Hasbro Made-to-Order Figures

EnigmaticClarity said:
In one of the SDCC interview videos Dwight addressed this. He said that two years ago Jesse Falcon had told them that a Haslab extra was the only way they would EVER be allowed to release a character that is essentially Satan from a company as concerned about their image as Disney. Two years later Mephisto was in a Disney Plus show, and that changed Jesse's mind.

If that's at all true then I'm guessing that Jesse isn't particularly informed as to what Kevin Feige is doing, because supposedly Ironheart was filmed in 2022 for a release in 2023 that got pushed back two years. If that's true then Mephisto had already been put into that show before Hasbro even ran the Hellcharger crowdfund. That's consistent with Feige not wanting to let toymakers have information that's at all spoilery since it usually gets leaked, so I'm guessing that was all Jesse's thinking alone. And I get it; he was young during the "Satanic panic" in the 1980s and 1990s just like I was where there was a weird conspiratorial idea that Satanic cults were taking over the minds of young people in America.

But I'm also confused as to why they couldn't have just done Mephisto two years ago as a Pulse-only exclusive just like they are now. We all mostly got back then why Disney wouldn't put this on retail shelves, but only ever making it part of a Haslab just sounded like BS then, and it still does now. But Dwight pretty much passed the buck off to Jesse in that interview which I tend to buy particularly given the rude way he responded to PantherCult when he asked about "comic M'Baku." I mean, M'Baku is still in the comics, right, just no longer referred to as Man-Ape? Just a weird, unthoughtful reaction by Jesse there, so he may have had one in 2023 as well related to Mephisto.
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Honestly I'm at the point now where I think it is all talk from everyone involved. Whether it is Mephisto or Hooded Cobra Commander, I think the people who answer questions for us (Dwight, Dan, Ryan, Emily, Lenny, etc) are just putting out what they think is the most corporate response. Which is Emily and Dan's job of course.

I go back to my previous line of thought that anything they claim is off the table is off the table, until it isn't. Staff changes at all levels, plus market changes (money) means what isn't acceptable/possible today won't necessarily be that way a year or two from now. Plus people can just change their minds. So while I understand that Disney can be a bear to deal with and over protective of their brands to some silly degrees at times, it is still people making the decisions and we humans can be a fickle lot. Also let's remember that the ML line has literal Nazis in the line but somehow not showing the swastika makes them acceptable (that and of course their crazy looks). Yet a blue hood on a figure is too close to the KKK? Which has never actually been officially confirmed as far as I am aware as the reason for no hooded CC.
 
NORM said:
I’m in for Mephisto, price be damned (see what I did there?) He is an essential character to Marvel’s lore and they seem to be doing a nice job with him. The alternate cloth cape is a smart inclusion for him to be able to sit on the throne, which is the whole point of this set. He will look great with Ghost Rider, Blackheart, Dr Strange, etc.
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Agreed. I can't really justify the price, but I CAN justify the purchase because these days, with ML's slide toward gamerverse and Magic-the-gathering themed releases, I really don't buy most of what they offer anymore. Thus, I can indulge in a blatant money grab for a long desired classic character every once in a while.

That being said, the tall devil dude with static torso and non-articulated accessory really should have been 50-60 bucks MAX.
Oh well. I guess I'd rather pay a Satan Tax than a Trump tariff.
 
canprime said:
Honestly I'm at the point now where I think it is all talk from everyone involved. Whether it is Mephisto or Hooded Cobra Commander, I think the people who answer questions for us (Dwight, Dan, Ryan, Emily, Lenny, etc) are just putting out what they think is the most corporate response. Which is Emily and Dan's job of course.

I go back to my previous line of thought that anything they claim is off the table is off the table, until it isn't. Staff changes at all levels, plus market changes (money) means what isn't acceptable/possible today won't necessarily be that way a year or two from now. Plus people can just change their minds. So while I understand that Disney can be a bear to deal with and over protective of their brands to some silly degrees at times, it is still people making the decisions and we humans can be a fickle lot. Also let's remember that the ML line has literal Nazis in the line but somehow not showing the swastika makes them acceptable (that and of course their crazy looks). Yet a blue hood on a figure is too close to the KKK? Which has never actually been officially confirmed as far as I am aware as the reason for no hooded CC.
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Or they were being very literal with how they phrased it which I now remember thinking at the time. I believe they phrased it as "this is the only chance you'll have to get THIS version of Mephisto," which given how Ryan always operated was true--they always vary up re-releases a bit to get hardcore collectors to re-buy the same character again.

