so hasbro doesnt make the figures for the clubs?

Honestly, until YJ was mentioned I didn't even recall DC having 4" stuff since their IC or whatever figures were canceled >_<

In general I always thought the reverse was true, that Marvel was far better represented. However, that's more based on what my retailers actually carry. My local Wal-Marts don't stock DCUC, YJ, MU, and a bunch of other stuff. They basically just have all the recent Marvel & DC movie stuff, the Spidey lines, and.... that might be it. Plus all of the Marvel stuff gets a lot more floor space.

My nearest Target has greater DC variety, but devotes just as much floor space to Marvel if not more.

I can't figure out TRU, though, since they break their sections up.

Uhhh, you forgot Iron Man. Pretty much every retailer is still overstocked with IM2 stuff plus TRU carries a 6" IM line. Plus we have Marvel Mega Blocks atm. Not to mention you forgot both Spiderman lines.

And were you omitting stuff like Superhero Squad?

Plus DCUC only has one more wave at retail at this point? Plus Green Lantern Classics isn't widely available any more, is it?

I'm honestly surprised GL movie stuff is still at retailers at all, given the limp reception and high price for low value. At the same time, it's nice to know that I can just wait a while to pick the MM stuff up for $7 or $8 a figure off Amazon =p

No. They manufacture them, but they have little to no imput on them.

For Transformers: Hasbro sends them a list of available molds. Basically, "You can use these." FP guys then think up ideas they can use with those (There's a little bit more room to play than this. Requests for certain molds, preconcieved ideas they may explore). They come up with lists and decos, and sends them off to Hasbro for approval.
Hasbro approves some, denies others. This is as much direct imput Hasbro has. Basically to approve or deny ideas. And unless they hate Beast Wars (Which it seems they do since they told FP the entire brand wants nothing to do with BW right now), or have a virtually identical toy and character coming out (They wouldn't allow FP to turn RTS Tracks into Wheeljack if they were planning on it), they'll basically let FP do what they want. (Any movie mold that appeared onscreen is perminantly not allowed, though)
After approval, FP designs whatever new parts is needed (Who gets what new head, and draw a turnaround), they color the mold breakdowns and design the paint masks, and give it back to Hasbro.
Hasbro sends it off to Takara to send to the chinese factories. The factories send the proofs back to FP, who then communicate to Hasbro what changes need to be done, they communicate to Takara, who then communicates to the factories.

The Joe club/con, from my understanding is not too different from this, only without the insanely annoying Takara middleman.

But long story short, no. Hasbro does not design the Botcon and Joecon, or TF or Joe club toys. They don't decide on the characetrs chosen for it, or the colorschemes used on the toys. All they do is approve or deny the concepts. And the only reason they deny something really, is if they're planning on releasing the exact same thing.

Really? I haven't seen Ironman II figures in a loooong time.
I'll have to actually look next time I'm out just to make sure they don't just blend in to the landscape now, like the Spiderman toys do. But I was sure they were gone, at least in my area.

do you work for hasbro?

Duh! Iron Man is so obvious! I thought I had already put it in the list. That was a brain fart on my part. Spiderman I realized later I had forgotten completely.

Can you tell I'm a DC guy?

Green Lantern movie stuff is still available everywhere but Target here (Walmart, KMart, and Toys R Us).

Lordy, I wish I did.
But I've been a member of TFCC since FP aquired the lisnece in 2005. I've been pretty close to the inner track, and close friends with some of FP's design team.
(One of whom has gone on to work for Hasbro. I think he was even planning on taking one of my OCs and working her into a set somewhere at one point before he left)

This stuff has been discussed in DETAIL on Hisstank, as the GIJCC (ie Joe Club) is quite proud of their work and is glad to share about their relationship. The single exception to date with Hasbro having a great deal to do with a design was Dial-tone, as Hasbro had decided to make the character female in all future iterations so gave the club a noggin' that they were not going to need.

With their new subscription, things are somewhat different, as Hasbro has given the club far more bits and pieces of figures that they have decided that they won't be producing so the club can offer these figures in an exclusive format. Also they are playing a larger role in deciding what figures can be offered, as the club is advertising that these designs will NEVER be sold by Hasbro (so, Hasbro is having to be far more careful about what they let the Club produce).

I think Marvel has more toys in toy stores than does DC.

There's probably a lot of lines you missed for both Hasbro and Mattel, but I believe the point of this thread, as Jetty mentioned, was comparing the retail presence of Marvel toys vs. DC toys, not Hasbro vs. Mattel as a whole.

