Movie figures garnering little action at toy stores | New York Post

The US toy industry has a problem, and it’s called “action-figure fatigue.”
Toy sales tied to a trio of summer blockbusters — “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” — are off to a sluggish start, one analyst said.
This is despite that two of the films — “Captain America” and “Spider-Man” — are producing smashing box office results and already rank No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, this year. “Transformers” opens June 27.
But merchandise associated with the flicks is languishing at big-box retailers like Walmart, Target and Toys ‘R’ Us and is the subject of markdowns that are unusually steep considering it’s so close to their initial release, says BMO Capital Markets analyst Gerrick Johnson.
That’s because young boys’ toy boxes are already brimming with gear from a host of previous movies filled with the same superheroes, he says.
“You’ve got all these action figures chasing mind-share, and they’ve all got the same backstory and the same characters,” Johnson told The Post. “Every kid already has Spider-Man and Captain America.”
The toys licensed around the next “Transformers” film is nearly 50 percent below levels seen before the release of the previous franchise film in 2011, Johnson notes.
Shares of toy-making giant Hasbro, which holds the Marvel licenses, tumbled nearly 3 percent Monday, to close at $52.18, after the release of the BMO report.
On the positive side, Johnson said merchandise tied to less heavily milked franchises is doing relatively well.
Sales of girls’ toys from Disney’s blockbuster “Frozen” have been brisk for Mattel. Jakks Pacific has seen hot demand for its 24-inch Godzilla action
figure, he said.






Well, I can't wait to see how this goes over.

 

Told you. WHen toy makers neglect, they lose.

 

Everyone is saving their money for Episode VII toys.  

 

told who? we all know they have their heads up their asses- its not like you are rubbing our noses in it

 

Sales will improve once the movie comes it

 

It's not action figure fatigue, far from it. Mainstream retail action figures are going the way of cds, comic books, and well,magazines/books. Just like all these other media - all not dead yet but shells of their former selves - it's going to be a painful downward spiral to watch.

Many thanks to video games and the internet for this.

 

Well, this is a weird one to comment on.

Technically all the TF toys this year are new. Exept BB and Prime. So there shouldn't be as much fatigue.

The easy answer is to say they look like shit, but that is just the fan answer.

The worry here is, the non movie stuff ever seeing shelf space if the movie stuff is already warming shelves. But that is a historic worry, sometimes accurate, sometimes not.

 

You forgot to wave your stick and scream at the kids to get off your lawn!

Videogames and the Interwebs was just as big when TF1 came out as it is today.

 

Yeah, that kinda isn't really it at all so...

 

maybe it has to do with targets & walmarts not putting out stock yet?  

if only TRU is properly stocking the inventory right now, well, the explanation is pretty simple.

 

Wow, I didn't realize me NOT getting any had such an effect  

Joking aside, it's kinda early to tell, they haven't even been out a month, give it time.

 

It may have something do do with the fact that there is also a lot less stuff available compared to DOTM. Only 4 deluxes and 2 voyagers and 2 leaders compaired to DOTM that had, oh hell, lots more available before THAT movie opened.

 

Exactly, and more kids are growing up with those as their toys rather than action figures. Moreover, video games, unlike toys, have remained a stable price-fixed commodity. A video game today costs what a video game cost in 2007. What does any action figure today compare to an action figure in 2007? A third higher? In some cases more than double what they cost just seven years ago?

The thing that confuses me is why are girls toys still seemly so popular. Just look at Monster High for example. What is it about how we're raising our girls that is bucking the downward spiral that affects boy's toys.

 

I'll be concerned if/when the movie is out and dinobots don't fly off the shelves.

 

Perhaps due to the lack of "girl" games? GI Joe's replaced by CoD, but who's there to replace Barbie?

 

When the movie is released we can expect an upturn in sales, although I don't expect sales to be near the 2007 - 2009 peak considering the product decisions Hasbro have taken.


I'm interested to see how the TF franchise will emerge, internationally and domestically, from the AOE toylines. Domestically I'm quite worried.

 

That's a good point. It seems most good games don't make much of an effort to attract girls. Granted some of the RPG's include the choice to play as a female main.

 

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I think the movies are a kind of curse. I remember when a cartoon series would be the reason to pull out all the stops a create a large, evolving line filled with show and non show characters and all. I mean, we had the Unicron trilogy, Universe, Alternators and even more exclusives popping up everywhere at the same time....ah, the glory days!

 

No it won't. Not with the shit toys we got for the Movie. The mainline stuff is now a subline and doesn't command the presence it did before because Hasbro is trying to push dumbed down toys with higher profit margins and saying it's because kids want simpler stuff. Welcome to the new age of corporate douchebaggery. If the majority of the AoE toyline goes to pot and bargain bins, and more or less crashes and burns I will be a happy Calabastard, as maybe then Hasbro will learn to not spite the lines fans in favor of fucking corporate greed.

 

This seems a major factor to me, as well. $10 for a 3.75" figure is very prohibitive...but the $5.00 "budget" versions look cheap next to them.
$15 for a deluxe TF means most parents have to work two hours to buy one.

This, combined with perpetual issue of two-many versions of the same good guy, not enough variety among bad guys, probably is stifling sales in the superhero movie lines.

And let's not forget how many people feel burned by the last three TF movies. Fool me once...