[GizmoTron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trivial Psychic

This would have never happened, as this simply would be a huge conflict of interest to Disney, unless Disney decides to go forth and buy Time Warner/Warner Bros.

Say if Hasbro did pick up the DC license, and for some reason/stroke of luck...it began to outsell and eventually bury the Legends line. Disney would pull their license in two shakes of a dog's tail, and would have Hasbro in a messy court battle even faster.

That's not to say that DC couldn't fall into Hasbro's control, but it's not likely as long as Disney's two biggest brands (Star Wars and Marvel) are there in the same action figure market. Though there has been rumors and rumblings about Disney possible taking Marvel back from Hasbro in order to start their own toyline once Hasbro's contract runs out this year, but with as well as Hasbro is handling the line, it would seem like a foolhardy move.






Competitive balance is important...no matter what the industry. It promotes new ideas and change, as well as fuel the desire for better effort, because you can't just sit back and rest on your laurels. Take a break or get lazy, and you're likely to be passed at some point by the guy who simply outworks you and is willing to bet on themselves. Either that, or you'll eventually piss off the consumer who comes to the realization that you are phoning it in, and they end up taking their disposable income elsewhere. One need look no further than the professional wrestling industry, where WWE was free to do whatever it wished for years, turning it into the near unwatchable at times ****show it is now, because there was no competition to fuel their passion to put out the best product...every single time they went on the air.

I think Disney "taking it back" has more to do with Star Wars toys than Marvel, but both are a bit unlikely since Disney doesn't really want to be a full time toy company and they still license even their core franchises to different toy companies all the time.

I think the thing about competition is, however, that even if Hasbro had both DC and Marvel I can't see it having any real effect on how each company already handles their own books and characters, and I also don't see any sudden success of DC action figures having any sort of negative effect on Marvel's. In fact it's a lot like with the movies: the success of one helps fuel the success of the other.

Anyway, I think McFarlane's first offerings are ok. Sure it's more Batman and Superman, but let's be honest, those are the two they need to get right first and can use to work out all of the kinks before they branch out too far into the universe. Most of these are going to have to be a see it person kind of thing, but so far it's not a bad start.