Papo and Schleich Kick Hasbro off the Shelf

“It is incredible to see the amount of involvement and imagination kids put into [Papo].” — Lee Ann Stern, Village Toy Shop

With reporting by regional correspondents Pennie Hoover and Marie Rossiter.

Boys and dads sweep shelves clear of Papo and Schleich knights, and then drop to the floor for a jousting match before bringing the figures home, 13 of 19 retailers told TDmonthly Magazine. The emptied space isn’t being filled by traditional licensed figures, though — Batman and Spider-Man have been mostly banned to the big box stores, they said. And in one Southern town, make-your-own Stikfas (ToyShow) figures are a hit with boys age 9 to 18.

“There has been movement to unlicensed products lately,” Laura Brauer, general manager for Cloud Nine Toys in Sudbury, Mass., told TDmonthly. She said that licensed figures had dominated in previous years, owing to blockbuster movie releases. But this year, “Sales are about 50/50 for the licensed products versus unlicensed.”

“We only carry a small amount of licensed figures: Batman and Super-Man, mostly,” agreed Lee Ann Stern, general manager of Village Toy Shop in North Easton, Mass.

“I found Papo … maybe three years ago, and it was an immediate hit,” said Trish Garlock, owner of Treasured Child in La Grange, Ky.“Four-year-olds love them and the tweens don’t play, but they display and collect.”

“Papo sets — especially the knights — are huge,” added Stern. “It is incredible to see the amount of involvement and imagination kids put into this item.”

“We’ve come out with 85 new figures this year, and they’ve all been received positively,” said Larry Hotaling, president of Hotaling Imports (ToyShow), which distributes Papo in the United States. “We’ve developed quite a following in our four and a half years on the market.”

Papo’s success has inspired other companies, including Schleich and Safari Ltd (ToyShow). At the American International Toy Fair 2006, German company Bullyland Toys introduced a new line of knights and dragons.

“Schleich is doing a nice job offering collections,” said Brauer. “There’s more play value and kids can keep building on it.” Michele and Ken Gietz, owners of Where’d You Get That? in Williamstown, Mass, agreed.

At Dolls by Jerree in Kingsport, Tenn., kids exercise their imaginations even more by making their own Stikfas action figures, said Neysa Lamon, the owner’s daughter and co-worker. “We just started carrying Stikfas this year and they’re doing great with 9- to 18-year-olds.”

Customers decorate the figures with paint and markers, or even add features with Sculpey modeling clay and fire them in a conventional oven. During her interview, a 10-year-old boy came into Lamon’s store asking to buy more Stikfas. (view article)

Only two toy stores — both from the Deep South — carried licensed action figures exclusively. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and Power Rangers were their best sellers.

Jeff Gurley, owner of The Lollipop Shop in Jonesborough, Tenn., sells a lot of Batman, but it’s all retro: a die-cast Batmobile and articulated die-cast Batman and Robin figures by Corgi.

“They always do well, with or without a movie,” he told TDmonthly. His customers for the toys are 60 percent men and 40 percent boys.

Garlock, however, is not a licensed action-figure fan: “If you see it advertised on TV, I’m not going to have it,” she stressed. “I tried Lord of the Rings and that was a disaster.”

Lamon is hoping for better luck with the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars figures by Sideshow Collectibles (ToyShow).

“Any of the McFarlane lines do really well: Twisted Fairy Tales, Dragons,” added Dawn Fischer, owner of Borderland Relics in Mobile, Ala. “It’s kind of hard to do action figures, since it’s so hard to compete with Wal-Mart. Hobby stores have to be more eclectic.”

Here are some of the eclectic knights and other figures that retailers said are pushing the Dark Knight and his cohort out of specialty stores: