Archive for
January, 2006
— January 9, 2006
Rumors began this weekend out of the Hong Kong toy show that the Marvel toy license is expiring and that Hasbro was picking up the license. It has been confirmed that the license does expire this year, but many fans were concerned over the idea that Hasbro might produce Marvel figures. There was also a lot of confusion surrounding this as the current producer of Marvel Toys, Toy Biz, is owned by Marvel.
Well, the confusion still exists, but it is official. In Hasbro Picks up the Marvel License over st Super Hero Times, Hasbro announced that they will produce Marvel toys beginning in 2007. In addition to this, Marvel Press Statement on the Hasbro Deal is a Marvel press release at Action-Figure.com detailing how Marvel has ended its distribution deal with Toy Biz Worldwide a year early effective at the end of 2005. Marvel will produce everything in house until 2007 when Hasbro takes over the license.
What does this all mean? What Does the Hasbro / Marvel Deal Mean? by Adrian at Action-Figure.com is a long article detailing the whole saga including the relationship between Toy Biz, Marvel and Toy Biz Worldwide.
Here is what I think is going to happen. I think that Hasbro will be developing, producing and distributing all of the Marvel toys beginning in 2007, based on what I read. I think that Marvel is getting out of the toy business, and this is the way to do it. What does this mean for Toy Biz? I think Toy Biz will be dissolved and absorbed into Hasbro or Marvel. They do have the licenses for addtional toy lines. I think those will be absorbed as well. I don’t see anyway for Toy Biz to continue without the Marvel line.
What will happen to Marvel Legends and similar lines? I don’t think they will continue, at least not like they are now. I don’t see how Hasbro can continue to produce them in the same fashion as they are now without changing them. Now, I know relatively little about the toy business. I hope Hasbro proves me wrong, and they do an even better job than Toy Biz. I hope we find out more at Toy Fair next month.
— January 8, 2006
Tonight, more superhero action figure reviews! First up, we have Batman: Long Halloween action figures reviewed Michael Crawford over at his web site.
Second, Michael has a guest reviewer on his site reviewing Marvel Legends series 11.
— January 7, 2006
This is a rumor, as I cannot confirm anything official right now, but it has been reported on several toy collecting message boards that Hasbro will have the rights to distribute Marvel figures in 2007. This news is reportedly coming out of the Hong Kong Toy Fair which is going on right now.
Apparently under the current relationship, Toy Biz, the company that produces Marvel toys, is owned by Marvel. However, the license to distribute the toys is owned by a company called Toy Biz Worldwide which is a separate company from Toy Biz and Marvel. It has been confirmed that the distribution license will end in 2006. So the news that Hasbro will be getting the license in 2007 makes sense.
There is a lot of confusion over this among fans. I will continue to report on this as the story develops. But if this is true, I think it will be a good thing as long as it is Toy Biz who designs and develops the figures. It seems to me since Hasbro is a much larger company than Toy Biz Worldwide, it would be of benefit to Toy Biz and Marvel to have Hasbro distibute the figures.
— January 5, 2006
The Sideshow e-newsletter comes out tomorrow but subscribers get a preview a day early. They actually post it online a day early and members can login to their account and read the newsletter. I didn’t actually know this was a feature so this was the first time I had seen it. Anyway onto the news…
Sideshow is really delving into the Marvel license in 2006. They announced the X3 movie license recently and have 2 new collectibles up for pre-order, the X3 Beast Maquette and the X3 Juggernaut Maquette.
I have a few comments about these, first off the Beast figure is based on initial designs for the movie not the final version. That said, look at his unit! Not sure what to make of that, but it kind of reminds me of the Beast version of the famous David statue. Second, Juggernaut really looks like Ram-Man from Masters of the Universe.
I saved the best for last. Sideshow is doing another diorama based on the comic designs, The Incredible Hulk vs. Spider-Man Diorama. This blew me away, and I have only seen the previews. 2006 looks to be a promising year for Marvel and Sideshow.
— January 4, 2006
Way, Dillon Named As Wolverine: Origins Team at Newsarama announces that Marvel has confirmed that Daniel Way and Steve Dillon will be the creative team on the new series, and Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada will be the series cover artist. According to the story, Marvel did confirm that, beginning in June, Wolverine will not be a part of the two X-Men teams (X-Men and Uncanny, though he will be appearing in Astonishing).
The new series was only announced yesterday, and I assumed it would be awhile before we found out who the creative team was. That said, I am fine with Way writing it. He is writing the current series, and I like what I have read of his. Dillon would not be my choice for the artist though. I think that Dillon, like a lot of artists, draws people the same. I also do not like the way he tends to draw them. Joey Q is doing the covers though, and it is Wolverine so I will probably buy it. I loved the first “Origin” series and from what I can tell Way seems to know what he is doing.
— January 4, 2006
You can still vote for the Marvel Legends Fight Scene over at Marvel.com. It is now in week 4, and there are 2 finalists left, Spider-man vs. Venom or Ultimates vs. Hulk. The winning scenes will be used in all new Marvel Legends product line that has not been announced yet.
I want to know who votes on these things. I admit, Ultimates vs. Hulk would be cool, but these two were not in any of my votes. I’m guessing that since you can vote once per day someone is going on there everyday and voting for these choices.
— January 3, 2006
In Joe Fridays #31 over at Newsarama, Marvel Editor-in-Chief, Joe Quesada, hinted that there was a new Wolverine “origin” series in the works.
Today Marvel officially announced, Wolverine: Origins, a new series that will run alongside the current Wolverine series. According to Marvel, this series picks up where the first origin series left off and that major questions will be answered. Apparently, the storyline will not follow any particular order. The series is stated to be released in April.
— January 3, 2006
Marvel Legends series 11 action figures by Michael Crawford is a detailed review with pictures of Marvel Legends series 12.
Michael has another review over at Movie Poop Shoot of the 18″ Apocalypse build a figure for Marvel Legends series 12.
I have had series 12 and the Apocalypse for almost a month now, and I have to say I pretty much agree with Michael here. I bought the whole series for the included figure so I would not have bought most of these alone. That said, I really like the Wolverine, Iron Fist and the variant Bishop. The rest are good but not essential to me.
The Apocalypse really delivers as well. I have decided I am going to refrain from buying a whole series to get the build a figure though. If I can’t piece it together another way, then I don’t need it.
Michael also has a guest review up of the Marvel Legends series 10 Angel.
Going back a few days, Michael also reviewed the new DC Superhero figures. The Batman was the only one I was really excited about from the first seris. I saw this figure in person recently, and it really looks cool. I passed on it for now though for 2 reasons, one, it was $10 at Target, and two, the pins in the knee joint are blue! Check the pictures to see what I am talking about. I guess you can paint over them but to me it throws the whole figure off.
— January 3, 2006
Ultimate Avengers is the official site for the upcoming DVD release coming February 21. You can view the trailer but a lot of the other features are not currently available. You can still download wallpapers and use the forums though. It also looks like you will be able to pre-order the movie from the site.
Edit: It also looks like the movie will be rated PG-13. I think a lot of people will not expect that and may overlook it. Granted the last Spider-man was PG-13 and so was the most recent Batman movie. But this is a cartoon which most people will assume is okay for kids to watch.
— January 3, 2006
Batman Begins one of the top selling DVD’s for 2005 at Superhero Times has a list of the top selling DVD’s for 2005 from Home Media Research. Batman came in at number 10, but even more impressive, the Incredibles, another Superhero movie, came in at number 1!
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