Toyetic is a term referring to the suitability of a media property, such as a cartoon or movie, for merchandisingtie-in lines of licensed toys, games and novelties. The term is attributed to Bernard Loomis, a toydevelopment executive for Kenner Toys, in discussing the opportunities for marketing the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, telling its producer Steven Spielberg that the movie wasn't "toyetic" enough, leading Loomis towards acquiring the lucrative license for the upcoming Star Wars properties.
History
The concept of toyetic works is stated to have come from Bernard Loomis in 1969, while working at Mattel. With the introduction of the Hot Wheels line of toy cars, Loomis proposed that they also developed a 30-minute show Hot Wheels as a means to promote the toys. The Federal Communications Commission, in reviewing the show, determined that the program needed to be treated as advertising, which affected the records of the network, forcing the show to be taken off the air within two years. Loomis later moved on to the Kenner division of General Mills; during this time, he had read about the upcoming Star Wars films, and positioned the company to produce toys based on the film. The move was considered highly successful, with over $100 million in annual toy sales following the release of the film. In the early 1980s, the FCC revised its rules on children's programming, specifically allowing for the use of "character marketing" where shows could employ fictional characters based on toys and other real-world objects without counting towards advertising. Loomis saw the same potential in the Strawberry Shortcake line of toys as he did for Star Wars, and was able to successfully produce a line of specials for Strawberry Shortcake under the less-restrictive FCC guidelines. Following on Loomis's success, toyetic shows became popular in the 1980s. This was aided by the introduction of cable television that allows for more airtime for new and repeat broadcasts of such shows. The number of toyetic shows waned after 1990 when the United States Congress passed the Children's Television Act which required content to include educational and instructional material for children, and targeted the type of commercial advertising that could accompany these shows.
Examples
Notable examples of toyetic properties include:
Batman & Robin: Toy companies were reportedly involved in pre-production. Director Joel Schumacher admitted that he was told by Warner executives to make Batman & Robin "more toyetic". Despite the film's disappointing critical and financial performance, toy revenue was so high that the studio produced more Batman films without Schumacher.
Star Wars: Although George Lucas wrote the Star Wars saga without considering the toyetic potentials of the film, he insisted that he would keep the merchandising rights before the first film was released. 20th Century-Fox underestimated the potential of the film and allowed George Lucas to do so, and the film turned out to be a toyetic phenomenon. The Star Wars films have spawned a massive merchandising empire, with everything from toys, action figures, and video games to non-toy merchandise, such as beer steins, spoons, and replicas of the lightsaber hilts.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Based on the 1984 comic series by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird of the same name, the television shows and movies were considered "extremely toyetic", as the toys were "visually appealing—tough yet huggable—and there are enough characters to drive collecting over time", according to Playmates Toyssenior vice president Karl Aaronian.
