Is Hasbro bad at advertising Marvel Legends figures?

[SpiderS]

This question came to my mind when I compared modern Marvel Legends packages to old ToyBiz ones, especially when it comes to Retro lines that homage classic lines like Iron man one, in particular back of the Whiplash packaging has zero information about other figures in the wave like they don’t even exist, meanwhile old ToyBiz packaging not only showcases whole Iron man line but also Fantastic four one too.

This disregard for showcasing whole wave or so called "COLLECT THEM ALL" on the packaging seems like a serious missed opportunity, yes WE are adult collectors who know everything about waves but general public, newcomers and kids don’t, there’s not even official dedicated site that can showcase most recent Marvel figures Hasbro released unless you count online shops, just because seasoned collectors don’t need this additional information doesn’t mean newer collectors and especially new collectors of younger generation don’t need it.

But things aren’t good even when Hasbro does showcase waves, regular ML package backs give us only the head shots of the characters, yes it can be cool from some stylistic point but it fails at showcasing the figures as a whole and communicating to new fans, kids and parents what other figures and wave looks like, in fact Hasbro's package shows you more of the same figure you already got instead of others.

In contrast, ToyBiz did far better job when it came to figure showcasing, which really captured your imagination, Toybiz also did far better job at showcasing characters by providing more text and other facts like power levels, height etc. and and most importantly it made you want to collect whole waves based on back of the packaging, it was truly newbie friendly but today you can’t really tell how other figures looks like based on the headshot unless you already familiar with wave beforehand due to internet, which seems like Legends are purposefully staying niche and aren’t even trying to attract new and younger fans, and it's ironic because it would cost them absolutely nothing to dedicate more real estate of package to showcase other figures and baf more prominently but they still decide otherwise, which is horrible approach if they want this line to last and have future growth.

[leokearon]

It's not just Marvel legends , Hasbro are bad with all their products. Transformers, G.I. Joe, Star Wars in general have no info about other figures available. It is annoying especially when other companies like Mattel and Playmates do show other toys available.

[TheArrow]

On 9/7/2024 at 2:31 AM, leokearon said:

It's not just Marvel legends , Hasbro are bad with all their products. Transformers, G.I. Joe, Star Wars in general have no info about other figures available. It is annoying especially when other companies like Mattel and Playmates do show other toys available.

I disagree.  Look at all the often excellent promo pics that Hasbro releases across their brands, that are posted on-line.  Using the Internet to showcase their products is really savvy because they don't have associated print costs for magazine ads.  All they do is release an image on their own site and it get disseminated by others interested in sharing and promoting it.  I mean, just look at all the toy retailers---those pics on their listings are provided BY Hasbro.

Cross-sell is a good practise, in theory, but it's not really necessary ( and is somewhat redundant) when the Internet is so prolific. It's only been in the last decade or so that the toy industry has largely grudgingly conceded that children are no longer their consumer audience for action figures.   It's adult males averaging around the ages of about 30-40, who are all using the Internet, and very largely aware of what product is out there and where to find it. Cross-sell is wasted graphic space on the packaging, and character bio info becomes problematic when multi-lingual text has to be given space.  The image of a character on the back is there ONLY so that the package can be identified from the reverse if it is not placed face-front on a store shelf.

[Chunkylover]

One of my favorite things as a kid was the back of the box. I couldn't get everything I wanted, but I wanted everything I saw. 😆 I would just sit with those card backs and dream of what one day might be....

I'm sure it's somewhat different in the internet age, but I believe advertising other figures being offered might help move product. It's kind of dull now with all the weird advisories in multiple languages.

[leokearon]

On 9/10/2024 at 2:51 PM, Chunkylover said:

One of my favorite things as a kid was the back of the box. I couldn't get everything I wanted, but I wanted everything I saw. 😆 I would just sit with those card backs and dream of what one day might be....

I'm sure it's somewhat different in the internet age, but I believe advertising other figures being offered might help move product. It's kind of dull now with all the weird advisories in multiple languages.

Same here and the catalogues 

[Chunkylover]

On 9/10/2024 at 12:40 PM, leokearon said:

Same here and the catalogues 

I used to love the Transformers pamphlets. Kenner had good ones, too. And Lego.