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Community => Other Toy Lines => Topic started by: Brian on April 28, 2008, 12:24 PM

Title: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Brian on April 28, 2008, 12:24 PM
Looking at some of the more recent trends, it seems like many retailers (Target in particular) are scaling back on the mass movie line releases that we've seen in the past.  Aside from Star Wars, which seems to have the selling power to drive big releases, it seems like a lot of others are having their problems.  I remember movies (aside from SW) like Fantastic Four, Superman Returns, Spidey, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. all having entire aisles dedicated to them at the stores (Wal-Mart in particular with the first couple), or at least large sections.  More and more it seems like some of the stores just have an endcap or regular sized action figure section in the aisle.  I've noticed that TRU seems to be banking on Speed Racer, as that still has a large set up at our local store - but movies like Iron Man just have a normal section stuck at the back of the store.  Wal-Mart has little to no space for Iron Man, and Target has an endcap and that's it (at least at our store).  From what I've read, Indiana Jones might be much the same (endcap/section).  Also, other movies (Narnia) seem to just be TRU exclusive type releases (although I'm sure they won't be huge sellers, so it makes sense).

Anyways, not complaining at all, because it seems to be a better approach overall - but it seems like aside from Star Wars and possibly Spider-Man/Transformers, that stores are kind of scaling back on the huge releases for movie lines that we used to see across the board (at least for awhile there).  I expect Hulk will see a smaller release as well (like Iron Man), and possibly even The Dark Knight seeing a similar release.  I've said before, I think the strategy with Iron Man is a good one.  It has a balanced lineup with villains and alternate armors, and doesn't seem to be quite the sea of Iron Men like we've seen with other superhero releases.  Again, maybe the big push is still on the way for some of these things, but it seems like many retailers/toy companies are taking a little bit different (better?) approach with some of these movie lines.  Heck, I'm still surprised that they don't put out Harry Potter toys for at least the kiddos anymore, but those early Mattel lines must have really bombed.  Has anyone else noticed a change in the movie lines, or is it just the fact that there are so many to get "in and out" of the store in a summer now - or the larger number of action figure lines in general that are keeping retail space at a premium these days?  I know it seems like the number of different action figure/collector lines out there has exploded just since I started collecting SW again in the late 90s.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: efranks on April 28, 2008, 02:30 PM
Speed Racer might be an exception to that.  My Target store has two end-caps plus a big chunk in the die-cast car aisle.

I agree, though, that some movie lines are being cut back.  If you look at The Golden Compass or Prince Caspian, the lines aren't that big.  But honestly, do you remember how much crap came out for films in the past?  Godzilla, Men In Black, Independence Day, Planet of the Apes?  Hell, Spider-Man 2? 

Stores were flooded and got stuck with a lot of stuff, especially TRU on the first 4 examples I listed.  You could still find Godzilla stuff at TRU stores 5+ years later, PotA 4 years later... Since then it seems like lines have been smaller over all and I'm in favor of that. 

Not every film that hits needs a toy line but some lend themselves better than others.  Speed Racer actually does lend itself to toys with all the different race cars and such, but Iron Man is one guy with a couple different suits.  So can Hasbro really build a huge line around that?  Toy Biz tried, and IMO, failed miserably with Spider-Man 2.  For months there were HUGE aisles at WM and TRU filled with nothing but Spider-Man and then, finally, one or two Doc Ock figures trickled out.  The SM 3 line was smaller and Hasbro made sure that there were other villains on the shelf at the same time.  At launch you weren't stuck with just SM and Sandman, you could also get Rhino or Doc Ock or even Goblin figures as well.

You mentioned the Narnia series and I'm not actually sure that's the type of film that lends itself to figures but I do, in fact, really like the looks of some of the beast characters that are out now.  The Golden Compass?  Not really an action figure type of film and that line seems to have generally tanked.

Pirates was big when it first launched and I think there was potential for more from that toy line if the original film had hit with a trilogy in mind, the action figures had been out to cover all three films and if the third film hadn't sucked. 

If I look at the movies coming out this year, the ones that lend themselves to toy lines seem to be Batman, Iron Man, Speed Racer, Indiana Jones, Hulk, and Wall-E.  The three comic book films need smaller lines because you're really talking one hero, one villain and a handful of, probably, rather boring everyday people.  Speed Racer has the benefit of the cars, Wall-E has the benefit of being a Disney movie with a bunch of cute background characters and Indy has 3 films already in the can to draw from.

