Disney doubles up on new toys
Company releases products tied to ‘Frozen 2,’ ‘Star Wars.’
With two of its most toyfriendly movies coming out between now and Christmas, Walt Disney Co. released products tied to both “Frozen 2” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” on Friday, hoping parents will pick up a blue sparkly dress and a Kylo Ren action figure on the same trip.
The double-barreled launch is unusual but reflects shifting buying patterns among consumers and changes in the marketing of the brands.
Hasbro Inc., the main toy licensee for “Star Wars,” has said the last big promotion, in 2017, started too early in the year. This one is a month later. Retailers, meanwhile, didn’t want to set up for two separate Disney toy rollouts in short order.
The Burbank-based entertainment giant is relying heavily on social media to promote both launches, in part because online purchases account for about 40% of U.S. toy sales.
“It’s an opportunity for Disney to combine the properties and drive people to retail,” said Jim Silver, editor of TTPM.com, a toy industry website. “You could do shopping for both.”
Disney began promoting the new “Star Wars” toys in a global livestreamed event from London last week that featured many of the series’ stars seeing their action figures for the first time.
The company is calling this week’s release Triple Force Friday because the toys and other items are tied to a new “Star Wars” TV show, video game and movie. “The Rise of Skywalker” hits theaters in December.
Frozen Fan Fest, meanwhile, began Wednesday with the first of some 200 social media influencers and celebrities from 30 countries taking the new merchandise out of boxes, a stunt that is expected to last several days. “Frozen 2” will be released Nov. 22.
“Star Wars” fans, meanwhile, had to look harder for stores participating in “midnight madness,” an event where retailers opened their stores at midnight to sell the new toys.
“Very few stores are doing any sort of extended-hours ‘midnight madness’ sale for Triple Force Friday,” said Daniel Pickett, editor in chief of Action Figure Insider.
That’s due in part to changes in the retail landscape. Toys R Us shut all of its U.S. stores last year, although four Canadian locations participated in the midnight promotion.
Walmart Inc. started selling the toys at midnight in about 50 locations.
Target Corp. wasn’t planning any midnight openings, although the chain did launch Disney store-within-a-store concepts at 25 locations Friday. They sell both “Frozen 2” and “Star Wars” items.
Disney, of course, was still on board with midnight shopping at its namesake stores in Anaheim; Orlando, Fla.; and New York’s Times Square, as well as a handful of other cities.
New items include a $150 D-O interactive droid featured in “Skywalker” and a 6-inch Mandalorian action figure ($20), based on the TV series that debuts on Disney’s new streaming service next month. Both are from Hasbro.
When the first “Frozen” film turned out to be a runaway hit in 2013, Disney was caught off guard by the huge demand for products. This year, Jefferies analyst Stephanie Wissink expects the “Frozen 2” dolls alone to generate some $500 million in sales.