Up, up and away!

It's hard to deny that the most successful movies translated to toys in recent years target one demographic: boys.

For 2006, the franchise with the potential to spark the biggest surge in licensed toy sales is another boys property; one with no negatives to speak of in behavior or in politics, a storied history and several generations worth of fans. It's Superman, starring the original “superhero.” And the excitement is palpable.

Driving that anticipation is the release this summer of Warner Bros. Pictures' Superman Returns, along with a related push for the core Superman comic book property and the classic Superman “S-Shield” logo, all under the oversight of Warner Bros. Consumer Products.

At last month's Toy Fair, manufacturers across the industry lined up to showcase their Superman merchandise. And there was lots of it, from more than a dozen toymakers, led by master toy licensee Mattel, El Segundo, Calif. All told, just about every toy aisle at the local big box retailer will have something in it bearing that red-and-yellow “S” this summer.

“We're really excited about Superman,” Kelly Gilmore, WBCP's senior vice president, global toys and themed entertainment, told Playthings. “It's one of the best merchandising programs we've ever done.”

In addition to the traditional mass market mainstays—Toys “R” Us, Wal-Mart and the like—expect to see Superman toys at more varied retailers, including grocery stores and drug stores, than for past WBCP-licensed toy programs. “It's a new opportunity for us. We're trying to diversify the distribution a bit,” says Gilmore.

And there's bound to be lots of product at niche retailers as well, specifically places that cater to the property's other demographic, life-long comic book fans.

Among the toymakers with high expectations for Superman products this year is licensee Oregon Scientific, Fairfield, Conn. The company's marquee Superman SKU is the Superman Super Laptop, a version of its kid-friendly laptop computers. This time, the model is shaped like Superman's “S” logo and boasts a motion activated lid/screen that opens automatically when a hand is waved over it.

“In boys [toys], you have to show the 'wow!' factor,” says Bill Uzell, Oregon Scientific's executive vice president. “For our Batman product last year, it was the pop-open wings, for Superman this year it's the electronic opening feature. It looks very, very cool.”

The laptop's eye-catching design and action, coupled with its educational appeal for parents, the Superman property's ongoing appeal with kids, and Warner Bros.' marketing muscle, has Uzell excited by the prospects for the toy and the company's other Superman products at retail.

“Our Batman sales were stellar [in 2005]; we had zero product on shelf at the end of the year,” he says. “We're expecting the Superman laptop to double those in the U.S. and worldwide.”

“We've gotten a phenomenal reaction at retail [to the licensing program],” says WBCP's Gillmore. “We think Superman is the property to have in this summer's time period. We think we're looking at a blockbuster all around.”