Piggy's Friday Blog - Nostalgia

I've decided to do a regular Friday Blog, as well as the usual random blogs through the week.

This is mainly because on Fridays the weekend is coming and the kids and parents hit the stores and the Internet, and go shop.

Kids get to see the cartoons they want on a Saturday and Sunday morning, go to the cinema on Friday night, and so are subject to all the media they need to enable toy buying over the weekend, advertising and more, and they will go out and spend their hard earned pocket money in our toy stores. Hopefully!

After all they have been at school all week, swapping and bragging about what they have - which Moshling is best, which Match Attax formation is working, and they want to go in fresh on Monday mornings with more to tell their friends about and show off the new Minifigures they snagged with their hard earned moolah.

The PFB - Piggy Friday Blog, will simply be about whatever takes my fancy, obviously it'll mainly be about toys...

So this week, I'll be talking about Nostalgia and Toys and forthcoming ranges.

Yesterday, I managed to grab a sneaky preview of the new Cartoon Network version of Warner Brothers Animation Thundercats (2011), and have acquired the first 6 episodes before they debut on CN in the UK, tomorrow morning (11.00hrs).

Now, you may not believe it, but I was just a bit too old to be into Thundercats when they first hit our screens way back in 1985, but I knew of them, and their popularity back then, as there was a lot of toys and merchandise and has been a lot of retro Merchandise produced since. In fact, like Transformers, of old, again I missed the boat on these, but as the toys have become collectors items I've been kept up to date over the years on their popularity - and which is why we're here talking about a new series of Thundercats 

The new series does not link to the old, its not a follow-on - probably what we call a re-boot. So along with the show, will be re-booted toys - kids today won't be interested in collectors figures from a series they don't know about, so this Thundercats series is all fresh, including its merchandise.

Animated using traditional Japanese animation its fresh and its modern, but has the same feel, and imagery as before, the Thundercats Logo is the same and the main characters remain. Lion-O Mumm-Ra, the Sword of Omens and the rest are all back

So in keeping with the new theme of the Thundercats, our friends over at Ban Dai - home of Ben 10, have launched an entirely new toy range to go with the new series. Potentially a risky venture, should the series be a flop, but trust me having seen episodes 1&2, it certainly looks good, and the kids are gonna snap up the toys, of which sneaky peaks were previewed at Toy Fair 2011, in London.

There will be the obvious collection of Action figures, and playsets and vehicles, including the what looks to be awesome, Thundertank (above), plus what I believe all the boys will be after is the Sword of Omens (see below), plus costumes and much much more. 

I have a good feeling that this range could take a few retailers by surprise, if they don't stock it, as obviously the Nostalgic elements of this will inspire mums and dads who were 8,9,10 back in 1985, to buy their kids the latest stuff from this range. Its unlike anything on at the moment, where kids and adults can watch together. (Figures from the show which started in July in the States are indicating good numbers for the target audience but also high peaks of Nostalgic adults).

Which parents didn't take their kids to see the Smurfs, Transformers, X-Men and going back Spider-Man, etc., all with a little bit of Nostalgic memory in their hearts. Which parent doesn't buy a toy for their kids thinking, I wish I had that when I was little?

Savvy Film, TV and Toy execs and manufacturers know this. Now, some lines work and some don't. Transformers has been hugely popular, but the toys of old surely win out for nostalgic reasons with 30 somethings, but the kids don't know what went before, so they only know the now, and now its the movie toys, for Transformers - which is keeping things going. The new toy line for Thundercats, to go with the new fresh cartoon will be the same.

More memories seem to be coming later this year with Tintin. I wasn't particularly a fan, was more into Asterix, than the quiffed boy, but I'm sure there will be a few Dad's dragging their kids along to see what Speilberg has done with the nosey detective kid, with the white dog, and I'm sure this will be topped up by some toy ranges. I know Meccano has a vehicle range already lined up - two nostalgic lines in one, old style (Dad's favourite construction sets) Meccano & comic book favourite Tintin - surely a winner.

