Different kids like different things. Sometimes the same kids like different things. Kids are people and have opinions.
This article also seems to hinge on the idea that consumerism is the same as it was in the 20th century, and it just isn’t.
When I was a kid in the 80s and 90s, they made the toys first. There’d be a villain that showed up in exactly one episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and they’d already have a toy for it at Toys R Us.
Now my kids are three seasons deep into Spidey and His Amazing Friends, and they never even really made toys for two of the three villains that have been recurring since season 1.
My kids got into Super Kitties and we couldn’t buy them anything, not even a book, for over a year.
The Gabby’s Dollhouse movie came out less than a month ago, and the store shelves are completely empty of merchandise that was available earlier this year. Gabby Lego sets? Gone. The dollhouse and rooms? Not even space for it on the shelf of my local Target.
I wouldn’t say they could learn anything from the 90s; after all, it was those markets that led into today. It’s just that the profit motive has shifted. 30 years ago, Marvel spends a little money on an IP like Biker Mice from Mars, licenses it out to ABC to distribute and Hasbro for toy manufacturing, then ABC pockets the ad revenue while Hasbro shares climb come Christmas. Not defending the system, but at most levels there was incentive to make a product good enough to maintain hype.
Today, Disney produces Spidey and His Amazing Friends, and there is literally no financial incentive for it to be good, or even marketable. It’s streamed in-house on a subscription they know you have. The only competition for eyeballs is also a Disney Plus exclusive, so who cares as long as subs and usage times don’t drop? The toys are a wash; it’s 2025, your kid is more likely to have a smartphone in their hand than a toy. Better to invest in a freemium mobile game, or toss the character skins into a preexisting freemium game. Hell, even better, since they own the show and it’s competition, just throw everything in there. All Disney needs is the bare minimum product to keep up screentime; something they made easier on themselves by funding politicians that actively removed any and all public works to create or maintain anything else for kids to do. And the only reason they need to keep up screentime is that the real money maker now is collecting and selling user data to grow your speculative forecasts before the next quarterly. Who gives a shit selling toy manufacturing rights to Hasbro for $60 million over 3 years when you can grow stock shares by $12 billion for less than half the effort?
K-Pop Demon Hunters is another great example. They managed to get the Halloween costumes out in time, but some Barbie-sized dolls would be the biggest thing for Christmas this year if it existed. It’s like they don’t want money. It’s also like only the clothing companies are capable of pivoting fast enough.
I don’t think Spidey is a bad show. There’s effort there, and the soundtrack is aimed directly at millennial parents. It’s no Bluey, but it’s been a good way to get my kids interested in the same superheroes I like.
You’re probably right about kids wanting more screens than toys. That’s still crazy to me, because my wife and I aren’t especially strict parents, and it just hasn’t been difficult to keep the kids away from tablets. They just don’t know about it. They want to play with physical toys.
Sorry, I should have clarified: The lack of incentive is only economic. There are millions of good artists and writers that work every day of their lives to make things with beauty and meaning. What I’m criticizing is the companies themselves, not the creatives behind their products.
And good on you for keeping your kids screen-free! Genuinely good parenting.
I remember, I had a ton of the ThunderCats toys; for my brother, it was He-Man. Similar designs, both pretty cool.
I’m shocked at the absolute dearth of KPop Demon Hunters merch. Like, there’s almost none. I see a shirt every now and then. And they’re saying this is the new Frozen, especially for its songs? Someone messed up. Netflix made a ton of merch for Stranger Things… and that’s about it. I’ve seen a couple things for Squid Game. Apple TV is worse. They have stuff for Ted Lasso, but nothing for any of their best shows (Foundation, Severance, and Silo). It’s like the studios aren’t taking a chance on merch, and when something blows up, they’re afraid if they move late, the hype will blow over.
Meanwhile anime I’ve never heard of gets tons of merch, but anime is co-sponsored by merch companies anyway.
K-Pop Demon Hunters was a massive unexpected surprise for Netflix who had considered it a bit of mid-budget filler, and they had to scramble to get out a sing-along-a version, fly the vocalists in to do some appearances, and start the work on physical merch, most of which has months-long leadtime. Rest assured they will eventually run it as a huge franchise, and they’ll hype it in late 2026 when the merch comes in for christmas. Maybe a holiday special.
The irony is they’ve been desperate for a franchise to go alongside Stranger Things. They’ve mainly focused on IP, buying the Roald Dahl estate and making a big play on Addams Family, and in terms of original franchises they’ve only really had Bridgerton and Squid Game
Different kids like different things. Sometimes the same kids like different things. Kids are people and have opinions.
