[ukmu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kernel

I'm happy we are still getting Emma soon, plus that Xmen deadpool.

I stopped at micheals today and saw this poster... Notice anything about it?

Doom is not here.... Doom is not pleased.... This makes Doom feel left out.

[Captain Nash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ukmu

Doom is not here.... Doom is not pleased.... This makes Doom feel left out.

Doom's swan song will be Secret Wars. And you just know that whatever they're doing with the actual F4 Marvel has to be in a private uproar that they "can't" promote either their #1 or #2 villain.

[Snowflakian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Nash

Pretty accurate, I think. I'm guessing that while Hasbro doesn't have an outright ban on creating X-men Figures (and F4) that Disney has strongarmed/encouraged them to not create any figures, and that Hasbro has decided it's in their best interest to listen. I think that Emma and possibly Rogue were just too far along in the production process for them to decide it was in their best interest to not release. At some point money spent must be recouped.

I know some may hold a different opinion and that's great, that's your right to it, but I have a very difficult time believing it's not a real thing going on here.

I know this is more Legends related but Hasbro rep commented "we may Or possibly see" more X-Men related figures closer to the movie release. I don't think we will. Wouldn't those have already been shown along with the rest of the 2016 product for other lines? It sounded like a very evasive "we'll see" answer and I don't buy into it one bit. But I'd love for them to prove me wrong on both lines.*

* to clarify, yes i do think we'll see Emma released. And maybe even Rogue. Also I think Wolverine and Deadpool may continue to be exceptions to release due to their possibility, in either line. But otherwise I think we'll get squat.

Another thing to factor in is retailers.

Looking at the overstock on the First Class comic packs that more or less shelf warmed at TRU for a solid year+ probably didn't help any to push the X-Men merchandise(which was also during the XFC movie too for the media push). What followed was a non X-Men exclusive comic pack wave, and they flew off shelves. Future Foundation Doctor Doom and Spider-man and the She-Hulk pack sold bucket loads.

The Wolverine lines themselves also varied in sales strength(last waves of which didn't really even make it to normal brick and mortar stores, only the overstock stores).

Downgraded to the 5 poa for the second wolverine movie, and still not anywhere near the same momentum as say AOU in the 5 poa as a comparison.

The momentum isn't present for the sales currently, but that could easily change later if momentum picks back up from the new Fox movies. Sales numbers are the main issue here. In MI, they still move, so figures will still happen over there(plus there is a large amount of already done molds to use that work for repacks in Hasbro's favor like the upcoming Rogue figure). As a dedicated line though, the numbers aren't present for the time being. One good bit of media exposure though, and that could change easily enough.

No matter how much Disney may try to grease the wheels(if they are), brick and mortar stores are hasbro's main source of merchandise income. Even compared to Disney, it's Target, Walmart, and Toys R Us(the three major retail chains that place merchandise orders to Hasbro) that have more say in what gets made based on their merchandise orders, demands, and wants. That's where we get stuck. Those 3 are the gate keepers to the merchandise we want to buy and their assumptions to what their customers will buy based on past trends and sales data.

So like the Wolverine legends wave. Major retailers decided they didn't want to stock it or order it, it ended up with spotty distribution if at all. That's not on Disney, that's on the major retailers.

Another thing to consider is the colorful nature of the MCU and their comic counterparts. But that starts diving into the aspects of catching kid attention to create demand and all sorts of other sub-marketing points. Probably also one of the reasons why we see more in MU/I because they can use the brighter color palettes there. Like say Rogue with her bright green and yellow suit. Or Cyclops with a more gold and bold blue, or Even Emma with her more diamond white. Even Psylocke with her purple and blue hues along with her psionic sword.

This is also one of the issues Mattel will face with the BvS lines. Marketing to kids when the films have a grittier tone, doesn't always work too well. Batman tends to be one of the exceptions, but we'll see how it goes. This probably also one of the reasons the 5 poa wolverine toys didn't sell the same in comparison to the AOU 5 poa. The Wolverine wasn't exactly a kid friendly movie by any stretch, whereas AOU isn't a kids movie either, it has more colorful flair and other marketing tones that still play to those sensibilities.

[Captain Nash]

I guess it's very easy to be optimistic when, as you mentioned earlier, every figure you've wanted to see made has been made. I don't mean for that to sound personal and I want to believe your reasoning I just can't (so please, no personal offense intended.) I guess we will have to agree to disagree I'm just saying it's easier to have a different viewpoint with less incentive or desire to see change.

If the number of First Class packs overstocked were a reason for retailers to be weary of buying into more X-Men product, what about the glut of Iron Man movie figures? Those things were falling off the shelves due to overstock for multiple years. And yet we still have additional Iron Man figures produced in the meantime.

