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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2019 15:01:23 GMT -5
Licenses aren't so simple any more. They are often split between mass market and boutique market*, and then there are master licenses which give you the whole kit and kaboodle, but you can then sub-license out parts of it you don't intend to use.
Hasbro currently has the master license for Marvel now (and Star Wars as they seem to be Disney's go to toy maker). They license out certain scales or types of products to other companies-Hot Toys for example for high end figures.
Mattel has the mass market license for DC, but it expires in 2020 and wasn't renewed. A new company will take it, but I can't remember off the top of my head the name of it (I posted about it somewhere else in this forum when it was announced). Figures Toy Company has the licesne for 8 inch, 12 inch and 3 3/4 inch DC figures in the boutique market, but not the mass market. Mego has the license for 14 inch DC figures in the mass market.
Playskool does Marvel figures and toddler toys but I believe they are a subsidiary of Hasbro, and Fisher Price (via Imaginext) does the same for DC but I believe they are a subsidiary of Mattel.
Lego has both the Marvel and DC licenses for buildable toys...
and on and on and on. They have carved up the licenses into small pieces to maximize revenue and increase competition for the licenses in every category.
Oh and the Hasbro license expires in a couple of years but it is almost a given that Hasbro will get a renewal unless some major player comes in and knocks Disney's socks off with an offer, but Star Wars toys have been under-performing lately, so that is less likely than it was just a few years ago.
-M
*mass market-i.e. sold at major retailers like WalMart, Target, Kohl's etc.
boutique market-sold via specialty websites or to specialty markets like Diamond's direct market
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2019 15:50:33 GMT -5
Thank you for that summary, I must admit, it's hard to keep track of it all.
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Post by rom on Feb 6, 2019 11:27:12 GMT -5
Good thread. As a kid, I regret not collecting the Super Powers line whatsoever. Even though I was a DC comics fan at the time, I didn't have a lot of spending $, so couldn't collect anything I wanted. That being said, I do remember liking the figures - especially the Darkseid/Fourth World related characters. Around the time these figures were coming out, I was reading some of Kirby's Fourth World comics - which were being reprinted & available at direct market stores.
I did have some Secret Wars figures (Spider-man; Captain America) - but didn't collect that line to any great extent, either. I actually didn't think the articulation on the Marvel figures was that great.
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Post by hondobrode on Feb 6, 2019 12:25:12 GMT -5
By a country mile, Super Powers
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2019 12:31:38 GMT -5
The articulation and the mini-comics provided really make it my only choice if voting!
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Feb 6, 2019 14:36:38 GMT -5
I think I started with Secret Wars because I was more a Marvel Kid at age 8 or whatever, but then switched to Super Powers.
I had all of the first wave except the Penguin. This is an accomplishment for a kid from a little town with just a K-Mart and 2$ a week allowance.
Wonder how much a Penguin fig costs now-a-days?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2019 15:54:30 GMT -5
Addendum to earlier post-Spinmasters is the company that got the DC license moving forward after Mattel's license runs out after this year.
-M
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,865
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Post by shaxper on Feb 6, 2019 16:35:44 GMT -5
Wow, gotta have been a flaw with Brainiac, then. Or we were all unlucky! I know the heavy plastic robot toys of that era had a common defect with blue plastic. UV light degraded it to the point that it became brittle and would snap. Perhaps the shiny blue plastic used on Brainiac had a similar defect? |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2019 20:26:14 GMT -5
I loved the flexable record The Darkseid Saga so very much:  |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 6, 2019 20:43:30 GMT -5
I loved the flexable record The Darkseid Saga so very much: I own this, and I own two working record players, and yet somehow I've never yet listened to it. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2019 21:22:09 GMT -5
my Brainiac's leg used to kick up way high, so I tended not to use his kicking action. . but it didn't break.
by far, the two I played with the most (feature wise) were Plas' stretching neck, and Orion's spinning face
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2019 21:24:58 GMT -5
I think I started with Secret Wars because I was more a Marvel Kid at age 8 or whatever, but then switched to Super Powers. I had all of the first wave except the Penguin. This is an accomplishment for a kid from a little town with just a K-Mart and 2$ a week allowance. Wonder how much a Penguin fig costs now-a-days? Pengy tends to run fairly cheap (and even cheaper for an open figure).
the only ones from Wave1 that were "hard" to find, and tend to go for the bigger bucks (complete in package) I believe are: WonderWoman (full size card. . she was shortpacked) and Hawkman (shortpacked too)
I didn't look that up, just going by what they were going for last time I looked at prices years ago.
the only thing I'm missing that i wish i had from SuperPowers was the Batmobile. . .never been able to find it cheap enough  |
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,865
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Post by shaxper on Feb 6, 2019 22:44:03 GMT -5
I got the entire first wave as Hannukah gifts in 1984. Best Hannukah ever. My mom loved them because I felt utterly spoiled on cheap action figures as opposed to wanting big ticket items. She bought me the figures and the vehicles, and she got my grandparents to chip in for the Hall of Justice. It was epic. I distinctly remember my parents dragging me out to go shopping for new carpet one night, and I brought along a few figures to entertain me. Having the figures leap from pile of carpet to pile of carpet, locked in epic battle, was one of the high points of my childhood.
I missed a lot of the later stuff. Never had any of the 1985 vehicles, and I never saw many of the figures. To this day, I want a Cyborg and a Shazam, but I'll never shell out the cash for them.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2019 23:07:50 GMT -5
Secret Powers were more available and they were constantly stocked and were fun to play; and were a winner in my book!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2019 23:27:29 GMT -5
I think I started with Secret Wars because I was more a Marvel Kid at age 8 or whatever, but then switched to Super Powers. I had all of the first wave except the Penguin. This is an accomplishment for a kid from a little town with just a K-Mart and 2$ a week allowance. Wonder how much a Penguin fig costs now-a-days? Pengy tends to run fairly cheap (and even cheaper for an open figure). the only ones from Wave1 that were "hard" to find, and tend to go for the bigger bucks (complete in package) I believe are: WonderWoman (full size card. . she was shortpacked) and Hawkman (shortpacked too)
I didn't look that up, just going by what they were going for last time I looked at prices years ago. the only thing I'm missing that i wish i had from SuperPowers was the Batmobile. . .never been able to find it cheap enough They're all starting to get pricey carded. Even loose some of them can go for $30+ ($40+ on some of the short packed figures). Loose Penguin seems to go around $15-$20 now from what I see them priced for at shows. If the figs are missing capes and accessories, they can go for cheap, but complete they are starting to get pricier every year it seems. -M |
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