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Marvel sues former toy contractor


hornhead

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Not sure if this has been posted yet, but this is the first I heard of it.

 

Marvel sues former toy contractor for 6 meeellion dollars!

 

This is referring to Toy Biz Worldwide right, the company whose logo appeared on the packaging and who distributed the figures? Sounds like that dude needs to be in jail. Looks like the truth is coming out about why Marvel really sold the license to Hasbro.

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Not sure if this has been posted yet, but this is the first I heard of it.

 

Marvel sues former toy contractor for 6 meeellion dollars!

 

This is referring to Toy Biz Worldwide right, the company whose logo appeared on the packaging and who distributed the figures? Sounds like that dude needs to be in jail. Looks like the truth is coming out about why Marvel really sold the license to Hasbro.

 

I got the sense about Hsieh pretty much right from the start. The whole thing about the distributing arm not working out didn't make a lot of sense on certain levels, and the odd thing about some of the factory problems as well.

If creditors weren't getting paid, then it means that Hsieh was likely bottom-dollar dealing with the subcontractors, and that likely reflected itself in the product ( ML12, any one??)

The Hasbro deal just rings out as security all across the board; better distribution channels, better QC standards, more stable factories, more marketing clout. In the long-term moving the brand can only be seen as a smart move.

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The Hasbro deal just rings out as security all across the board; better distribution channels, better QC standards, more stable factories, more marketing clout. In the long-term moving the brand can only be seen as a smart move.

I agree on all points, and I highly supsect the inability to locate molds my well have factored into some of the decisions in regards to Marvel Heroes (Iceman) and Spider-Man Origins (Venom).

 

Sadly, I think this will likely be lost as people go on griping about the percieved "lack of quality" in regards to Marvel Legends (which, especially under Hasbro, no longer represents as major a line was it did for Toy Fair)

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Whats wrong with ml12 ?..

 

Allso I wonder if this is why we didn't get some of the so called varaints?.. 14,&15 variants as well as the phoenix xmc figure!

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Oh I think I can see how this all turns out. This Hsieh guy will lose his case, get bailed out by bankruptcy then retire to a tropical island spending the rest of his days spending all the money he stashed away in secret accounts.

 

Marvel is a HOT property. So either this guy was amazingly deceptive or amazingly stupid. Knowing a bit about the allure of greed I'd say it's a pretty good bet that Hsieh was a bit of a crook. Whether it was keeping funds or using them for something other than what they were intended for, that makes him a crook either way.

 

Right now I'm betting Hasbro has heard PLENTY of complaints about their figures so far. Eventually they'll make adjustments, hopefully the right ones, and people will learn to appreciate them a bit more.

 

One more thing about Hasbro so far, and that's overall the quality has been far and away better than TB in my opinion. The only thing that really needs to be done better is overall designs and proper paint apps, and give back more articulation, otherwise I think they're really nice figs.

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In a similar situation, SOTA lost all their molds (for Rounds 1-3) and tools to their previous factories when they changed factories. I'm sure the costs to pursue it legally to retrieve the molds would've been too high for a smaller company like that.

 

In turn, those factories continued to produce the figures...making "bootleg" figures and distributing them for their own profit.

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Wow, didn't know Sota lost their molds as well!! That's messed up!! Makes ya think twice now, maybe made in the USA would be better??

 

Not really unless you want to spend 20-30 bucks for a toy that cost you 7-9. That is also why they hamburger companies have their meat overseas.

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that does not bug me one bit for movie stuff since its generaly its own thing & does not get displayed next to the other stuff! Long as they don't do it with the regulars its fine by me :D But if they do depending on the quailty of they figures I'll STILL buy em and just display em on there own shelf :D

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Wow, didn't know Sota lost their molds as well!! That's messed up!! Makes ya think twice now, maybe made in the USA would be better??

