With two weeks left until Tim Burton's refashioning of Planet of the Apes opens, ICv2 conducted an unscientific survey on the sales of POTA merchandise by contacting some twenty retailers from coast to coast. The comics are selling well, the toys are getting a blah reception, and some other key products are to be released in the coming weeks. Here's a quick over-view of where the merchandise sales stand.
Comics
Only one of the retailers we surveyed found the sales of the Dark Horse POTA comics 'underwhelming,' and he felt that his store would do fairly well on the comics in the long run. The other retailers surveyed were all pleased with the sales on the Dark Horse comics. Mike Banks of All About Comics in Phoenix sold out and reordered on the books since he wants to have them in stock when the movie is released. He noted: This performance is much better than traditional movie tie-ins' and attributed the success of the Dark Horse books to the fact that they are 'prequels,' not adaptations. All the respondents told ICv2 that the photo covers were selling better than the art covers.
All About Comics has even had success moving the 1990s POTA comics published by Adventure Comics, and the vintage POTA Magazine from Marvel Comics has 'been even hotter.' Certainly, there will never be a better time than now to move POTA back-stock if stores still have any.
Toys
Sales reports on the Hasbro POTA toys are not nearly so bullish. Only one of the retailers we surveyed had received his shipment and reported that the toys were 'selling poorly.' Toys R Us has had the toys out (in the Midwest at least) for about ten days. Also, though the uniforms and helmets from the new Burton film are supercool, the Hasbro action figures are described as 'pedestrian' in comparison with the high standards of quality prevalent in the marketplace today. If the movie does well, retailers should be able to capitalize on the Dark Horse POTA statues and toys, which will be out well after the film opens, but which will be of higher quality and will not be available in a plethora of mass market outlets.
Trading Cards
Some of the stores we surveyed no longer carry trading cards, but several who did noted that they had already received inquiries about the POTA trading cards from Topps. ICv2 has checked with Topps and discovered that the POTA cards are rolling out according to plan and will be distributed by Diamond in time for their July 18 street date. Since the trading cards reveal the story of the film to a large degree, 20th Century Fox will not allow their distribution before that date. This still gives retailers nine days before POTA opens on July 27. Now would be the time to order a box of these cards if you haven't already done so, since the prime period for retailing tie-in trading cards is that window between street date and when the film actually opens. If Burton's film is a hit, both the Dark Horse comics and the trading cards from Topps should benefit from the relative paucity of good POTA merchandise available before the film's release.
Other Products
For a full list of PotA licensees and links to some of our previous PotA coverage, see our 'Planet of the Apes Licensing List.'
