Marvel Universe (Hasbro)

Marvel Universe
Hasbro
2009 - 2013

Many Marvel fans were disappointed when word spread that Toy Biz had lost its license to produce action figures based on some of the most iconic comic book characters in history. However, all was not lost. Hasbro had in fact picked up the license, and a full plan was in the works to revitalize the toy isle with a whole new series of comic book based action figures. The line, Marvel Universe - And, what a universe it panned out to be.

During its five year run, Hasbro churned out hundreds of action figures in wave after wave. Though they never produced everything (not that it was expected), they certainly covered enough ground to satisfy even the most picky of collectors.

Right out of the starting gate, Hasbro made sure fans were aware of their intentions to produce quality figures. Each figure contained a ton of articulation, a fantastic sculpt and paint job, and an individualized package geared towards each figure inside.

The first "series" of figures for the Marvel Universe line were released under the Fury Files banner. Nick Fury was featured on the back of each card, and packaged inside with the figure was a small envelope labeled "Top Secret". Inside the envelope was a Superhuman Registration Act card and official S.H.I.E.L.D. document for each character. 

Iron Man*Spider-Man*Silver Surfer

Punisher*Black Panther*Wolverine

Human Torch*Daredevil*Iron Man (Stealth Ops)

Bullseye*Human Torch*Captain America

Hulk*Grey Hulk*Green Goblin

Ronin*Iron Fist*Black Costume Spider-Man

The Thing*Punisher*Iron Man

Ms. Marvel*Ms. Marvel*Hand Ninja

Spider-Man (Dark Blue)*Human Torch (Dark Blue)*Union Jack

Moon Knight*Red Hulk (Gloss)*Red Hulk (Matte)

Blade*Hobgoblin*The Thing (Dark Blue)

Electro (Gloss)*Electro (Matte)*Guardian

Spider-Man (Upside Down)*Spider-Man*Iron Man

Sub Mariner*Iron Fist (Black Logo)*Spider-Man (House of M)

Wave six, released in November of 2009, brought with it the shift to H.A.M.M.E.R. Files. Though still officially known as the Fury Files, these particular waves of figures were based on the Dark Reign story arc where Norman Osborne has dissolved the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization, and replaced it with H.A.M.M.E.R. - His own organization. As such, he also replaces Nick Fury on the back of the cards.

Wolverine*Warpath*Gene Grey

Sunfire*Vision

Captain America and Klaw*Wolverine and Torch*Spidey and Thunderball

Hulk and Cyclops*Iron Man and Spider-Woman*Magneto and Black Suit Spider-Man

Iron Man and Goliath*Iron Man and Goliath (Red and Blue Variant)

Captain America II and Skrull Giant Man

Nick Fury

70 Years of Marvel Comics with Human Torch, Captain America, Red Skull and Namor

Captain America

Daredevil, Iron Man and Silver Surfer*Soldiers and Henchmen

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

Iron Man*Captain America*Luke Cage

Bucky*Black Widow*Thor

Wolverine (New Head Sculpt)*Colossus*Juggernaut

Archangel*Archangel (with Death Mask)*A.I.M. Soldier

Kitty Pryde*Havok*Havok (Classic)

Iron Patriot*Iron Patriot (Unmasked)*Wrecker

Iron Spider-Man*Iron Spider-Man (Translucent)*Winter Soldier (Short Hair)

Winter Soldier (Long Hair)*Mary Jane*Skrull Soldier

Captain Britain*Team X Wolverine*Multiple Man

Mystique*Ghost Rider*Constrictor

Dark Hawkeye*Yellowjacket*Iron Man 2020

Thanos*Captain Marvel*Doc Samson

The H.A.M.M.E.R. Files line ran through October of 2010, but then shifted back to S.H.I.E.L.D. as of December that same year. This time, it was S.H.I.E.L.D. as overseen by Captain America. This change brought with it Steve Rogers being depicted on the back of the cards. Unlike series one and two, this series did not include file cards for the characters inside.

World War Hulk*Modular Armor Iron Man*Spider-Man 2099

This wave brought with it a very frustrating aspect for collectors - Hasbro began packing specific new characters one per case, making them all the more difficult for buyers to find. This was made all the more frustrating as re-packed figures took up precious space in each case. Short packaged figures included; Captain Marvel, Doc Sampson, Spider-Woman, Cable, and Cyclops. Fortunately by July of 2011, Hasbro stopped short packaging new figures - For the time being - Making new releases a little easier to obtain.

Spider-Woman*Daredevil*Bullseye

Ronin*Ms. Marvel*Warpath

Vision (Translucent)

Mr. Fantastic and Ultron*Hawkeye and Piledriver*Thor and Enchantress

Storm and Nightcrawler*Doom and Absorbing Man*Thing and Bulldozer

Dark Spider-Man and Dark Wolverine*Cyclops and Dark Phoenix*Wolverine and Captain America

Spider-Man and Sentry*Thor and Iron Man

Galactus and Silver Surfer (Classic)

Galactus and Silver Surfer (Ultimate Alliance Variant)

