This year’s Toy Biz showroom tour (dubbed the "Nerd Herd" by Toy Biz Public Relations) was a bit different than last year’s – sure, the faces were familiar, with Jesse and Damon on hand leading the usual suspects around the showroom, but there was a tense feeling. No, not on the part of the Toy Biz crew – they were as relaxed and jovial as ever – but there was the question lingering on the minds of all the Nerds.
What about Hasbro?
We didn’t get to that until the end of the tour, but I’ll cover that in this write-up, and get to what we saw in the showroom with a separate one. So, what about Hasbro? The Toy Biz crew started with the standard response – read the press release, because everything is in there. They went on to elaborate what we’ve discussed on Fwoosh for some time:
- People confuse Toy Biz World Wide (TBWW) with Toy Biz.
- TBWW was a licensee that had the license to produce and distribute Marvel toys. Toy Biz (part of Marvel Inc.) designs and markets Marvel Toys.
- TBWW’s license was terminated and a new license was granted to Hasbro, to begin in 2007.
- In 2006, Toy Biz would run the whole show, producing and distributing Marvel toys. In 2007 "Toy Biz" becomes "Marvel Toys."
Followup question: will Toy Biz continue to design and market Marvel toys in 2007?
Unequivocably, the answer is no. The Hasbro license is different from TBWW’s – Hasbro will design, market, produce, and distribute toys under the Marvel license for 5 years, starting in 2007. As a licensor, Marvel will have approval rights over what’s going to market, but there will be no direct involvement besides approval.
Does this mean that Jesse and Damon are moving over to Hasbro? If they are, they don’t know about it or aren’t saying. The Toy Biz response is that as Marvel Toys, they will continue to manage the other lines in their business: Curious George, TNA Wrestling, and Code Lyoko (a new line based on the hit Cartoon Network series).
What does this mean to the toy lines we love so much? Will Hasbro kill them? When asked, Jesse said that Hasbro recognizes the value in the Marvel Legends line and that it will continue. When asked if the lines will change since Hasbro will be doing the design, we were told to ask Hasbro. (Don’t worry, we will.)
From here, I’ll move into what I think is likely for us in 2007 – read that as "this is all speculation."
Early on in 2007, I think we will see Marvel toys that are heavily influenced by the current design team. We know that Toy Biz has already done work on the Ghost Rider line – that line has been delayed until 2007 to line up with the new date for the Ghost Rider movie release. We’ve also heard about figures planned for Legends in 2007, like Hercules. There are also figures that had been discussed for 2006 but not shown, like Quicksilver and Namor. I imagine Hasbro would take advantage of design work that’s already been done but not produced.
After that, I think we’ll start to see changes in the lines. Hasbro will certainly put their own spin on Marvel toys, and we’ll see just how much they’ll want to change things. Some of the positive indicators are that they have been increasing the level of sculpted details on their own figures, and have been trying out new articulation on lines like Sigma Six. On the negative, I think they’ve wavered on scale, and may be biased to go smaller to accomodate vehicles and playsets.
As far as lines go, Showdown and Megamorphs have the most to gain, while core Legends are likely to face the most pressure to change.
I’d be remiss without mentioning the impact that the product management team will have on these lines for the collector market. As Marvel collectors themselves, Jesse and Damon have found ways to make these lines as collector-friendly as a mass market toys could be. Putting a House of M Wolverine into the X-Men line? Sneaking Baron Strucker into a Face-Off Two-Pack? We can only hope that whoever ends up managing the lines for Hasbro will have the same love of Marvel characters as the current Toy Biz team.
However, in the end, I think these decisions will be driven mostly by sales. If the lines continue to be as successful as they have been, I can’t imagine them messing with a good thing. If not, we’ll see them deal with that, on a line by line basis.
Have questions for Toy Biz or Hasbro? Post them, and we’ll start asking.
Discussion in this thread in the forums: http://www.thefwoosh.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23195