 

Not really unless you want to spend 20-30 bucks for a toy that cost you 7-9. That is also why they hamburger companies have their meat overseas.

Yep, as much as people #$#@# and moan about the chinese factories and the issues related, a VAST MAJORITY of consumers are NOT going to fork out extra money just because it was made in the US.

 

The GI Joe Moray from 2005 was $40 largely due to the fact it was partially produced in the US

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For people complaining about Hasbro, you know they are going to the 5" scale for the movie lines right? Hopefully, they are not stupid enough to do that with the Legends.

@grumpy@ @grumpy@

As has been said AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN, the 5" scale is largely for the kid based toylines. Legends will NOT be effected and the only reason Hasbro would change it would be because it isn't selling as is.

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The Hasbro deal just rings out as security all across the board; better distribution channels, better QC standards, more stable factories, more marketing clout. In the long-term moving the brand can only be seen as a smart move.

 

 

Great point Arrow, and exactly why I've been a big supporter of most things Hasbro. I've been excited about the change since I found out, and extremly grateful it didn't end up in Mattel's buttfing hands (MOTU).

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oh good god everyone would have been dumping there ml collections on ebay if that had happend :D People like to #$#@# about hasbro but compared to toher companys they are aok!

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i feel bad for hasbro legends cuz no matter what they do i think they are always going to be under the toy biz legends shadows...

 

i think they knew they big shoes they had to get in....and are trying their best....

 

i think what they need to do is

 

stop repainting/using old molds, etc....ive read complaints that most of their lines are just repaints of toy biz's...take a chance hasbro!!! i think most of us, i know i would have, been more impressed if u sculpted new designs for marvel legends...if they came out bad...at least u did it your own instead of using a mold/repainting, making it look sloppy and having ppl complain about it...

 

the gr movie figs came out great....we know u can do it!!!!

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stop repainting/using old molds, etc....ive read complaints that most of their lines are just repaints of toy biz's...take a chance hasbro!!! i think most of us, i know i would have, been more impressed if u sculpted new designs for marvel legends...if they came out bad...at least u did it your own instead of using a mold/repainting, making it look sloppy and having ppl complain about it...

The only line that Hasbro has done that used older Toy Biz molds was Spider-Man origins. Marvel Legends, Icons and Ghost Rider were all toys on tap from ToyBiz when the change occured, and largely new molds at that.

 

It really doesn't matter what Hasbro would have done, people would have complained, period. If they had tooled new Legends, people would complain about them not fitting in.

 

Besides, the FACT is that reusing tools is essential for maximizing the profit of a toyline anymore.

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Marvel Legends, Icons and Ghost Rider were all toys on tap from ToyBiz when the change occured, and largely new molds at that.

 

so legends icons and gr were sculpted by toy biz? or did hasbro do the sculpting for the above 3 mentioned?? a bit confuised cuz i read somewhere planet hulk was a repaint/reused mold of war hulk, cant remember exactly but i read one of the old hulk molds was used....

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Marvel Legends, Icons and Ghost Rider were all toys on tap from ToyBiz when the change occured, and largely new molds at that.

 

so legends icons and gr were sculpted by toy biz? or did hasbro do the sculpting for the above 3 mentioned?? a bit confuised cuz i read somewhere planet hulk was a repaint/reused mold of war hulk, cant remember exactly but i read one of the old hulk molds was used....

Yes, all those you listed were sculpted by Toy Biz. We have not seen any true Hasbro designed Marvel Legends, it has thus far been all Toy Biz molding.

 

Planet Hulk is a reused War Hulk, and ToyBiz would have shipped him as such anyway. Even toybiz repainted and reused, fans just didn't complain as much because it was ToyBiz.

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Yes, half of the ML line up is just reused body parts :D If people complain about hasbro doing this with the lineup they are ignorant :)

& you can just out right expect hasbro to do some repaints of past figures, that is if they have the molds for them... I mean its hasbro thats what they do! :D

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