Hot Toys – MMS257 – Back to the Future: 1/6th scale Marty McFly Collectible Figure

[davejames]

The only thing I really find ridiculous is seeing their millionth variation of Iron Man armor. The rest of their Marvel license I have no problem with, and I'm perfectly fine with them updating main characters like Cap or Black Widow with every movie.

Obviously it sucks seeing figures like Marty and Ripley get sideliined, but as long as they do eventually get made I'll be happy enough.

 

[DiFabio]

I think Chan is wealthy as **** and profiting isn't really a necessity for Hot Toys like it would be with other companies. Judging from those news clips and interviews, he seems like a rich entrapenour that loves toys and wanted to make figures from the movies he loves.

Evidently, Asia doesn't really like Star Wars. In hindsight, they really had no business pursuing a master license for "six figures" if their main audience isn't interested. Chan on the other hand is a big fan of Star Wars and the adventures of Luke Skywalker (as he's said in interviews), so the line seems to be mostly because of him. I don't buy that these Marvel Iron Man figures help fund little pet projects so they can make a random Johnny Depp figure, or an obscure 80s movie, or a Marty McFly that nobody in Hong Kong wants.

 

[karamazov80]

It is sort of silly how mad people get. The Marvel brand (and probably Iron Man alone) probably generates a good source of income for Hot Toys so we get more obscure figures.

Good point. I doubt we would have had half of the Johnny Depp figures we had without Marvel. With success of AoU, I can see Chan giving us some Gilbert Grape, Don Juan Demarco, and Ninth Gate figures very soon!

Clearly all of that has been years in the making? I mean think about it, that kind of line up alone would have been a years worth of releases a couple of years ago. 20 MMS slots for a single license in the span of a couple of months is almost unheard of. They're approaching MMS 300 with a quickness.

HT's efficiency vis-a-vis Sideshow is pretty crazy, after hearing that comment from an SSC rep that it takes them a year just to get a single prototype together for one of their Marvel or DC 1/6 figures. HT couldn't have had the Avengers 2 design information for even a year, yet we will have had about 20 different prototypes put up for order by the end of the year, including some of these insane feats of engineering like Hulkbuster and the Ultrons.

 

[DiFabio]

HT's efficiency vis-a-vis Sideshow is pretty crazy, after hearing that comment from an SSC rep that it takes them a year just to get a single prototype together for one of their Marvel or DC 1/6 figures. HT couldn't have had the Avengers 2 design information for even a year, yet we will have had about 20 different prototypes put up for order by the end of the year, including some of these insane feats of engineering like Hulkbuster and the Ultrons.

Exactly.

I do think there has been a case of Warner Bros. Schumacher Batman syndrome here. Not with the quality of the Marvel movies of course, but the "toyetic" mentality. It would not surprise me if over at Marvel, the character designs precede the actual story so Hot Toys can get a heads up in advance to produce these toys. Who knows how far back the lead time was for Age of Ultron, I mean, just look at their output. Sure, a few things like the 1/4 Mark 43 could have been initially planned for 2013 with Iron Man 3, but most of this stuff is brand spanking new. It's no wonder all these other lines have been pushed aside.

I bet Hot Toys office contain developed, months old prototypes of Cap: Civil War figures of atleast Iron Man and Cap.

 

[Sidewinder]

A year ago we didn't even know HT were making Marty, now it won't be long till people have it. AoU is out this month, so of course the attention is going to be all over that rather than a figure from a movie released in the 80's.

As soon as Marty is released, it will be enjoyed for a couple of weeks and then everyone will be asking about what's the next release for HT. SDCC will be on and we'll have a whole new bunch of figures on show that will get our attention.

Personally, I'm still amazed that HT bought this license. I very much doubt there is a large following for this franchise in China and the rest of Asia.

It really wasn't that long ago we were flooded with Nolan Batman figures either. Until there is an end in sight for Marvel films, they will continue to produce figures.

I'm more annoyed with ThreeZero and how long it takes them to show, produce and release anything from their lines. We might be lucky to get 2 GoT figures a year or 1 Walking Dead figure this decade.


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[Armyofdarknessaw]

I didn't preorder this, but I'll probably get him in a few months if i can. I love BTTF.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

They shouldn't distribute internationally then. It should go back to before where you had to find a special dealer to get those imports.

