Loyal Subjects M.A.S.K. (and other new licenses)

It sounds like it’ll be same or close scale to the original line.  Now if they could get the licensing to Inhumanoids, and do it in the same scale, that would be awesome.  MASK’s transforming vehicles battling huge subterranean monsters.  Sounds like a winning formula.  They bought to check into it.

That MASK news is the best toy news I've heard this year!  I love the toys will not only scale with the old line, but also have the same style of boxes.  I wonder what this means for Ramen Toys.  I know they were trying to get the license too.

Damn, are those homies wrapping My Buddy into the Hasbroverse? My Buddy and Kid Sister programed with chips out of B.A.Ts?  Anyway, I wouldn't mind the MASK vehicles quasi modernized, recognizable for what they are without being dated.

Loyal Subjects isn't exactly known for quality products, so I'd temper expectations a bit.  Kinda amazing Hasbro way never able or willing to get a MASK reboot off the ground.  Just spin it off from the Transformers universe.  Criminals using Cybertronian technology.  Good guy group is formed to counter them.   With the popularity of Transformers and Fast & Furious, it seems like it would be a hit.  Outsourcing it to Loyal Subjects seems like they don't give a crap about the property.

A) I'll never by a figure from some marketing guy who calls their stuff "hot and fresh."

and 2) It's Rom, right?  Not R.O.M.?

@ashtalon To be fair Hasbro has been trying to license out as much IP as possible over the last 5 years.   More and more it seems like they want to get out of the manufacturing side of toys and let other companies handle all the headaches.

Posted by: @ashtalon

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Loyal Subjects isn't exactly known for quality products, so I'd temper expectations a bit.

I will say in their defense, the latest IDW TMNT are pretty good. All the previous stuff from them I avoided cuz it didn't look that great, but that wave they stepped their game up. If they can equal the effort with this new stuff like they did with those turtles, I'll be curious to see what they can put out.

Posted by: @ashtalon

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  Outsourcing it to Loyal Subjects seems like they don't give a crap about the property.

I'm not a business analyst by any means, but I think it's less they don't give a crap and more that they know as of now there is a relatively small market for these properties, so why invest in R&D for new lines when they can license it out to a company that only takes up a small share of the toy world, let them take the risk, make a few bucks, and if it proves to be a huge runaway success, then they can start funneling in some of their funds and branch out. 

The MASK toys are exciting.  I'm interested in that line for sure.

And Hasbro themselves have stated that they want to be a company that license out their brands as much as possible and make less and less product themselves.  I believe the CEO who took over after the last one died suddenly is all about this concept.

I think they more want to make games as far as Hasbro making physical products, and less and less toys and action figures.

And it's not because they don't give a crap, but it's just business smarts.  Toys sell less and less every year.  If you can get paid for your personal brands/IP's and never make a product.......that's kind of amazing.

It really makes me wonder if Hasbro will ever not re up their contracts with Disney over Marvel or Star Wars someday. Since those aren't in house Hasbro brands.  They may just not resign with Disney someday and let someone else handle the toys for Marvel and Star Wars.

But I'm getting off topic.

I'm happy Loyal Subjects got the licenses they did.  I'm excited about MASK, but I am interested in ROM, Jem, and My Pet Monster.

Marvel and Star Wars just make too much money for Hasbro to not retain those licenses.

Points taken on licensing out properties.  They've done it with GI Joe to McFarlane, those cheap brick toys (don't know the company name), and even Loyal Subjects years ago for their Action Vinyls line.  Usually the licensed out brands are ancillary product for properties already putting product on shelves.  Guess we'll just see how TLS handles MASK, but I just don't have faith in them.  Certainly, I'd like to be surprised.  And will they just reproduce old items?  The press release mentions picking up where the line left off, so it sounds like new items.  I imagine they'd want to try remaking the Thunderhawk at least.

Yeah, you license out the shit that isn't going to make you money and you keep the stuff that is. After all, they're licensing out 4" Joes, but they're still the ones making 6" retail-style Joes. Because that makes them loads of money. And they know 4" ones won't.
Keeping the big players like Marvel and Disney is also super smart because it specifically keeps them AWAY from other companies and therefore lets Hasbro control the market better. They're toy-daddy, distributing small licenses to feed the little companies, but making sure no one is getting anything big enough to be a legitimate rival to them (as best they can).

Kind of brilliant in a really gross kind of way.

Anyway, I've never been impressed with anything Loyal Subjects has made so...