[TheXtremisT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pravus Prime

Mostly because you're not thinking big enough. Copyright and toys don't just compete between Marvel and DC, but every toy in every market that Hasbro is releasing the figures in, they have to have a label on the box that identifies the product uniquely. Marvels Deadliest Foes is something that isn't going to have competition against any other product on the market. Beetle and Boomerang are.

The more generic the name, the harder it is to label it as such. Years ago they could get away with it; G1 Transformers had Jazz, but nowadays that's not a copyrightable name for your product, hence Specialist Jazz, or Autobot Jazz, that combination of words is what they can use.

Secondly, because sometimes figures share BAF parts or can be swapped in a case, they make 2 character packaging to use with either figure, if you notice Beetle shares boxing with Boomerang. They tell parents/grandparents/kids the important part, that they are spider-man villains. Collectors already know who they're getting or are getting them all anyway to create the BAF, and it also eliminates waste on packaging as when you look at a case, the big names get their own box at two to a case, the lesser characters get shared boxing for the same number of different printed boxes per case (1 each, so two to a case). That way every case uses the same number of boxes; they don't have to have half production runs at a higher cost to create a series of boxes for a bunch of lesser characters who are one per case. So it's also a cost saving measure.

Pretty much this. But there's another simple reason!

It is cheaper for them to have 2 figures utilise the EXACT same card/outer packaging, instead of making 2 separate unique ones. The costs for the graphics, card quality etc have increased beyond my understanding in the past few years, so they will cut those costs by recycling and putting 2 on the same card.

That is the reason why the Star Wars Black series up until the Force Awakens figures featured very boring looking packaging, because it saves money for them.