[Artist77]

You need questions? Fine--

1. While I understand sales figures are a no-no, can I ask reasoning behind different versions of the same character? I cannot help but recall all the Batman toys of Kenner's early days, in which dozens of Sonar, lightning, capture net, capture claw, etc Batmen cluttered the shelves, and the villains were nowhere to be found. Why is it that, today, Arctic Captain America, Hammer Strike and Light Up Thor etc clog my shelves, along with over a hundred Iron-Men at the local Wal-Mart, by I can't find Red Skull or Crossbones or Apocalypse or Thanos to save my life without directly speaking to the toy section manager and begging to see new stuff before it hits shelves?

Short, less passionate version-
Why make dozens of versions of the same character that clog shelves, as opposed to more varied villains or allies?

2. With Captain America and Thor being highly anticipated and successful, respectively, are there any plans to capitalize on popularity with figures of characters like Baron Helmut Zemo, Skourge, Baldur, Ares, Batroc, Madame Hydra, Sharon Carter. etc, who are part of those mythologies?

3. How far back do you look for source material, and how far in the future can you see in terms of comic storylines to create new figure choices?

4. Are there any plans for more female characters? Elektra, Sharon Carter, Diamondback, Psylocke, Rogue, Hope Summers, Sin, Madame Hydra, Emma Frost, Domino, Typhoid Mary, Goblin Queen/Madelyne Pryor, She-Hulk, Red She-Hulk, Nomad (Rikki Barnes), Moonstone (iconic costume), Dagger and Photon, off the top of my head, have yet to be as much as discussed with fans. I know that children costumers are not always known for buying the female characters, but in my experience, Marvel female figures fly off shelves.

5. Are there any iconic characters the team is looking towards pursuing? Beast, Professor X, Nova, M.O.D.O.K., etc?

6. Has the team thought about "buffering" troop builders with leaders? Baron Strucker, Madame Hydra, Super Skrull, Veranke (or Spider-Woman Skrull variant) or such characters to put alongside armies would be greatly appreciated by fans.

7. Is it possible to put out Avengers: Earth Mightiest Heroes or Wolverine and the X-Men DVDs with an episode or two with figures from said episodes, similar to Hasbro's GI Joe sets and some of the Beast Wars toys? This would be a great chance for cross-promotion and a marketable reason to include new or redone characters with cartoons. Newly retooled AEMH styled Black Panther, or WATX Cyclops with coat or Iceman with spiky hair would be very interesting coupled with perhaps new figures, such as Malekith or Avalanche?

[Artist77]

Want more? Here ya go!

8. Any word on some of the figures talked about or shown? The Black Widow variant from the Marvel Universe and Black Widow from Iron Man 2 are both still anticipated by the consumer base.

9. Is there something that can be done about distribution with movie lines? There's a horrible pattern of the first initial wave flooding shelves, and then there is no room left for newer items on the shelf due to clogging.

10. Any chance we can know when to expect news about upcoming figures or toys? SDCC? A random time period?

[Snowflakian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artist77

You need questions? Fine--

1. While I understand sales figures are a no-no, can I ask reasoning behind different versions of the same character? I cannot help but recall all the Batman toys of Kenner's early days, in which dozens of Sonar, lightning, capture net, capture claw, etc Batmen cluttered the shelves, and the villains were nowhere to be found. Why is it that, today, Arctic Captain America, Hammer Strike and Light Up Thor etc clog my shelves, along with over a hundred Iron-Men at the local Wal-Mart, by I can't find Red Skull or Crossbones or Apocalypse or Thanos to save my life without directly speaking to the toy section manager and begging to see new stuff before it hits shelves?

Short, less passionate version-
Why make dozens of versions of the same character that clog shelves, as opposed to more varied villains or allies?

