How do we convince Hasbro to join the 8" fun?

[JediJaida]

Okay, we've seen the stuff from Mattel, ZICA, Castaway, etc.

It's high time that Hasbro got in on the act, and started producing Marvel figures in the 8" format.

Since they are the ones that hold the license to the Marvel characters, they should have gotten on the bandwagon when Mattel started producing their Waves.

I'd really like to see how they would interpret Iron Man, SpiderMan, Thor, Spiderwoman, the X-men, the Avengers, etc. for the modern day.

Feel free to chime in with your opinions, people.

[BOTZWANA]

Well...I have the famous covers line already. But newer versions would be ok in my book. It would have to be based on the seventies for me though. Dr. Strange, Ghost Rider, Shang Chi etc.

I do not want to see Venom or any other nineties or eighties character.

[JediJaida]

Venom. Meh.

I'd like to see characters from the 70's too, but hopefully not as cheezy as the originals.

Luke Cage. Shang Chi. Iron Fist. The Sons of the Tiger.

Thor. Odin. Loki. Sif. The Warriors Three.

Angel. Beast. Iceman. MarvelGirl. Cyclops. Professor X.

Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

Mystique.

[Random Axe]

There's three ways to look at this scenario.

1. Marvel/Hasbro wanted to sit back and see how the consumers responded to the "Retro" style of the figures before pursuing their own 8-inch line.

2. Marvel/Hasbro wanted to see how their summer movies and all of the tie-in toys did first before looking to branch out. There is a great deal of money invested in movie figures.

3. Marvel/hasbro has absolutely no interest in this.

Hasbro is the king of 3 3/4 figures and may not deviate from that formula. It would be a severe financial risk to commit to a 1/9 scale line of figures. Mattel really jumped on the retro aspect of the figures to appeal to collectors. I think if Hasbro were to go for this concept, the focus would be playability versus nostalgia.

But, this is all hypothetical. If Hasbro had any intentions at all they would have jumped in by now. Or maybe it's an upcoming SDCC announcement...

[rche]

support the Round2 Captain Action line to show that there is interest in retro style Marvel characters.

[thunderbolt]

The fact that Mattel is cancelling its line won't help convince Hasbro one bit.

[Tothiro]

Hasbro could probably launch a line of Star Wars Milk Pogs and sell through.
They got out of the 12" market, and have been playing wait and see on the idea of 8"

Honestly we should social media this. I'm game. I think a petition drive for Star Wars and Marvel properties in 8" cloth outfit format would be a good grass roots approach. If we reach out to fellow geeks (like what? Topless Robot? Conventions? Suggestions here?) we might get some buzz... We might obliquely cite a tie-in for Dr Who and Star Trek... Buck and Flash...

I can't help but think that if Hasbro made any move at all to put a license property with known sales out in the RA style, Mattel would scramble to get product back out based on their existing molds and R&D work. I think if Hasbro did it they would market it differently, and differently might be a little better, and maybe that would be the loosening of parental purse strings that could help a Matty relaunch happen.

This is unorthodox, but if a dedicated interest could be shown, or even nurtured to the point where extra people got on board and a little of the work was done for them, I think that's the best way of getting them to take notice.
So I guess we should find out what market trends they're watching? What say ye all?

[Tothiro]

^^ So uh... Am I a threadkiller? No really... you can tell me.

[pmwasson]

Star War figure have been done in every scale imaginable, except 8" cloth. I think its a perfect fit and a good way to get fans to buy all the characters yet again.

[MIB41]

As much as I would like to hope Hasbro would be game for this, you have to remember they were next after Toybiz to throw their hats into the Mego-like circus with Signature Series figures. Personally I had no issues with them being slightly taller. It's not like they were GI Joe size. Plus they were made sturdy with nice outfits and pretty cool boxes (although a tad big). And the thing is, those figures were 25% cheaper than the retro figures! If I was on Hasbro's side of the table, I would have a hard time believing if I made the figures an inch smaller with removable outfits, that would have made a difference. I imagine most collectors into the Mego-era figures bought them anyway but, just like with past efforts, it was not enough to keep more waves coming. But who knows? Maybe they will revisit the idea when the next wave of hero films come out. Either that or Disney will do something with it. After all Disney does own the rights to Marvel now so they could venture into the Mego world for a taste.