Up Close: 'Goth' toy category comes into its own

By Karyn M. Peterson -- Playthings, 4/10/2007 7:23:00 AM

(A shorter version of this story appeared in the April 2007 issue of Playthings magazine.)

Fuzzy zombie teddy bears wielding weapons, cuddly-yet-creepy skeletal pets, designer dolls with ghostly death-mask faces—toys and collectibles like these that embrace dark (and even macabre) themes, solid sellers among adult collectors, are increasingly finding younger and younger fans. And at a time when toy manufacturers fret about age compression, savvy companies are responding to the trend by expanding their selections of edgier fare.

Many ‘dark’ brands have found a home in recent years first at specialty chain stores like Hot Topic and Spencer's, who count teens and tweens among their target customers, and then at a widening circle of independent toy, gift and youth lifestyle stores. It is these retailers' willingness to focus on the category that has helped fuel its success with young fans, manufacturers say. Companies also credit a range of pop-culture influences—everything from Tim Burton movies to rock bands to a recent influx of Japanese anime, manga and horror properties—as well as the growing sophistication of today’s kids in the Internet age.

“For a few generations, kids have been more sophisticated than they've been given credit for, and I think they appreciate good entertainment as long as the quality and originality feels fresh and alive; they don’t feel like they’re being talked down to,” says Marco Pavia, director of marketing for Los Angeles-based TokyoPop, which publishes several dark U.S.-produced manga series, including Bizenghast, Princess Ai and the acclaimed new My Dead Girlfriend manga series by author/illustrator Eric Wight.

Additional brands making strides in this category include, respectively, the aforementioned Teddy Scares, from Morton, Pa.-based Applehead Factory; the Skelanimals, licensed from Calabasas, Calif.-based Art Impressions; and the Little Apple Dolls, distributed by London-based Underground Toys. Other hot properties include Emily the Strange, licensed by Berkeley, Calif.-based Cosmic Debris; the BeGoths from Torrance, Calif. based Bleeding Edge; and the Monster Theater and Tim Burton’s Tragic Toys lines from Milwaukie, Ore.-based Dark Horse. Toynami creates plush and other toys for the Skelanimals and Emily lines, while Dark Horse also creates some Emily merchandise, such as playing cards and stationery stamps.

Pushing boundaries
“This trend mirrors a greater cultural shift,” says Alison Kenney, COO of Art Impressions. “We are forever testing the limits and expanding our definition of what's considered normal or acceptable. Things that would have shocked an older generation barely faze a teenager.”

Rob Reger, creator of Cosmic Debris' Emily the Strange character, agrees. “I would say that the darker side to lifestyle in general is less of a threat to the ‘regulars’ out there,” he tells Playthings. “When I was in high school I was completely looked at as a freak for having blue hair; now people at Whole Foods or Safeway have tattoos, facial piercing and dyed hair.” Reger lauds retailers who promote edgier product lines like Emily, as they attract kids committed “to a way of life of being yourself and finding your own path (even if it’s within a growing community.)”

Emily’s individuality and strong point of view makes her a natural favorite character for teens and tweens, for whom she resonates strongly, as well as for even younger girls who look up to this age group, Reger says. “Emily is a 13-year-old girl who appreciates the dark side of things,” he says. “She represents a strong individual who can easily hold her own with the adults.”

Current Emily product includes figures and plush, collectibles, keychains, lunchboxes, stationery, apparel and accessories from a multitude of different licensees aimed at ages 15 to 25. In 2007, a Fox motion picture, fictions novels from Harper Collins, a video game, a foundation to “teach creative lliving and self-expression for young women” and amusement park attractions are all in the works,” Reger says, along with dedicated Emily stores.

“I think the creativity and freedom expressed in Goth fashion and sensibilities attracts a growing audience,” says Marco Pavia of TokyoPop. The publisher’s new My Dead Girlfriend series “has touches of Goth in its art style, and it’s definitely a cross-over series for tweens,” Pavia says, especially since its creator Eric Wight is also known as the ghost artist for the popular television series The O.C.’s main character Seth Cohen.

“We also have a number of series by Mitsukazu Mihara, who is known as the Goth-Loli queen of manga,” Pavia says. “Also, in February 2008, we’ll publish the Gothic Lolita Collection, the first volume of this collectible magazine/book series.” The new title will compile both new Western content as well as licensed Japanese content focusing on the Goth Loli movement, he says.

