Could We See Todd McFarlane Art Inspired Marvel Figures From McFarlane Toys???

[JayC]

While I don't see there much chance of this actually happening, Todd McFarlane today in a live-stream on the McFarlane Toys youtube channel indicated he was gonna keep knocking on Marvel's door about letting him do Marvel based products even if it's just stuff based on his own artwork.
 

If Marvel ever opened the door to that prospect it would likely be something more statue based than action figure, but what do you think. Would it be cool if McFarlane could do his own line of 6-7" action figures of Marvel characters based on his works in the 90s at Marvel?

[Hordak Rules]

Meh, I still have the old ToyBiz Spidey based on his art. I'm good with that. 

[tarot]

god no. keep this guy away from Marvel. 

[frozentenderloin]

Not really interested. If he did Marvel figures they’d probably be 7” based on the majority of his current lines. If that were the case, it would basically be comparable to Marvel Select, and I’d only really buy big characters so they don’t look as weird with 6” scale Legends- like I do with Select already.

[Air-Walker]

Actually, I'd love to see Marvel action figures in his style, I think they'd be really fun. It would also be especially interesting to see how his art style would look when confined to the laws of 3D physics, lol.

But, still...if we were to get Artist-specific stylized Marvel figures, Kirby would be my first choice!

[SUPREME007]

I'm not going to lie I would be hella interested in what McFarlane can do with some of his marvel artwork. The downside would be scale, but I really would like to see how he would incorporate the style into figure form.

[Atlantis]

Frankly I don't see it happening but it would be nice to see someone else get, or at least share, the Marvel IP. McFarlane's DC work thus far looks crude, clumsy so while he wouldn't be my first choice, hasbo has taken the license for granted and it shows. Another party could get them to up their game. More Spiral, less Luke Cage, Armpit for Hire, thank you very much. 

[leokearon]

No interest in artist specific figures or Macfarlane doing Marvel characters.

[Ron]

I actually would like the opposite and have Hasbro get the DC license to make 6-inch "DC LEGENDS" figures.  While it's nice that someone is keeping DC figures going, I am not a fan of McFarlane's 7-inch figures with so much stylized highly disproportioned anatomy.  Also, I understand that Batman stuff sells better than other characters, but it seems to be to a large neglect of many other DC characters. It is going to take a very long time for those McFarlane collectors to fill out a DC universe, if ever.  However, to McFarlane's credit, he is not afraid of taking chances by making vehicles and reviving and extending old nostalgic lines like Kenner's "Super Powers."  Meanwhile, I'll be hanging onto my old DC Universe Classics 6-inch line until a better "DC LEGENDS" line happens.

[Marvel0805]

Just out of curiosity, I'd like to see what Todd might have up his sleeve. But as others have indicated in their comments, there are plenty of reasons to be hesitant as well. 

[AndyL]

Ugh.....All our fave Marvel characters wearing diapers? I certainly hope not. Then again it may be the only way we get a good Luke Cage and a properly scaled Abomination. Maybe some decent suited characters. On second thought. Bring it on Mackie F.

[bashpics99]

i think it would be cool for Todd to do some marvel figs based on his own artwork on Spidey & Hulk.  

i look forward to wolvie with Hulk's reflection painted on the claws lol

 

[TheArrow]

I like Todd as a person ( having worked directly with him many years ago) and respect him, but I think that Marvel is so hot right now that the license would be so expensive ( even a slice of it) that the most he'd be able to deliver would be nerd-hummels.
And I don't want to see that.
Toybiz Marvel Legends is probably the closest we;ll see of " McFarlane-style" Marvel figures, in terms of individual artist looks.

DC Direct did some New Gods figures sculpted in Jack Kirby's style--and the LOOk was great, but the POAs suffered a lot.  I think one of the last real unexplored avenues for ML to take on is a series of "artist-style" waves.  It's a really fine line to tread though, because a lot of the iconic looks of certain characters--that make them distinct--are often somewhat ugly distorted drawings especially Kirby drawings.  If you homogenize them, you lose that distinctiveness and then the whole point of the exercise.  Toybiz series 1 Captain America is a good example of that.
Todd's people can sculpt like no-one else.........they could pull this off, I think........but I'd want ARTICULATION in these figures. It is a tough basket to fill.

[Lord_Scareglow]

Hey yeah, could be fun to see, go ahead let Todd get a little Marvel action, if he's willing to pay for the license, I don't see why you can't break bread, I don't think I'd have any interest here, don't have any interest in artist specific figures, or 7'' Marvel figures, if Todd was doing this It would likely be very similiar in style to DST, also Todd really didn't draw a ton of Marvel Characters from what I can remember during his stint at the company, he's got some iconic art for like Spidey, Venom Obviously, Hulk, Wolverine..Moon Knight, but I don't think he would have a ton in his portfolio, either way would be cool to see, Hasbro needs to stop hogging up that license and let some love be spread, seems fair

because of the way Marvel/Hasbro business model works I could actually see it be more likely that Todd would get his art style figures made in a Legends line of Art specific figures rather then him getting to make figures for his own company.

