[Snowflakian]

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Originally Posted by Iceman

I wonder if it's a case of Hasbro needing to pay both Marvel and Fox if they did a line that used the images of the movie characters.

I would actually welcome MU articulated X-Men movie figures. A lot of the characters use the basic black leather suit so it would just need different heads and a few special parts. They would probably be nice for a kinds of fun customs.

That's probably it in a nutshell. While Marvel benefits from other studios handling those properties from getting checks cut to them based on sales etc and other little perks, the merchandising probably still has some associated fees attached.

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Originally Posted by Razorlight6

This sounds likely. During X-Men: First Class and The Wolverine, Hasbro released comic-related toys to capitalize on the films: X-Men: First Class comic packs (strangely with Cylops/Marvel Girl and Wolverine/Sabertooth, neither of whom were in the film) and various Wolverine-branded comic-inspired toys, such as those 3 3/4" figures , Marvel Legends, mask and a wearable Wolverine clawed arm. Also, the Marvel movies are a sure bet for success, and Spider-Man is probably the biggest hero around (sorry Batman).

Perfect example. Also look at how the "The Wolverine" figures cut corners on articulation and other aspects yet still marginally cost the same as the basic comic line.

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Originally Posted by kylactus

I'm pointing out that the costume is going more comic style, like the Avengers, being more true to the source material and not trying to make Batman, or the X-men into some boring, generic, not so distant future swat team in all black tactical gear. I also like the new car, I don't care if the movie made a gazillion dollars the Tumbler sucked balls.

It depends on the methodology. Let's look at the costuming for a minute. Each one for every movie has had grounding in their story for reasons why. Captain America's is a rally point and started off as a USO show outfit. Ironman is his suit. Black Widow and Hawkeye are variations on SHIELD ops suits. Though Hawkeye's new variation starts to show his personality a bit since he's not part of SHIELD now. Hulk is the green giant. There's no way to really change that since it is his essence. The same can be said of Batman as the suit has its own methodology to the core of his character, and superman's costume is a mix of his alien heritage and being a beacon of hope.

The costumes aren't costumes for costumes sake. They have reasoning behind them that make them work on screen. This is something that most of the X-Men lack to theirs which is why they have a more unified look. They are essentially the spec-ops of the Xavier school. Even First class had reasoning behind the suits to be more protective, or bolster/control their abilities(Banshee and Havoc). Even Magneto's various suits have had in story reasoning behind the elements to them(the helmet to block telepaths, the protective plating for non-metallic projectiles in the 70s, etc).

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Originally Posted by bmorr

This is simple. There is little to no product cause these movies are essentially competition for Marvel Studios and Disney. Its all political. Yes, its a marvel movie, but its not like Disney is reaping the movie sales, and they sure as shit dont like that. Once Disney gets control of Spidey and Xmen you better believe we will be seeing toys on the pegs.

They aren't competition. Marvel/Disney gets a cut of all revenue streams from their characters and it allows them to benefit without direct financing(if they don't, then that's some really crappy contract work). It's more likely that because it's not in-house developed, that Hasbro has to pay additional costs to those studios alongside that. So Hasbro has to find ways to offset that cost by other means. (For example, look at the lower articulation to the Amazing Spider-man line. Though again, this could be intentional to allow a larger push later on for a sequel movie as well. The whole factor of balancing the toys so that they don't hinder future possible sales. Hopefully Amazing Spider-man 3, Sinister 6, and Venom will see a return of decent articulation.) This also allows Disney/Marvel to use their large library of characters without having to ignore the other mainstays. Overall, it benefits all parties involved and does have the potential to later on down the line still unify the properties even while under different studios. (Oscorp building allegedly originally going to be Avengers, etc.)

That's always been a fan theory/wish that Disney/Marvel wants them back. They are better off not being back as it'd mean no movies for them at all, or would mean other movies would be scrapped and the movie slate would be slowed. GOTG for example would have probably never made it to theaters if Disney/Marvel had to direct finance and make Spidey, Fantastic 4, and X-Men movies alongside the greater MCU franchise. The only direct perk from them being back is Disney could do live sitcom-ish spins on the characters, and even that needs to wait a little longer for effects pricing to drop more. Prime time dramas via Fox or FX benefit them more right now for increased visibility on those brands. This lets ABC stay focused on their own intellectual properties as well as Agents of SHIELD, while Marvel experiments with revenue streams on direct stream methods like Netflix and maybe eventually Hulu. A lot of future possibilities hinge potentially on how well those do on whether the investments should be made again that route over primetime TV.

The only thing that annoys me on that is it blocks an Academy X type show. But under the main disney header, that's not a good idea anyway as a show like that would need to be more in the vein of Degrassi, and less towards Jessie/WoWP and that ilk. ABC Family would be the better route as it allows for that more adult oriented direction similar to Pretty Little Liars and the other more adult oriented teen dramas that handle real world issues and the harsher life conundrums. With Glee going out the door soon, Fox needs a dramedy of that style. Though the possibility of something like that being on ABC Family could also bolster Disney incredibly, but their current lineups are doing fairly strong that a shot in the arm like that isn't needed for them to bolster ratings. It's a trade off and balancing act. The only hindrance would be if they start airing them all in the same time slots. Forcing fans to choose though hinders everyone. It's one of the big problems Agents of SHIELD is facing right now being paired against NCIS, but thankfully legal netstreams and digital alleviates that. So timeslots are a key factor in that.

It's a lot of factors to take into consideration. I lean on giving Hasbro the benefit of the doubt though, and think their actions currently are creating more demand for the articulated figures once the time is right. The current pattern suggests as such with slight cost cutting to test reception on the brands still while waiting for that right moment to switch over and let the other rest to re-build up demand again. The amazing spider-man line does seem more like a kid appeasement line as opposed to an all out push with the bare minimum articulation and high title character variation molds. Spider-man is also a mainstay though that's a constant. So having toys of him on shelf is something that'll always have high retailer demand. X-Men on the other hand doesn't have that retailer demand as yet really. Hopefully DOFP will fix that, and we may start to see a change come X-Men: Apocalypse.

That's the other thing to factor in here. Major Retailer demands are Hasbro's bread and butter. Appeasing them is what allows the figures we want to reach shelves so that we can purchase them. We're stuck behind that middle man aspect that isn't familiar with the brands like we or kids are. So the stronger the movies do, the more leeway Hasbro can have because of retailer demand of wanting in on those profits(which was probably a driving factor behind the First Class quick product filler as retailers demanded something at least, but this in turn from low units moved further negated the demand as the sales weren't strong on them as retailers expected even though that sales data was flawed from the get go on the very nature of what the products were to begin with).