Mattel is a leading global toy company and owner of one of the strongest catalogs of entertainment franchises.
On this occasion the company will once again present its “Toy Lines” under a general label called Back-in-Action at the pop culture fan festival Comic Con International, in San Diego.
The reappearance of the three action heroes is part of a strategy to capitalize on the company’s intellectual property by reviving old brands for new generations.
Barbie is about to meet up with some old friends. Mattel The maker of the popular fashion doll is relaunching three lines that haven’t been on toy shelves for decades: Major Matt Mason, Big Jim and Pulsar.
As is known, Mattel is a leading global toy company and owner of one of the strongest portfolios of children’s and family entertainment franchises in the world; It has brands like Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Thomas & Friends, UNO and MEGA, as well as other popular intellectual properties.
Its offerings include film and television content, games, music, and live events. They operate in 35 locations and their products are available in more than 150 countries in collaboration with the world’s leading retail and e-commerce companies since their founding in 1945.
However, now it seems to want to revive some of its most nostalgic products for the new generations, a strategy that is already being implemented by some other brands such as the developer of No Man’s Sky, Hello Gameswho also re-released the version for iOS of his classic game Joe Danger, for a child with autism.
the founder of Hello GamesSean Murrayannounced in Twitter the relaunch of joe danger for iOS. However, instead of simply relaunching joe danger and its continuation Joe Danger Infinity on the Apple App Store, Hello Games it has also remastered both titles with visual improvements. According to Murray, the studio opted to remaster both titles due to “heartbreaking” fan mail they received.
Mattel reintroduces old brands: Major Matt Mason, Big Jim and Pulsar
Mattel will resubmit Toy Lines under a general label called Back-in-Action at the pop culture fan festival Comic Con International, in San Diego.
“This is our toe in the water. Back in Action helps us maintain the validity of our IP and decide what’s next.” said PJ Lewis, vice president of global marketing for Mattel.
The Mr. Craze’s strategy has helped Mattel to reverse his misfortune since taking over in 2018. The company reported a 19 percent increase in sales in 2021 to $5.5 billion, and despite supply chain constraints and rising material costs cousinsis forecast to grow 8 percent to 10 percent this year.
Some of the toymaker’s recent success has come from expanding older brands..
Barbie will appear in a live-action movie starring Margot Robbieplus one of a dozen films for various brands of Mattelincluding a live action movie Hot Wheels produced by JJ Abrams’ production company Bad Robot and Masters of the Dead. Other brands set to hit the big screen include Thomas the Tank Engine, Magic Eight Ball and Polly Pocket.
“When you walk into a store and walk down the toy aisle, almost everything is related to a movie, a TV show or a video game (…) He-Man toys and The Masters of the Masters of the Universe”, Danny Erdley said.
But how will Mattel generate interest in brands that have been off toy shelves for decades?
Major Matt Mason, an astronaut action figure, was introduced in 1967 and was a hit until children began to lose interest in space exploration. It resurfaced in pop culture in 2019 when Tom Hanks signed on to produce and star in an upcoming movie about astronauts. BigJim it arrived in 1971, followed by Pulsar in 1976, but they too have been out of the public eye for decades.
The company’s president and chief operating officer, Richard Dixon, said that the strategy of Mattel to revive a defunct brand is to first engage the die-hard fans. If they adopt it, the next step is to come up with complementary materials and create a line of toys for children.
As we can see, brand relaunches are not uncommon. Sometimes brands underperform or otherwise don’t resonate as well with their buyers as they should, and a relaunch is the best way to shake things up in a positive way. Other reasons for doing so include markets that have evolved or the arrival of a new competitor in the brand’s category.
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