Hasbro Doing Marvel Legends At Least Through 2026

[JayC]

The question of whether Hasbro will hold on to the Marvel license seems to be popping up with more and more frequency online these days. While it's true the details for how long the current license agreement between Disney and Hasbro for Marvel will last have not been made public, it is pretty clear that Hasbro will be doing Marvel stuff AT LEAST through the end of 2026.

Hasbro's Dwight Stall made indications they had already planned their Marvel Legends figures out through 2025 and into 2026 back during the MCM London convention, and now Hasbro's Dan Yun has made a similar statement on the social media platform X saying they are already cooking on 2026 stuff.

Back in 2020 Hasbro and Disney agreed to extend the license for both Star Wars and Marvel products to some unknown date, and then we got indications in 2022 that Hasbro and Disney had again extended their relationship even more when it was announced Hasbro would start doing Indian Jones products again which came and went in 2023.

My guess is the current license Hasbro has for Marvel is currently set to expire by the end of 2026, however being that the relationship between Hasbro and Disney seems to be strong, I don't see Hasbro loosing the Marvel license to someone else unless Hasbro chooses not to pursue it.

It is no secret that Hasbro's current CEO Chris Cocks who comes from a gaming background at Wizards Of The Coast (Owned by Hasbro) is turning more and more of the companies resources towards gaming and digital products with things like Monopoly, Dungeon's and Dragons and Magic the Gathering. It was just recently announced via Bloomberg that Hasbro will no longer be co-financing any of the movies made based on their own brands and is focusing on a new D&D video game. We have also seen in recent years Hasbro licensing out their own brands to other companies more and more and allowing them to make the action figures they once produced themselves.

Whether Hasbro decides to get out of the action figure game all together at some point down the road to me remains unclear, but for now if you are wondering if Hasbro will keep doing Marvel Legends, I would say definitely through 2026, and frankly I would be somewhat surprised if they don't continue even beyond that time.

[AndyL]

That's good and bad news. IMO there is no company capable of handling ML to the capability of Hasbro at this point. They have almost perfected the process. When they have the determination to do things right. Bad new is it's only for another year. More bad news is we're still going to have to put up with Hasbro's constant fumbles on scale and size and the constant reuse of certain molds when they do not fit the character. Their worst ongoing issue IMO. More bad news is it's really hard to see Hasbro continue to take these massive losses with the constant obligations to subpar MCU product that always ALWAYS end up on Ollie's and other discount store shelves. Ultimately it's up to them whether they want to spend the money to retain the license once the contract is up. My fear is they will come to the conclusion that it is no longer worth the trouble and let another company take it and we'd have to restart collecting from scratch. The horror of a company like McFarlane getting the contract is enough to drive you crazy. Not that they wouldn't look good but first changing the scale so they would not match our existing Legends but then the possibility or probability they we'd get about 5 Spider-Man's to every Other Character could drive me to quit altogether. Then again at that time it just might be about the right time to do so.

[JayC]

2 years. 2025 and 2026.

[AndyL]

On 11/22/2024 at 9:43 AM, JayC said:

2 years. 2025 and 2026.

I misunderstood. I thought it meant the contract ended at the beginning of 2026. Quite often I find myself reacting to the headline before reading the article. Guess that's a little better.

[JayC]

Well even in the headline it says through 2026 🙂 

[Ron]

Well after so many years, from Toy Biz to Hasbro, I would be real disappointed to see Marvel Legends end in 2 years. Perhaps it will move to another company but consistency with past figures may be a problem. Nevertheless, as an "old school" (Silver/Bronze Age) collector, I find myself buying less figures as most of the characters I recognize have already been done quite nicely.  My hope for the next 2 years is that they concentrate on completing team members (i.e., Inhumans with Gorgon & Triton; X-Force with Feral, etc...) and important classic villains (i.e. Mandarin, etc...).  What would be a nice surprise, is if Hasbro ends Marvel Legends and is still willing to produce comic book action figures, that they turn to Warner Bros. and start DC Legends using the same 6-inch scale and bodies. I'm sure the Hasbro team would do as great a job. 

[RobertD]

On 11/22/2024 at 9:25 AM, AndyL said:

The horror of a company like McFarlane getting the contract is enough to drive you crazy. Not that they wouldn't look good but first changing the scale so they would not match our existing Legends but then the possibility or probability they we'd get about 5 Spider-Man's to every Other Character could drive me to quit altogether. Then again at that time it just might be about the right time to do so.

