There’s a lot of discussion on the Fwoosh forums about the X-Men and Fantastic Four licenses and the possibility of never getting any action figures based on those properties as long as 20th Century Fox owns them and as long as Marvel is at war with Fox. Marvel and Fox seem to be at odds (at least in the press and social media) on ownership and control of those properties, and, as a result, Marvel seems to be distancing themselves from the properties in their media and toys. (I’m armchair-quarterbacking here with this information and manipulating what I think I know to make a point.)
Let me say this clearly, Marvel and Hasbro are not going to miss a chance to make money on toys if they can. It might not be directly movie related, but they will not pass up a chance to make toys based on characters that they know will sell. Therefore, I think there is a chance for comic-based X-Men and Fantastic Four figures in the future. Deadpool, an “X” property, will be in theaters at the start of 2016, and while we guess there are at least two Spidey waves and one Cap wave coming next year, recent history tells us there could be a box set in the first half of 2016. A Deadpool tie-in? Or maybe a late Fantastic Four tie-in since that movie was released in August 2015? X-Men: Apocalypse is in theaters in May 2016, which would be a good time to release some comic-based figures. Wolverine is out at the beginning of 2017, and there is opportunity for any of the first three waves of Marvel Legends of 2017 to be a comic X-Men tie-in.
Please note, I am saying “comic.” This is because of the perceived war going on. Marvel seems to be adamant on not making any movie-based properties that they don’t own. But there isn’t anything saying that they can’t do or won’t do comic properties.
I keep hearing this magic “nine months” to produce a toy. Let’s assume that stretches to a full series as well. Nine months, I think, means from the time that a company, like Hasbro, makes the contract with a factory in China effective (makes the first payment for the factory to produce the toy) to the time that company ships the completed and packaged figures to the customer (retailer). At the beginning of the nine months, the factory receives payment, prototypes or designs, tools, then production runs, assembly, packaging, and shipping. Combine that with the published retail calendar and potential marketing tie-ins (in this case movies), and we can probably put together a calendar of when figures will be showing up at retail.
So let’s play a game.
Since it is July 2015, that means any waves releasing to retail in March/April 2016 (depends on how you count that nine months) are locked and sent to the factories for production. We know there are potentially two waves of Spidey figures on the way — one wave is confirmed, but the remaining are still computer listings, but chances are that means they are locked in. Since the Cap Onlsaught Series was shown, we should assume that’s locked in as well. But how and where could X-Men fit in? We mentioned before that in 2016:
- Deadpool premieres Feb 2016
- Captain America: Civil War, and X-Men: Apocalypse premiere May 2016
- Based on past releases in 2014 and 2015, we know there are three waves of Marvel Legends that release in quarter 1 and quarter 2, and one box set of some manner.
The Absorbing Man Series (Spidey) will be out in January, I think that was confirmed at #SDCC2015. As mentioned before, I’ll guess that Cap is the other series out, based on the big SDCC splash and movie tie-in. It might be better to assume the second series will be Spidey as well since we already have UPCs for some figures (at six figures a complete series, I wonder what the BAF is). Cap is more than likely the third series, and, depending on how you count the nine months, is at the factory or will be sent to the factory within the next month, perfect timing for the movie release in 2016. That leaves a potential box set. Great time for an “X” tie-in, like Deadpool or X-Men. Or maybe a late Fantastic Four release if that movie does well in 2015. Going back to the “nine month” rule, all these series and sets should be in production.
Based on 2015, we had an SDCC boxset, three waves of ML, two Walgreens exclusives, an Entertainment Earth Box set, an Amazon box set, and a Target box set in the second half of the year (quarter 3 and quarter 4). We have two more Marvel movies in 2016, Gambit and Dr. Strange, where we might assume some kind of tie-ins like movie Strange, or, better yet, an X-Men tie-in (more than likely comic-based). Continuing with X-Men, there are 2×5-figure, 1×4-figure, and 1×3-figure box set possibilities, Walgreens exclusives, and three waves of ML where comic X-Men can easily be dropped. And if the 2015 Fantastic Four movie proves successful, maybe there is a late slot in 2016 for them before their 2017 sequel? Of course, this is all based on the number of 2015 (2014) releases, the potential for seeing more comic-based X-Men and Fantastic Four is there.
Comic-con, or any convention, where companies like Hasbro, Mattel, or anyone with media-related toy properties exhibits goods exhausts me; so much information is thrown at me and processing it all is draining. This week I sat down with a spreadsheet and started mapping all this information out to help me get a better overview of what is potentially coming and when. And I only got through 2016 (I touch on Wolverine and Fantastic Four sequels in 2017); I still need to do ’17, ’18 and ’19, and I didn’t even touch other media like TV (Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and cartoons), video games (console and mobile), and comics. I’m still working those out as we can safely assume there are figures that will be based on characters from any of those media. It’s a lot to process, probably overkill, but it gives me a decent insight as to what goes on behind the scenes (without really knowing) and the juggling act that exists in just trying to match figure releases with mass market media.
While we all take time to blame the war between Fox and Marvel for the lack of X-Men and Fantastic Four figures, the schedule shows us that it is a bit more complex than that. When uncles Jesse and Dwight say: “We are trying to get everything we can out and trying to tie it in as much as possible,” they aren’t lying. It’s a huge puzzle that requires long-lead precision timing, there are a ton of marketing, retail, and legal matters that plug into the planning. I don’t envy them, and I’m completely jealous. It’s gotta be the best job in the world right now to sit down and plan out the next couple of years of Marvel Legends.
I don’t think the question is “would you support,” or “should we,” or whatever. I think the question is, when can we expect the next X-Men Legends and Fantastic Four Legends series?