There’s an old adage in stock car racing that you want your cars to be at the front of the pack — to win on Sunday — so that prospective buyers would head out to their local dealerships and buy new rides on Monday. Typically, “win on Sunday, sell on Monday,” wouldn’t mean much for the toy industry, but this year is a little bit different.
Upon the conclusion of Super Bowl LVII last night, Mattel and Funko were standing by with limited edition collectibles celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Funko and Fanatics teamed up to offer the Kansas City Chiefs Exclusive Super Bowl LVII Champions Four-Pack Vinyl GOLD 12-inch Figures set. The limited edition offering includes figures of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Creed Humphrey, and Chris Jones, and is limited to just 2,023 pieces. It’s a premium product at a premium price ($199.99), and, as of this writing, it’s not yet sold out.
For Mattel’s offering, the company is using its Mattel Creations platform to solicit orders for a Fisher-Price Little People Collector Super Bowl LVII Champions Set. The collection includes a made-to-order set of four, 2.75-inch Little People Collector figures, featuring three players in game jerseys with Super Bowl LVII patches and a “super fan” figure. The set comes in a special, Super Bowl LVII-themed gatefold package and will be available to order through Feb. 21 for just $30.
While sports licensing in toys is nothing new, limited drops tied to sporting events could prove to be an intriguing new revenue stream for the toy industry should the offerings catch on. On the die-cast side of the business, commemorative vehicles have been a tradition for years, and following this Sunday’s Daytona 500, you can bet the folks at Lionel Racing will be quick to roll out new models celebrating whichever NASCAR driver takes the checkered flag.
A Hint of Toys to Come
Outside of the game itself, this year’s Super Bowl felt like a return to form in terms of toyetic content that was alluded to, albeit indirectly.
“Big Game” spots for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Fast X, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and The Flash (featuring the return of Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck as multiverse versions of Batman plus the introduction of Sasha Calle as Supergirl) were a welcome look at some big cinematic offerings with toys on the horizon from the likes of Hasbro, Jada Toys, JAKKS Pacific, Mattel, McFarlane Toys, Spin Master, and others.
Just today, JAKKS Pacific unveiled a full look at its Super Mario Bros.-inspired toys while Hasbro opened pre-orders for its Indiana Jones collection and served up a first look at its Transformers Studio Series Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Deluxe 105 Autobot Mirage. The toy can convert from a robot into an officially licensed Porsche 911 Carrera in 24 steps and will be available for pre-order later this year.
While “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” might not work the same for toys as it does for cars, it just might help to fire up the hype machine.
For more on this year’s slate of entertainment-inspired toys, you’ll certainly want to check out The BIG Toy Book, out Feb. 28.