I think if McFarlane got the license I would also be done.  For some reason I can stand him doing his thing with the DC Universe, mostly because DC isn't as important to me so when he bones something up I can generally let it go, but I don't think I could accept his approach with Legends.  Marvel's just too important to me, I guess.  I'm glad Hasbro's going to hold on to things, they've been hitting a pretty good stride for a while now, especially on other characters I never expected to see get made. 

[Audie]

I can’t see this partnership ending after 2026. There’s companies that could handle the license like McFarlane or Mattel but I’d hate for it to start over because even if they were willing to keep the line’s look compatible with the Hasbro style, they’d be compelled to start with the big ticket characters and we’d have to slog through years of classic looks Spider-man, Wolverine, Iron Man, etc before we’d get around to filling out the teams fans want. Like imagine how many Todd Spider-Mans we’d have to see come to market before we got something like Stegron.

[Reno]

I seriously hope that Hasbro keeps the Disney licenses (Marvel, Star Wars and more) well beyond 2026, but would be ecstatic if Todd loses the DC license to a company that would go back to the 6" scale (probably won't happen).

[Lord_Scareglow]

I'm sure Hasbro will keep this partnership as long as it's making profit, and I don't see Marvel not being profitable after 2026, I'd be shocked if Disney/Marvel would let some other company make these figures, who else would? I guess Mattel possibly, but I doubt that even.

The worst case scenario is they did drop Marvel at some point in the future and another company starts doing them in a totally different scale and style, then I'd be done with collecting Legends.

 

[leokearon]

Glad the line is continuing but Hasbro really needs to focus more on quality. The line is way too inconsistent with figures that it makes you wonder if there are two teams working on the line.

[Faust]

Just don't give it to McFarlane. I don't want to see a bunch of souless dead eyed face sculpts infesting my shelves 

[Psychosomatic]

As someone who has been collecting since the late nineties, you have got to acknowledge what McFarlane did for the hobby. He (almost single-handedly) raised the bar on character selection, articulation, sculpt, and paint detail. The reason we have such good quality figures now is in large part due to McFarlane. He improved the action figure collecting game, and deserves his flowers. All that being said, I would not want to see the license leave Hasbro's hands, as I think they nail it most of the time, and if you consider all they have accomplished since they took over from Toybiz, it is nothing short of extraordinary. They have redone nearly everything Toybiz produced with dramatically good improvements. They gave us impressive boxed sets, Multi-Packs, Animated Lines, Deluxe Figures, Hasbropulse Army Builder Exclusives, Haslabs, pinless tech, laser printing...SERIOUSLY, they have done absolutely amazing work, and I hope they keep the license beyond 2026...but just in case, please give us Original/Classic, Pinless, and Laser-Printed versions of Marvel Monsters, Adam Warlock, Valkyrie, Original  X-Men (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast, Angel), Banshee, Psylocke, Mystique, X-23, Elektra, Daredevil (Vulcan mold), Mephisto, Gamora, Nebula, Warriors Three, Hela, Magik (maybe a New Mutants boxed set), Mole Man, and Bishop The Last X-Man before you go! :)

[TheArrow]

I think if you want to gauge the health of ML, just look at the sales figures and how easy it is to get most figures themselves.  While  ML is a  good portion of the overall ML license, i think it is NOT a dominant brand so much as Star Wars or Transformers are--those are the leaders. It's not as small as something like Power rangers, GI Joe Classified, or even Indiana Jones.  Big chains like Walmart don't even seem to carry much Marvel Legends-specific product anymore.
  I think the indicators are the length and breadth  and variety of product, efforts like Haslab, and small things like new tooling.  Those things show commitment to a brand, and intention to carry it forward for a good long time.
Now, as for McFarlane...I think he's a bit of a wild-card. He's pumping out DC product like he wants his eyes to roll back into his head, but it is Batman/Superman-centric with other characters salting the line.  He's committing to a LOT of all-new tooling for these figures, so that his margins for profit over production costs must be slim. That suggests to me that chasing after Marvel, or the specific Marvel Legends brand itself  would be daunting without confidence in what he can do.
The stab he's taking at marvel product with the "statue" line of figures looks........awkward.  I think they look awful and they actually highlight Todd's drawing weaknesses in translation to 3D form.  I think they will fail badly at retail, despite his name, and the Marvel thing with him will quietly vanish.  Any other players on the field........unless they are seen courting Disney ( Mattel??) i don't see them trying to rally investors to yank the license away from Hasbro anytime soon.