Harry Potter is actually an odd one.  I'd have thought that that set of films could have huge potential for figures.  The original lines seemed to do okay from what I saw, but then they switched up the scale for Prisoner of Azkaban and it kind of died.  The new Neca stuff is neat but expensive and limited to collectors.  That set of films lends itself to small playsets and accessories and I think would have been a brilliant choice for 3.75" scale.  Could you imagine fielding whole Quidditch teams?  Getting Dark Arts and Potions classroom dios?  The Gryffindor Common room?  Don't get me started...I'd almost give up SW collecting for that.  I just think that the goals for that line got messed up somewhere and never recovered.

One of the things  Star Wars has going for it, besides hugely popular movies and 30 years of nostalgia, is the depth of the pool to draw characters from.  A background character from Spider-Man looks like me sitting at a cafe.  A background character from Star Wars looks like Greedo.  Which would you rather buy a figure of?  Bruce Wayne rides around in a limo, Han Solo flies the Millennium Falcon past black holes...  See where I'm going with this?  Not all of the big hits have big, cool characters and "stuff" to choose from and those films don't need big toy lines.  I think retail and license holders are finally starting to realize that.

   E...
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Brian on April 28, 2008, 02:57 PM
Great post, I agree completely.  Almost all of the movie lines (Star Wars - for the most part - seems to be the exception to this) really end up rotting on the pegs around here.  Even (like your example) something that was as popular as Spider-Man 2 - there were tons of Spidey figures on the pegs here for a long time.  Like you mentioned WM in particular left almost an entire aisle to the figures for quite some time just due to there being so many.  It does look like retailers are learning from the past mistakes though.

Like you said, the smaller lines like Narnia (or Golden Compass) probably don't have enough mass appeal to really hold things up at all the retailers.  You make a good point about Speed Racer as well.  Similar to Cars, the different automobiles lend themselves to a good line that doesn't necessarily take up a lot of space (as far as the regular cars go).  Aside from those though, the Speed Racer push does seem pretty excessive - but we'll see how it goes.  I would have never guessed that Alvin and the Chipmunks would be a $200 million making movie, so maybe Speed Racer will be huge.  Like you said, I like the approach we might be starting to see with the superhero movie lines - good version(s) of the main hero and readily available villains.  I hope trends like this continue with future franchises so that the aisles aren't swimming in these things for months/years to come.

I'm often puzzled with the Harry Potter situation as well.  You would think a line (especially with 7 - or now 8 - movies by the time its all done) could have cleaned up for quite awhile at retail.  I know there is a line done by Cards Inc. in the U.K. that is pretty amazing.  3 3/4" articulated figures, playsets and all that jazz - too bad there wasn't something like that here.  With so many companies trying to capture that "Star Wars magic" that started in the 70s/80s with movie merchandising - if one franchise had the potential (other than LOTR) it would have been Harry Potter I think - particularly with kids.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: knashdx on April 28, 2008, 03:33 PM
Scalling back -
Some movies have been trimmed back. When Narnia came out TRU had a bunch of stuff, they were the only ones. I remember when Shrek came out the McFarlane line of toys was everywhere for them. Then Shrek 2 came out and Wal-Mart and TRU where the only places I could find it. Shrek 3 hit and TRU was the only place, and only had 3 pegs of it.


Ironman/Hulk/Batman -
The one thing that Hasbro/Marvel has going for it is that the Iron Man series makes sense to have different armors. He wears them at some point.

Batman/Matel misses the boat with as they do all these different costumes for Batman that are never in the movie or make any sense at times. Some collectors and kids would like to see more charecters from the movies. With Batman Begins we had 1 Scarecrow (that sucked) and 1 Ra's Al Ghul (nearly impossible to find), but we never saw and Arkham Thugs, League of Shadow's Thugs, or League of Shadow's Ninja's that would have made the line better for all.  They atleast have "A" thug in the new series for Dark Knight, but we all know that the Joker figure is going to fly off the shelves with Heath Ledger's death.

Hulk - The legends line should help. Best thing is all the different back charecters instead of a bunch of different Hulks that no one wants.


Potter -
First lines were definately intended to the kids. The problem that they ran into was scale so they didn't interchange well. The thing I like about the Neca line is that the scale is better, and they are doing figures from all the different movies. The Build-A-Figure of the Deatheater practice dumbie was nice in Wave 1. Granted the are costlier than the original seriese, but they are also more detailed, and acurate so it is worth it.


