NO ‘BLACK’ MAGIC
Disney-Hasbro botching shot at movie toy gold
Even the Black Panther might have trouble fixing this mess.
An embarrassing shortage of toys pegged to the smash superhero flick is showing no signs of ending, insiders say, even as the box-office sensation is slated for a DVD release next month.
Hasbro, which holds the master license for “Black Panther” toys, admits it won’t have any new goods to accompany the DVD — despite the fact that such pairings are standard industry practice.
“Hasbro often comes out with new items with a video release,” said Jim Silver, president of toy review Web site TTPM, told The Post. But “the toy industry under-estimated Black Panther.”
Toy shelves nationwide were already going bare in early March — just three weeks after the movie’s Feb. 16 release. Six-inch action figures began to sell out, and retailers began limiting sales of 12-inch models to five per customer, according to BMO Securities.
“Our in-store check has also shown a lot of empty pegs,” BMO analyst Gerrick Johnson wrote at the time.
This weekend, “Black Panther” nudged past “Titanic” to become the third-highestgrossing film of all time in the US. And yet there’s only a single as-yet-unreleased Black Panther toy that’s been announced.
The $99 helmet, which boasts “Vibranium-inspired design with flip-up eye lenses,” won’t hit shelves until the fall, a Hasbro spokeswoman confirmed.
That, in turn, has sent thirdparty manufacturers scrambling to fill demand in the coming months.
“We’ve got three factories in China working overtime to get 300,000 items out as fast as possible,” says Jay Foreman, chief executive of Basic Fun, which is making plush toys for amusement parks and kids’ venues like Chuck E. Cheese’s. “We are scheduling the prod- uct to ship on the fastest container ships to help make it in time.”
A source close Disney, whose chief executive Bob Iger admitted he’d been blindsided by the movie’s success, said there is “a second wave of product coming in the next few months” but didn’t give details.
A Disney spokeswoman, meanwhile, insisted the product line is “the largest ever for a Marvel origin film, including expanded categories, such as performance wear and highfashion collaborations.”
Nevertheless, parents have taken to Twitter to gripe about a lack of goods.
“Kid asked for a Black Panther-themed birthday party,” an Atlanta mother complained. “We are having a hard time finding party decor. #1 movie in the world and the stores don’t have any party merchandise.”
“I still need to know where they are hiding all of the merchandise,” a second person tweeted last month. “I need three sets of twin bed sheets, a shower curtain, and matching towels.”
Hasbro released just 11 movie-themed toys for the film’s debut — about half what retailers carried for the “Justice League” film and a third of what they carry for “Power Rangers” movies, according to NPD Group.
“Black Panther,” meanwhile, got about the same toy allotment as “Wonder Woman,” another smash hit that took the industry by surprise.
“This is an industry that downplayed the female character in Star Wars,” resulting in shortages of the character Rey figures after the release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” said Richard Gottlieb, chief executive of Global Toy Experts.