2. With Captain America and Thor being highly anticipated and successful, respectively, are there any plans to capitalize on popularity with figures of characters like Baron Helmut Zemo, Skourge, Baldur, Ares, Batroc, Madame Hydra, Sharon Carter. etc, who are part of those mythologies?

3. How far back do you look for source material, and how far in the future can you see in terms of comic storylines to create new figure choices?

4. Are there any plans for more female characters? Elektra, Sharon Carter, Diamondback, Psylocke, Rogue, Hope Summers, Sin, Madame Hydra, Emma Frost, Domino, Typhoid Mary, Goblin Queen/Madelyne Pryor, She-Hulk, Red She-Hulk, Nomad (Rikki Barnes), Moonstone (iconic costume), Dagger and Photon, off the top of my head, have yet to be as much as discussed with fans. I know that children costumers are not always known for buying the female characters, but in my experience, Marvel female figures fly off shelves.

5. Are there any iconic characters the team is looking towards pursuing? Beast, Professor X, Nova, M.O.D.O.K., etc?

6. Has the team thought about "buffering" troop builders with leaders? Baron Strucker, Madame Hydra, Super Skrull, Veranke (or Spider-Woman Skrull variant) or such characters to put alongside armies would be greatly appreciated by fans.

7. Is it possible to put out Avengers: Earth Mightiest Heroes or Wolverine and the X-Men DVDs with an episode or two with figures from said episodes, similar to Hasbro's GI Joe sets and some of the Beast Wars toys? This would be a great chance for cross-promotion and a marketable reason to include new or redone characters with cartoons. Newly retooled AEMH styled Black Panther, or WATX Cyclops with coat or Iceman with spiky hair would be very interesting coupled with perhaps new figures, such as Malekith or Avalanche?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artist77

Want more? Here ya go!

8. Any word on some of the figures talked about or shown? The Black Widow variant from the Marvel Universe and Black Widow from Iron Man 2 are both still anticipated by the consumer base.

9. Is there something that can be done about distribution with movie lines? There's a horrible pattern of the first initial wave flooding shelves, and then there is no room left for newer items on the shelf due to clogging.

10. Any chance we can know when to expect news about upcoming figures or toys? SDCC? A random time period?

1. Retailers want that.

2. Rules about X character.

3. I want to know this too.

4. Rules about X character. Though it could just be rephrased as "Are there plans for more female characters down the line or an all female wave? They seem to always fly off shelves." Though it doesn't help they tend to pack them 1 per assortment/case.

5. Rules about X character.

6. Good question. Though I have my own suspicions as to why that is (multiple troop building purchases would invariably lead to multiple leader purchases, one of the main drawbacks to buying the GI Joe ones.) It may need to have examples left off so as not to be construed as a 'when will X character get made.' They've also said in the past no more troop building sets for now.

7. Interesting Question, but might fall under one of the no ask rules. If it doesn't, I'd also append it to asking about doing the same with the marvel novels from the 90s in paperback with characters from said novels. (The problem to both may be who has the rights to distro the shows or books. Whereas with GI Joe and Transformers, hasbro outright owns the main rights.) Otherwise, you'd think Superhero Squad would have been a no brainer to do this with.

8. It'd be nice to know what happened to these. Ditto to the Exosuit Ironman protos that leaked.

9. That's all retailers. Hasbro has no control over that.

10. Toy Fair, SDCC, and NYCC. The occasional interview reveals stuff too. No clue if they'd answer that question though.

[Artist77]

I'd argue it's less X-character, more type of x characters. Is that not of a big enough difference for these Q & A sessions?

[Jmacq1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmacq1

Why are the vehicle offerings for the Captain America line not more strongly tied in with the movie?

Kids and collectors alike would probably be far more interested in Hydra mini-subs and motorcycles, tanks/APCs, Cap's own motorcycle, or even the Red Skull's car than repaints of Iron Man 2 vehicles that didn't seem to sell very well in the first place. Not to mention there'd be considerable crossover appeal to collectors of other lines (G.I. Joe most notably).