Honestly I am not sorry to see retailers scalling back. The past 5 years have seen too many Batman, Fantastic 4, Spider-Man toys sit on the shelves till Clearance hit and still not sell till they got closer to 90% off. Retailers should stick with what works, DC (Justice League), Marvel Legends (if this line ever gets fixed), Star Wars, Transformers, Some Spider-Man and some exceptions (Indy, Speed Racer, TMNT, etc...)
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: efranks on April 28, 2008, 03:48 PM
That Harry Potter Cards, Inc line from the UK looked pretty good for the most part but some of the figures were a little lacking.  There also seemed to be some good accessories.  I'd probably have looked to pick up some of them but the prices initially weren't that great and with the falling dollar it's probably just more of a pain now.

I could almost cry at the lost opportunity for a line of figures from that franchise.

Speed Racer.  Say it with me, "I have a bad feeling about this."  It's getting a lot of hype but the trailers for it don't instill any confidence in me.  The more Iron Man I see the more psyched I am, the more SR, the less interested I am.  But, yeah, Alvin and the Chipmunks?  Egad.  We'll see.  I certainly don't have any ill-will for Speed Racer but I'm just having a hard time warming up to it. 

It's got to be really hard for a license holder to make the call on what to bring out for release on a new film, especially when there's no track record.  We all saw how overwhelmed Hasbro was by the Transformers hit last year.  Empty shelves for months before they caught up.  TF is an evergreen line but the huge success of the film made an impact.  Luckily, TF is the type of toy line that could weather that lack of product.

Spider-Man is similar in that you could short the market up front a little and still know you had sales coming later in the year and for Christmas.  With an untested film like Speed Racer or Iron Man, you never know.  And if either hits big but you don't have the retail presence for two months, will people stop caring about it?  I guess with Speed Racer they're taking a chance and making sure there's enough product if it hits big.  Iron Man, a little more conservative, which I'm glad for.

   E...
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Morgbug on April 28, 2008, 04:59 PM
Funny, I would have started a thread called "I hate movie lines" instead.  Mostly based on the Speed Racer stuff I see piling up and, yup, not moving at all.  Granted the movie isn't out yet, but I think someone is banking on the love of "Cars" carrying over to SR and it isn't the same thing; it's a totally different audience. 

I'm ecstatic to see movie lines playing less of a role in the aisles, mostly because I have fewer stores to choose from and those tend to be dominated by the movie toys whenever they come out and that's always to the expense of what I want to see them carrying.  I understand that Spiderman toys vastly outsell Star Wars or whatever I want, but still, they end up with so very much clogging the pegs it's silly.  And does anyone ever buy that bump'n'go crap?  No, they don't. 

I'm still not really convinced kids are that into action figures anymore.  Certainly some are to some extent but I sure don't see any kids locally playing with anything of the sort and I don't hear them talking about action figures.  It's either skateboards, street hockey, bikes or video games.  I guess some are playing with them inside their homes, but I just don't hear kids clamoring for the latest spidey figure, rather they'd have the latest spidey video game.  And now I live in an area absolutely saturated with kids, so I feel comfortable saying that. 

I think pricing of late has pushed figures to the back too.  Easy enough to spring for a $5 Vader figure, not so easy when it's suddenly $8 for the same figure.  Of course up north, we're worse off and have been anyway for a while, so less of an issue here, but I'm pretty sure we sold less period because of that pricing. 
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Ben on April 30, 2008, 03:01 AM
I found some Dark Knight toys at WM tonight, and they didn't have a very big display or very many figures at all. The packaging was awful. I've purchased bootleg TFs that had more inspired packaging than these. The figures themselves looked bad as well. The Joker figure had little sculpted detail in the face, and the head was completely white, looking nothing at all like the character in the film. And let's not get started on the Batmen.

Plus, these were something like $8.76 a whack, so I don't blame the retailers for scaling back especially when the toys are this awful and expensive.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Nicklab on May 3, 2008, 10:18 PM
It seems like they might be doing this.  I've been hitting a TRU, Target & WM on a regular basis.  And I've only seen a real presence at TRU for these lines.  Iron Man seems to be doing well in comparison.  And Speed Racer is taking up A LOT of space.

One of the real surprises was a 12' feature display at TRU.  On that one unit they had stock 5 lines:  Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Dark Knight (Batman), Indiana Jones and Narnia.  There was minimal presence from any of these lines in the regular boys toys aisle.  But the Speed Racer feature section?  It's disgusting how much space they've taken up.  Especially since that movie hasn't even been released yet.  Certainly it's got a good deal of history, but it really looks like Mattel went over the top on this.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Darth_Anton on May 20, 2008, 09:22 AM
Scaling Back? I was surprised to read this. It seems to me that there's more than every with Indy, Speed, Hulk Narnia and Iron Man all out within a month of each other. I can't remember the endcaps too well from past years, but with all the new products, it's like walking into a new store.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Brian on May 20, 2009, 11:53 AM
Bringing this topic back up...but it doesn't really seem like retailers are scaling back on movie lines, at least not overall.  It may change now that the movie is in theaters, but our local WM is sitting on piles and piles of Star Trek figures - not to mention the Wolverine stuff.  I see plenty of Wolverine and Terminator stuff sitting at Target as well, and there is a little bit of Trek there too.  This all may change, but for now, the movie lines seem to be sitting here locally.

