Playing for keeps
such as mini fi gures, blind bags and trading cards often are. According to NPD statistics, sales of toys priced £5 and under fell by 12% in 2013, and The NPD Group believes that much of the lack of growth in the toy industry across the year can be attributed to this decline. The price tag might be small but the UK market is reliant on impulse buys. NPD’s Frederique Tutt said: “In 2012, sales of ‘blind bag’ toys under £5, such as collectible Lego Mini Figures and Moshi Monsters, were a real driving force in the UK, much more so than in other European markets. Last year the industry was unable to keep the momentum and lost out on pocket money sales. So whilst higher value toys performed well, it wasn’t enough to compensate for the high volume/ low value items. As consumers feel more confi dent about the economy, they’ll go back to adding these lower-priced toys to their weekly supermarket shop, or they’ll pay more visits to their local toy specialist.” Summing it up from the supplier side of the
W
category, Ben Harper of Magic Box agreed that the collectables market as a whole was tough in 2013, adding: “There’s no doubt that the collectable/blind bag area has been through a massive change over the past fi ve years. A whole host of companies, who were previously not players in this part of the market were exploring the potential and possibilities of blind bags and collectables. I think that 2014 is likely to see the market beginning to stabilise again with fewer new launches. However, those launches that do come will be from established players and backed by strong marketing campaigns.” From the retailer point of view, they’re keen to
hile not exclusively governed by the sub-£5 price point, with action fi gures priced higher for example, a substantial amount of products in the collectables bracket,
win back the consumers and get them buying these lower-priced products again, but Stephen Barnes of Toy Barnhaus commented that this might be hard to do if some suppliers go through with their stated intentions to raise the RRPs of £1.99 blind bags to £2.49 or even £2.99. He said: “It’s not a massive hike, but in terms of value for money the consumers will defi nitely notice it. More generally, I think we’re going to see a lot of suppliers slimming down their offerings in the collectables sector and focusing on ‘safer’ lines because the category has seen decline year-on-year. Moshi has taken a lot away from this sector over the past couple of years, but now that it seems to be plateauing perhaps 2014 will see the market return to form.” One company to have spotted the potential of helping with the aforementioned price increase is Magic Box with Zomlings, a collection of miniature collectable monsters launching this month. Ben Harper explained: “We are launching with three different sku’s all priced under £2. A Zomlings one pack will cost just 50p, a Tower pack will cost £1 and will include a Tower and a Zomling. The Towers come in a variety of colours and they are stackable to build tall structures for Zomlings to live in. Zomlings Houses will retail for £2 and there will be a variety of collectable colours to choose from with two Zomlings inside each house. It’s an inter-connecting range with huge collectability, playability and value for money.”
The launch of Zomlings will be supported by a
TV campaign across all relevant channels, running from early March right through to the Easter period. The company will be delivering more than 120 TVR’s per week and the campaign should ensure that more than 75% of all boys in the age group see the advert. In addition to the TV activity, Magic Box will be sampling more than 100,000 free packets to kids via a variety of methods, including a cover mount on Dennis and Gnasher magazine.
Boyscollectables
The Boys Collectables category has a potentially strong year ahead of it with a little help from movie releases and major sporting events. Tom Roberts reports.
The main events The Boys Collectables category has a lot of help this year, especially from the 2014 FIFA World Cup and there are a wide range of lines planned to coincide with the event and hit the lower price points. Historical data shows the Boys Collectables market experiencing strong sales whenever a major sporting event like the World Cup comes round. 2010, a World Cup year, saw the category hit £17m in value, 2012, the year of the London Olympics, saw the category fi nish the year at £24m, and 2014 is predicted to be another £20m plus category by The NPD Group. And there are plenty of companies out there with
World Cup-licensed products. One company looking to capitalise on the event is Figure Active, which is releasing a range of football-themed licensed action fi gures. The offering will include fi ve-inch fi gures that will make up a collectables range, and the seven-inch fi gures are fully articulated action fi gures with spring-loaded, kicking legs. Avesh said: “In the UK we’re going direct to the retailers and our price points aim to be very competitive. The seven-inch fi gures will try to hit the £7.99-£9.99 price point, and the fi ve-inch collectables will aim to sit between £3.99 and £4.99. We have the licence for the England team at the World Cup in the fi ve- and seven-inch collectables, and the French in seven-inch. We also have the licences for six of the premiership teams, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham, which will undergo a soft launch this month. The big launch for the England team will come towards the end of May to capitalise on the buzz around the World Cup. That will be followed by the main launch for the premiership team fi gures with updated strips and players around the end of August or early September. The World Cup is watched by millions of people across the world and sales of any toys linked to it are going to be driven by the buzz.” Another range set to capitalise on the World Cup
is SoccerStarz, the football collectable from Creative Toys Company, which has secured the rights to develop International SoccerStarz fi gurines for England, Brazil, France, Germany, Uruguay and other teams. Due for release before the World Cup, the SoccerStarz International Figurines (available in Blind Bags & Team Packs) will feature the star players from the best nations as well as exclusive bases for individual players and team packs. Mark Stinchcombe of Creative Toys said: “Creative Toys has always pitched SoccerStarz as a premium product at pocket money prices available in blind bags and Offi cial Club and International blister packs. The range will be supported by a large-scale, cross platform marketing campaign already in place and set to continue throughout the World Cup’s four week duration; this includes heavy weight print, online, TV and social media campaign, as well as sampling events at select Premier League grounds.” But it’s not just the World Cup that looks set to
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