We may not have seen Fox movie figures in the times before Marvel was aquired by Disney but we still got plenty of X-men figures in the lines. It wasn't until after the Disney aquistion that the X-men offerings started to dry up. So I can't put this all on Marvel, as I'm rather sure it's more likely coming straight from the House of Mouse.

[Snowflakian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Nash

I guess it's very easy to be optimistic when, as you mentioned earlier, every figure you've wanted to see made has been made. I don't mean for that to sound personal and I want to believe your reasoning I just can't (so please, no personal offense intended.) I guess we will have to agree to disagree I'm just saying it's easier to have a different viewpoint with less incentive or desire to see change.

If the number of First Class packs overstocked were a reason for retailers to be weary of buying into more X-Men product, what about the glut of Iron Man movie figures? Those things were falling off the shelves due to overstock for multiple years. And yet we still have additional Iron Man figures produced in the meantime.

We may not have seen Fox movie figures in the times before Marvel was aquired by Disney but we still got plenty of X-men figures in the lines. It wasn't until after the Disney aquistion that the X-men offerings started to dry up. So I can't put this all on Marvel, as I'm rather sure it's more likely coming straight from the House of Mouse.

Every figure in Legends has been made I wanted. MU/I is another matter entirely. I only collect certain things in the upper scale.

As for Iron Man, Iron Man 2 had strong sales that led to the extension of the line, but then it did shelf warm all the way to Iron Man 3. Which led to the Iron Man 3 figures going a different direction entirely with the assemblers instead of normal figures. Which then gave rise to the other line we see now on shelves. The mash ups or whatever they're called. And then how that expanded to almost every brand hasbro has because of how well they sold. Which now has Deadpool, Pyro, Wolverine, Iceman, and others too. So if there is an embargo on those characters, no one told the Mash ups team that. The only embargo over there seems to be no female characters. That entire line was also while Marvel was with Disney.

That line itself is all sales and marketing data at work.

We got the Sentinel, the 5 pack, and an X-Men 3 pack while Marvel was with Disney also. The sentinel had mixed sales(also marked the end of the masterpiece line entirely). The 5 pack was one of the few easy to find exclusives at TRU and didn't move the volume probably expected, and the longshot 3 pack moved slower than the inhumans pack after an initial sales surge. So much so that Rogue is getting repacked, but that wolverine and Longshot aren't. The favorite from the pack that has the most demand is getting repacked. Same with the inhumans pack though. Blackbolt is getting repacked but Karnak and Medusa aren't as yet.

We're still getting new figures, and they're trying to cover more characters, so X-Men are taking a mild backseat for now allowing other characters to pop up while retailers still want shelf presence of Spider-man(which explains the doubled up spidey comic pack coming) Captain America, and others. Hyperion is definitely the oddity in that though, but without knowing what All-New Marvel has planned for that, there might be an intended reason for it, or a push because of his constant exposure in the Avengers toon. He's been in 5 episodes already.

Another example is GOTG. They've grown in popularity to the point their figures are now showing up in MI too. Yondu and Gamora both have upcoming figures because of this increased exposure. Vance Astro too. The demand is there as even the fan poll showed.

[jedirulz123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Nash

We may not have seen Fox movie figures in the times before Marvel was aquired by Disney but we still got plenty of X-men figures in the lines. It wasn't until after the Disney aquistion that the X-men offerings started to dry up. So I can't put this all on Marvel, as I'm rather sure it's more likely coming straight from the House of Mouse.

Actually we got lines for every X-Men film before First Class, and Disney bought Marvel in 2009, just when MU started - we still got X-Characters up until a couple of waves ago, and it's only withing the last couple of years that X-Product and F4 stuff has dried up, so it's a recent thing. I'd say only since MCU films started making a billion dollars have Disney had such a vested interest in wiping out Fox's characters.
And Hyperion's been in 9 episodes of Avengers Assemble, first as a member of the Cabal, now as a member of the Squadran Supreme - which seems to imitate the Justice League

[Snowflakian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jedirulz123

Actually we got lines for every X-Men film before First Class, and Disney bought Marvel in 2009, just when MU started - we still got X-Characters up until a couple of waves ago, and it's only withing the last couple of years that X-Product and F4 stuff has dried up, so it's a recent thing. I'd say only since MCU films started making a billion dollars have Disney had such a vested interest in wiping out Fox's characters.
And Hyperion's been in 9 episodes of Avengers Assemble, first as a member of the Cabal, now as a member of the Squadran Supreme - which seems to imitate the Justice League

I'm behind on some episodes. So thanks for the correction.

The MCU box office also goes to the merchandise sales data though as those are the current most prolific areas. Which is also reflected in units sold as we saw in the comparison of The Wolverine's 5 poa to AOU's 5 poa. Also how Iron Man 2's line got extended for an extra wave or two from sales, and other lines like how well the Avengers movie line did in comparison to say XMO: Wolverine's line.