[Atlantis]

I've been disappointed with hasbo's overall work on legends, so much so that they've caused me to drastically cut back my hasbo Legends buying in the last few years. I just have no use for figures that are "ok" or "close enough", not from a multi billion dollar company that's been in the biz for a hundred years and has the license to the most popular superheroes around. Having said that, I don't think they'd lose the license soon. I wouldn't shed a tear if they did. I think overall some competition would be good for them....and us.

[JayC]

Here is my question for those who say they are unhappy with Hasbro. What company do you honestly envision could take over the license and really bring you something you would be excited for and that would be in this price range? I mean honestly think about it. 

I think for some of you its more your might be burnt out on Marvel or Marvel Legends in general. It is a line that has been around for a long time so its easy to see how some might not be keen on getting the same characters over and over, but explain to me what you see as something that would get you excited and not cost a lot more money?

[TheArrow]

On 11/22/2024 at 5:30 PM, JayC said:

 

I think for some of you its more your might be burnt out on Marvel or Marvel Legends in general. It is a line that has been around for a long time so its easy to see how some might not be keen on getting the same characters over and over, but explain to me what you see as something that would get you excited and not cost a lot more money?

I've been in ML since before series  1, Toy Biz Spider-man Legends. I'm a plank-owner, LOL I've seen ML go through it all.

And yeah, I'm worn out on it.  I'll say that officially.

To save money, or keep costs at the same level--I would eschew extra accessories, like portraits, hands or effects-parts.
BUT, I would replace them with comics again.  Figure stands probably, or diorama stands.  Hasbro had a linkable stand system in their early ML figures that was abandoned after one or two waves. I'd also drop the gimmick packaging, like the Retro cards , for a standardize carton format. Politically, I'd alter the exclusive program to a limited time-windowed- exclusive--of say, 6 months. After that it gets re-released to open retail.
I'm still going to be picky as heck about character versions, and wonky sculpts--and I really feel like I'm being played by Hasbro/retailers with the not-quite-right bait-and-switched versions of characters.
That is leading to deeper resentments on the line.
Bringing back the comics would mitigate that, because the can then focus on character-specific or interlinked stories and waves stories. I want a REASON to engage with both the individual figures and a wave as a whole--especially if there's a BAF offering therein. 
I want ways to invigorate me as a collector, not to constantly bleed me dry and/or waste my time.

[TheArrow]

As for who else could do Marvel Legends the same way or better than Hasbro...............honestly???


MATTEL.

Have we forgotten DC Universe Classics?  No, not in that format, but in the same ML format we have now---Mattel made a beautifully consistent superhero toy line that STILL stands the test of time, all across the board. 
 

[Psychosomatic]

On 11/22/2024 at 3:30 PM, JayC said:

Here is my question for those who say they are unhappy with Hasbro. What company do you honestly envision could take over the license and really bring you something you would be excited for and that would be in this price range? I mean honestly think about it. 

I think for some of you its more your might be burnt out on Marvel or Marvel Legends in general. It is a line that has been around for a long time so its easy to see how some might not be keen on getting the same characters over and over, but explain to me what you see as something that would get you excited and not cost a lot more money?

Well said, JayC!  I get people having their own thoughts and preferences on what Hasbro should do with their favorite line, but that is all it is, your personal preference, and we all have them, but it doesn't make us right. Unless you work for Hasbro, you don't really know what is selling or why they make the decisions they do, all you really know is what you would like. I have traveled within my state, other states, and overseas and found things can be totally different where I am traveling to than they are in the area where I live. You can't know what is selling based on your small sample size. 

[Psychosomatic]

On 11/22/2024 at 5:14 PM, TheArrow said:

As for who else could do Marvel Legends the same way or better than Hasbro...............honestly???


MATTEL.

Have we forgotten DC Universe Classics?  No, not in that format, but in the same ML format we have now---Mattel made a beautifully consistent superhero toy line that STILL stands the test of time, all across the board. 
 

