Hot Toys License

[nothingface35]

Does anyone know why Hot Toys hasn't made any Predator or Alien collectibles for a while now? They were pumping them out at a good clip there for a bit...and then....nothing. Did they lose the licenses or are they just waiting for demand to return?

 

[Johnny Utah]

Iron Man came out in 2008. Hot Toys quickly saw it was a license to print money and treated the licences that they started with like ****.

Now they simply renew the licences to prevent competition from making anything.

 

[choombaz]

Does anyone know why Hot Toys hasn't made any Predator or Alien collectibles for a while now? They were pumping them out at a good clip there for a bit...and then....nothing. Did they lose the licenses or are they just waiting for demand to return?

I wouldn’t say they were pumping out Alien collectibles. When they first started as a company yes, but then there was nothing for years then they did Ripley from Alien, the warrior from Aliens and showed off a newer Ripley and Powerloader from Aliens that they never made. I would think they still have the license because is anyone else making them? Sad. I think in the next couple of years there will be some kind of reckoning with 1/6 production and licensing etc.

 

[D'oh!]

At the rate Hot Toys keeps increasing their prices -- and their delivery times -- I'd be just as happy if another company got the ALIEN license.

 

[Bravomite]

With the bootleg / knock-off companies becoming bolder there will likely be other less licenced options available if Hot Toys continuing squatting on the licence. A figure for bishop from aliens was released within the last few weeks.

 

[Johnny Utah]

If another company like Damtoys got the license we would get 1 marine a year. Good company, glacial pace.

 

[Jroug]

Lots of reasons.

They are already overwhelmed with production of (mostly) Marvel figures - Marvel movies & TV shows are coming fast and furious from that one license, so it is hard to keep up. No one will have a Spiderman NWH figure until 2023.

There are no current A & P films - so if there's a pecking order for licenses, these are over priorities.

Also, NECA has posted recently that approval process is slower recently (I assume since Disney bought Fox), and NECA's A & P business has always been steady, so even if HT is planning new A & P figs, approval may be taking longer.

Finally, I'm not a huge fan of either franchise, but I think I heard there's an Alien TV series coming. If that's true, a lot of time licensors will hit pause on making stuff from older films so there's no competing product for new stuff.

 

[choombaz]

Lots of reasons.

They are already overwhelmed with production of (mostly) Marvel figures - Marvel movies & TV shows are coming fast and furious from that one license, so it is hard to keep up. No one will have a Spiderman NWH figure until 2023.

There are no current A & P films - so if there's a pecking order for licenses, these are over priorities.

Also, NECA has posted recently that approval process is slower recently (I assume since Disney bought Fox), and NECA's A & P business has always been steady, so even if HT is planning new A & P figs, approval may be taking longer.

Finally, I'm not a huge fan of either franchise, but I think I heard there's an Alien TV series coming. If that's true, a lot of time licensors will hit pause on making stuff from older films so there's no competing product for new stuff.

You make some good points. For all we know HT are itching to make Matrix, Robocop, Terminator figures but Disney aren’t letting them because they are constantly making films and TV shows and pressuring HT to make SW and MCU figures. But unlikely to be true I guess.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Very unlikely to be true. Which is why I only expect Neo from the new film.

Their legendary characters line means just Keanu probably.

 

[Jroug]

The dynamic may have changed, but I know HT was forced or pressured to make some figs in the past (Prince of Persia, Lone Ranger, etc) by aggressive licensors. At this point, HT absolutely needs a healthy relationship with Disney because of the IP they depend on to exist. While HT is a big deal in the 1/6 world, that represents a tiny revenue stream compared to the $$ Disney gets for t-shirts, for instance.

I'm sure as fans, HT would like to make more obscure characters, but look at the stuff they've shown and never made - LOTS of Marvel in there (and some Batman). If they can't get to production on those figures, it's hard to imagine they are going to embrace dormant IP like the ones cited above. I think that's a space three zero is happy to fill for now.