Providing the toy line is good solid and playable and links nicely to the series or movie, the products will work and sell. Thundercats is hitting at the right time, there's nothing like this at the moment, and its a series that kids will love regardless of the fact its been on before. Some revamps don't seem to appeal, but that's because they make them badly, rather than the idea being bad - see Knight Rider, for example, this remake could and should have been much better, and if it had lasted would have reaped great toy based rewards - it failed and the toys were unrealised.

Still I'm tipping this new Thundercats series to be very popular, and that both old-school Dad collectors and their kids will be fighting for the toys when they come along in the late Autumn, like they did when they made a couple of Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle movies a few years back. The movies were popular with the kids, even if the nostalgic parents didn't appreciate them as much as the cartoons they loved, kids still lapped them up and bought the toys in their millions, as did parents wanting to relive days gone by.

So, assuming that the line and series for Thundercats does do well, which I think it should, toy and film & TV peeps should keep making nostalgic based event movies that bring in both box office / TV advertising revenues and toy sales dollar, providing they are well made - and that being in conjunction with making new and fresh movies and TV shows. For what is a favourite with our children today, will probably be revamped, repackaged and resold in 20 years time to their own kids, Ban Dai must be signed up for the 2031 release of Ben 10 (I'm thinking Ben 30 - for a title!). 

Many older brands and names have been revived based solely upon this urge for nostalgia. Traditional Fisher-Price Toys are being repackaged to be resold to cash rich parents to share with their kids as Retro Classics (above), as are old skool versions of Frisbee, Hula Hoop, and versions of Scalectrix and other toys and games are being remade, last year we even saw the Big Trak programmable vehicle. Not sure if that was as popular and sought after as retailers had hoped, because there seemed to be plenty left in January this year. Picking the right toys to sell and the right retro products to sell to the i-kids generation may be getting harder, but as long as parents are there to buy products from around 30 years past, we retailers will be stocking them and manufacturers will always be keen to supply them.


Nostalgia gets to us all in the end, do you remember the Flumps...? time for a remake...

Movies & Toys

Been catching up on a few movies in recent weeks, some new some not so... and was just wondering what decisions go into deciding in advance what toys come out from these movies?

I'm not gonna review the movies, as such or issue any spoilers, so you can rest easy reading on, but I'm here to talk about the toy opportunities and the likes, that stem from these films... go to a movie website or catch the movie yourself if you want to know what happens, after all - many movies are about personal opinions, and what you like and don't like, I mean - I'm not expecting the Smurfs to be anything but a movie about the Smurfs... its not award winning material and should never be seen as such.... anyway, I'm not here to critic the critics who really get my goat sometimes...but that's another blog.

Anyway, so, last week we went to see Cowboys & Aliens at the movieplex - without the kids - which was nice and also cheap - 241 Orange Wednesdays!

I loved it, being a huge Bond and Star Wars fan, it had two leads that I could easily relate to, with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford fighting Aliens in the wild west. It strikes me that this kind of movie, with Cowboys, and Indians and Aliens and a super wrist gadget, deployed by Craig, and loads of space ships, lends itself to a toy franchise.

Now i know its a 12A, but hey that's not stopped a who heap of Halo Wars toys, Transformer Toys, and more from movies with ratings beyond the target audience for play figures, hey even Revenge of the Sith was a 12A rated movie, and that's from George Lucas who gave us, Jar Jar Binks and Ewoks. So who made the decision or not to licence the toys from this.

It struck me that toys similar to those released for Independence Day or Iron Man would go down well... a whole bunch of Cowboy Characters and a Whole heap of Aliens.... I know kids can now create the whole environment of this movie themselves by buying a load of Cowboys (Woody?) and using any Aliens (Ben 10?) they have - because its been created in a movie (albeit a comic book transfer).

Mr Favreau, CvsA director and who directed Iron Man - another movie with a higher rating than the toy buying audience, again a 12A - surely likes marketing of this kind, as I know Iron man had a load of action figures cars, etc. which were very popular with even the younger audience too young to go see the film.

It just seems an odd decision, but i think its down to the number of marketable movies coming out this year, but I'd have liked to have seen some action figures anyway....and its possible the film producers maybe have another movie coming out or already out with figures likely to sell even better...