DC Universe Classics line was a great line for the time, but it would pale in comparison to Legends. Because they just re-dressed the same buck, they were able to pump out a ton of characters for a very consistent line, but it wasn't a very dynamic line for the same reason. And I think they used the same artist for the head sculpts, so again, it was consistent, but not very dynamic. Legends use of Rene Aldrete and Paul Harding really does give the line more diversity of design.  I would guess many companies could potentially take over this license, but why start from scratch when Hasbro gets it right most of the time? I can't think of another company with as significant a license and track record. 

[GnarlyCharlie85]

If hasbro ever stops making legends, I'm out. Marvel Legends is my favorite toy line I collect. No one else could do this line justice, we are just too deep into the line to start over anyway. McFarland would be my worst nightmare for sure. I can't stand what he has done to the dc line and I love dc comics. He always does figures of characters from a specific story and how the artist drew them in that story. That is why we have like 20 robins, but not a straight up classic comic version. He never does "classic" versions of characters and just within the last two years ,he is now starting to pump some out. It was a simple pattern to follow do what mattel did with their line. I see everyone talking about it here and I'll say they SURE make a better display than any McFarland could, because you can't world build with his figures can't even make a good jla. Anyway I love my legends ,they are doing great things with the line I hope it never ends. I feel like the line has made significant improvements the last few years and continues to improve every year. He wants it to happen most collectors don't thanks for being on our side JC

[Atlantis]

On 11/22/2024 at 2:30 PM, JayC said:

Here is my question for those who say they are unhappy with Hasbro. What company do you honestly envision could take over the license and really bring you something you would be excited for and that would be in this price range? I mean honestly think about it. 

I think for some of you its more your might be burnt out on Marvel or Marvel Legends in general. It is a line that has been around for a long time so its easy to see how some might not be keen on getting the same characters over and over, but explain to me what you see as something that would get you excited and not cost a lot more money?

I'd say Mattel could take over. Honestly, seen some beyond excellent craftsmanship from a number of newer companies, that easily rival hasbo's work. So its not like they're the only game in town.  I'm not, however, burnt out on Marvel Legends, I'm done with just accepting sub-par work. Especially in light of the likes of Maverick, War Machine, (retro) Lizard, Heroes Return Iron Man, Rogue (Juggernaut wave) Spiral...examples of what they can do when they want to. They've done some killer work, and some killer BAFs. Which makes taking things like arm pit for hire Cage, Madame Hydra, Lockjaw, Red Widow unacceptable. The lack of attention to detail, ignoring scale, etc. And yes some are saying they "don't want to start over again", but lets be honest. When they DO come up with an improved model, don't they "start over" then?  So that's just not an issue for me.  

Bottom line, I don't see them losing the license anytime soon, but I don't think they're the only game in town. Ease off the over use of certain characters, highlight more of what Marvel's 80 year roster has, and start being more concerned about getting the collectors what they want....and this will go a long way.

[Jmacq1]

On 11/22/2024 at 6:30 PM, JayC said:

Here is my question for those who say they are unhappy with Hasbro. What company do you honestly envision could take over the license and really bring you something you would be excited for and that would be in this price range? I mean honestly think about it. 

I think for some of you its more your might be burnt out on Marvel or Marvel Legends in general. It is a line that has been around for a long time so its easy to see how some might not be keen on getting the same characters over and over, but explain to me what you see as something that would get you excited and not cost a lot more money?

Mattel seems like the only real contender that could match the scope and volume of the line.  Someone like Jada might be able to put out decent figures but they don't seem to have the capacity to match.

McFarlane would McFarlane it up, for good or for ill.  So out of scale with old ML, even more focused on "core characters" than ML already is, heavily weighted towards modern versions, and often poor QC.  But they would be generally well sculpted and painted.

I'm mostly fine with Hasbro sticking with it.  I buy less these days but that's more because ML has dropped to my #3 collection priority behind GI Joe Classified and Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron than any problems with Hasbro in general.

[SpiderS]

I don't think we ever gonna see Marvel Legends line dead in next 10 years, even if Hasbro really becomes licensing company instead of toy manufacturer, I can easily see other companies taking the line and probably doing okay job like  Jada, Spin Masters, Jazwares and McFarlane, there might be some rough adjustment period but I'm sure it will work out.

