Toyetic
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Toyetic is a term for an element (either a fictional character, a locale, or an object) from a new or preexisting toyline that can be easily marketed in other mediums such as motion pictures, television shows, video games, or comics, among other mediums and vice-versa.
For example, Saturday morning cartoons in the early 1980s and 1990s were well known for this practice, in particular with shows such as Pound Puppies, My Pet Monster, Rubik, the Amazing Cube, Rude Dog and the Dweebs, and countless others. While some cultures do not see this practice as significant (the pop culture of Japan, for instance, is a commonplace location for toyetic items), some cultures, mostly Western cultures like the United States, consider it a controversial and growing problem.
Though it is popularly believed that the term was coined on the cartoon series Freakazoid, the word was actually coined back in 1977 when Kenner Toys advertising and development executive Bernard Loomis discussed the marketability of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a film in pre-production by the future executive producer of Freakazoid, Steven Spielberg. Loomis told him that Spielberg's Close Encounters sounded great, but it wasn't "toyetic." Spielberg conceded and told Loomis to license the Star Wars property, made by his friend George Lucas, instead, which Loomis later did.[1] The anecdote later appeared in print in a Washington Post article later that year.
Some companies, such as the Sanrio Corporation, specialize in creating toyetic properties such as Hello Kitty and her friends.
Notable examples of "toyetic" properties include:
- Hot Wheels: The first known television series to be produced to promote a toyline, these toys were featured in a 1969 animated series conceived by Mattel exec Bernard Loomis that led to new FCC rules on Saturday morning cartoons.
- Transformers: Widely credited for jump-starting the boom of mid-1980s toy/TV/movie tie-in series aimed at boys aged 7-13.
- Pokémon: Another controversial toyetic property, due to some of the instances that have surrounded the anime series, as well as unintended cultural offenses.
- Star Wars: Before the first movie was finished, Fox underestimated the toyetic potential of the characters and allowed George Lucas to keep the rights of what became a new toy phenomenon. The six films have spawned a massive merchandizing empire, with everything from toys, action figures and video games to even beer steins, spoons and replicas of the lightsaber handles.
- He-Man: The television series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, as well as all characters in it and in its spinoff She-Ra, Princess of Power, were created to promote various Masters of the Universe toylines. Many characters, like most of She-Ra foes, were first toys before they appeared onscreen, and as a result, many characters appear vastly different from the toys supposedly based on them.
- Power Rangers: The hero, villain, and robot designs are designed by toy company Bandai, a major sponsor of the Super Sentai shows in Japan filmed by Toei, which the Power Rangers series is adapted from. This is a case of a toy company creating a show in order to sell toys related to the show. Commercials for the toys are shown during the Super Sentai program's commercial breaks, a practice which would not be allowed in American television broadcast for Power Rangers as this would make the show a program length commercial.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The properity originally started as a comic book created by by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in 1984. The property was adapted into a 1987 animated series produced by Fred Wolf Films. In 1988 Playmates Toys signed a contract to make toys of the series. The toyline was made up of characters from the films and cartoon franchises. The toyline was scaled back in 1993 due to the waning popularity of the television series and only focused on figures of the Turtles, Splinter, and Shredder. In 2003, with the debut of a new television series produced by 4Kids Entertainment, the toyline was again expanded.
- Batman & Robin: According to a November 14, 2000 article,[2] as well as the DVD commentary and the documentary Shadows of the Bat: Batman Unbound (on disc 2 of the Special Edition DVD set), director Joel Schumacher admitted that he was told by Warner executives to make Batman & Robin "more toyetic."
- G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6: Two toylines from Hasbro which were accompanied by an animated TV series used to promote the toyline.