Can you give us any more information on the 6-inch versions of the movie Captain America and Thor that were briefly glimpsed at Toy Fair?

Just re-iterating my questions from before.

[Snowflakian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artist77

I'd argue it's less X-character, more type of x characters. Is that not of a big enough difference for these Q & A sessions?

That's why I suggested to rephrase them. In a way though, asking type of X character is still indirectly asking for X character. It's always a gamble if they'd fall for it. Sometimes they do and we get more interesting info, sometimes they don't and we get a basic PR type answer.

Though I do love the idea of asking about why various costumes were decided upon for certain characters. That'd fall under deco decisions wouldn't it?

[Xsoldier]

It is notable the Marvel universe line has given us many shapely plastic/rubbery capes, while in the Star Wars line we see a lot of cloth capes and robes. The new Giant Size X-Men Storm figure seems to be a prisoner of her own design, making her almost a statue. What was the decision leading to the use of a plastic cape for this figure, and will we possibly ever see cloth accessories for our Marvel Universe figures?

[Static22]

When will see more info and/or pics of the 6 inch Thor and Captain America Movie figures shown at toyfair this year?

[Shin Densetsu]

Marvel 2011 Q&A Round 2 Answers

Heroic Age Captain America

[LUCKYDUBE]

I've notice that we will be getting a "Flame on" Human Torch from the opening wave in a revision case, I saw a pic of Torch in a future revision case on BBTS. This kind of upset me because, If youre like me and already have this figure but you dont have "non variant" version's of Warpath and Vision you would think why did Hasbro re-release these two scarce figure's in a variant form? What I'm saying is if Hasbro is going to re-release Torch they should make him a little different (no 4 on chest or something like that) then the first version that dropped. Unless they plan to re-release Warpath and Vision in there "non variant" costume's. Sorry for the rant...I just dont see why hasbro couldnt take the same approach that they did with Havok,Iron Patriot and Archangel "variants" you know how we saw the regular version, then the variant version and back to the regular version. I dont get how a variant can be less scarce then a regular figure?

I would like to know if Hasbro does decide to re-release "non variant" Warpath and Vision along with "Flame on" Torch then is it safe to say that we dont have to push the panic button on a figure if we missed out on it? as I see that pretty much all the scarce figures from the Marvel Universe line was re-release e.g. Bullseye, Grey Hulk etc. If this is true kiss my A5$ inflated prices! for the patient one, of course.

[Prem1x]

Thanks for getting questions in this go-round, Toyark.

[Optimus Vader]

This is like the internet equivalent of opening your bedroom window and shouting questions out.

[Autobot_Goldbug]

Other ones...
Marvel Q&A Answers For 03/25/11 Questions « Kitty's Pryde

COOL TOY REVIEW: Your Source For Action Figure Images & News Hasbro's Marvel Comics Q&A: The Answers!

[Static22]

Hasbro, your marvel team released a Q and A with the fwoosh that stated:

There will in fact be some exclusive 6” figures coming out to celebrate both films. You’ve probably already seen some images of the 6” Cap and Thor Movie Figures with Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans at 2011 Toy Fair. High res images will be forthcoming for all of these very shortly, but we’ll have to ask that you wait just a little longer!

that was over month ago, where are pics and/or additional info

[nomad1632]

My question is on the prototypes we saw on ebay the prototype figures for the 4 inch iron man 2 movie whiplash armor, a concept iron man, and two exo-frames for the 4 inch mark 6 and war machine. Will these be in production??

