Superheroes and Superstars

Is this the year that Spider-Man surpasses the ever-popular Star Wars in boys' hearts? Will High School Musical singing sensation Ashley Tisdale join the likes of Miley Cyrus and Hilary Duff on girls' iPod download lists?

That's what kids' marketing and research firm Funosophy Inc. wanted to know when it launched the KidzEyes/Funosophy Spring 2007 License Tracker Survey, which it conducted with more than 8,000 boys and girls ages 6 to 17 across the country. The survey ranks the popularity of the top 50 boy, girl and gender-neutral licenses on the market today. This article, exclusive to Playthings, focuses on the results of the top boy and girl licenses according to kids between the ages of 6 and 11.

Superheroes are evergreen! Boys ages 6 to 11 rank Spider-Man above all other boy properties tested in this survey, including Star Wars. Also remarkable is the third-place popularity position of Hot Wheels—the only toy brand to make boys' top 5 list. Two more superhero brands, Marvel's Fantastic Four and DC's Superman, rounded out the top properties for boys school age through their early tweens.

Cheetahs and Bears and Ravens, oh my! Girls' favorites were chock full of singing superstars. Disney Channel has got girls' numbers, with four of girls' top five “very popular” responses coming from the network's series. Singing its way to the top of girls' lists was Hannah Montana, followed by Disney Channel supergroup series The Cheetah Girls. The tween song-fest was interrupted by Build-A-Bear Workshop, the only toy brand included in girls' top 5 list. A third Disney Channel series, That's So Raven, and High School Musical singer/actress Ashley Tisdale rounded out the top five among girls surveyed.

The License Tracker Survey confirms that superheroes continue to be strong among boys ages 6 to 11, with Spider-Man predictably leading the pack, while Disney Channel properties are tops with girls. Several adult celebrities were represented this year as well, including comedians like Adam Sandler and Will Ferrel and songbirds like Beyoncé and Carrie Underwood, proving that laughter and singing skills are as good at attracting older children as superheroes are.

The good news for the toy business is that there's still room for toys in the mix, with Hot Wheels and Build-A-Bear making strong showings in the top 5 lists, while several other top toy brands—Mattel's Barbie and Polly Pocket, MGA Entertainment's Bratz and Lego's Bionicle—were also represented among the overall most popular properites with kids in the survey's age group.