It seems like we discuss this a lot with movie lines, whether it is for comic-based movies or just movie franchises in general.  With a few exceptions, I don't know that I've seen any "movie lines" sell well outside of Star Wars (ROTS in particular was a really fast seller initially, particularly for that summer).  Transformers movie stuff seemed to do pretty well too, and I expect this round to do well too - particularly if there is actually stuff on the pegs.  It will be interesting to see how the Joe stuff does.  In general, it seems like the movie lines do poorly and end up on clearance, but retailers always seem ready to buy into them again.  Of course, some lines (Spider-Man movies, etc.) apparently do better than we think, at least according to manufacturers/retailers.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: efranks on May 20, 2009, 02:25 PM
I've been to a few Walmart Supercenters and they had large amounts of Star Trek and Wolverine figures but I think this was just before the Terminator figures hit and I don't recall seeing much of those.  My local Walmart, on the other hand, is not a Supercenter and has not stocked any toys from either Star Trek or Terminator.  They have 4 pegs dedicated to the Wolverine figures but have only gotten about 2 cases worth of figures.  By the way, my WM is not carrying the 4" Marvel figures either.

The local Target, and one that I stopped into at the same time I hit the WM Supercenters, have a moderate amount of product for the Star Trek, Terminator and Wolverine lines.  I still think overall that retailers have cut back on the movie lines.  Some stores may have a large amount of the figures in stock, but the number of characters and items for the lines aren't out of hand. 

Except for the 6" figures, which I think are redundant, the Star Trek line is actually pretty conservative in that they're covering the main characters, offered two nice playsets, a ship model and a few role play items.  Terminator, meanwhile, has a little more of an identity crisis with its scale.  It's like Playmates couldn't pick just one and go with it so we have, what, 3 scales of figures plus role play and vehicles?  That, to me, shows lack of confidence in the product they were doing for that film.  Not so much with ST, though.  And some of that may have to do with who Playmates had to work with when they bought the license.  Paramount (Does the Roddenberry estate still have a role in ST licensing?) may have been more hands on than Warner Bros. (and whoever else holds the Terminator property for licensing) and that helped focus the lines.

Look at the Harry Potter lines.  That's a Warner Bros film also, and while the toys were from Mattel, they had a similar identity crisis when they bumped to a new scale for Azkaban. 

Anyway, I still think that overall the toy lines for movies have been cut back compared to what we saw 4 or 5 years ago.  Last year I thought that it was just the companies finally getting the idea that not everything sells but this year it might that as much as it is the economy.  If you look not at how much product from a line a store got but the actual size of the line, they are being more conservative.

   E...
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Nicklab on May 20, 2009, 05:03 PM
TRU bought into both Star Trek and Terminator with a fair ammount of zeal.  The feature display for both franchises is remarkable.  Although I still have to scratch my head about why retailers are accepting three different scales of figures from both franchises.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Scott on March 26, 2010, 12:45 AM
The Wal-Mart Toy buyer seems to think that the upcoming Dragon movie is going to be the ****.  Seriously, since Episode III I can't remember a bigger toy presence at a store like our local Wal Mart has right now.  3 end caps and a huge cardboard ship with more 3 more toy sections around it.  It has been out for like a week and it doesn't look like anything has moved yet.

If anything should get pushed I would think it would be Toy Story 3.  It is sort of beyond weird to me and has bad news written all over it (Star Trek toy bad...Indiana Jones toy bad...Hulk bad...Grinch bad...Fantastic Four bad...etc etc etc etc)
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: efranks on March 26, 2010, 01:48 AM
I didn't even know that movie had a toy line.  Not a single piece of merchandise that I've seen in either Target or Walmart.

After the last two years where we talked about companies scaling back on lines, it's held mostly true (excepting GI Joe)until the Iron Man 2 push this year.  I was surprised when Target reset their aisle and came up with a huge section for it.  The figures seem to be selling okay, and some of that may have been due to price, $6.99 isn't bad and much better than the $8+ Hasbro wanted for the Wolverine figures last year.  I haven't paid a lot of attention to all the other toys surrounding the 4" action figures, but I do think that Iron Man helmet is the ****!  Combine it with the chest power doohickey and it's a big win IMO.