So they were right from a literal perspective--this new Mephisto is not the same as that Mephisto. Which is mincing word salad and worthy of being skeptical of what they say, definitely.
 
Going back to the EOV campaign and the "this is the only way you can get these figures" jargon - both Ryan and Dan were pretty heavy handed in interviews - arms crossed, appearing frustrated. Dan's responses on Twitter followed suit. I get that they were trying to sell a product, but they seemed to take it very personally.
Jesse's response to PantherCult's question about M'Baku seemed personal. M'Baku was in the AT card set Jesse received and the #1 winner in the BAF/Deluxe category, so maybe that had already been a point of contention with him. However, Jesse represents Disney, and using expletives and walking away is not very Disney-like.

Regarding the AT cards they got, and I'm way too lazy right now to do my research, but I think Dwight told somebody that one of the cards was in development for next year, then at the panel Jesse says there are 4. Was Dwight being coy and didn't want to give anything away? He obviously knows what's coming out next year.

Starfox has been depicted as such a skeevy character and could garner Hasbro some negativity, however having Harry Stiles appear in the Eternals film may have turned that around, similar to how Mephisto may have been a no-go until he showed up in the MCU, then suddenly he's ok.

Back to the topic of Made-to-Order, I really thought this was gonna be just for overscale figures, not overscale props/thrones/set pieces. But it everything is on the table for this I'm gonna push for a Serpent Society set with overscale Bushmaster and heavy tooling characters like Anaconda and Death Adder at the very least, and add in a bunch of others to show that are actually committed to completing teams.
 
Beamish said:
Starfox has been depicted as such a skeevy character and could garner Hasbro some negativity, however having Harry Stiles appear in the Eternals film may have turned that around, similar to how Mephisto may have been a no-go until he showed up in the MCU, then suddenly he's ok.
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I wouldn't read that much into it. I don't think anyone is checking character bios trying to cancel Hasbro or Marvel. I really feel like the "mom outraged over scantily clad/devilish toy" stories are done. I feel like that was a relic of the late aughts. Reddit and Bluesky would flame the shit out of a person/outlet for that when we have bigger problems to worry about.
 
Lucid Silverback said:
Agreed. I can't really justify the price, but I CAN justify the purchase because these days, with ML's slide toward gamerverse and Magic-the-gathering themed releases, I really don't buy most of what they offer anymore. Thus, I can indulge in a blatant money grab for a long desired classic character every once in a while.

That being said, the tall devil dude with static torso and non-articulated accessory really should have been 50-60 bucks MAX.
Oh well. I guess I'd rather pay a Satan Tax than a Trump tariff.
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Personally, I think the price on Mephisto is higher than it would have been if there wasn’t so much uncertainty around tariffs. Tariffs are already higher than they were at the beginning of this year, AND there’s a good chance they’re higher a year from now. They’re factoring in that potential unknown and letting us pay it upfront. All the better if nothing happens and they get to keep it.
 
I'm approaching this as Mephisto is a limited release figure that would never see the light of day otherwise, so obviously he's gonna be a bit more costly. The great job they did on the throne also makes this hurt a little less for me — and I'm one cheap bastard.

And not to sound like a Star Wars guy trying to talk myself into a $500 Republic Gunship so we can still have Haslabs, but the more successful things like this and Dragon Man are, the more Hasbro's gonna take a chance on them, which I believe will lead to some really great stuff down the line. (Justice's box set ideas would be amazing.) And yes, it's literally making a deal with the devil ...

Almost anyway, I still can't get that second-rate, garbage website to take a bank or credit card.
 
Do I have this right - Jesse cursed at PantherCult about an M’Baku question?

I am curious to see and feel how substantial this throne is. We’ve seen other companies charge 40-50 bucks for similar items so it wouldn’t surprise me if the head math is $30 for Mephisto and $50 for the throne. Especially if the throne has some real heft and a lot of paint apps. I do feel for those who just want Mephisto. It’s not like this throne is even associated with him - it’s from a Crystar cover. And he definitely doesn’t look like a premium action figure, just a Legends figure with a bit more stuff.

