Integration

Joe Moore · 01-17-2019, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deecee4

Right they can do whatever they want with the license before but I can't imagine they'd have that same luxury to let them do what they want when there is an impending sale of their IPs, which has been going on for quite a while it seems.

I don't think their 7 inch DC figures were ever supposed to be an ongoing annual thing either. I don't remember them stating so anyway, I always got the impression that they were able to maneuver through some loopholes for that year but it might not happen again. The Ali/Superman 2 pack was shown at a Toyfair like the those DC/Predator figures were and there didn't seem to be any issues or delays getting that one out.

The Ali set wasn't considered a competing item with Mattel's offerings, and required no cross licensing with another comic company. However, the Dark Horse DC 2-Packs featured more traditional looking paint schemes for Batman and Superman. As the master toy license holder, Mattel had final say on anything DC related coming to retail. Those figures would be in direct competition with Mattel's Multiverse offerings.

Disney has absolutely no say in what Fox licenses until after the sale is final. Those figures were shown off in early 2017, well before any sale talks with Disney had been announced (late 2017). Even still, nothing was finalized until mid-2018 as negotiations were still ongoing with other companies. It had no bearing on these becoming, for a brief time, convention exclusives. All signs pointed to it being an issue with DC.

There's a reason they're showing the Predator and saying "this guy" is coming and not the Batman that was supposed to come with it. If the problem was with Fox, then it wouldn't be the Predator that was being released.

01-17-2019, 10:13 AM	#16
Joe Moore Administrator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 34,323	Quote: Originally Posted by deecee4 Right they can do whatever they want with the license before but I can't imagine they'd have that same luxury to let them do what they want when there is an impending sale of their IPs, which has been going on for quite a while it seems. I don't think their 7 inch DC figures were ever supposed to be an ongoing annual thing either. I don't remember them stating so anyway, I always got the impression that they were able to maneuver through some loopholes for that year but it might not happen again. The Ali/Superman 2 pack was shown at a Toyfair like the those DC/Predator figures were and there didn't seem to be any issues or delays getting that one out. The Ali set wasn't considered a competing item with Mattel's offerings, and required no cross licensing with another comic company. However, the Dark Horse DC 2-Packs featured more traditional looking paint schemes for Batman and Superman. As the master toy license holder, Mattel had final say on anything DC related coming to retail. Those figures would be in direct competition with Mattel's Multiverse offerings. Disney has absolutely no say in what Fox licenses until after the sale is final. Those figures were shown off in early 2017, well before any sale talks with Disney had been announced (late 2017). Even still, nothing was finalized until mid-2018 as negotiations were still ongoing with other companies. It had no bearing on these becoming, for a brief time, convention exclusives. All signs pointed to it being an issue with DC. There's a reason they're showing the Predator and saying "this guy" is coming and not the Batman that was supposed to come with it. If the problem was with Fox, then it wouldn't be the Predator that was being released. __________________