Hasbro and Marvel Entertainment, Inc. have signed a five-year deal to license Marvel’s lineup of more than 5,000 superhero characters.
The deal, announced Monday, gives Hasbro toy and game rights to develop a variety of characters, including Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men and Captain America. Products will include action figures, role-play and preschool toys, board games and puzzles. The agreement, which starts Jan. 1, 2007, includes the “classic” comic book look and product lines inspired by Marvel-themed movies, the company said.
Hasbro’s first full line of products based on Marvel properties will center on the Ghost Rider property and the film Spider-Man 3, scheduled for release May 4, 2007.
“We are now allied with a company that has global reach to advertise and promote out franchises around the world,” said Bruno Maglione, president of Marvel International. “[The partnership] means that we will be working with a company that, more than perhaps any other, knows how to leverage and translate multi-media-supported properties such as Spider-Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four into compelling, innovative and widely distributed boys’ toy lines.”
“We are very pleased with this deal as it provides Hasbro with incremental revenues in high-margin categories and allows us to maintain an appropriate balance in our portfolio of core brands and strategic licenses,” David Hargreaves, CFO of Hasbro, Inc., added in a statement.
Marvel terminated its licensing agreement with Toy Biz Worldwide Ltd., as of Dec. 31—one year earlier than the license’s scheduled termination date. As a result, in 2006 Marvel will produce Marvel-branded action figures and other toys normally manufactured by Toy Biz Worldwide.
“We are very excited by the business prospects we see in teaming with an industry leader,” Morton Handel, Marvel’s chairman, said in a statement.
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