As for the marketing of the ill-fated HasLab, I think they felt like that was the easiest path to releasing the character, but they were always stretching the truth when they said it was the only way. Why would Disney suddenly be okay with it because it was a stretch goal in a crowd fund? He’s still Satan and their name is still on it. They were trying to get a fringe character and vehicle combo funded and felt Mephisto (and Goblin Queen) was the kind of draw that would push it over the minimum order quantity. They had no incentive to say they’d try something else with either character and no incentive to be truthful because it’s not like fans are going to punish them by not buying these characters when they do become reality. Just remember it for next time they try something similar. Or maybe they won’t since their takeaway from that campaign seemed to be that stretch goals do more harm than good.
 
Misfit said:
Do I have this right - Jesse cursed at PantherCult about an M’Baku question?

I am curious to see and feel how substantial this throne is. We’ve seen other companies charge 40-50 bucks for similar items so it wouldn’t surprise me if the head math is $30 for Mephisto and $50 for the throne. Especially if the throne has some real heft and a lot of paint apps. I do feel for those who just want Mephisto. It’s not like this throne is even associated with him - it’s from a Crystar cover. And he definitely doesn’t look like a premium action figure, just a Legends figure with a bit more stuff.

As for the marketing of the ill-fated HasLab, I think they felt like that was the easiest path to releasing the character, but they were always stretching the truth when they said it was the only way. Why would Disney suddenly be okay with it because it was a stretch goal in a crowd fund? He’s still Satan and their name is still on it. They were trying to get a fringe character and vehicle combo funded and felt Mephisto (and Goblin Queen) was the kind of draw that would push it over the minimum order quantity. They had no incentive to say they’d try something else with either character and no incentive to be truthful because it’s not like fans are going to punish them by not buying these characters when they do become reality. Just remember it for next time they try something similar. Or maybe they won’t since their takeaway from that campaign seemed to be that stretch goals do more harm than good.
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Honestly I don't know why they bother with the Haslab model anymore. Especially for vehicles. The Made To Order model works just fine. Put up something big and bulky and throw in a driver/figure and then go from there. No more worries about unlocking tiers and "will it/won't it" fund? No more fan speculation about how much it would be without the tiers, or how missed tiers ruin the value.

Instead you say...."Here, a large vehicle and one figure, go nuts." Then you have the prerorder window and if it gets enough orders you make it, and if it doesn't you don't make it. All the rest is fluff and nothing more than a reason for fans to nash their teeth and complain or speculate for a period of time.
 
Misfit said:
Do I have this right - Jesse cursed at PantherCult about an M’Baku question?
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Not quite. Here's the original post:
PantherCult said:
Talked briefly to the team at the Hasbro booth today. Asked Dwight about horses for the line, pointing out that they not only go with the western characters we need, but also can be used for Spider Horse and Ember from X-Men, not to mentio the various winged horses Marvel has.

I also asked Dwight about comic M'baku (of course) and he told me I had to talk to Jesse Falcon, so I did and Jesse asked me "Do you mean Man Ape? Because the answer is never going to <expletive> happen. Never. It is SO racist and offesnsive." And then he turned his back and walked away.

So I guess I can stop asking. The answer was so intense and unexpected Dan said to me after... 'you never know. Two years ago Mephisto was a 'never' and now he's going up for preorder today..."
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At timestamp 39:18 on MCUcollector’s video (thanks for that, MCUcollector!) someone on the panel says that they’re excited for this whole “line of thrones.”
Is everyone else in for a Doom throne next year?
I sure hope that they pivot to something else. I really don’t need a bunch of thrones in my collection. A few key pieces here and there, fine, but I wouldn’t buy most of the ones they showed.
 
Frankly, I don't even need Mephisto's throne. It's cool, but I'm going to have a bitch of a time fitting it on my packed Marvel villains shelf. That said, if I have to flip a throne at a huge loss to get a decent classic Loki or Dr. Doom, so be it.

I eagerly pre-ordered Mephisto today. He was #11 on my Marvel want list. I'm glad I finally get to participate in one of these HasLab/made-to-order campaigns. I didn't have enough vertical space for the Sentinels or Galactus, even though I wanted them.
 
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