“One of the great things about goth titles is that they lend themselves to cosplay (costume play),” Pavia adds. “We just returned from New York Comic-Con, where we saw thousands of people dressing up, many of whom stopped by our booth for our My Dead Girlfriend cosplay contest.” Participants posed for photos in a themed cemetary backdrop—complete with coffin—styled from the series, he noted.

Steve Varner, creator of the exotic BeGoths, also sees a wider acceptance for darker fare. The BeGoths include 12-inch fashion dolls and 7-inch figures (ranging from the peculiar to the perverse to the downright pretty) as well as unusual plush pets. Varner says the initial reaction to the dolls’ debut in 2003 was “fantastic,” but notes that the fan-base is definitely all ages and types of people. “Some of [our fans] look like our dolls and figures, but most don’t,” he says.

This expanding audience for his collectible toys is both a cause and effect of its growing distribution to independent stores beyond the specialty chains, Varner says. “Once they’ve bought for their stores and see how well it sold through they become very comfortable with the brand. That’s where our main growth is,” Varner says of independent retailers, noting that his audience is becoming “definitely more mainstream,” especially since “We emulate the entire pierced and tattooed culture and that is definitely much more mainstream, with no end in sight.”

Growing a niche
According to Matthew Wozniak, director of sales for Underground Toys, a solid segment of the fan base for the ghostly—and, some might say, ghastly—Little Apple Dolls is young girls. “On our notice boards we have many young teens,” he says, adding that “younger girls down to around 10 show a lot of interest also” in the 14-inch collectible dolls, each with a name, back story and a meticulously designed fabric costume, though a not-quite-fully-formed face. “It seems there’s interest in both the fashion element of the dolls and the dark fantasy storyline. Perhaps the modern equivalent of the ghost story books my sister grew up adoring.”

Adds Pavia, “Our core audience is tween and teen girls,” noting that TokyoPop offers a dark series created for younger readers called Dark Moon Diary.

This willingness for younger fans to embrace these gothic-styled brands coincides with a number of company’s recent successes and product expansions, they say. For example, “We were looking for something with a bit of edge or a fashion sensibility that would appeal to the junior market,” Kenney notes of the Skelanimals, which were created by Mitchell Bernal in 2004 as a way to comfort his family when they experienced the loss of a beloved pet.

“Initially there was a lot of hesitation because most buyers and licensees felt that Skelanimals was a niche property that would only appeal to goths and horror fans,” says Kenney. “Once people saw the adorable plush, they began to understand that we could reach a much bigger audience.” The company’s target consumer is 15 to 25, though the brand reaches younger children as well, Kenney notes. “It’s more about attitude than age.”

Traditional toy maker Schleich, Ottawa, is putting its own twist on the trend. Its new eight-piece World of Elves line includes four “Dark Elves” characters, which are keeping kids interested in the collectible brand long after they might typically age out of it, according to sales and marketing coordinator Katherine Maclean. The initial reaction to the line was “total excitement” from buyers and collectors alike, she tells Playthings.

“There have been a large number of young teens, girls and boys alike, looking for something new to collect from Schleich that reflects their age category,” she says. “I think the dark elves will be very well received. The reactions of people who have seen them at this past New York Comic-Con in February 2007 have proven that to me. Once retailers see that reaction, their original concerns of selling something ‘dark’ will vanish. It’s such a cool line, both the light and dark.”

Maclean also predicts that Schleich will expand its World of Elves line due to the demand the company has already received for them from both regular customers and new fans. “There are so many figurine collectors out there...I can see the dark elves used as decoration in a gothic environment. I’m looking forward to expanding our consumer channel to include someone who many not have collected Schleich before,” she says.

“With light there is always dark. With good, there is always evil,” Maclean adds, noting of the new figure line, “More tweens seem to be interested, especially in the dark elves.”

“Young people today are increasingly growing up in a climate of uncertainness and even fear,” Kenney says. “The rise of edgy brands, many of which take a humorous approach to dark subjects, reflects not just typical tween/teen rebellion but also a way to make light of their fears and give themselves a sense of security, even as they are testing their limits and trying to find their way in the world.”