[Snowflakian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Nash

Pretty accurate, I think. I'm guessing that while Hasbro doesn't have an outright ban on creating X-men Figures (and F4) that Disney has strongarmed/encouraged them to not create any figures, and that Hasbro has decided it's in their best interest to listen. I think that Emma and possibly Rogue were just too far along in the production process for them to decide it was in their best interest to not release. At some point money spent must be recouped.

I know some may hold a different opinion and that's great, that's your right to it, but I have a very difficult time believing it's not a real thing going on here.

I know this is more Legends related but Hasbro rep commented "we may Or possibly see" more X-Men related figures closer to the movie release. I don't think we will. Wouldn't those have already been shown along with the rest of the 2016 product for other lines? It sounded like a very evasive "we'll see" answer and I don't buy into it one bit. But I'd love for them to prove me wrong on both lines.*

* to clarify, yes i do think we'll see Emma released. And maybe even Rogue. Also I think Wolverine and Deadpool may continue to be exceptions to release due to their possibility, in either line. But otherwise I think we'll get squat.

Another thing to factor in is retailers.

Looking at the overstock on the First Class comic packs that more or less shelf warmed at TRU for a solid year+ probably didn't help any to push the X-Men merchandise(which was also during the XFC movie too for the media push). What followed was a non X-Men exclusive comic pack wave, and they flew off shelves. Future Foundation Doctor Doom and Spider-man and the She-Hulk pack sold bucket loads.

The Wolverine lines themselves also varied in sales strength(last waves of which didn't really even make it to normal brick and mortar stores, only the overstock stores).

Downgraded to the 5 poa for the second wolverine movie, and still not anywhere near the same momentum as say AOU in the 5 poa as a comparison.

The momentum isn't present for the sales currently, but that could easily change later if momentum picks back up from the new Fox movies. Sales numbers are the main issue here. In MI, they still move, so figures will still happen over there(plus there is a large amount of already done molds to use that work for repacks in Hasbro's favor like the upcoming Rogue figure). As a dedicated line though, the numbers aren't present for the time being. One good bit of media exposure though, and that could change easily enough.

No matter how much Disney may try to grease the wheels(if they are), brick and mortar stores are hasbro's main source of merchandise income. Even compared to Disney, it's Target, Walmart, and Toys R Us(the three major retail chains that place merchandise orders to Hasbro) that have more say in what gets made based on their merchandise orders, demands, and wants. That's where we get stuck. Those 3 are the gate keepers to the merchandise we want to buy and their assumptions to what their customers will buy based on past trends and sales data.

So like the Wolverine legends wave. Major retailers decided they didn't want to stock it or order it, it ended up with spotty distribution if at all. That's not on Disney, that's on the major retailers.

Another thing to consider is the colorful nature of the MCU and their comic counterparts. But that starts diving into the aspects of catching kid attention to create demand and all sorts of other sub-marketing points. Probably also one of the reasons why we see more in MU/I because they can use the brighter color palettes there. Like say Rogue with her bright green and yellow suit. Or Cyclops with a more gold and bold blue, or Even Emma with her more diamond white. Even Psylocke with her purple and blue hues along with her psionic sword.

This is also one of the issues Mattel will face with the BvS lines. Marketing to kids when the films have a grittier tone, doesn't always work too well. Batman tends to be one of the exceptions, but we'll see how it goes. This probably also one of the reasons the 5 poa wolverine toys didn't sell the same in comparison to the AOU 5 poa. The Wolverine wasn't exactly a kid friendly movie by any stretch, whereas AOU isn't a kids movie either, it has more colorful flair and other marketing tones that still play to those sensibilities.