Later this year we’ll be getting Kong: Skull Island released in cinema which I am quite honestly looking forward to. Earlier this month it was announced that Lanard Toys (who?) have the license and have produced figures and sets from the film reusing the sculpts of the human characters and vehicles from their The Corps line. Not only that but the figures will be only available at Walmart in the States and only in Smyths here in the UK. I don’t what possessed Legendary Pictures to give Lanard the license.

It’s not the only mishandling of a movie license though. I cam remember when it was announced that The Bridge Direct would have the license for the Hobbit franchise. I was really shocked to hear that one as I have never heard of them before. I have to admit I was really looking forward to the Hobbit line as I had high expectations as from how well the Lord of The Rings license was handled by ToyBiz. The Hobbit line sank and we didn’t get even half of the Dwarves in 3.75″ or 6″ form I was utterly disappointed.

In my honest opinion movie licenses are the bread and butter of many collector figure/action figure producing companies like Mattel, Hasbro, NECA and many others. They can make or break a company. Hasbro are doing very well with their Star Wars Black Series figures as there’s such a plethora of characters and variations the line is endless. NECA are currently on the 11th series of the Alien license and in the high teens for the Predator line. It’s outstanding.

NECA also have revealed that they have the licenses to Valerian And The City of A Thousand Planets which looks like a bonkers and a incredibly fun film as well as Blade Runner 2049. NECA have proven that they do very well with the newer licenses even if the line is short lived. I really liked the Lone Ranger figures, Dawn of The Planet of The Apes figures (sadly they don’t have the license for War) , Jonah Hex, Pirates of The Caribbean, Pacific Rim and their Cult Classics line was amazing. I’m really looking forward to the figures that they’ll produce for their latest licenses as I really like the properties and hopefully with them acquiring the Blade Runner 2049 license can lead them to getting the original Blade Runner license as well. I’m so stoked that we’ll be getting a 7″  Harrison Ford Rick Deckard figure.

it’s unfortunate that some companies just pick up licenses to make a quick buck to strike when the iron is hot, though I know that the blame doesn’t solely lay with them. On the other hand I know that there are some companies who spend a lot of time creating figures long before the line is announced much like NECA, they have most likely had started production on the first wave of figures a good few months before they announce they have the license, they were just waiting for approval from the studios. We’ll most likely see prototypes for Valerian at Toy Fair next month and maybe a preview of the Blade Runner 2049 figures. The same could be said for Hasbro as well, they preview figures long before they are finally released.

I know that licensing can be an absolute nightmare as well as I know that some companies have had a lot of trouble attaining the license to properties especially with NECA and Konami. Konami never understood why people would be interested in figures from their games. Many lines have been sadly cancelled or unheard of. I’m still waiting to here an update on Diamond Select’s Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction that they showed off a few years ago.

But for the most part I’m very happy with the licensing and that were getting spoiled for choice with various lines coming from loads of companies. Though I wish some were handled better.