I think you might be a little biased in that regard. There are several fan nods throughout MU, Transformers, G.I.Joe and of course, Star Wars. It really depends on how you define a "relationship with the fans". Regardless, that's a debate for another thread.

Slightly off-topic: that's an odd analogy to use in a toy forum. Don't get me wrong. It works, just an odd choice.

In my area, I would say that Marvel lines far exceed the shelf space/pegs that DC toys occupy. And I am not including the "kiddie" lines like SHS and ImagiNext.

But that's just what I see near me, which is kind of the issue I have with this thread. Every area has different levels of distribution across all toy lines because of local sales trends and the POS systems employed by different retailers.

And even if we narrow it down to one geographical area, the ratio of Marvel to DC will vary throughout the year. It all depends on what products are being offered by Mattel and Hasbro. Before Thor, Cap and GL hit, I would have said they were about equal or DC having a slight edge. But after those movie lines dropped, the balance shifted in Marvel's favor.

On the other hand, another Arker 3 states over may be having a completely different experience. The point is, without concrete statistical data on inventories and sales to back it up, any claim made on this issue is completely subjective.

I think you misunderstood me a little (And rereading my own post I can see how.) I ment that Hasbro was better at catering to fans in MU than they are in other places. (They're still not terrific at it, but I see a lot more fan favorite characters coming out in DCUC than in MU, where fans are still struggling to get some of the most basics, like Rogue and non eighties punker Storm. The only one on that level really left from Mattel is Wally West.)
The rest of it, as you said is a debate for another thread, and why I didn't really go into it.


Thanks! That's just how my brain works!

I guess this thread goes to show that even the core of the thread is still subjective.
A lot of people in here are saying Marvel has the biggest presence of space (I think some of them are being biased, honestly. Because a lot of people are just using this as yet *another* chance to trash DCU proprties. Not saying you're doing either, just a general comment), and a lot are saying DC does, too.

I do know in my area, if a store has a full complement of both, DC dominates.

I'm too lazy to read any previous posts so I'll just state my opinions. For the most part, I think DC has the better stories. But I don't care for the reboot, I'm praying everything will go back to normal (I'm sure it will at some point). Marvel has the better characters though (or at least the better names for characters... I mean Superman and Batman are pretty corny names, but they're still awesome). But I think story is the more important thing... but since DC did they're stupid reboot, I'm going to be on Marvel's side for this one.

I will say one positive thing about the reboot though. All the characters ages reset, meaning, at least Batman shouldn't be really old anymore (considering his first appearance was in 1939 after all).

The thread is actually about the toylines.. but I like THIS subject too! :D

Really liking the reboot.. its not going anywhere so strap in for the long haul.. I have been a 70/30 marvel/dc guy for many many years.. the reboot has me revisiting series I had written off a long time ago and its been really FUN for the first few months...Im back to 50/50 marvel/dc..I will be giving it 6 months before i trim down my reading list and focus on the 10 or so DC titles i like the most. :D

Oh.. I want some good 3 3/4 DC suggestions.. I will have to look further into this thread and root some out. Mainly looking for the "Big 7" with some side characters thrown in..

Oh course the ONE time I don't read any previous posts I end up being off topic lol.

Anyways, as for the good 3 3/4" DC figures, I believe there are none! Maybe the newer ones with the improved articulation, even then, they're not that great to look at.

As to the ACTUAL topic of the thread (because clearly I got it wrong at first lol), Marvel wins in my opinion.

You guys get enough oxygen up there at the top o' the world? You're still a tad off topic, lol.

I kid, I kid.

The topic is more that the original poster finds there's a wider variety of DC products in the toy isle, than Marvel, and noting how in his area, they also get more shelve space than Marvel.

Well that's what I meant by the last part when I said Marvel wins. Because here (I'm assuming most of Canada), we got a lot more Marvel stuff than DC stuff. I mean the only DC I ever see now is GL 3 3/4" Peg Warmers and Batman TBATB stuff. We get A LOT more Marvel stuff. It may be older stuff (The latest wave I've ever seen in person has been the Falcon wave), but there's a lot of it usually... At the end Star Wars beats both.

Ah. My bad then, the final part could read as continuing the middle.

Fair enough.

2010 sales for Mattel were $5.865 Billion. Hasbro sales were $2.92. Mattel is bigger. Close to twice the sales last year.
I think the impression is going to be different in different stores. As an example there are Walmarts within5 miles of my house. One has tons of Marvel. (IM, Thor, Spiderman, etc. ) and 1 peg row each of DCUC and Young Justice and pegs rows of green lantern
Another has the same DC pegs and 1 peg row of spiderman.
The final one has none of either
I think arguing one way or the other is just going to lead to partisan bickering that neither side can win.