It really all boils down to sales data and what's marketable to kids. The Wolverine and DOFP weren't marketable to kids. Avengers stuff is. When Fox makes a movie that can be marketed like that, then it will be. That probably won't happen until the next batch of present day X-Men movies. Apocalypse looks to have a pretty dark tone, though it's possible. Deadpool is rated R. Gambit is an unknown, and the next wolverine is going to attempt old man logan. Old Man Logan depending on how much is changed might have the best chance of getting a line next to maybe Gambit. But it really depends on how marketable it is to kids for major retailers to think merchandise will sell to them.

So it's a wait and see approach. One of the other things to consider, while we were getting X-Men figures in MU, there was also a toon presence over on Nick Toons with Wolverine and The X-Men. They got their own line at first, but were quickly shuffled back into MU character coverage instead. The number of X-Men characters per wave sharply dropped when the toon was removed from airing. It's no longer in reruns even now. Ditto to the older toons being in reruns. They aren't on air currently anymore either, so the media exposure is lacking on those characters in the present market towards kids. I miss when Disney XD had those old Marvel toons. That's how we even got the amazing friends 3 pack.

Hasbro has to cater to what sells. Right now that's Avengers heavy and GOTG with some villains in the mix. (Though really, where's MU/I Batroc already?)

[samsson37]

Personally used to love the X-men,but with the lack luster movies, the comics having no true direction and no cartoon there isn't a way to generate interest in them. Besides Emma and Rogue any other characters minus maybe Domino..who would really sell well ?

[K Dubious]

Great point of views, let me lend my two cents.

Disney and Fox are two (Out of only 6) of the biggest media companies on Earth. These 6 companies control everything we see and read, that part is tough to believe, but I promise it is true. They are in direct competition with each other and have been for a while. A few years ago I remember hearing that the Marvel Execs removed anything having to do with FF and X-men from thier offices, all the while no one cared to remove Spider-Man from their history, why you ask? Because Sony Pictures Entertainment have stuggled since it was founded and do not have the breadth of media outlets to be in direct competition with Disney.

Just my opinion.

Also I do feel like the big retail chains are most definetlely Hasbro's Bread and Butter, but there is no way they have any say in the direction of these lines. For years we heard that the stores demand Ironman, Spider-man, and Wolverine that is why they are so abundant. While I agree that the average joe wants those three more than other figures, but the average joe does not buy the entire line like collectors do so why should their opinion be the one that matters? I think stores are smart enough to realize that when they buy into a line it will change from shipment to shipment, I could be wrong and maybe their is a Walton out there going "I can't wait for our stores to get more of the figures that never sell!"

So this goes back to Hasbro passing the blame from spot to spot. I don't hate them, in fact I love what they produce. I just wish there wasn't so much smoke and mirrors and someone could just tell us where things are heading and why.

[K Dubious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kernel

I'm happy we are still getting Emma soon, plus that Xmen deadpool.

I stopped at micheals today and saw this poster... Notice anything about it?

Man this really hurts me for some reason.

I bought this same poster 2 or 3 years ago and the images are quite different now.



I bought this one almost 5 years ago!!!! it is still my favorite

[jedirulz123]

Ahh, I miss Wolverine & the X-Men. It's the only thing out there bar comics that had a shared X-Men/Avengers universe.
Fury & Hulk showed up on X-Men, the MRD was mentioned & Wolverine was in EMH. May the gods punish those who pulled it from air.

[K Dubious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jedirulz123

May the gods punish those who pulled it from air.

TRUTH

Even my GF loved watching that show, as soon as one episode was over she would grab the mouse and pull up the next one. (We don't have cable, he he he)

[jedirulz123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K Dubious

Even my GF loved watching that show, as soon as one episode was over she would grab the mouse and pull up the next one. (We don't have cable, he he he)

I'd prefer to see more of those interpretations than comics or films, but sadly we'll never get to see Bishop & Xavier vs Apocalypse

Also, don't forget to vote in the contest, guys; it closes in a few hours!

[deathofthelines]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jedirulz123

I'd prefer to see more of those interpretations than comics or films, but sadly we'll never get to see Bishop & Xavier vs Apocalypse

Also, don't forget to vote in the contest, guys; it closes in a few hours!

Wolverine and the xmen was awesome much better than most of whats out there now. I heard the company that produced it filed bankruptcy and went out of business. Too bad no one else picked it up but most networks probly would have ruined it by dumbing it down and giving wolverine Peter Griffen syndrome.

[Snowflakian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K Dubious

Great point of views, let me lend my two cents.

