Finally, A Little Respect!
A friend of mine forwarded me this rather interesting article that recently ran on Variety’s website. It’s a nice little piece that acknowledges the adult collector as a major player in today’s action figure market. Aside from throwing out some monetary figures - likes sales for action figures being up 8 percent this year from last - the article also makes a rather bold statement about who is actually buying mass-market major toy lines these days. They say the ratio is more like 60/40, kids to adults. That’s a much closer margin than what the big companies would have us believe! Read the entire article here; it’s good stuff.
Tags: business
nice article, but too technical for my taste. but it’s true, the toy market is not just for kids. i hope not, because alot of Mezco & Neca’s stuff is pretty adult oriented for the average kiddie strolling down the isle with mommy. so why do toy companies refuse to aknowledge the adult buyer? there is no shame in my eyes. perhaps its taboo.
i think it’s just “old school” thinking by the major manufacturers. historically, kids have always been the driving force of toys and the “adult collector” is only now becoming a popular, acceptable hobby (thanks to “geek chic!”). Plus, kids these days aren’t really interested in action figures. Video Games have killed that aspect of childhood. It’s us older guys who grew up in the 80s who still love the little plastic men. And it’s clear that the big toy guys - hasbro and mattel - are recognizing that. lines like DCUC and Marvel Legends wouldn’t exist without adult collectors, and those are now flagship lines of these major companies. I think as time stretches on, we’ll see more and more toys geared towards adults. Kids just aren’t into action figures as much as they used to be.