I was kind of shocked that the Avatar line didn't do better.  They sold okay but stores, even Walmart, dumped them off early to clearance.  The basic figures were really overpriced but the vehicles are all excellent and hit some decent price points.

I think GI Joe was probably a loser overall for Hasbro last year.  The figures, while nicely designed, where rather boring and the vehicles I felt were overpriced at some points.  Sounded like Hasbro recognized this as they mentioned it at Toy Fair.

I have to admit that outside Star Wars and Joe, and a little Marvel, I didn't look around much at the Toy Fair coverge to see what other toy lines were coming out for films.  I'm assuming Toy Story and Shrek but compared to last year, this year seems to be lacking in films to build toy lines around.

   E...
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Darby on March 26, 2010, 09:44 AM
I saw the same giant Dragon display at my WM and jaw hit the floor.  It's very cool in a retro way, and maybe the movie will be big, but I don't know.  Avatar didn't translate into toy sales.  An AMP suit sat for 75% off for a week before someone finally took mercy on it.

Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Brian on March 26, 2010, 03:39 PM
I saw the same giant Dragon display at my WM and jaw hit the floor.  It's very cool in a retro way, and maybe the movie will be big, but I don't know.  Avatar didn't translate into toy sales.  An AMP suit sat for 75% off for a week before someone finally took mercy on it.



Its funny, I just made a stop at Wal-Mart this morning and thought the same thing.  The "Dragons" movie has taken over there.  Not just the toy area (which has several sections, as mentioned), but now there is a big display in the clothing area including shirts, toys, etc.  Like Scott said, someone at Wal-Mart must think this thing is going to be huge.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Jeff on March 26, 2010, 03:51 PM
The Dragon movie stuff at Walmart is actually prety interesting.  Walmart and Dreamworks entered into an exclusive arrangement (http://walmartstores.com/pressroom/news/9707.aspx), where a good majority of the movies product will only be available at Walmart.  They even have an exclusive Happy Meal toy promo that will only be found at the McD's found inside Walmart stores.  It's sort of nuts just how many companies did up Dragon packaging just for Walmart just for this promo.

It's going to be a huge success or a huge flop, but either way, it's only at Walmart.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Scott on March 26, 2010, 05:36 PM
The movie is getting decent reviews but at least at my local store, product has been collecting dust for at least 3 weeks now and not moving at all.  I smell flop...and like I said...this doesn't seem like the type of movie to hitch your wagon to
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: JACKOFTRADZE on March 31, 2010, 10:51 AM
I concur.
I did not get the whole buzz about this movie being a huge hit for toys. This is an unproven property to bank this much product on. Another aspect working against this is it has Gerald Butler (I am sure I spelled his name wrong) involved in it. So far his box office track record is pretty horrible since 300.

Epic FLOP!
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Scott on April 2, 2010, 08:19 PM
We saw Dragon today...it was actually pretty good.   It has some pretty deep concepts though...and not nearly as funny as a lot of Pixar or other Dreamworks movies.   I agree on the bomb factor at retail though.  There really is no way all of that product is going to move
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Scott on April 7, 2010, 06:31 PM
So...my son has a birthday coming up and he really liked How to tame Your Dragon.  I was at WalMart* today and thought, what the heck I'll take a peak and maybe pick up a Hiccup and Toothless the dragon for him.

There were tons of Hiccups, even more tons of the other dragon and Vikings.  Not one Toothless Dragon in the entire store.  Large size, small size...nothing.  So, at least something sold...good lukc on the rest though :P
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Brian on April 9, 2010, 01:13 PM
You know, looking back at movie lines over the past 10 or so years, it seems like the "successful" ones are few and far between.  We keep seeing several each year, which is understandable, because when it comes down to it the lines with current movies or tv shows are really the ones that grab kids for the most part.  Aside from Star Wars, there don't seem to be many that could be labelled as successful...

Lord of the Rings (at least while the movies were out)
Iron Man (first movie seemed to do very well here, although it was a more conservative approach)
Transformers (the first movie seemed to do better than the second)
Toy Story (that stuff seems to be doing well locally, at least the "normal" action figures)
Cars

Then you can look at the list that were either complete failures, or didn't do very well:

G.I. Joe - The Rise of Cobra
Indiana Jones
Hulk
Spider-Man 3
Batman Begins/Dark Knight
Superman Returns
Fantastic Four/Rise of Silver Surfer
Star Trek
Avatar
X-Men/X2/Wolverine
Harry Potter
Pirates of the Caribbean

There are others that are borderline (for example, Spider-Man 2 seemed to do well enough here locally - although much still ended up on clearance), and each line probably has its fans (I mean we all liked the Indy line to some extent, but I don't think anyone outside of fans did).  This doesn't even list all the animated movie lines, since I really don't follow those at all, but the majority of those don't seem to do all that well.