Still, whilst were on Daniel Craig and Bond surely there is a licensee out there to make some Action Figure sized Bond Characters. I know action man released a whole collection of collectable 12" Doll sized exclusive figures a few years back, but it'd be awesome to have to scale Bond figures to ride in Cars from all of the movies. Hey, I'd even buy the Octopussy all-girl rowing boat playset.

Seriously, though, I think Bond does lend it self to a range of Star Wars like action figures. I know there have been funding issues for the most recent bond movie, and i think this would raise a few bob for future movies. Boys and adults alike would clamber for these. There must be reasons for not doing it, because I cannot see any other movie franchise since Star Wars that has NOT had action figures attached to them.

Also saw Super 8, another Alien movie - which I suspect like ET, which it pays a lot of homage, and the Producer of Super 8 is Spielberg, would lend itself to a toy franchise - even a train set, see the movie and you'll understand. Maybe they are intent on selling handheld cameras off the back of this instead.

Another movie I caught was again another Alien based movie in Battle Los Angeles (12A), I said I was catching up...again it kind of lends itself to a toy franchise in the same vein as Transformers, with soldiers, tanks and aliens all in the mix, it certainly would go down with the 8-12 year olds.

My kids have both seen Cars 2 & the Smurfs, which both obviously have been marketed well, with the Smurf tie in with McDonald's running right now, and Cars being promoted everywhere, from Toys R Us to Argos and beyond...

I'm wondering if studios who have game producing arms are channeling all of their toy output into games marketing, what with Halo Wars and NFS (Need For Speed) both hitching rides on the ever growing popularity of Mega Bloks, and I'm wondering if the tie in to these multi million dollar businesses are better value, and better audiences for toys especially for boys.

Maybe when Real Steel pops out in October my toy prayers will be answered, as I saw some great figures and playsets for this way back at Toy Fair in January 2011, and am looking forward to these Robot fighting action figures. Lets just hope they hold up to play fighting action.

I know there will also be a lot of Tintin related merchandise later in the year, and perhaps that's the Spielberg movie that will get people more excited than the probably too dark for toys, Super 8, although I do recommend it, as it is a great movie...!

Maybe its that too many major toy manufacturers have been burnt by movies in the recent past, with poor cinematic responses, and shelf warming toys. I'm not sure either the Green Lantern nor Thor have been that popular both at the box office or at the Toy Shop, and toys from movies in the recent past, have not really done well either, due to poor ratings of the movies, including the dreadful Avatar: The Last Airbender (did anyone buy any Avatar, Airbender Lego?) and the exceedingly much better Golden Compass which left a lot of Toys unsold.with more and more comic book conversions happening as well, and in the near future, studios and companies willing to tie in are perhaps being much more cautious. 

I'm also thinking that the toy retailers are also unsure of where to put their stock and what to invest in. Think of all the action figure related movies of the recent past, Iron Man, Pirates, Potter, Star Wars, Green Lantern, Green Hornet, Thor, Captain America, X-Men, Wolverine, Star Trek, etc. the choice in the past few years has been overwhelming, its no wonder that Action figure sales specifically have declined in an overall growing toy market. 

There will never be a time when a movie like Captain America or Iron Man doesn't have action figures and toys associated with it, but it does appear that some franchises, film studios or whatever are not choosing to spend out on excessive but ultimately expensive and loss making marketing via toys. Lucas back in 1977 lead the way, but I think the times have changed and people are overloaded, and its probably Lucas's fault were in this situation what with his over marketing of Episode I. (see Star Wars comments in blog further below).

Being a boy myself its sad to see the state of the Action Figure Market. Its been a bit of overkill with so many 'action / comic' style movies coming out recently and in the near future. 

I'm sure the new Spider-Man movie will be great, but its totally unnecessary, its not part four its a new origin story which we've already had! It certainly will have loads of toys, toys of which will be not much different to those released in the past and still available on the 2ndary market from the previous 3 Spider-Man movies. 

Heck, we've had 3 Hulk movies, all with toys, all of which have had limited success and shelf warming products that have not moved. Cinema and toy manufacturers have got lazy, and are fleecing consumers for inferior products. I know that even being a massive Star Wars fan, Mr Lucas will do the usual when Episode I - 3D appears next year. 

