[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.