."

Avengers are HOT right now, biggest movie franchise EVER. Bigger than Harry Potter and bigger than Star Wars. X-Men, not so much. Good comics, that is about it.

[hasbroherofan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snowflakian

If they do an X-Men movie line, realistically they could get away with doing only a handful of base bucks then different heads and arms.

The movie costumes outside of a few are pretty much all the same with only the head, arms and some gear being different.

So they could do wolverine and cyclops off of the same movie costume buck. Colossus might need to be his own. Blink would need to be her own. Kitty pryde would be a base costume female buck(unless they did the open jacket version, in which case they'd have some parts fodder for the IM3 Pepper Potts too). Storm would need her own for the future costume but otherwise could share the same buck as Jean Grey as it would be the base costume again but they're a little taller than Kitty Pryde. Iceman would be the base costume again, but would need to be a little shorter than cyclops/wolverine. Could probably get a warpath out of that one too.

So maybe 4 base bucks. 2 male and 2 female, and you've pretty much covered all the normal costumes(non future versions). Some minor variations in the arms and legs and heads would add more diversity. Throw in some parts and gear from previous lines to bolster it (which also could create fodder for a Pepper Potts figure later). Costs would be lower overall and easier to recoup plus it'd provide fodder for future usages too depending on what characters get introduced later in the X-Men cinematic world.

The same could be done with First Class yellow and black costumes, as most were the same only with minor variations.

So it's entirely possible because of how non-individualized the costumes mostly are.

I wouldn't mind seeing a re-release of the jacketed wolverine from his initial movie line either. Then they could round it out with some comic figures like Emma Frost and some others the have the parts for but never found an extremely decent release route for. Maybe even an alpha flight box set that had both Aurora and North Star.

The draw back to Avengers movie figures at least is that unless they introduce more characters, we'll hit an oversaturation point after Age of Ultron. Outside of Ultron and any future villians, the core cast is so well covered in the scale that even the minor costume variations may not be enough to keep moving units.

It seems they are planning ahead on this though. With GOTG not getting covered that well in the scale yet, and others still waiting in the wings for the expanded side like Falcon(when he gets a costume) and Ant-man, or even an unmasked bucky/winter soldier, there's still some fodder for Avengers, but not much. Outside of Hawkeye's costume variation, black widow's different hairstyles, and minor Captain america revisions and ironman armors, there's not much that'll change with their figures, or for most, possibly not enough changed to warrant purchases. That leaves the focus mostly on the new characters as the sought afters, and hopefully means we might see some shield expansion as well. (Personally, the only figures I'm looking forward to out of AoU are Ultron, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver, but Witch and Quicksilver may not get real costumes until next movie after it too. Then there's the cinematic ant-man costume coming up too.)

So the smartest thing all around right now would probably be to run a dedicated MCU line that allows them to bolster it out with Agents of SHIELD stuff as well as the movies(GOTG included) which allows for repacks of older that didn't quite make it to shelves before(Sif, Warriors 3, tony stark, Ironman Mk 42, etc,) alongside some of the previous that never got figures like Rhodes, Pepper Potts(extremis with ironman gauntlet), Deathlok, etc. This would hopefully also open the shelf space up to do the same for the X-Men Cinematic that could include the rebooted Fantastic 4. We already have a dedicated comic line with the Infinite toys.

They need to find a way to consolidate shelf space but also still get the figures out that are in demand and the ones people will still buy too. So that'd be the direction I'd lean, with the rebranding/new packaging happening to spotlight each current movie of the time.

We're really starting to near that point of "how many times will people re-buy the same character" over-saturation point. So there needs to be some reason to push the why on that. Like doing better articulated figures, or some other reason to replace previous purchases.

Assuming that 3 or 4 is around the limit of repurchases of the same character barring major costume changes and a civvie clothes figure. That limits it some. Captain America for example is at the limit now with past costume, avengers costume, commander rogers costume, and next movie's costume possibly. He's not exactly like Ironman where a new armor is almost expected every movie. X-Men has a similar potential though. With the time periods altering the costumes each outing, 3 variations of Magneto already would probably be bought up without a second thought. Same to two different Wolverines (DOFP future and trilogy suit). The whole time periods and evolving costumes presents a mild solution to that problem for the X-Men cinematic universe as a toy line as does how the movies keep expanding exposure of characters like Blink, Warpath, etc. It really depends on how it's approached overall though. Each movie we don't get a line for X-Men is that much more that can be covered later. Which is beneficial to Hasbro once Avengers reaches that point of them only repackaging the previous movie figures and a new villian or two.