The one that always boggles my mind is Harry Potter.  Here you have a movie series, much like the original trilogy, that has a broad fanbase appeal - but still has a focus on the younger generation.  It has a potential long shelf-life with 8 movies when it is all said and done, not to mention the books themselves.  It has a broad character base, as well as deluxe/beast potential, and even playsets (if they wanted to go that route).  I didn't really follow the first couple Mattel lines, and there hasn't been much at mass retail since then.  I think they had a fairly nice line in the U.K. recently, although I'm not sure if that is still going or not.  Just seems like a lot of potential missed there.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: efranks on April 9, 2010, 03:02 PM
I've been baffled by Harry Potter since Mattel wrapped up that first 5" line of figures.  It seemed relatively successful at the time but then they started changing up scales and it went downhill quickly.

I have to wonder, though, if maybe the demographic of the fans for HP has something to do with it.  Where Star Wars is a boys property, with action and adventure and fantastic creatures, HP seems, and I could be wrong, to tend towards female fans even though there is action and adventure and fantastic creatures.  And if that is true, it doesn't really lend itself to an action figure line.

   E...
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Brian on May 26, 2010, 05:48 PM
I saw a couple more movie lines that could be destined for the clearance aisle while stopping by Target today, Prince of Persia (in two scales) and the A-Team.  I'll admit, I had the "A-Team" and van as a kid, but I just don't know if this one will catch on with kiddos (or collectors) or not.  I didn't look that closely at either of them, but both seemed to have 3 3/4" or 4" scale figures, with PoP having 6" figures as well (and role play stuff).
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: efranks on May 26, 2010, 07:24 PM
If someone was looking to flesh out an Indy dio, those Prince of Persia figures could make for some good customs.  The horse and Dastan set looks really nice.  The gate playset had possibilities but I think it may fail because it lacks any real substance.  But, again, could be a good basis for a dio piece.

Haven't seen the A-Team figures but will have to check for them.  I was thinking about picking up the team because they looked like they might be good to go with the Joe team.

   E...
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Jesse James on May 26, 2010, 09:45 PM
The A-Team figs I saw over the weekend...  They're kind of neat.  Some good headsculpts, and the figures are nice for what they are.  I'm probably not going to collect them so I'm waiting, but they're cool I think, and as far as fitting in with Joes I think there's an insane ammount of customizing potential there compared to any line obviously.

Definitely good headsculpts for future stuff.  I'm sorta hopeful they'll make more for that line, but I'm not exactly counting on it.  It'd be great to see though.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Nicklab on May 26, 2010, 10:30 PM
The big presence at my local TRU today?  Toy Story 3.  That franchise has some serious steam behind it, and the movie hasn't been released yet.  And at TRU they've got the full feature store treatment.

As for other movie properties? 

-Prince of Persia is pretty minimal, but I was surprised to see two different figure scales for that line.

-Iron Man 2 has some space but seems to be selling reasonably well.  But since there are so many different Iron Man figures and barely anything other characters it's tough to tell how much turnover there really is.

-I can't say that I've seen anything for the new Shrek.  But then the other Shrek movies didn't have massive toy lines.

-Percy Jackson & The Olympians has some shelf space.  But I haven't seen it really moving.

-Tron Legacy is supposed to yield a light cycle toy.  It looks like it's got the potential to be kind of cool, but I haven't seen it in the packaging.

As for Harry Potter?  They had a toy line that was collector focused for Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix with NECA.  It looked pretty good, truth be told.  But I don't think the sales were solid enough for them to pursue a toy line for Half Blood Prince.

It just seems that most new movie properties don't have the legs to sustain a high quality toy line.  And some of the great toy lines that have yielded movies (Transformers, GI Joe), haven't exactly led to good movies.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Morgbug on May 29, 2010, 01:43 AM


-Tron Legacy is supposed to yield a light cycle toy.  It looks like it's got the potential to be kind of cool, but I haven't seen it in the packaging.


I sense a bump'n'go scooter in the offing. 
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Brian on February 3, 2011, 02:09 PM
This year could really be a test with the whole movie line stuff, as there should be plenty of it out there.  With Thor, Captain America, and Green Lantern all having pretty big movie lines the way it looks - retailer space could be thin.  Plus, we still have all that Iron Man stuff hanging out (and continuing in some capacity the way it sounds).  There's also new Transformers stuff to contend with, and possibly Pirates of the Caribbean (not sure if there is a retail line this time around or not?).  I don't think there is anything to accompany the X-Men: First Class movie, so that is one less line to contend with.  Although there is always one or two big "toy" movies each summer, this year (and next) are really starting to get jam packed.