As consumers we need to keep up and with so much product its hard for boys (and girls) to invest time in a product when a new one appears the next week or month. Back in the day star wars was the only action figure line, and it lasted from 1978 to 1985 before dieing out. Even the latest range has been going strong since 1995, but other film related toy lines have moved off the shelves, only a range like Cars / Toy Story have had recent longevity. Even a series like Harry Potter has seen dwindling returns in toys as the movies have got older and more adult themed (only Lego have kept the playability with these ranges).

I suspect its down to a great toy manufacturer like Hasbro who have had years of success selling Star Wars that they keep the line going. These new band wagon jumping toy makers and film franchises are trying to swim in increasingly crowded waters.

I think this coming festive season will be the make or break for many big movies and toy makers, action figures in particular are likely to be heading towards a watershed moment, because I think other companies, like Playmobil & Lego and the playground crazes are likely to be more important to boys and girls looking to spend their pocket money and adding to their Xmas lists over the next few months.

Here's hoping some better choices and better decisions are made concerning movie toys over the next few months and into 2012... because I fear for some major players banking on the next big thing and being sucked under....

What to get two 9 year olds?

My two children have birthday's in July, both, 9, no not twins, before you ask. 

And we are facing a dilemma as parents as what to get them. 1 boy, 1 girl. 

Both are obviously still children and child like, with the ability to play and have fun, but also are at that age, whereby they want more mature 'playthings'.

When we were growing up, there were no computer games, I-pods, mobile phones, and 3 or at the most 4 channels on the TV. We were ultimately still kids wanting toys for our birthdays. But in the 21st century things have changed for 9 year old's and their wants for birthdays...

My son, still loves Lego, Bakugan, Pokemon, soldiers, war type toys, Star Wars, guns etc. He should be easy to buy for, but how easy is it to buy for a child who loves listening to music on a mp3 player, has three games consoles at his disposal, watches 50+ different TV channels? These are distractions that take away from playing and enjoying simple things like toys. 

Will a toy or range of toys be enough? 

This decision is not taken lightly anymore, buying for a child is a complex issue. 30 years ago when i was nine, i don't recall even being asked, i just got. Most likely Action Man, or some Lego, or some more cars. Today buying the wrong toy, for a maturing 9 year old boy can be disastrous. I know my son has grown out of Ben 10 - already, but he is still in the Ben 10 age bracket, my parents, and his other relatives might not know this and go buy him a Ben 10 toy, which he'll dismiss out of hand. But for cost conscious relatives buying a computer game upwards of £20 a time, is not always the solution, and do I want my son playing MORE computer games, when less is better? What to do?

I'm thinking that as summer is coming, outdoor type toys are the answer. Nerf have a superb range of role play and safe weapons. It moves the playability of guns that make sounds to actually firing stuff more real, boys (and Dads) love these sorta things. You only have to go to boystoys.com firebox.com or play.com to see what's on offer to older boys.

Another idea is to buy a car, but one that is remote controlled, giving the prospect of 'electronic' play with the same fun of traditional cars. I know RC is not new but again, its a growing area, that moves away slightly from branded licenced toys and is a bit different. Boys have always and will always love cars at whatever age, he may be too old now for Cars 2 merchandise, but Fast 5, is a different thing, and maybe the way forward.

There are plenty of cool boys outdoor toys, footballs, cricket, Razor Scooters, my son has also mentioned the desire for a Go Kart. This might be a present we can buy, but what of the smaller relative friendly presents, what do we tell them? 

Lego is still fun, and more complex sets even in the child friendly ranges of Star Wars & Pirates of the Caribbean are pretty cool, I even love these, and its my Birthday coming soon - here's hoping for the Queen Anne's Revenge!!! In my previous post, about action figures I suggested that this years glut of action friendly films will be a good market place for toys for boys, and I think personally that we won't have a problem buying something - even if its a Thor Hammer, or Jack Sparrow costume. Boys will always want to be boys and play, if you get it right!

Tbh, the issue for the lad, is not too difficult. There are TOYS for boys of all ages, I still love toys, and can play with computers and action figures / cars etc without dropping either. 

