X Is For X-Men, X Box and X-Shot
X-Men
X-Men is the eighth highest grossing film series of all time with staggering total box office gross receipts topping $6billion. Superheroes like Wolverine have been a strong presence in the toy aisle since the original movie trilogy released between 2000 and 2006. At the time of writing there is speculation/reports of a reinvention Movie coming out of Marvel Studios…we’ll be watching with high anticipation for that if it happens!
Xbox
Microsoft’s Xbox was a massive disruptor when the first iteration launched way back in 2001. We’re now into the fourth ‘generation’ of this iconic video games console, with total console sales in excess of 160million over time. The impact Microsoft has thus had on the video game space is therefore massive. Aside from cannibalising toy sales due to kids putting Xbox consoles high up on their wish lists for Christmas, Xbox and Microsoft also own some key video gaming IP which has driven huge toy sales – not least of which would be Minecraft, acquired by Xbox in 2014, which has moved large quantities of toys off shelves in recent years.
X-Shot
X-Shot is the toy blaster brand owned by Zuru, a toy company originating from New Zealand with owned manufacturing facilities in China. “The brand website states the brand mission as offering value to our fans worldwide”, while delivering design excellence and market leading quality. In most toy retailers, where they have toy blasters, they tend to have two brands primarily – X-Shot & Nerf. Nerf’s massive global success is hard to compete with, but X-Shot manages to be a credible player with a broad range in a lot of retailers, despite the strength of the biggest brand in the category.
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