I actually think that's a good idea. Consolidating a lot of their franchises to a general "Marvel Movieverse" line could help break up the endless stream of variants. If say Ant-Man doesn't have a lot of toy-worthy characters or villains you could have some Fantastic Four stuff like a Human Torch or Doctor Doom. Or whoever the new X-Men are in Apocalypse if Captain America 3 ends up kind of sparse again. The Winter Soldier line right now is basically Falcon, Black Widow, Bucky, and then a bunch of Cap variants.

[kylactus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ukmu

My son said it best....
"Avengers are for cool people... And X-Men are for Dads."

Avengers are HOT right now, biggest movie franchise EVER. Bigger than Harry Potter and bigger than Star Wars. X-Men, not so much. Good comics, that is about it.

to be fair I think that has a lot to do (in comics anyway) with the fact that the Avengers have recruited EVERYONE! when Spiderman, Luke Cage, wolverine, and now every X-man except Cyclopes, is in your book you steal every fan! I think the movie popularity has to do with the fact that marvel studios simply got it right, they followed the source material and stayed true to the formula... if it ain't broke don't fix it! too many of these other directors are trying to hard to tell there story instead of the character's. they change or "modernize" the costumes to make there telling Hip and Now, when all it really dose is date the movie, and offend the fan base, who then turn there non fan friends off to the franchise instead of attracting them.

[hasbroherofan]

Days of Future Past right now is actually looking to have a sizable box office haul according to the analysts. Probably not Avengers-size but they're predicting an opening bigger than Winter Soldier and Guardians, which is one of the reasons I was surprised there were no toys.

It's not as though it's a dead franchise yet.

[Nymesys Prime]

Little kids might light the "popular" figures that Hasbro continues to pump out..ie Wolverines, spider-man, ironman and caps but once you buy your kid the first maybe 2 rounds of those figure most parents aren't gonna spend money on a variant of the same 10+ figures they bought already. Variety and Female figures are assumed to be collector oriented only which is a gross mis-rep by the way. I want to see a good amount of all figs male or female and villains to build out my own universe. Surely that isn't too much to ask. At least Mattel did listen and make the figures for the original Legion of Doom before they cut the CnC line. Hasbro should pay attention to all not just focus on the Hot right now thing or make everything kid based. Last I checked my kid doesn't have the necessary resources to sustain this habit.

[Snowflakian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hasbroherofan

I actually think that's a good idea. Consolidating a lot of their franchises to a general "Marvel Movieverse" line could help break up the endless stream of variants. If say Ant-Man doesn't have a lot of toy-worthy characters or villains you could have some Fantastic Four stuff like a Human Torch or Doctor Doom. Or whoever the new X-Men are in Apocalypse if Captain America 3 ends up kind of sparse again. The Winter Soldier line right now is basically Falcon, Black Widow, Bucky, and then a bunch of Cap variants.

Another point in the MCU dedicated full line point is that it allows them to do figures for the upcoming Netflix series too under that banner. They are all part of the greater MCU with Agents of SHIELD and Deathlok, so that'd be perfect to help round out some of the space needed and helps kids and collectors alike get a hold of those characters for their movie universe figures.

With X-Men and Fantastic 4 allegedly being the same universe alongside the potential of Fox doing their own expanded TV series, a dedicated Fox Marvel Cinematic line would make sense too. (Plus I doubt some of the solo films coming up will have large offerings. Gambit's movie line, if his movie does get off the ground, I doubt will be a major toy seller other than his figure. Even his figure itself would seem odd without the rest of the Cinematic X-Men team to go with it or other cinematic influenced characters. So a broad label makes more sense overall. Cause Gambit without Rogue is weird, and they've yet to introduce a cinematic X-23. With Channing Tatum allegedly in that role now instead of Taylor Kitsch, it feels out of place for the Hugh Jackman Wolverine figure too.

Here's hoping they fix the amazing spider-man articulation on figures with the third film since it might have Black Cat. Definitely want a good articulated figure of her for my movie figure collection. This will also really help for when the Sinister 6 movie gets moving, ditto to Venom's spin-off.

Keeping them separate like that based on which studio is doing who for the combined cinematic for them alleviates a lot of the rights stress/confusion too. May even make it easier for kids and audiences at large to know who goes where.

X-Men cinematic parts could really come in handy overall too for future figures. I'm still keeping my figures crossed we might see some more Academy X/New X-Men among other mutants as the Fox movies continue to progress and expand out beyond the 3 recognizable that most are sick of by now anyway. (Cyclops, Jean, & Wolverine, there are wayyyyyy more X-Men than those 3, so why not give the others more appearances already! Okay Wolverine still has 2-3 more stories to be told, but Jean and Cyclops are overplayed at this point. The best thing the movie did was off them to open the door for others to appear and have the focus.)

[Byrnes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ukmu

My son said it best....
"Avengers are for cool people... And X-Men are for Dads."

Avengers are HOT right now, biggest movie franchise EVER. Bigger than Harry Potter and bigger than Star Wars. X-Men, not so much. Good comics, that is about it.