Archangel (X-Force)*Galactus

WWII Ultimate Captain America

Age of Thunder Thor

Spider-Man The Movie

Iron Man Vs. Black Panther*Iron Man Vs. Punisher

Spider-Man Vs. Green Gobline*Wolverine Vs. Hand Ninja

Cable with Baby Hope*Cable (No Hope)*Wolverine

Apocalypse*Cyclops*Gladiator

Doctor Strange*Doctor Strange (Translucent)*Falcon

Scarlet Spider*Scarlet Spider (Upside Down)*Dr. Doom

Skaar*Skaar (Son of Hulk Stand)*Ultron

Darkhawk*Sub Mariner*X-23

Steve Rogers*Electro (Translucent)*Tony Stark, Iron Man (Unmasked)

Tony Stark, Iron Man (Iron Man Stand)*Iceman*Absorbing Man

Absorbing Man (Metal)*Astonishing Iron Man*Magneto

There was no theme for the series with the December 2011 shift. Now instead of having a circular logo, cover art specific to the character was showcased. Instead of featuring Steve Rogers on the back, a rotation of characters was utilized such as Deadpool (Wave 17), Rocket Racoon (Wave 18), M.O.D.O.K. (Wave 19), Sasquatch (Wave 20) and Dazzler (Wave 21). Each character had numerous text bubbles which were used for the various figures in each wave. Frustrating to fans was that the series did away with the action figure stands which were packaged in with all prior waves.

Thor, Ages of Thunder*Marvel's Patriot*Storm

Shadowland Daredevil*Psylocke*Iron Fist

Patch and Silver Samurai*Deadpool and Taskmanager*Wolverine and Sabretooth

Cyclops and Marvel Girl*Spidey and Captain Britain*Luke Cage and Iron Fist

Quicksilver and Wonder Man*Bullseye and Daredevil*Thanos and Adam Warlock

Mister Sinister and Gambit

Classic Avengers*X-Force

Fantastic Four*Fantastic Four (Future)

Fantastic Four (Translucent Invisible Woman)*Guardians of the Galaxy

Savage Frost Giant and Loki*Goliath and Ragnarok

Sentinel and Astonishing Wolverine

Sentinel and Astonishing Wolverine (Classic)

Victor Von Doom

Compound Hulk

Sentinel

Ultimate Gift Set

Captain America*Hulk*Iron Man

Thor

Giant Size X-Men

Giant Size X-Men (Deco Variant)

Spider-Man*Spider-Man (Dark Paint)*Kraven the Hunter

Hulk*Beast*Beast (Upside Down)

Beta Ray Bill*She-Hulk*Punisher

Unfortunately for fans, starting with wave 19 in 2012 (She-Hulk and beyond), Hasbro returned to short packing new figures. These short packs included; Kang, Scarlet Witch, Angel, Nova and Puck.

Spider-Man*Spider-Man (Bag Head)*Marvel's Kang

To date, Bag Head Spider-Man is one of the most sought after figures from the line. It was gobbled up by collectors from store shelves, and quickly became one of the most expensive to purchase on secondary markets. Though prices have tapered off drastically from its heydays, it's still going to set you back about fifty bucks to obtain these days.

Scarlet Witch*Marvel's Hercules*Marvel's Nighthawk

Marvel's Nova*Marvel's Puck*Angel

Professor X*Marvel's Jubele*Marvel's Blastaar

Marvel's Blastaar (Energy Hands)

Wolverine and She-Hulk*Captain America and Magneto*Doctor Doom and Spider-Man

Spider-Man and Rhino*Iron Man and Mandarin*Colossus and Juggernaut

Wolverine and Hulk*Falcon and Captain America*Doctor Strange and Silver Surfer

Heroic Age Heroes

Old Man Logan

Black Panther*Black Widow*Captain America

Extremis Iron Man

Captain America*Thor

Masters of Evil

SHIELD Super Helicarrier

X-Men Collector Pack

Victor Von Doom

Fans got worried for the life of the series in November of 2012 when no new figures were marketed. It wasn't until July of 2013 that new products finally started to hit store shelves. Figure stands were a thing of the past at this point, and as such the new waves continued to not have them.

The artwork to the side of the figure was also removed, replaced with a blank black rectangle. In addition, the photos of the promotional figures on the back didn't necessarily contain those of the newer figures being made available, but rather older figures from prior waves.

Rhino*Captain America*Marvel's Mysterio

Elektra*Marvel Knights (Cloak)*Marvel Knights (Dagger)

Two unique variants included in this particular series are Cloak and Dagger titled as Marvel Knights, and Abomination and A-Bomb titled as Marvel's Abomination.

Iron Man*Marvel's Abomination*Marvel's Abomination (A-Bomb)

Hulk*Hulk (Gray)*Baron Zemo

Marvel's Colossus*Warpath*Omega Red

It is rumored that much like Marvel's Abomination and Marvel's Knights as mentioned above, Alpha Flight was supposed to be a variant package situation that would have included Aurora and Northstar. Only Auror was produced, and Northstar was held for a future release under the current series - Marvel Infinite Series (more on that below)

Alpha Flight*Nightcrawler*Marvel's Black Knight

Inhumans*The Uncanny X-Men

The West Coast Avengers

El Guero Taqueria

Hasbro ended the Marvel Universe line in 2013, but immediately began production on the follow up series, Marvel Infinite Series which launched in March of 2014. Unlike the Universe line, Hasbro seems more reserved with the quantity of figures they are pumping out for the Infinite line.

Thank you all for stopping by for what will be our last regularly scheduled post. The Toy Box may continue in the future, but as of now there are no plans to post consecutively throughout 2016 and beyond. We hope you've enjoyed reading over the years as much as we have enjoyed posting. Best wishes to all of you.

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