This article also seems to hinge on the idea that consumerism is the same as it was in the 20th century, and it just isn’t.
When I was a kid in the 80s and 90s, they made the toys first. There’d be a villain that showed up in exactly one episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and they’d already have a toy for it at Toys R Us.
Now my kids are three seasons deep into Spidey and His Amazing Friends, and they never even really made toys for two of the three villains that have been recurring since season 1.
My kids got into Super Kitties and we couldn’t buy them anything, not even a book, for over a year.
The Gabby’s Dollhouse movie came out less than a month ago, and the store shelves are completely empty of merchandise that was available earlier this year. Gabby Lego sets? Gone. The dollhouse and rooms? Not even space for it on the shelf of my local Target.
They could learn something from the 90s.
I wouldn’t say they could learn anything from the 90s; after all, it was those markets that led into today. It’s just that the profit motive has shifted. 30 years ago, Marvel spends a little money on an IP like Biker Mice from Mars, licenses it out to ABC to distribute and Hasbro for toy manufacturing, then ABC pockets the ad revenue while Hasbro shares climb come Christmas. Not defending the system, but at most levels there was incentive to make a product good enough to maintain hype.
Today, Disney produces Spidey and His Amazing Friends, and there is literally no financial incentive for it to be good, or even marketable. It’s streamed in-house on a subscription they know you have. The only competition for eyeballs is also a Disney Plus exclusive, so who cares as long as subs and usage times don’t drop? The toys are a wash; it’s 2025, your kid is more likely to have a smartphone in their hand than a toy. Better to invest in a freemium mobile game, or toss the character skins into a preexisting freemium game. Hell, even better, since they own the show and it’s competition, just throw everything in there. All Disney needs is the bare minimum product to keep up screentime; something they made easier on themselves by funding politicians that actively removed any and all public works to create or maintain anything else for kids to do. And the only reason they need to keep up screentime is that the real money maker now is collecting and selling user data to grow your speculative forecasts before the next quarterly. Who gives a shit selling toy manufacturing rights to Hasbro for $60 million over 3 years when you can grow stock shares by $12 billion for less than half the effort?
K-Pop Demon Hunters is another great example. They managed to get the Halloween costumes out in time, but some Barbie-sized dolls would be the biggest thing for Christmas this year if it existed. It’s like they don’t want money. It’s also like only the clothing companies are capable of pivoting fast enough.
I don’t think Spidey is a bad show. There’s effort there, and the soundtrack is aimed directly at millennial parents. It’s no Bluey, but it’s been a good way to get my kids interested in the same superheroes I like.
You’re probably right about kids wanting more screens than toys. That’s still crazy to me, because my wife and I aren’t especially strict parents, and it just hasn’t been difficult to keep the kids away from tablets. They just don’t know about it. They want to play with physical toys.
Sorry, I should have clarified: The lack of incentive is only economic. There are millions of good artists and writers that work every day of their lives to make things with beauty and meaning. What I’m criticizing is the companies themselves, not the creatives behind their products.
And good on you for keeping your kids screen-free! Genuinely good parenting.
I remember, I had a ton of the ThunderCats toys; for my brother, it was He-Man. Similar designs, both pretty cool.
I’m shocked at the absolute dearth of KPop Demon Hunters merch. Like, there’s almost none. I see a shirt every now and then. And they’re saying this is the new Frozen, especially for its songs? Someone messed up. Netflix made a ton of merch for Stranger Things… and that’s about it. I’ve seen a couple things for Squid Game. Apple TV is worse. They have stuff for Ted Lasso, but nothing for any of their best shows (Foundation, Severance, and Silo). It’s like the studios aren’t taking a chance on merch, and when something blows up, they’re afraid if they move late, the hype will blow over.
Meanwhile anime I’ve never heard of gets tons of merch, but anime is co-sponsored by merch companies anyway.
K-Pop Demon Hunters was a massive unexpected surprise for Netflix who had considered it a bit of mid-budget filler, and they had to scramble to get out a sing-along-a version, fly the vocalists in to do some appearances, and start the work on physical merch, most of which has months-long leadtime. Rest assured they will eventually run it as a huge franchise, and they’ll hype it in late 2026 when the merch comes in for christmas. Maybe a holiday special.
The irony is they’ve been desperate for a franchise to go alongside Stranger Things. They’ve mainly focused on IP, buying the Roald Dahl estate and making a big play on Addams Family, and in terms of original franchises they’ve only really had Bridgerton and Squid Game