[AndyL]

On 11/22/2024 at 5:30 PM, JayC said:

Here is my question for those who say they are unhappy with Hasbro. What company do you honestly envision could take over the license and really bring you something you would be excited for and that would be in this price range? I mean honestly think about it. 

I think for some of you its more your might be burnt out on Marvel or Marvel Legends in general. It is a line that has been around for a long time so its easy to see how some might not be keen on getting the same characters over and over, but explain to me what you see as something that would get you excited and not cost a lot more money?

To start off while I am unhappy with a lot of what Hasbro does with ML at times I am not unhappy with them in general. I think at this point they have perfected the art of ML and continue to improve with their biggest and only problems being scale between figures at times and the constant and over use of some body models such as the Kate Bishop and Sunfire models. But as to the question of who else could do the job and make it exciting again within the price range I have two major contenders and one potential contender.

First, Jada Toys. Anyone who's been following these guys and maybe purchased one of the Street Fighter action figures should be nothing but impressed by these guys who literally came out of nowhere and started producing Hasbro quality or better right off the jump without even having that Ugly Phase that most companies have when they start a new license. Hasbro itself went through that phase which many people including Sharty call the Dark Days of ML. Not Jada. Their stuff is almost on par with anything Hasbro is doing and they are at a similar price point and often include more accessories for the price. At very least they all have an alternate face portrait. And another thing. They sell out very fast. So they are getting noticed. And they are only going to get better from this point.

Second, Jazzwares. When they were doing the Fortnite they were amazing. Not only were they on roughly the same 6" scale size of ML but they had more articulation with majority original sculpts that only saw re-use when they did alternate skin versions. Also the company is made up of former artists and creators and designers from companies like Toybiz and Mattel among others who have tons of experience in the business. The only reason they lost the license was because big bad Hasbro literally just outbid them. And immediately they scaled them down by thinning them out and virtually eliminating all but one or two accessories. And then tacked on a higher price tag to be sure. In fact I did and do continue to cherry pick the line even after Hasbro got it but I honestly don't remember seeing them produce anything new for the line in probably 6 months or so. Their standard AEW figures are on par with the WWE Elite figures and cheaper and also very little mold re-use and they also sell out very quickly. Even though they are admittedly produced in much smaller quantities as WWE figures.

Third, at a distance is the much improved Jakks Pacific. Long gone are the days from when they made WWE figures all on the same body model where Rey Mysterio was the same height as Edge and Kane. These guys have upped their game in the last few years. And even though the Apex Legends figures left a lot to be desired they looked good and all used specific sculpts and could be really good with a few articulation improvements. And if you look at what they're doing with the articulation for figures of a much smaller size like the Mario Bros and Sonic figures they are totally capable of Hasbro level articulation. In particular look at the kind of crazy articulation they are putting on figures with very thin limbs like the Sonic figures and even putting articulation on figures that they could honestly get away with not putting it on like Goombas and King Boo in the Mario Bros line. Every successful line improves but it's crazy to think this is the same company that use to do such garbage work back in the day.

Not only do Jada and Jazzwares do comparable product to Hasbro but at the price point of a standard ML they often include more accessories. Certainly much more than figures in line with ML Retro and Hasbro's Fortnite lines which are anorexic when in comes to accessories. So even if they stayed at the same price point they could probably include a lot more in the box.

In fact I think if any of these companies had been awarded the DC Multiverse license I bet we would have a 6" line and have Batman and Superman that could stand eye to eye with our ML by now. I'm not sure if any of them had bid on it but surely one of them could have put in a bid to compete with McFarlane who itself was a much smaller company at the time. Just think of what one of them could have done with that line.

But as far as ML I think either one of the first two could easily step into the Legends role with fairly good quality right from the start and with only minor hiccups. And the third one could probably become competent with a bit of growing pains and constant improvement. And given the history of what they've been able to do thus far within that price point I think there's not really any question that they could do it with ML as well. Even if they continued with some sort of BAF in exchange for accessories. It's nothing that Hasbro doesn't already do. And in product like Retro Waves the price point stays the same with no BAF and very little if any accessories. I don't think it would be that hard for another company to match or even beat prices. Especially a company with a lot less corporate overhead and not near as many poor and failing lines like Star Wars and stuff like Indiana Jones and Dungeons and Dragons.