The flick trick

Mattel saw some strong second quarter sales of its summer movie toys, particularly those based on Cars and Superman Returns. But among all the fame and fortune of movie-based product, there are also films that come to the big screen only to disappoint, taking their toys down with them. There is no plan for making sales of movie-licensed product stick when the movie doesn't. Will it be a flop, a success? You just have to wait and see, so choose wisely.

For Adam Pawlus, marketing and merchandising manager for North Hollywood's Entertainment Earth, sometimes too much of a good thing fizzles out over time, something he fears may happen with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and it's something he's wary of when choosing product for his Web and catalog store. In the meantime, Pirates is giving him tremendous sales. “It's been pretty much on the money,” he told Playthings in mid-August. “The Pirates stuff has been selling well—the action figures, Master Replicas products like Davy Jones' key or Jack Sparrow's ring, play sets from Zizzle... Far and away, it's the most popular [property right now].”

Of course, popularity can be fickle. As Pawlus points out, “Sometimes fans love Star Wars, sometimes they don't. With [Chronicles of] Narnia, it seemed to be a property that had a lot going on, but manufacturers didn't have much to offer. For example, Master Replicas did nothing past the first few waves of product.”

For Zizzle, things haven't fizzled just yet. “Our expectations have been met and exceeded,” says Marc Rosenberg, chief marketing officer of the Bannockburn, Ill.-based company. This fall will see a second wave of action figures and a new play set for the holidays as well as some back-to-school items based on the Disney flick. The Black Pearl play set, which will retail for around $50, features sound effects and other electronics. “The upside is that retailers are behind Pirates, and their hopes have been validated,” says Rosenberg. “There's a phenomenal amount of business going into this holiday. As a young company, the possibility of going into Pirates 3 is great.”

For Basic Fun, Southampton, Pa., its Cars keychains and novelty toys were a best-selling summer assortment. The company also saw continued sales with Napoleon Dynamite and Pirates of the Caribbean, which initially, according to president Alan Dorfman, “had only a mediocre sell in, but since the movie has proven so popular, is seeing nice sell-throughs and re-orders.”

Dorfman knows that selling movie-related product can be tricky. This fall Basic Fun will release toy key chains and Magic Washcloths based on Warner Bros.' animated penguin feature, Happy Feet. Products are available to retail as gift-with-purchases or added value promotional campaigns, which works well with DVD releases.

“Movie properties these days are a risky business,” Dorfman tells Playthings. “The mass retailers generally choose only a few that they will support in strength, and choose them up to a year in advance. Secondary categories often get a much smaller position, or only get picked up if the movie proves to have 'legs.' So we have learned not to have very high expectations. We hope for the best.”