 

[RobertD]

I have a hard time seeing myself collecting McFarlane Marvel.  The only reason I bother with his DC stuff is it's kind of the only game in town at the moment (in terms of mass retail/scale I'm willing to collect).

[Atlantis]

On 11/29/2023 at 5:16 AM, Marvel0805 said:

Just out of curiosity, I'd like to see what Todd might have up his sleeve. But as others have indicated in their comments, there are plenty of reasons to be hesitant as well. 

Right. As a "name" in the industry (regardless of what some may think of him) he is definitely someone that would make hasbo sit up and pay attention. But as mentioned above, if he's bringing the awkward sculpts and diapers to the House of Marvel, never mind.

[leokearon]

I won't be surprised if he will get to do some Page Punchers, like he's doing with Transformers and G.I. Joe

[Reno]

As a general rule, I'm usually all for consumer choice and increased competition. So there's definitely that... and maybe he would make characters that we know that Hasbro isn't ever going to do.

However, as someone who has bought a fair amount of McFarlane product - I honestly feel it is quite inferior to the work that Hasbro and Mattel are currently doing in their lines. Yes, there are positives and negatives with all of the brands. There are certainly some things that McFarlane is doing better than the big 2. However in general, I still strongly prefer what the big 2 are doing, Hasbro especially. There is certainly room for improvement from all - but that's not really my point.

For me personally, it's relatively telling that I've bought a ton of McFarlane DC figures but I still have mostly only Mattel DC figures displayed. In the interest of full disclosure though, it also took me many years to warm up to Hasbro. It was probably just in the last few years that I've finally come around on them, so I'm probably much slower than most when licenses switch hands to embrace the new. I think that's just part of having a large collection already in place that you don't want major changes in general aesthetic for. When you have hundreds of figures for a line, it's not appealing to jump to a new scale, articulation template or even major paint/sculpt differences.

However, McFarlane has certainly shown they can be quite good. Some of my favorites that he's done for the DC line are New 52 Frankenstein, Frost King CTB, Ghost Maker, Godspeed and Future State Jace Fox Batman. I'm quite smitten with the Waverider figure that just came out even though it's not a look for the character that I identify with. The Batman Beyond wave he put out early on as a Target exclusive was also quite good for the most part. They've also done a very good job with some of the movie figures, perhaps their best work has been on that. His willingness to do vehicles at a reasonable price point has been a plus. I've also bought several figures across his other lines as well including Spawn, Mortal Kombat, Princess Bride, Avatar (both kinds), Dune, My Hero Academia, etc.   Honestly there are far more misses than hits, though. Scale, proportions, attention to detail and outdated / less than ideal articulation are the biggest pain points. Unique sculpting and price point have been McFarlane's biggest upsides - but he's now re-using a lot more sculpts and prices are increasing (because that's just the reality of the business, and eventually he's got to make money even if he's a private firm and not answering to shareholders like the other 2 are).

My take is that, sure I'd like him to be able to put out a few Marvel figures per year - but I wouldn't ever want him to get the master Marvel license. If that ever leaves Hasbro, there are much more deserving companies, in my opinion. It would likely need to be something like the agreement with Diamond has for Marvel Select. I don't see it happening, though -- but only time will tell.

 

[frozentenderloin]

On 11/29/2023 at 3:45 PM, Reno said:

As a general rule, I'm usually all for consumer choice and increased competition. So there's definitely that... and maybe he would make characters that we know that Hasbro isn't ever going to do.

However, as someone who has bought a fair amount of McFarlane product - I honestly feel it is quite inferior to the work that Hasbro and Mattel are currently doing in their lines. Yes, there are positives and negatives with all of the brands. There are certainly some things that McFarlane is doing better than the big 2. However in general, I still strongly prefer what the big 2 are doing, Hasbro especially. There is certainly room for improvement from all - but that's not really my point.

However, McFarlane has certainly shown they can be quite good. Some of my favorites that he's done for the DC line are New 52 Frankenstein, Frost King CTB, Ghost Maker, Godspeed and Future State Jace Fox Batman. The Batman Beyond wave he put out early on as a Target exclusive was also quite good for the most part. They've also done a very good job with some of the movie figures, perhaps their best work has been on that. I've also bought several figures across his other lines as well including Spawn, Mortal Kombat, Princess Bride, Avatar (both kinds), Dune, My Hero Academia, etc.   Honestly there are far more misses than hits, though. Scale, proportions, attention to detail and outdated / less than ideal articulation are the biggest pain points. Unique sculpting and price point have been McFarlane's biggest upsides - but he's now re-using a lot more sculpts and prices are increasing (because that's just the reality of the business, and eventually he's got to make money even if he's a private firm and not answering to shareholders like the other 2 are).

My take is that, sure I'd like him to be able to put out a few Marvel figures per year - but I wouldn't ever want him to get the master Marvel license. If that ever leaves Hasbro, there are much more deserving companies, in my opinion. It would likely need to be something like the agreement with Diamond has for Marvel Select. I don't see it happening, though -- but only time will tell.

