With Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest the runaway box office king of 2006, it is worth noting that action figures and other toys based on the Disney film have plundered and pillaged the toy store market where industry observers think the POC toys, manufactured by newcomer Zizzle, will rack up $50 million in sales by year's end.

 

The Pirates of the Caribbean toys are the number one selling action figure line at KB toys and other mass-market outlets and industry analysts are impressed with the way in which Zizzle, which was founded less than two years ago by Hasbro veteran Roger Shiffman, managed to win a duel with the big two (Mattel and Hasbro) to acquire the multi-million dollar POC license and then get widespread distribution for their toys in all the key mass-market venues.

 

The problem for Zizzle will be to maintain momentum for its POC toy line through the all-important holiday season.  The company has new elements (based on the film's huge number of characters) on tap and hopes that Disney will release the POC:DMC DVD in time for the holidays.