I think it has a ton to do with costumes/look of the characters. The X-Men stuff is boring. Avengers got it right. Look at Capt, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man. These guys look like they came straight from the comics for the most part and embrace the superhero look. X-Men are always in some crappy black suite stuff. I thought with First Class they were going to go that way, guess not.

[kylactus]

I think Hollywood is starting to get it.....the new batmam

[Iceman]

I wonder if it's a case of Hasbro needing to pay both Marvel and Fox if they did a line that used the images of the movie characters.

I would actually welcome MU articulated X-Men movie figures. A lot of the characters use the basic black leather suit so it would just need different heads and a few special parts. They would probably be nice for a kinds of fun customs.

[Lionheart]

Quote:

This is simple. There is little to no product cause these movies are essentially competition for Marvel Studios and Disney. Its all political. Yes, its a marvel movie, but its not like Disney is reaping the movie sales, and they sure as shit dont like that. Once Disney gets control of Spidey and Xmen you better believe we will be seeing toys on the pegs.

Just what I was going to say. If Hasbro want to stay sweet with the owner of the bulk of the Marvel Universe - and the inevitable owner of the rest - then they really don't want to push competing merch too much. The latest Spidey had 5 poa crap for kids, and it looks like X-Men is getting squat. It's all politics...

Quote:

My son said it best....
"Avengers are for cool people... And X-Men are for Dads."

Kids know squat. They want whatever is rammed down their throats. If X-Men was new and getting Avengers hype - as opposed to being a franchise re-boot, then the kids would love it. Doesn't help that these movies are being marketed as more serious and dark than the the other movies. From the time I stood in a toy shop and heard a kid say something that was simply not possible a few years earlier... "Iron Man is the coolest super hero!" I knew that kids taste could effectively be formed by the power of marketing and merch...

[hasbroherofan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylactus

I think Hollywood is starting to get it.....the new batmam

"Get" what exactly? The last Batman movie grossed a billion dollars, and the one before that did as well. That's a weird example to use for "Don't change the costume because you'll piss off the fans".

[kylactus]

I'm pointing out that the costume is going more comic style, like the Avengers, being more true to the source material and not trying to make Batman, or the X-men into some boring, generic, not so distant future swat team in all black tactical gear. I also like the new car, I don't care if the movie made a gazillion dollars the Tumbler sucked balls.

[Razorlight6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iceman

I wonder if it's a case of Hasbro needing to pay both Marvel and Fox if they did a line that used the images of the movie characters.

This sounds likely. During X-Men: First Class and The Wolverine, Hasbro released comic-related toys to capitalize on the films: X-Men: First Class comic packs (strangely with Cylops/Marvel Girl and Wolverine/Sabertooth, neither of whom were in the film) and various Wolverine-branded comic-inspired toys, such as those 3 3/4" figures , Marvel Legends, mask and a wearable Wolverine clawed arm. Also, the Marvel movies are a sure bet for success, and Spider-Man is probably the biggest hero around (sorry Batman).

[Snowflakian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iceman

I wonder if it's a case of Hasbro needing to pay both Marvel and Fox if they did a line that used the images of the movie characters.

I would actually welcome MU articulated X-Men movie figures. A lot of the characters use the basic black leather suit so it would just need different heads and a few special parts. They would probably be nice for a kinds of fun customs.

That's probably it in a nutshell. While Marvel benefits from other studios handling those properties from getting checks cut to them based on sales etc and other little perks, the merchandising probably still has some associated fees attached.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razorlight6

This sounds likely. During X-Men: First Class and The Wolverine, Hasbro released comic-related toys to capitalize on the films: X-Men: First Class comic packs (strangely with Cylops/Marvel Girl and Wolverine/Sabertooth, neither of whom were in the film) and various Wolverine-branded comic-inspired toys, such as those 3 3/4" figures , Marvel Legends, mask and a wearable Wolverine clawed arm. Also, the Marvel movies are a sure bet for success, and Spider-Man is probably the biggest hero around (sorry Batman).

Perfect example. Also look at how the "The Wolverine" figures cut corners on articulation and other aspects yet still marginally cost the same as the basic comic line.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylactus

I'm pointing out that the costume is going more comic style, like the Avengers, being more true to the source material and not trying to make Batman, or the X-men into some boring, generic, not so distant future swat team in all black tactical gear. I also like the new car, I don't care if the movie made a gazillion dollars the Tumbler sucked balls.

It depends on the methodology. Let's look at the costuming for a minute. Each one for every movie has had grounding in their story for reasons why. Captain America's is a rally point and started off as a USO show outfit. Ironman is his suit. Black Widow and Hawkeye are variations on SHIELD ops suits. Though Hawkeye's new variation starts to show his personality a bit since he's not part of SHIELD now. Hulk is the green giant. There's no way to really change that since it is his essence. The same can be said of Batman as the suit has its own methodology to the core of his character, and superman's costume is a mix of his alien heritage and being a beacon of hope.

