Wasted slots & flat-out fails

[bennroe]

Personally, I'd like to see separate lines for EVERY category of offerings, each with its own respective branding. And while Hasbro are already doing that to some extent (e.g., X-Men '97, Gamerverse etc.), I would like to see them go all-in and create another handful of tandem lines and ramp-up production. So, effectively we'd have a line called ML "Cinematic" run parallel to a line called ML "Bronze Age" and ML "90s" and ML "Modern" and ML "From-the-Racks" and even ML "Western" or ML "Monsters". Heck, we could even have a line of ML "Obscurities" comprised of crystal warriors and weird one-offs no one has ever heard of. Lol

This sounds great, but I suspect that some of those lines would perform a lot better than others, and you'd quickly see the Western line, for instance, cancelled. The whole business model sort of relies on spreading the pegwarmers out, thereby minimizing risk for everyone (but especially Hasbro). If they stuck them all in one line (let's call it the "Western line", with no shade on people who want that; I'm sure they realize they're in a small but vocal minority of collectors of this line), the whole supply chain would quickly break down.

 

[fac]

Personally, I'd like to see separate lines for EVERY category of offerings, each with its own respective branding. ... If you're a 90s kid, wouldn't you prefer an entire wave comprised of desirable figures as opposed to the slow drip of releases you currently endure? Same goes for 2000s and especially silver age enthusiasts; at the rate we're going, you'll be lucky if you EVER see Hammond Torch or a Whizzer or whatever.

I think that was what the waves are supposed to be, but I think one thing that Hasbro (to me) has not recognized is that both character and timeframe matter. Some X-Men fans may like everything from 1963 to now, others may have their favorite eras. I think Hasbro in a perfect world would pick a theme and time frame for a wave, so if Cosmic, have it be the Cosmic from 1990s or 2010s, but not both.

It is the bouncing around in time within a character wave, like getting Fang from the 1970's and Corsair from the 1980's with Chamber from the mid-90's and Kid Omega from the 2000's, all to get C'Hod from the 1980's...

 

[Stoopid_Sandwich]

I suspect that maybe under the right, ideal conditions a sublime that is niche can expand to a broader audience, especially to first time collectors or would be hobbyists. You just need the right launch pad. For instance; there has been a sharp rise in popularity for figures that are cel shaded compared to figures that have no paint detailing on them whatsoever outside of some minuscule details.

So what if Hasbro took this to heart and released a new sub line of Marvel Legends that was specifically catered to the upscale space that features cel shaded figures, accessories and even offered comic book styled backdrops that way collectors can make their own comic panel or cover with the figure they’ve just purchased. (This would work better if it had in-app functionality)

I know I’ve used this idea for a hypothetical ML program before, but if they called it the Excelsior Collection or the Marvel Masterworks line. I think it would be a hit. It’s basically a more upscale version of the Maximum Collection but with a real effort to infuse some actual artistry in this comic based line.


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[secondwhiteline]

This sounds great, but I suspect that some of those lines would perform a lot better than others, and you'd quickly see the Western line, for instance, cancelled. The whole business model sort of relies on spreading the pegwarmers out, thereby minimizing risk for everyone (but especially Hasbro). If they stuck them all in one line (let's call it the "Western line", with no shade on people who want that; I'm sure they realize they're in a small but vocal minority of collectors of this line), the whole supply chain would quickly break down.

The argument for a segmented approach like this would be covering multiple SKUs to take up more pegs, but to do that safely, the separate lines would have to be confined to mass-appeal subsets like X-Men, Spider-Man, and mass media releases...so pretty much what they already do. Sorry to Phantom Rider, I guess.

I can think of a time where a figure line tried a soft version of the original suggestion: Jazwares for a time experimented with dedicating waves of its AEW lines to separate wrestling stables. They didn't rebrand the waves or anything, you'd just get a wave of their normal Unmatched series but be able to collect a stable of wrestlers in one shot. It was a disaster, compounding the already crippling pegwarming issues the line was up against. I tend to be a bit skeptical about the dangers of pegwarming, but Jazwares AEW was proof it does sometimes do serious damage. (Meanwhile, WWE actually replicated that idea with an Elite wave focused on the Bloodline stable, but the Bloodline was the biggest thing in wrestling for a solid 3 or 4 years and WWE has a more stable market position, so I don't think it was an issue.)