Honestly though, if all Asian collectors are interested in are robot and Iron Man variations, I can't say I blame Hot Toys' current business model. I was shocked to learn that their Star Wars items are being poorly received over there. I thought Star Wars was universally loved? If that ain't getting their interest, I don't see how people can expect 80s and 90s classics to ever be a success.

It makes me wonder why they even bothered with Back to the Future, Batman Returns, Alien/s, Commando, 60s Batman, Star Wars, etc. when they've clearly been busy with the entire Avengers AOU team, 5-6 Iron Man variations, 3 Ultrons, those little stylized baby figures and 1:1 displays that won't even be available for purchase. Clearly all of that has been years in the making? I mean think about it, that kind of line up alone would have been a years worth of releases a couple of years ago. 20 MMS slots for a single license in the span of a couple of months is almost unheard of. They're approaching MMS 300 with a quickness.

Just a wild guess here, but Star Wars is huge in North America and Europe, but not so much in Asia. They have their own tales of knights and young men going on quests, they don't need Lucas's.

When it comes to HT's next five-year plan, you pretty much nailed it - Episode VII, then more Marvel.

 

[DiFabio]

Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head.

Still, you'd think they'd love Vader, the Stormtrooper and Boba Fett atleast just for the visuals (especially considering Vader's aesthetic influence), but according to Budget Stark, there's little interest. How can you get hot and bothered by a million Iron Man variants but not those cool, robot looking, space troopers with laser guns?

 

[davejames]

I suspect that might be a bit overblown. SW may not be as hugely popular as Marvel over there, but I'm sure there's still a ton of fans and people buying figures. And of course once the new movies come out that popularity will almost certainly increase.

 

[a-dev]

What I want to know is who the **** was buying all those earlier MMS releases? All those Terminators, Predators and Aliens. Because apparently it was enough to not bury Hot Toys and enough to get us where we are today where apparently we're supposed to thank Marvel that we got anything from those licences at all. Cart before the horse stuff going on here.

 

[DiFabio]

You were a-dev. It was you, it was you all along.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Easy. HT made lots of money on pre-Marvel toys. HT is now making a ****load of money on Marvel toys.

 

[a-dev]

Yeah it's interesting, according to this there were 74 MMS figures before the very first Hot Toys Marvel figure which was an Iron Mark III.

Complete List of Hot Toys' MMS 1/6 Figures with Pictures

Yes, thank you Marvel. Surely all those obscure and unpopular figures could never have been made without you.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Howard and the HT board about to cancel Marty for being too darn not Iron Man.

 

[DiFabio]

I don't think it's even "Marvel" perse. I think it's just Iron Man and his suits to be honest.

How well is Captain America, Thor and the Hulk selling? If Sideshow and other retailers are any indication by their stock, it's no better than say Robocop, Terminator, Batman or anyone else. If we look at the Marvel subsets by Sony and Fox Marvel with the Amazing Spider-Man and Wolverine figures, they're not faring any better.

If I were a betting man, I'd say it's just their culture's fetish for the mecha cyborgs robots. We critique those cutesy anime stylized cosbabies, but those probably sell better their than they do here. I think that's one of the reasons Iron Man 3 made major moola internationally. All dat colorful robot man. Just look at their Age of Ultron theatrical poster vs. everyone else's. They have Iron Man, front and center helmeted. Their Iron Man 3 movie wasn't even the same as ours,

China Beat: What did China See in IRON MAN 3? | TwitchFilm


Makes sense with Ultron and even more drones (even though in the last movie WE saw, Stark realized he was more than just the suit and gave up all those drones and armors). He's the perfect fit and created by Iron Man himself no less. Loki was HUGE in 2012, but Hot Toys only made one version of him in his regular outfit. Ultron? That guy is getting three figures right off the bat. It's like Disney had a board meeting with a checklist of all the things to tick for the movie to make a billion bucks. That'd be some funny **** if there's a mandate that Iron Man must have a certain number of different looks throughout the film.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Maybe Returns Batman can transform into a robot...

 

[a-dev]

Damn robot fetish. Why isn't Robocop as big a thing then? Not colourful enough? Terminator? Robot on the inside not good enough?

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Maybe they're not into cyborgs/visible flesh?

 

[Sidewinder]

They're not into Terminator and RoboCop because it's old. They want the latest thing, which is Iron Man and the Marvel universe. They didn't grow up on these movies like we did. People in their early 30's now didn't even have television growing up in the 80's.


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[shells075]

Lets just be grateful were getting Marty. Everyone is going to be super stoked when the delivery guy drops him off.