It will be interesting to see what this summer brings about.  There is still a TON of Iron Man 2 stuff hanging around our stores (Wal-Mart in particular), and although I'm looking forward to portions of the other movie lines this year I can't see them overall flying off the shelves either.  I could see an entire aisle full of Cap, Thor, Iron Man, and Green Lantern by the time Christmas goes around (with all supporting characters and villains snatched up or not making it to the pegs).  I know our local WM tends to support the media tie-in lines much more, with things like DCUC, Marvel Universe, and GI Joe falling by the wayside during the big movie pushes.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: efranks on February 3, 2011, 02:45 PM
There is a Pirates line coming from JAKKS Pacific and I'm assuming that they'll be at retail because that's the main market for JAKKS.

I actually fear what the toy aisles are going to look like with Captain America and Thor movie lines along with the leftover Iron Man stuff plus the regular Marvel Universe line all competing for space.  Plus Hasbro will have the huge Transformers movie push as well.

One thing is for sure, Hasbro, if they don't **** it up, should make a mint this year at retail.  If the the three new films are good, they should send a lot of people to the toy aisles.

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Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: efranks on June 6, 2011, 03:12 PM
One thing is for sure, Hasbro, if they don't **** it up, should make a mint this year at retail.  If the the three new films are good, they should send a lot of people to the toy aisles.

So, I don't think that Hasbro ****** anything up, but I don't see anyone buying into their movie lines.  That goes for the JAKKS Pacific Pirates line and the Mattel Green Lantern line as well.

Nothing really seems to be moving locally.  The Thor figures had some hits early on, but there was no run on the toys after the movie launched and I think if you don't order wave 2 on-line, you're probably out of luck.  And for those that want Sif?  Yeah...good luck with that.  I see EE is still estimating waves 3 and 4 for July but does anyone actually think they'll ship?

Captain America and Green Lantern haven't had their film releases yet so it may be early to guess on those, but other than some early movement on the CA figures, both lines seem to be relatively untouched here.

The Pirates toys were DOA.  The fanboys didn't even buy out the Angelica figures from the first wave.  Even Target's exclusive box set of the first wave of toys isn't moving, and that's a helluva deal.  It doesn't seem that they got any bump from the film, which is kind of sad, because I really liked the movie and the figures are actually pretty well done.

Transformers: DOTM toys were picked over a little at Walmart, but I think mostly people were buying the NASCAR licensed cars more than anything else (both rednecks and speculators, probably).  But there's so much stuff for that movie, so many scales and sub lines, that I can't really keep track.

Cars 2 is the only movie line that seems to be getting heat.  Target's display for Cars 2 is almost disgusting it's so huge, but they have sold quite a few of the basic cars already.  Walmart has moved some toys as well, but they're a harder store to keep track of.  I'll tell you one thing, I think they have some really cool toys out, including the Lego sets (specifically the car hauler).  It would be interesting to look up a complete checklist of all the Cars characters, from both movies, and see how deep it is, because they've done a lot of merchandise over the last 5 years.

Are you guys seeing similar things, or have the movie lines been moving elsewhere?

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Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Morgbug on June 6, 2011, 03:58 PM
Well, Canada isn't probably much of an indicator, at least not where I'm at, but the movie lines are dead as doornails.  In my travels I can hit 7-8 Walmarts (not with any regularity) and everything except Transformers has been entirely sporadic. 

Cap and GL aren't in every Walmart.  Some have them, some don't  TRU has them both, but different assortments from the ones at Wally. 

Thor sold some stuff initially, but now it's overcrowded and stagnant.  Pirates either won't or haven't yet hit the shelves and as of last week neither had the new Cars 2 stuff.  I'm sure it will come in and it will move though, the Cars related stuff has been a very solid seller for quite some time.  It has a good deal more retail shelf space than Hot Wheels (I mean all the HW stuff too, not just single cars) so I expect it will do very well. 
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Jesse James on June 6, 2011, 04:04 PM
I see Captain America stuff seeminglys elling except that guy with the long hair...  Otherwise though?  Not much.

I think the cost of toys has finally hit a point where people are not buying a lot.  POTC figures are dead in the water (nyuck nyuck) except the female character I do not see.  Everything has pretty much hit a snag though at this point, and when you scan the peg prices, I can only imagine that's partly to blame.  Usually movie stuff does pretty well, at least for a brief time during a film's launch, and then hits the wall afterwards.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: CHEWIE on June 6, 2011, 04:14 PM
Pirates stuff has actually moved pretty well here it seems... not gangbusters, but I've seen pegs empty or close to empty or more than one occassion at most stores, then restocked a week or so later.