Girls on the other hand - now they are different.

If we think boys are growing up fast, lets look at the girls. My daughter doesn't want to play with 'things' anymore, unless its super small and can fit in her pocket, and is cute. And to be honest these are not toys, they are just the standard cute throwaway collectibles that change from one week to the next. Iwako, Squinkies & Gacha toys are not birthday present material.

Hello Kitty has transcended the age barriers but the toys are mainly aimed at the very young, with the fashion range aimed at Tweens and above. 

Dolls were traditionally designed for girls right up to age 12-13, but these appear to have gone out of fashion, with erm, fashion being in fashion. 

My daughter's favourite shop appears to be Claire's Accessories, with toys totally off the agenda. And as her friends grow up, she wants to be like them, and they don't play with toys either. 

Most of her day is spent on a laptop or with her head listening to Taylor Swift on her mp3 player. I wasn't into music until about 13, which is 4 years from her age now.  I'm not sure how to solve the girl aged 9 birthday present issue. I could go and buy clothes, jewelery , make up, which is what she wants, but I, also as a toy lover, seller and collector feel that she is still of an age that should and could still enjoy the pleasure of toys.

Perhaps the mature dolls, of popular music stars is the way to go. She loves music, I know there are ranges of Saturdays & One Direction dolls on the horizon. Bieber and JLS and even Princess Catherine dolls have been selling super well to all ages. Fashion, Music, Dolls - is this the answer?

Girls don't appear to care for smaller action figures or construction toys, like Lego. Soft toys are always easy but just end up cluttering the room, and with those that already take up space, we don't need any more! 

So what to do? Interactive games and toys are perhaps another way of engaging with 9 year old girls. The 'Mama' series of DS games are fun ways to encourage girls, but the flipside is that these are also are making them more mature. Traditionally girls toys like horses, puppies, cute and cuddly are still popular, but tend to come and go with trends, and friends.

Girls are also less attracted to outdoor toys that the boys like; guns and water games are out, as are overly sporty toys, and gadgets are not for girls, so much -  but perhaps if our young daughters are growing up we can make use of their skills and get them toys that are useful, there are plenty of 'design your own' type toys, bags, hats, jewelery, etc,. and still plenty of 'have the girls round' party type fun games. Books, are also an alternative, but hey this is a toy sellers blog...and we're trying to get girls back on side with toys...

The market is pretty saturated with toys for both boys and girls, and perhaps that's the problem for girls, there's too much and often too young to really appeal to the tweens, and unlike the boys, what the girls like today, won't be the same tomorrow, is it Katy Perry or Lady Gaga? One Direction or the Wanted, JLS or whoever... not sure they had Duran Duran dolls in my day, but then bands were for teenagers...Being a Dad of a 9 year old going on 15 is hard!

Girls are growing up fast, but we need to make sure they still enjoy their childhood, after all, the tradition of dolls and prams has been going back years, and having children in real life is a mature realisation, which girls have been acting out since these toys were invented, so why are we not continuing this. I'm wondering as we have a new arrival on the horizon ourselves, whether we should encourage our own daughter to have the same baby stuff we have but in miniature 'play' sizes, prams, cot, etc, so that she can act out our realities?

I'm not sure this post has made it any clearer for me... my son will certainly be easier to buy for, but my daughter less so, but that's just her, I'm sure some 9 year old girls are easier to find things for, Ponies, Sylvanian Families, Barbies etc, they still top the lists for under 10's, and I have seen many quality ranges of these toys around, including top branded items from the likes of Schleich, and Breyer, who offer playable maturer girls (and boys) toys.

And as much as we're looking for new toys to buy, our kids still play with their old ones, and those designed for younger children, including... Playmobile, cars, Puppies (and other things) in my Pocket, Barbie, they still act out with these, and maybe i'll just add to these with more playability, after all that's what the manufacturers want, you to buy more of what your kids actually do like.

I'm sure whatever option we take, it'll be right on some levels and wrong on another, but asking them is the first step, and knowing whats going on in the world of kids these days is the place to start. There's nothing worse than getting it wrong.

Any ideas???