Competition To Be Keen For Movie Merchandise

There are two battlefields in this summer’s movie season: the box office and the toy store.

Several thousand products linked to “Pocahontas,” “Casper,” “Batman Forever” and “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie” are starting to flood retail outlets, making for one of the hardest-fought movie merchandise campaigns ever.

The “Power Rangers” merchandise is already very popular thanks to a television show. Although experts think the new movie will boost sales, they say new properties have more appeal and therefore will sell better.

The merchandise sales standard undoubtedly will be set by Disney’s “Pocahontas.” Due largely to “Lion King” merchandise, Disney’s consumer products unit is soaring - with $473 million in sales the most recent quarter, up 28 percent from the previous year. “Pocahontas” should yield huge profits in theaters and toy stores alike.

Mattel Inc. will be the lead licensee for “Pocahontas” merchandise. Some analysts predict Mattel alone will sell more than $100 million in “Pocahontas” booty, and the company says the line will outperform “The Lion King.”

Most of the movie-related merchandise will be fairly predictable items geared to young children: “Pocahontas” action figures, “Casper” pajamas, “Batman” T-shirts, and so on. But some of the summer action films aimed at older consumers will be accompanied by merchandise, too.