As movie studios battle one another at the box office with their summer blockbusters, toy manufacturers that have hooked their fortunes to these films are facing a similar fight as they vie for the attention of young boys.
Yet, with nine movies having toy-related items for sale during the three-month summer window, consumers could suffer from a form of attention deficit disorder.
"It has become so crowded that kids don't have the time to let that emotion [for the movie] percolate," said Martin Brochstein, executive editor of the Licensing Letter, a monthly newsletter that tracks toy licensing. "The retailers are not looking to keep things on the shelf for as long. It's become a business of caution."
Toy industry analysts expect this year to be strong in action figure sales because of the number of summer movies featuring swashbuckling heroes or crime-fighting characters including "Spider-Man 3," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer." The biggest seller of the season, however, could be Transformers, the popular toy series that will be brought to life by Michael Bay's upcoming action film. "Transformers," which features the heroic robot Optimus Prime and the villainous Megatron, will be released July 3 by Paramount Pictures. The toys have been out since early June.
Sheliah Gilliland of Internet toy retailer EToys.com is betting on Transformers.
"Transformers will be the biggest seller -- it's a movie based on a line of toys that has been popular since the '80s," she said. "They have always been strong sellers but, because of the movie, they are coming back in a huge way."
Although last year's box-office attendance was up by about 5%, action figure sales fell 9% in 2006, generating close to $1.25 billion of the $22.6 billion in overall toy revenue, according to NPD Group, a consumer and retail information company.
Action figure sales fell partly because of a robust 2005, which benefited from the release of "Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith" and its related toys.
Toys can increase a franchise's popularity and in turn spur excitement for the next installment of a movie.
"Toys are an extremely important category for the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise given the natural pirates play pattern for boys," said Eva Steortz, vice president of Boys/Film Franchises for Walt Disney Co., which distributed the movie. "Unique ships and action figures represent the three-dimensional way kids bring all of our characters like Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones into their lives to re-imagine what they have seen in the films."