Disney and Fox are two (Out of only 6) of the biggest media companies on Earth. These 6 companies control everything we see and read, that part is tough to believe, but I promise it is true.

All that is true.
Though Fox is now two entities since their split with Newscorp. So they don't have as much weight as they did abroad, but they're still in the top 6.

Quote:

Originally Posted by K Dubious

Also I do feel like the big retail chains are most definetlely Hasbro's Bread and Butter, but there is no way they have any say in the direction of these lines. For years we heard that the stores demand Ironman, Spider-man, and Wolverine that is why they are so abundant. While I agree that the average joe wants those three more than other figures, but the average joe does not buy the entire line like collectors do so why should their opinion be the one that matters? I think stores are smart enough to realize that when they buy into a line it will change from shipment to shipment, I could be wrong and maybe their is a Walton out there going "I can't wait for our stores to get more of the figures that never sell!"

That's because a Walton is the top of the food chain and doesn't even know the bulk of what their stores really even carry anymore. I doubt they could even name a toyline in their toy department. The problem is at a lower end in the chain, but higher than an individual store. What those retail ordering people know is what's popular by media presence. Captain America, Ironman, Spider-man, the named movie title characters and brand names. They balance what they want to spend and what they think will sell against how much they want to pay for it by bulk orders. So yeah, they want named characters because that's what they think will sell. Getting them to purchase into the line by meeting these requests is what hasbro does. They have to hype the store into it by talk of how much they'll make, and once they buy into it, with the consecutive waves Hasbro has to sustain the line and sales numbers by the selection they provide in the waves. So as long as product is moving and those named tiers still pop up occasionally when those that handle orders check, they stay happy and keep ordering.

Like over with Transformers. We see a lot of optimus prime and bumblebee because that's the names now that everyone knows. But if Hasbro can talk their way into getting orders for a line and sustain it, then we start seeing things like combiner wars. Those took some build up to get to though. Power Core combiners paved the way for that to retailers, but the continued strong sales opened the door for much more. Combiner wars is also an offshoot of Generations though, and early generations this go round had a minor fixation on prime and bumblebee to get themselves on shelves. Even combiner wars itself had to work in a prime figure which thankfully was planned to be retooled into Motormaster. Hasbro is trying to balance that system to get what they know sells out on shelves past the retail ordering people.

If you've ever worked for those retail stores, you know how 'in the know' those various representatives and corporate types actually are too. And that is to say not much if at all. They know what their kids watch maybe, and what's in theaters.

[En Sabah Nerd]

Totally off topic but we're on page 666.

[K Dubious]

Look who's on Toyark Ma, It's the devil!

[deathofthelines]

Quote:

Originally Posted by En Sabah Nerd

Totally off topic but we're on page 666.

I noticed and wanted to post pics with some beast figures but then it didn't sound as funny as I first thought so I changed my mind

[deathofthelines]

Did an comic ant man helmet on the mcu. Not half bad to me.

[jedirulz123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by deathofthelines

Did an comic ant man helmet on the mcu. Not half bad to me.

Ooo, he looks nice. I really don't want to have to get an MU Ant Man, but I've got a movie one coming from Chinabay

[deathofthelines]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jedirulz123

Ooo, he looks nice. I really don't want to have to get an MU Ant Man, but I've got a movie one coming from Chinabay

I'm sure somebody does a nice mold of it. Might be a route if your truly interested. I'm home bored waiting for my lunch to arrive so I'm screwing around with parts. Still non helmet head I'm happy with for him.

[jedirulz123]

Still looking for a better removeable Ant Man helmet. Vort's one is a bit unpolished, so I'm looking for a replacement/

[deathofthelines]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jedirulz123

Still looking for a better removeable Ant Man helmet. Vort's one is a bit unpolished, so I'm looking for a replacement/

Yea I wish Hasbro would have given us a head and separate helmet rather than this

[kylactus]

I think the X-men embargo, if we're calling it that now, is mostly aimed at fans (I site the Select Mystique that was canceled for no apparent reason) and the fact that that some X characters do still pop up in the children's lines like assemblers. I think it's just a subtle thought control on the part of Disney to "cleanse" properties they own, but cant make money off of at the moment from the public consciousness, In part I think this has to do with the fact that, lets face it eventually they will regain control of all
Marvel rights one way or another (makes you wonder who really hacked Sony...) Once they get, say X-men back there not going to want the public comparing the new cast to the old one, or nit picking continuity gaps. so they brain wash us... in other brain washing evil empire news, everyone see Blade has a new ongoing series coming out!? (mind you it stars his teen daughter and looks like the plot of a failed Disney channel show) but it's called blade! so yay! marvel is only about three man parts away from complete emasculation!

[ukmu]

Page 666.....

That is a HELL of a lot of Marvel 3.75" right there.