The costumes aren't costumes for costumes sake. They have reasoning behind them that make them work on screen. This is something that most of the X-Men lack to theirs which is why they have a more unified look. They are essentially the spec-ops of the Xavier school. Even First class had reasoning behind the suits to be more protective, or bolster/control their abilities(Banshee and Havoc). Even Magneto's various suits have had in story reasoning behind the elements to them(the helmet to block telepaths, the protective plating for non-metallic projectiles in the 70s, etc).

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmorr

This is simple. There is little to no product cause these movies are essentially competition for Marvel Studios and Disney. Its all political. Yes, its a marvel movie, but its not like Disney is reaping the movie sales, and they sure as shit dont like that. Once Disney gets control of Spidey and Xmen you better believe we will be seeing toys on the pegs.

They aren't competition. Marvel/Disney gets a cut of all revenue streams from their characters and it allows them to benefit without direct financing(if they don't, then that's some really crappy contract work). It's more likely that because it's not in-house developed, that Hasbro has to pay additional costs to those studios alongside that. So Hasbro has to find ways to offset that cost by other means. (For example, look at the lower articulation to the Amazing Spider-man line. Though again, this could be intentional to allow a larger push later on for a sequel movie as well. The whole factor of balancing the toys so that they don't hinder future possible sales. Hopefully Amazing Spider-man 3, Sinister 6, and Venom will see a return of decent articulation.) This also allows Disney/Marvel to use their large library of characters without having to ignore the other mainstays. Overall, it benefits all parties involved and does have the potential to later on down the line still unify the properties even while under different studios. (Oscorp building allegedly originally going to be Avengers, etc.)

That's always been a fan theory/wish that Disney/Marvel wants them back. They are better off not being back as it'd mean no movies for them at all, or would mean other movies would be scrapped and the movie slate would be slowed. GOTG for example would have probably never made it to theaters if Disney/Marvel had to direct finance and make Spidey, Fantastic 4, and X-Men movies alongside the greater MCU franchise. The only direct perk from them being back is Disney could do live sitcom-ish spins on the characters, and even that needs to wait a little longer for effects pricing to drop more. Prime time dramas via Fox or FX benefit them more right now for increased visibility on those brands. This lets ABC stay focused on their own intellectual properties as well as Agents of SHIELD, while Marvel experiments with revenue streams on direct stream methods like Netflix and maybe eventually Hulu. A lot of future possibilities hinge potentially on how well those do on whether the investments should be made again that route over primetime TV.

The only thing that annoys me on that is it blocks an Academy X type show. But under the main disney header, that's not a good idea anyway as a show like that would need to be more in the vein of Degrassi, and less towards Jessie/WoWP and that ilk. ABC Family would be the better route as it allows for that more adult oriented direction similar to Pretty Little Liars and the other more adult oriented teen dramas that handle real world issues and the harsher life conundrums. With Glee going out the door soon, Fox needs a dramedy of that style. Though the possibility of something like that being on ABC Family could also bolster Disney incredibly, but their current lineups are doing fairly strong that a shot in the arm like that isn't needed for them to bolster ratings. It's a trade off and balancing act. The only hindrance would be if they start airing them all in the same time slots. Forcing fans to choose though hinders everyone. It's one of the big problems Agents of SHIELD is facing right now being paired against NCIS, but thankfully legal netstreams and digital alleviates that. So timeslots are a key factor in that.

It's a lot of factors to take into consideration. I lean on giving Hasbro the benefit of the doubt though, and think their actions currently are creating more demand for the articulated figures once the time is right. The current pattern suggests as such with slight cost cutting to test reception on the brands still while waiting for that right moment to switch over and let the other rest to re-build up demand again. The amazing spider-man line does seem more like a kid appeasement line as opposed to an all out push with the bare minimum articulation and high title character variation molds. Spider-man is also a mainstay though that's a constant. So having toys of him on shelf is something that'll always have high retailer demand. X-Men on the other hand doesn't have that retailer demand as yet really. Hopefully DOFP will fix that, and we may start to see a change come X-Men: Apocalypse.

That's the other thing to factor in here. Major Retailer demands are Hasbro's bread and butter. Appeasing them is what allows the figures we want to reach shelves so that we can purchase them. We're stuck behind that middle man aspect that isn't familiar with the brands like we or kids are. So the stronger the movies do, the more leeway Hasbro can have because of retailer demand of wanting in on those profits(which was probably a driving factor behind the First Class quick product filler as retailers demanded something at least, but this in turn from low units moved further negated the demand as the sales weren't strong on them as retailers expected even though that sales data was flawed from the get go on the very nature of what the products were to begin with).