Toy Fair 2016: Hasbro Marvel Showcase

Here’s a look at Hasbro’s Marvel showcase at Toy Fair 2016.

The Marvel team had a lot of cool new reveals at New York Toy Fair, most notably a dramatic expansion of the Marvel Legends brand with not only new assortments of 6″ and 3.75″ figures, but a return of highly detailed 12″ figures and the first, ever adult sized wearable toys.

Last year at San Diego Comic Con, Hasbro announced they were converging their highly articulated Marvel action figures, regardless of scale, under the Legends banner.  This third iteration of 3.75″ figures kicked off with a first wave available now, and will be followed this Spring by Wave Two with Gamora, Living Laser, Rage, Vision and Armored Spider-Man, and Wave Three with Hydro-Man, Morbius, Quasar, and an awesome 80 style Rogue.

Marvel’s movie Universe is getting some love in the 3.75″ scale, as well, with two deluxe figures planned around Civil War in a similar setup as we saw with 2015’s 3.75″ Ant-Man.  The first set features movie Captain America with his star-spangled motorcycle, and he’ll be joined by Falcon, featuring his hi-tech wings and Redwing drone accessory.

The 6″ Legends, meanwhile, will continue to tie in to this year’s big Marvel movies, such as Captain America and Doctor Strange.  Cap Legends is already underway, and the Red Onslaught wave at retail now will soon be joined by a second wave featuring Civil War movie styled Black Panther, Captain America, and Iron-Man Mk 46, as well as comic-inspired Nick Fury (with alternate generic SHIELD trooper heads), Red Guardian, and Nuke (with alternate cyborg head).  Cap Legends will carry on for a third wave later this year, and Hasbro teased us with two characters from that lineup– a movie Scarlet Witch, and Secret War Cap, with a great motion blur accessory that attaches to his arm and shield.

Spider-Man Legends is moving forward, and the next lineup includes Ultimate Spider-Man Peter Parker (on an all new teenager base buck), Miles Morales, Hobgoblin, and Silk.  Later in the year, the Doctor Strange Legends will hit, delivering movie style Strange, an all new Iron-Fist, and Nico, along with Build-A-Figure Dormammu, a recast of the SDCC exclusive with an all new deco.

Mutant fans have been anxiously awaiting more news on the return of the X-Men to the Legends collection, and they’re being featured in another all-new wave including Rogue (Jim Lee), Deadpool (with tons of accessories and weapons… including a taco), Cable (Xtinction), Phoenix, Kitty Pryde (Astonishing X-Men), Iceman, and Havok with some very intricate new snap-on power effects.  While Hasbro kept mum on the BAF in this wave, they did confirm once again the alternate head for Onslaught will still be packed with one of these figures.

Some old school themes are also being revisited in Marvel’s 2016 plans.  The 3.75″ comic book two-packs are making a comeback, with brand new assortments like Lady Thor and Thor the unworthy, Sam Wilson Captain America and Vance Astro, Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider, Captain Marvel and Mar-vell, and a Hyperion two-pack with his classic and Now! costumes. The Legends brand will also launch a new highly detailed, super poseable 12″ line.  Inspired by the classic Toy Biz Marvel Icons, these figures feature incredible sculpts, tons of accessories and alternate parts, and a huge range of motion.  I got to see the Spider-Man in action, and he could hit all of Peter’s most iconic poses with ease.  Spidey will be joined by Iron-Man and a stunning Captain America to usher in this exciting new series.

The Marvel team also ran down some of their impressive roster of retail exclusives for the new year.  Wal-Mart will get a pair of exclusive 6″ Legends– movie inspired figures of Falcon and The Winter Soldier, whose portrait of Sebastian Stan promises to be the most spot-on I have seen on any toy release.  Target will release a two-pack of 6″ figures containing movie War Machine in his updated armor, as well as Iron-Man Mk 27 (The “Disco Armor” as seen in Iron-Man Three).  Walgreens will deliver two more exclusive 6″ figures, a modern Namor, to be followed by a Jim Lee era Punisher, complete with his white headband.  And Toys R Us will release another three pack, this time based on some current comic book favorites modern Vision, Sam Wilson Cap, and Kate Bishop Hawkeye.

Rounding out the Legends offering is the first, ever Hasbro produced role play toys for adult collectors.  This assortment includes a 1:1 scale Captain America shield, as well as Iron-Man’s helmet.  The shield features an incredible metallic paint finish that belies the plastic it’s made of, as well as faux-leather straps and tons of detail on the backside of the weapon.  Iron Man’s helmet sports a flip-up visor that holds in place to the forehead via magnets, as well as light-up eyes and sounds.  The helmet is adjustable via an intricate series of adjustable straps (not unlike a ski or hockey helmet), and also features a great metallic finish.  The two pieces will retail for an astonishingly low $100 SRP, making these some of the best and most affordable cosplay accessories on the market.

Marvel’s Toy Fair presentation was not only ambitious but one of the most confident displays at the show.  This team has their finger on the pulse of their audience– young and old alike– and they’re delivering a great range of products to hit all the right buttons for any Marvel fan.  There’s going to be more surprises coming from Marvel later this year, and I can’t wait to see what else these guys have in store for us.