ICv2's informal and unscientific survey of retailers from coast to coast indicates that Tomb Raider merchandise is moving very well in about 70% of the stores we questioned.  Though the Tomb Raider film opened strongly, its box office numbers have fallen back in its second and third weeks of release.  It is highly unlikely that Tomb Raider will ever come close to matching Dreamworks' surprising animated hit Shrek, which is now well over the $200 million mark, yet Tomb Raider merchandise is performing much better in pop culture specialty stores than Shrek paraphernalia (see 'Shrek Sales Slow In Specialty Stores').

Top Cow has been publishing a popular Tomb Raider comic for some time, and comic book fans are familiar with the property.  All of the retailers who reported doing well with Tomb Raider merchandise had brought in some extra Tomb Raider graphic novels in anticipation of the movie's release.

Fewer of the retailers surveyed had ordered the Playmates Tomb Raider action figures, but those who did seemed happy with the results.  Tony from Golden Apple in Los Angeles noted that the toys and comics really sold well in the weeks just before the movie opened.  Clearly, with the short window of opportunity that movie merchandise affords, timing is everything and the weeks before one of these blockbusters opens are 'golden.'  Toy sales were also helped by the fact that Wal-Mart didn't carry the Tomb Raider action figures.  Toys R' Us does have them but has priced them at $8.99, which allows pop culture retailers to be more competitive.

Overall the category of entertainment-based trading cards remains in a slump, but as with the Tomb Raider comics and toys, most of the stores we surveyed reported the Tomb Raider trading cards from Inkworks were doing well.  Diamond Comic Distributors did some special marketing to stimulate reorder sales of Tomb Raider products, and Diamond V.P. of Marketing Roger Fletcher reported to ICv2 that his company had experienced 'a nice surge on Tomb Raider merchandise, especially the trading cards and trade paperbacks.'

The performance of movie merchandise in specialty stores is obviously a highly complex situation involving lots of factors including the property itself, the timing of the arrival of merchandise at specialty stores, what kind of merchandise is available, and the nature of the mass market competition.  McFarlane Toys' Shrek figures and playsets have been the top sellers in Toys R' Us for weeks, but for various reasons Shrek stuff has not done as well in specialty stores.   Neither the Tomb Raider movie nor its associated merchandise will come close to matching the totals for Shrek in the mass market, but Lara Croft and company are kicking some green ogre butt in specialty stores.  The short explanation may be the best -- that Lara Croft is just a definite babe!