davidd's A Doll A Day Challenge 2020

[davidd]

13 February – 'Frozen II' dolls displace 'Harry Potter' figures on the shelf at Walmart

Recently, in the comments at another topic, we were discussing whether the appeal of Harry Potter would endure long-term. Today I see that Disney Frozen II figures have completely displaced the Harry Potter dolls at Walmart. The Potter figures have not merely been moved, they are gone, the shelf space now being occupied by Frozen merchandise. All I could find of Harry Potter were a couple of accessory packs that had been overlooked on an adjacent shelf.

This is not necessarily indicative of a declining appeal of the Harry Potter franchise as a whole, but it does suggest that interest in Harry Potter among children in the playline doll demographic has largely disappeared.

Of course, the Harry Potter dolls were limited in that you had a handful of core characters dressed in their school uniforms and... well, that was about it. Not a lot of spin-off and upsell options there.

Elsa from Frozen also seems to have basically one outfit, her blue gown, so the approach seems to be to issue the dolls in a variety of sizes and in styles ranging from "realistic" to "cartoonish and cuddly."