Research firm NPD has predicted that the release of The Amazing Spider–Man today will inspire a surge in sales of commemorative toy merchandise, bringing a boost to the UK toy industry.
It has been predicted by the research group that toy retail spend based on the comic book hero could reach a phenomenal £45 million.
Revealed in the same survey was news that the UK film licensing toy market is booming, reporting an eight per cent month-on-month growth in the five months to May 2012.
However, the licensed market as a whole saw a five per cent decline compared to the first five months of 2011.
Frédérique Tutt, European Analyst for the toy market at the NPD Group said there has been a strong trend in revenue from the Spider Man films previously and expects there to be even more success with the latest chapter.
“Spider-Man 3 was crowned best-selling film license of the year in 2007,” she commented.
“It was propelled to the third best-selling position in the license market with more than £34 million worth of retail toy sales.
“Spider-Man is seen as an evergreen license in the UK toy market.
“With its high awareness, we expect it to easily reach the top five best-selling licenses in the UK toy market this year.”
In 2010, Toy Story had the most grossing of all toy sales from licensed films, overtaking Star Wars in 2009.
Hype for The Amazing Spider – Man merchandise will start over the summer and set to continue into the Christmas season where sales DVD sales will give it the capacity to knock previous blockbusters off the top spot.
Yesterday, toyshop chain The Entertainer donated its customer‘s spare change of £150,000 to the electric charity box, Pennies, highlighting the resilience of the children‘s entertainment market.
Tutt hopes that the latest offering will encourage parents to purchase themed items for their children.
“The impact from the movie will be primarily felt during the summer, but the uplift will boost sales up to Christmas thanks to the DVD release,” Tutt predicted.
“One question remains though: can Spider-Man beat the record set by Toy Story in 2010?”