 

I will admit that I do like the Warhammer stuff he has put out for the most part. 

[AndyL]

Now this is an awesome discussion. I often wondered how many people thought like I did about McFarlane's stuff.

Personally I think it looks good. But there are some major scale issues. Sometimes even more so than there are with MS. But at least McFarlane's sculpting is fairly consistent. I do think the animated stuff is completely ridiculous. And evne though Batman is the boat that floats the entire DC empire I think he concentrates far too much on that corner. I love his Page Punchers stuff and his Spawn remasters and I've picked up some DC and some of the other randos on sale or special that are just too hard to pass up. But the truth is the truth and they are far inferior to ML and in many ways to DCUC. Even thought they have much more articulation than McFarlane had in the past they are still more or less statues with a little bit of movement. And the added articulation is clunky at best. McFarlane's even pretty open about almost despising articulation and only did so to keep up with the competition. And it's clear he's pretty much stalled out at the 24 point spot to keep the sculpt in tact. That being said I really wouldn't mind if he did some of those artist specific character and let the customers chose. Though I doubt they would be action figures but more like the statues he used to produce. Maybe that iconic Spider-Man pose where he's on the giant web on his tippy toes and finger tips. Or the gray Hulk busting through the Hulk marquee. Or Wolverine with Hulk's reflection as @bashpics99 points out. I can get down with that. But as far as action figures I just don't think they could touch ML.

Now if they wanted to trade license or share license I could see that. If you think about it ML and DCM are completely different lines outside the licensed parts. First off in that one is 6" and one is 7" and completely incompatible. Even though a lot of people still insist they are. Just put Captain America up next to Batman. Not even close. And also that McF articulation is only to more or less qualify it as an action figure an is clearly secondary to the sculpt. Unlike ML will sometime sacrifice sculpt for articulation. With that they could both have separate contracts. McF can have a Marvel 7" line while Hasbro keeps the 6" line and Hasbro can do a DC 6" line while McF continues to do it's thing with the 7" line. I mean it's a similar case where Hasbro has Fortnite's 6" line while Jazzwares continues with it's 4" line. Maybe it could be temporary. But maybe we could finally get some characters from the opposing lines to match up correctly with each other. If we could just get the major characters out there from both sides to match up I think I would be forced to buy them.

[RobertD]

On 11/29/2023 at 4:56 PM, AndyL said:

With that they could both have separate contracts. McF can have a Marvel 7" line while Hasbro keeps the 6" line and Hasbro can do a DC 6" line while McF continues to do it's thing with the 7" line. I mean it's a similar case where Hasbro has Fortnite's 6" line while Jazzwares continues with it's 4" line.

Diamond's already got the contract on Marvel 7" scale, though.  Historically, companies won't license out the same scale to more than one company, exclusivity is usually baked into the contract. 

[raziel0203]

McFarlane's work, especially on spiderman, is so iconic, at least for me as a child of the 90s. I would love to see at the very least, some McFarlane-inspired figures in the legends line. I think one of the biggest draws for me when it comes to comic book characters is the near-infinite number of interpretations there and continue to be. I don't see why McFarlane would be any different.

[Atlantis]

On 11/28/2023 at 11:54 PM, leokearon said:

No interest in artist specific figures or Macfarlane doing Marvel characters.

For a brief time I did want artist specific figures, but no more. If you take just a few of the great artists- the Masters, i.e. Neal Adams, Gil Kane, John Romita, Dave Cockrum, for example, you'll get very excellent but very different interpretations of characters and your figures end up looking like they all were made by different companies. George Perez Sub-Mariner won't look like John Byrne Sub-Mariner. 

Now if they were to do a specific niche line, thats another story. But hey, I need hasbo to just get the basics right and consistent before we go off like this. If they can't or won't distinguish between an awesome outcome like the Heroes Reborn Iron Man, and utter drek of Armpit for Hire, they need to stop and do some self examination. 

That Iron Man is a thing of BEAUTY. HOLY COW. Even if you don't care for that model of armor....WHAT a great job they did there.

[AndyL]

On 11/29/2023 at 6:31 PM, RobertD said:

Diamond's already got the contract on Marvel 7" scale, though.  Historically, companies won't license out the same scale to more than one company, exclusivity is usually baked into the contract. 

Great point. Even though I actually mentioned them in my comments I somehow completely forgot about that. I don't buy them and IMO they are just terrible. No consistency. No regard to scale. A vast difference in sculpt quality from one product to the next. I guess I just completely refuse to acknowledge there existence. Of course I kid.

[Atlantis]

McFarlane recently did a Hawkman action figure based on his look and "incarnation" from back in 1994. Long black hair, organic wings, scar across his nose, dark gray/black pants....a more "feral" Hawkman, as it were. Then Mcfarlane puts him out in his traditional green/yellow/red colors and costume....but its just a repaint, no attempt to make it the classic figure.