Ive attached the figures I'm talking about

[warmachine6]

What will be the first characters for the new hasbro marvel legends toyline in 2012

[Shin Densetsu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warmachine6

What will be the first characters for the new hasbro marvel legends toyline in 2012

Thor at SDCC this year, and Heroic Age Captain America

[Static22]

when are gonna get thor and captain america in a scale that fits with the Iron Man 6 inch figures and at SDCC are you gonna announce these:

[yodasteve]

I'm really concerned by the paint choices of the x-force 3 pack. The paint apps are black with dull blue/grey highlights. The single carded figures of Wolverine, Warpath, and Archeangle all had black with metalic silver paint. We want an X-force team with the same uniform. (the word uniform means all the same!) Why is the silver paint changed to blue/grey in the 3 pack and is this paint change a permanent change moving forward for all future x-force team members including x-23 and will archangel or deadpool be revised to match the correct team colors?

best,
Steve in San Antonio

[jimsloth]

The silver samurai release is perfect IMHO. Extremis Ironman is aswell. Packing that much articulation in figures of this scale has to be commended. With that said, why are the movie style hips still coming out on so many new figure molds, when it looks like the Tbar style with hip rotation actually requires less parts (therefore cheeper), and moves much more smoothly?

[Saint Phe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimsloth

The silver samurai release is perfect IMHO. Extremis Ironman is aswell. Packing that much articulation in figures of this scale has to be commended. With that said, why are the movie style hips still coming out on so many new figure molds, when it looks like the Tbar style with hip rotation actually requires less parts (therefore cheeper), and moves much more smoothly?

I would LOVE to hear a real answer for this question. Not that "we're trying to keep the different lines distinctive" crap we've heard before. If that was true, we wouldn't have gotten any XMO hips in MU (various Wolverines) or the Cap line (Winter Soldier and WWII Cap).

[Tarquinius]

Just out of curiosity, What figures are your guys' (Hasbro, not Toyark haha) favorite from the Marvel Universe line? Which ones are your least favorite?

[Snowflakian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimsloth

The silver samurai release is perfect IMHO. Extremis Ironman is aswell. Packing that much articulation in figures of this scale has to be commended. With that said, why are the movie style hips still coming out on so many new figure molds, when it looks like the Tbar style with hip rotation actually requires less parts (therefore cheeper), and moves much more smoothly?

I'm curious about this for future figures, but for previous it's because once the mold is made it's cheaper to reuse than making a new one with the new style. But with the new bucks now made, I am definitely curious if this will change in favor of them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saint Phe

I would LOVE to hear a real answer for this question. Not that "we're trying to keep the different lines distinctive" crap we've heard before. If that was true, we wouldn't have gotten any XMO hips in MU (various Wolverines) or the Cap line (Winter Soldier and WWII Cap).

See above.

[Nexodusrex]

Recently in my area (Dayton Ohio), I've noticed a sharp decline in Marvel Universe products with several retailers. K-Mart, and one of my local Wal-marts No longer carries them, and my ToysRUs's seem to only have a couple Galactus's, the X-Men Boxed set, and left over Ironman/Daredevil/Surfer 3 packs. My other retailers are limited to only a couple spots for MU, nowhere near as dense as other properties. I've yet to even see Wave 2 2011 in my stores. My question is what is Hasbro doing to try to get MU on their shelves in much more abundance?

[Jason Abbadon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yodasteve

I'm really concerned by the paint choices of the x-force 3 pack. The paint apps are black with dull blue/grey highlights. The single carded figures of Wolverine, Warpath, and Archeangle all had black with metalic silver paint. We want an X-force team with the same uniform. (the word uniform means all the same!) Why is the silver paint changed to blue/grey in the 3 pack and is this paint change a permanent change moving forward for all future x-force team members including x-23 and will archangel or deadpool be revised to match the correct team colors?

best,
Steve in San Antonio

Hate to say this, but the decision is probably done not to screw us collectors.
If they just released exact repaints of older valueable figures- like Warpath or the Archangel send away- it would hose collectors that might have blown a wad of cash on them ($65 for Archangel minimum!).

Also, in the new X-Force book, they are running around the Age of Apocalypse universe in those black and grey outfits, so consider it ahead of the curve...well, Wolverine and Deadpool do anyway