ZBrushCentral

Action Figure Licensing Questions

Community
#1

I had some questions about producing physical figures using existing characters.

If I sculpt a likeness of Wolverine, for example, what are the steps to getting it manufactured? Do I talk to Hasbro about it? Do they have to acquire a usage license from Marvel, or do I? Do I need to get this license before I even pitch the idea? Before I make the sculpture?

Can I make small run (approx. 25 - 100) figures? Do I need to get permission from Marvel/DC/whomever first, or is this “fair use” ? Assuming they approve a design, what might that cost?

I’m happy to do a bunch of reading if anyone has a link to pertinent material. Also, if you sculpt toys professionally, do you have any advice or thoughts to share?

#2

i suppose i should reply. i’m not the most qualified person regarding these things. but based on my experience… doing 25-100 is not fair use. fair use is making one for yourself. and never reselling it. that’s considered fan art.

if you want to make wolverine, its typically very hard. its really not about your willingness to make it… marvel just doesn’t give licenses out to any joe smith. a lot of pieces play a part. is the wolverine canon? does it accurately reflect the wolverine that marvel wants you to portray? are there legal issues with the color of his pants or length of his claws? even after you finish the sculpt, you still need to marvel to approve the piece or it simply can’t go into production.

most of the big companies don’t actually have factories. its farmed out to factories here in china.

giving a license (whether its a blanket license or % sales per character) is not based on the design. its based on marvels judgement of whether you can pull off such a design. do you have experience in the field? do you have the contacts and follow thru to successfully produce, ship , distribute, and sell the product. What about the inevitable production flaws and recalls?

If marvel doesn’t believe you can successfully represent their company, they’re probably not going to approve the license.

That’s what makes licensed toys a very hard field to master~ It’s not impossible for the indie producer. But you really have to have dedication to the product… and it has to be demonstrable~

#3

This is useful info, thanks Desmoda.

You’ve pretty much outlined what I suspected.

I think a better option, to get into this area and gain experience is to try and tap into the designer toy market first. Try and come up with some cool and quirky designs you can make in small runs via a prototype and silicone casting.

Ive been doing homework on this on and off for a while. Lately all my spare time has gone into film dev / pitch work, so I can’t even show anyone what Ive been doing.

I’m wondering, if I’m serious about this, should I also be looking at applications like solid works? ZB is fine for resin cast sculptures, but what about toys with moving parts that need sockets? - going off track now, maybe a good topic for a new post.

Cheers,

Paul.