Hasbro Q&A Round 2

Marvelous News brings you round 2 of the new monthly question and answer sessions between you (the fans) and the Hasbro design team members working on Marvel toys. Each month we will be submitting 5 questions asked by you the readers to the Hasbro design team for Marvel, which they then send back with answers to those questions for you to read. Here is the second batch of questions and answers for this month:

Marvelous News: At the Marvel panel in San Diego, you said that the variant for the Punisher was going to be Crossbones, but the figure you showed in the case was a repainted Punisher figure. Will there in fact be a Crossbones figure released?

Hasbro: Ahh, yes...the old SD Comic Con Panel question. That was actually a mistake. The Punisher variant was always intended to be a camo variant, sorry for the confusion. Can't really comment on the future of Crossbones except to say that he's a very intriguing villain and we love the current Cap storyline. His name definitely comes up in character discussions...along with a lot of others!

Marvelous News: Competition in the superhero toy market seems to be increasing substantially with Marvel Toys' line of 6" Legendary Comic Book Hero figures and Mattel's recent announcement of a full-blown DC Comic Universe 6" line. Has this caused Hasbro to re-think how they will approach doing Marvel Legends in any way, and if so, how?

Hasbro: We take notice of new developments in the market but there's a great deal of comic inspired toy product on shelves already. We're always evaluating ourselves and looking at things we can do better, so from that standpoint, it's business as usual.

Marvelous News: Many fans continue to compare and complain that Hasbro's Marvel Legends figures just don't hold up to the old Toy Biz ones. Can you explain to the readers why Hasbro can't just make the figures the exact same way Toy Biz did? Why can't the figures continue to have the same amount of articulation and paint apps as the older figures did? It seemed to work for them, so why wouldn't you just keep making them the same way?

Hasbro: There have been some changes on the Legends brand for various reasons (which include the rising cost of raw materials and production) but we do still work closely with Toybiz and Marvel to ensure that we're capturing the essence of each character. We're always listening to collectors through these Q&A sessions (and through the boards) in order to address the issues that they view as most critical. We've heard them ask for more double elbows and double knees and we're acting on it...but these changes don't happen overnight. Toybiz Legends were awesome and we want you to enjoy Hasbro Legends just as much. That's why you have our word that despite changing market forces, we strive everyday to pack as much value as possible into each and every figure.

Marvelous News: The San Diego Comic Con exclusive Stan Lee figure was a great figure. Can you tell us how that figure came to be? What role, if any, did Stan Lee have in its creation, and how did making it differ from doing a regular Marvel Legends figure?

Hasbro: The team goal was to pay tribute to a great man whose vision has contributed so much to the entertainment industry. In such a big year for Spider-Man, it only made sense to tie the tribute to one of his greatest accomplishments - Amazing Fantasy #15, the 1st appearance of Spider-Man! It was a treat getting to work with a living LEGEND like Stan and he was able to give us some input. The production process itself was essentially the same.

Marvelous News: The character selection for Hasbro's Marvel Legends is something that many people seem to really like. Can you tell us what kind of process you go through to determine which character gets selected for which wave, and what do I have to do to get you to make a U.S. Agent figure?

Hasbro: Character Selection is something we always look forward to! First, the team will get together and brainstorm possibilities. As you can imagine, anytime you get a group of comic and toy fans in one room the initial list can get pretty long. In order to narrow it down, we'll take the following into consideration - collector wants and wishlists, opportunities to complete specific series, awareness levels for each of the characters, and striking the balance between the fan faves and the characters with mass market appeal. The debate is always spirited and fun! As for U.S. Agent...his visibility is on the rise again with the recent Omega Flight series so keep your fingers crossed.