Licensing on an individual basis
 

Hi all. I saw some ads for the 2019 Licensing Expo and was wondering how someone who is not a representative of a larger company (i.e Bandai, NECA, Hasbro, etc.) would go about obtaining licenses for a relatively untouched property.

Can an individual buy the right to manufacture merchandise of a property, provided they have the capital up front to do so? Say the 2011 cartoon Sym-Bionic Titan, for example. You would think Cartoon Network would have made toys for a show with giant robots and aliens, but they never did. Could a fan buy the rights themselves and have figures of the mechs made?

Stretching even further into unlikelihood, could a fan of a property, realizing it's about to be a hot commodity, beat a major company to the punch in the race to secure patents for merchandising? Or, do major companies have a general, mutual understanding of who gets the rights to what property?

I can't answer the details of your question but I know a lot of money is involved so I would hazard to say to the last part that it would be unlikely you could beat out a major company.


CCC.

Usually, all marketing and licensing are built into whatever deal the original creator and network or publisher made before a single frame of media is made or a panel drawn.

I figured as much. That's why I'm thinking along the lines of some eccentric startup kid with tons of money to blow taking up a passion project.

So there is some truth to the whole "art bending to the will of merch" spiel I've seen lately.

Although, if a show was cancelled precisely because it could not acquire a toy license, would that create an opportunity for someone to swoop in in the future and co-opt it for themselves?

Maybe I should've called this thread "dead toy license hypotheticals."

Also a show would be better than a movie. ToyGuru stated a timeline for production relevant to Green Lantern in order to explain why the Stel figure was wrong. A typical line take 8 to 12 months from design to pegs. They got the art to work from, then someone in the digital design section changed the character but it was too late for Mattel to change their work. This illustrates the problem with trying to work with a new movie, but it also shows how long creating a new action figure line can take. Also, look at how long some of the Kickstarter lines take.


CCC.

All great points, which explain why I think untouched TV shows are the way to go. Once again, with the Sym-Bionic Titan example: there is nobody to vie against for rights. The designs are finished.

Of course, a line for a dead show with a minimal cult following would be pointless. The idea would be a random assortment of properties that have suffered the same fate, and the person funding out of pocket would have to be willing to incur a financial loss.

Funko/Super 7 tried that route and tanked. The biggest problem, IMO, was that they promised more than they could deliver, and I believe Funko was responsible for that which was why Super 7 split from the arraignment. What they are doing now is working better.
They also went out and acquired a lot of licenses to 'dead shows' like Addams Family and Munsters and then did nothing with them. They may still have a lot of those licenses.

CCC.

I appreciate your answers here. My question has been thoroughly answered.