New York, Feb. 15, 2001. Playmates unveiled their toy line for 2001 here at the New York Toy Fair. Once again The Simpsons will be the centerpiece of Playmates' offerings, which will also include figures from another TV series--the new animated Jackie Chan Adventures--as well as a series of figures and playsets based on this summer's Tomb Raider film. Here's a brief rundown of the Playmates toys that are of most interest to specialty market retailers.
When The Simpsons first made the giant leap from filler on the Tracey Ullman Show to small screen stardom, an overzealous licensing program led to a glut of Simpsons pvcs and toys at retail. As a result, Simpsons toy licensing was cut way back for a time until Playmates fielded a full lineup of figures that became one of the best-selling action figure lines of last year. The figures looked great and the 'Intelli-Tronic Voice Activation' gimmick was perfect for a cartoon series that features some of the best and most distinctive voice acting in the history of animation. Simply plug the figures into the compatible interactive environments and they speak with the real actors' voices from the TV show. In 2001 Playmates is bringing out three additional series of Simpsons figures. By the end of this year every important denizen of Springfield will be available in molded vinyl. Specialty retailers should be prepared for major action on 'Comic Book Guy.' That is one character who can't fail in this market.
Series 4 -- Shipping in April:
Lenny ('Everybody likes Lenny')
Ralph ('Those people are hugging in there.') Wiggum
Patty ('Time to watch McGyver')
Itchy & Scratchy 2-pack
Casual Homer (In contrast to what, Formal Homer?)
Groundskeeper Willie ('Doonetune')
Pin Pal Apu w/ Bowl-A-Rama Playset
Comic Book Guy w/Comic Shop (What no Fortress of Solitude?)
Series 5 -- Shipping in July
Captain McCallister (Har, har!)
Kent Brockman
Bartman
Martin Prince
Sideshow Mel
Bumblebee Man
Reverend Lovejoy w/First Church of Springfield Playset
Jimbo Jones w/Noiseland Arcade Playset
Series 6 -- Shipping in October
Snake
Bleeding Gums Murphy
Dr. Hibbert
Mascot Homer
Professor Fink
Carl
Hans Moleman and Pimply-faced Teen w/Main St. Playset.
While the ordinary playsets will retail for around $20, the Main Street Environment includes the facades of Springfield's most popular places, such as Moe's, The Jazz Hole, Lard Lad Donuts, and The Frying Dutchman as well as two figures available nowhere else (Moleman and Teen), and it will retail for around $45-50.
Also available this summer are The Simpsons Family Car (press the hood and listen to them squabble) and a special series of talking figures that say up to four phrases when plugged into their special bases. Talking figures will include Bowling Homer, Hold-Up Apu, Pie-Throwing Krusty, and Howdy Neighbor Ned. They will retail for $9.99.
Jackie Chan Adventures
Playmates has created a full line of action figures based on this new animated series featuring the Hong Kong martial art genius and filmmaker. Chan films like Shanghai Noon have been getting great exposure here in the States, and his persona is perfect for the 'good vs. evil' mentality of the typical kids cartoon show. The Jackie Chan Adventures series will launch on the Kids WB in the fall of this year. Fifty-two episodes are in production and the show will air six days a week.
Jackie Chan fans will definitely want to avail themselves of some of these figures, but retailers should probably see how the Jackie Chan Adventures series fares before going too far down this path. Playmates plans to ship two waves of 5-1/2 inch Jackie Chan action figures. Each figure features a different karate action as well as martial arts accessories. In addition Playmates will produce a 12 inch Jackie Chan figure and a special spring-coil martial arts assortment of 5-1/2 inch armored figures.
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider is one of the most intriguing movie licenses of the year. With a solid core audience from the video game, and a popular comic series from Image, Tomb Raider appears to be a natural for the specialty market. As for the demographics of the Tomb Raider crowd, it's a good bet that more of these busty figures of Lara Croft end up adorning computers than find their way to the sandbox. Thanks to technological advances the figures really do resemble Angelina Jolie, who does her best in the movie to look like the buxom hero of the original Eidos computer game. The frenetic Tomb Raider preview indicates that the film might be narratively-challenged, but will that really matter? The Tomb Raider 6 inch figures series wisely includes Lara in four different costumes including combat gear, motorcycle togs, Siberian survival wear, and her classic Tomb Raider outfit. The only non-Lara figure in the assortment is a Stone Monkey Warrior, a fact that demonstrates that Playmates understands where the appeal of Tomb Raider actually lies.
In addition to the 6-inch Action Figure assortment, Playmates is creating a 6-inch Action Figure Combat 2-Pak that features Lara squaring off against her training robot S.I.M.O.N. Lara comes equipped with a crossbow that fires projectiles and S.I.M.O.N. has blow-off parts triggered by hits from Lara's projectiles. Playmates is creating two 12-inch Lara Croft figures wearing fabric outfits from the movie -- Lara in Combat Gear and Lara in Motorcycle Gear. These figures will retail for $20 to $25 and come complete with weapons and accessories.
Dot Pals
Speaking of action figures on computers, Playmates' new technologically advanced 'Dot Pals' are toy figures of Homer Simpson and Dilbert that actually plug in to your computer's USB port. Each figure comes with a CD-rom and installs easily on computers with Windows 98, ME, and 2000, or Mac OS 9.0 and up. The Dot Pals talk to you in the full character voice, chiming in with the date and time, reminding you of appointments, and you can update your Dot Pal's vocabulary with visits to Playmates' web site. When you make a mistake in spelling, your Homer Dot Pal will exclaim 'D'oh!' or get excited when you have mail and let out a familiar 'Woo-hoo!' Due out in the fall, the Homer Dot Pal will have a suggested retail of $49.99.