Captain America line seems to be doing okay at this point, way too early to tell... but with Wave 2 already hitting a bit, it doesn't seem like they overdid it with Wave 1 production (I hope).  With 3 Hydra soldiers per case in Wave 3, and a bit better variety than the Iron Man 2 line, I think this line could last a little while and at least see the planned waves hit stores.

Thor... what a pathetic assortment.  Decent figures, but overkill of the main character.  The only figure that really seems to move is the Ice Giant.  Loki is also getting harder to find.  And the deluxe line is an overpriced joke.

Not a movie line, but anytime a store gets in a new case of GI JOE, anything past wave 2 is sold out within 24 hrs.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: efranks on June 6, 2011, 06:02 PM
New cases of GI Joe sell fast here, also, but only Walmart is getting new stock and then only 1 case at a time.  Target is so stocked up with Arctic Destro and ****-kicking Snake Eyes that they can't get anything new.

Locally we were completely skipped over for the Low-Light wave (W4), but we've gotten the 3 and 6 now.

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Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Jesse James on June 6, 2011, 09:04 PM
GI Joe is the same here (not a movie line though, right now).  We missed Low Light completely, and I'm dejected since he was the only one I desperately wanted.  It figures.

Pretty much all POC figures are moving except Ice Destro here.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Morgbug on June 6, 2011, 09:04 PM

I think the cost of toys has finally hit a point where people are not buying a lot. 

Just a quick note.  The prices in Canada haven't changed at all in the last 5 years at least.  The price increases you are seeing in the U.S. are strictly attributable to the U.S. economy and how businesses have had to adapt to that.  Oil has not factored in otherwise we'd have seen the same price increase.  Our economy hasn't changed for the most part, except relative to the U.S.'s, so no change in our pricing.   :-\
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: McMetal on June 7, 2011, 09:41 AM
I don't see any of this stuff moving anywhere. Yeah, maybe early on Cap and GL, but they have badly botched the THOR line. How do you not have Wave 2 in the stores yet? The movie will be out of theatres before those things hit! That's absurd.

I don't see any movement with the IM or POTC stuff either. Just dead.

Toys in general have just become a depressing mess the past few months. I feel no joy on my hunts anymore. 
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Brian on June 7, 2011, 10:31 AM
The movie stuff seems to be struggling here as well.  Thor never did sell all that much, and now that the movie is likely getting more towards the end of its run, I don't see that changing.  Green Lantern has been out for a month or so now, and it doesn't exactly seem to be flying off the shelves either.  It is possible that may change once the movie is released, depending how much the kiddos get into it.  I can't say I've even seen a shortage of the collector-oriented "Movie Masters" either.  As a few others have mentioned, the Cap stuff seems to be selling a bit already.  I don't know if that is due to them being more comic based (at least at this point), but although they aren't sold out, they do seem to be selling somewhat steadily.  Same thing with the new Transformers stuff.  Not sold out, but some has sold the way it looks.  I expect it to do decent once the movie is released as well.  I'm sure the Cars stuff will be steady too.
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: Morgbug on June 8, 2011, 04:47 PM

I don't see any movement with the IM or POTC stuff either. Just dead.


Why have the Iron Man 2 toys continued to ship?  I understand that in part it is simply that they are selling, but IM has more peg space than Thor, GL and Cap combined at most of the stores I visit. 
Title: Re: Retailers Scaling Back on Movie Lines?
Post by: efranks on June 8, 2011, 05:02 PM
Most of the stores here, well, Walmart and Target anyway, have reduced their IM2 footprint to make room for the other movie lines.  I don't think anything new is shipping into stores locally, but that could be due to the fact that my stores have full pegs of product that's been there for a year.

The kicker was when both stores bumped the price back up to original retail after not selling out of product at $5, which they had for a few months late last year and maybe early into this year.  Nobody, locally, is buying IM2 toys anymore and they're also passing on the IM figures in the Marvel Universe line.  There isn't a standalone Iron Man movie in the near future and it's my opinion that stores should blow out this stock, clear the pegs and get ready for the onslaught that the Avengers film will bring.

And Hasbro really needs to abandon all things Iron Man until that Avengers push.  But I'll say this now, I dread what THAT movie line will look like.  Thor is selling poorly by most observations, IM2 is done as a viable line and while it remains to be seen what Captain America does, I can't begin to imagine what an Avengers line will look like when it's basically pegs worth of what's not selling now plus some Hawkeye figures.

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