Has Marvel realized that their C and D tier roster is just not able to move merchandise? One insider with decades of experience says they’re getting ready to move to X-Men instead.
The following message is just a precursor to much bigger information we’ll be publishing very soon from an expert in merchandising. Although we have kept this expert’s identity anonymous, please note that we have confirmed their identity ourselves. This is an ongoing conversation we’ve made available for our readers that reveals what is really going on behind the scenes at some of Disney’s biggest partners.
This is a direct message to WDW Pro from a high-level toy industry expert. Only very small redactions have occurred to obscure the identity.
I’ve actually got a LONG GI Joe Piece coming your way. About 10 pages in word, takes you through why Joe is not getting a major launch (as well as explaining how this works. I might send you the first part in a couple minutes, though I will ask you to sit on it until complete. The reason for the delay is that the info used comes from myself ([redacted company name] alum still in orbit of the company because of my pre-retirement sideline in consumer research) and two other alum friends, one who was there until quite recently. I want to get their all clear before you can edit the info fir your use
Here’s a quick tidbit from the research side on x-men, which might suggest some important character alterations (a la race & gender swap and who knows what else) on that line-up firstly you need to know that x-men is the next great hope on the marvel licensing side – a line already solid on key characters and has nice depth on the collector side due to a general consistency about characterization from comics, classic animated to fox films. Or as a friend of mine who is on the logistics side (his vocab is LCL/FCL and is big time plugged in on demand vs factory cost vs production runs vs shipping efficiencies, etc – sits in on everything) and recently retired from a major toy company says, « the key characters on x-men haven’t been messed up. They are still themselves so all they (Disney) gotta do is hold that line with their next animated & films.
All X-men needs to multiply is exposure brought to the characters as they currently are – they just need to not change anything significant. Wanna cut Wolverine production runs in three and mess with our FOBs? Easy, make him the butt of jokes, constantly show him as toxic, have him be continually admonished, no more ladies man, let’s put that gruff tough guy in his place, etc. You watch Marvel are again going to piss in the drinking water. Sure, deep six the tobacco use, no problem, but otherwise don’t touch him, just promote him, give him main stream exposure ».. yeah, he’s retired now ;)
Incidentally, consumer perception of key character traits and story beats for virtually anything x-men can be retraced to Claremont. X-men has got real depth and is very powerful (super hero x characterization x relationship layer etc) … Not surprising that there is quite a bit of « breath holding » right now; what will Marvel do with them? Will they be on target to sell merch? So here’s the real info: some licensees have gone fishing, using two channels, Disney Licensing and Marvel. Obviously you can’t inquire about race and gender swaps in a direct way, so the detour is asking about character consistency vs current licensees existing artwork interpretations, printing plates, sculps & molds, consistency with current lines with existing inventory, etc. Will it be a huge break, because of above such impacts?.”
The answer: you’ll know when we tell you.
That does not bode too well for those who like the characters as they have generally been portrayed, and are generally appreciated by consumers who are likely to buy the branded merchandise. We’ll see though. Incidentally, there ARE some licensing marquis individual VIPs who do have some idea, but they’re totally NDA’d.
We will continue with much more information in the very near future. For now, we hope you’ve enjoyed this appetizer to a far larger release of information regarding Marvel’s strategy and the overall situation with toy manufacturers at large.
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