Creative license

With a summer of blockbuster movies ahead, followed by the spike in dress up sales for Halloween in October, there’s lots of new and exciting licensed ranges hitting party retailers in the coming months. However classic brands also continue to do well across the board, offering a wide range to choose from.

Sergio Battaner, sales and marketing director at Palmer Agencies is looking forward to one movie release in particular: “Barbie, the Movie costumes are part of Palmer Agencies’ offer for the year. The must-have costumes are part of the InSpirit Designs portfolio and we are thrilled to have such an outstanding and iconic licence.”

As well as the iconic Barbie jumpsuit costume, Palmer has a range of other options. Sergio continues: “The Cowgirl and Cowboy outfits and the iconic, bright and completely neon spandex roller blade couples costumes are simply superb. The must-see movie of the year has its licensed costumes at Palmer Agencies.”

On the other side of the scale at Palmer is the Scream license. Sergio tells us: “The aftermath of Scream VI, the most successful film in this iconic Halloween saga, comes with the most complete offering in the European continent for licensed Ghost Face merchandise at Palmer Agencies. “Independents and specialists will not be disappointed with the wide range of items available, but they may be quite unhappy if they leave pre-ordering for too long and find some of the Ghost key lines are no longer available as they will be sold out.”

For Smiffys, retro brands are doing well.

Elliott Peckett, director, comments: “Our classic licensed product ranges continue to be top sellers for us year after year, with Top Gun, Ghostbusters and Grease amongst the top spots. These well-known classics are full of nostalgia and iconic looks. For the key Halloween season, our new Beetlejuice, A Nightmare on Elm Street and IT ranges are top sellers. Again, these licences have a retro, nostalgic feel.”

Key children’s ranges are also doing well. Elliott continues: “Our kids’ licences are in demand year-round, such as The Gruffalo, L.O.L. Surprise, Teletubbies, and Gigantosaurus, as children continue to bring characters to life through imaginative play at home.”

Another brand which has already reached the status of evergreen, is Frozen. Julie Dommett, head of marketing at Pioneer Europe, says: “Can you believe it’s been 10 years since the launch of the very first Disney Frozen film? The Disney

Frozen franchise has become an evergreen all-time favourite among young and not-so-young fans alike. Qualatex has recently updated its hugely popular Disney Frozen Bubble Balloon design, featuring the main characters, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and of course the super-cute Olaf. Coordinating latex balloons are also available.”

Licences aimed at girls are strong for Rubies at the moment. Justin McGiffin, head of licensing, explains: “It’s certainly a girl power moment for Rubies with an incredible range of dressup from the biggest tentpole moments in pop culture and entertainment. Our Halloween line-up is looking formidable, with licences including Wednesday, M3gan and Monster High.

“On the other hand, our boys business remains robust with Masters of the Universe, our new Darth Vader costume, which includes a light sabre and the blockbuster hit of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse. We also have a growing portfolio of preschool ranges lead by Spidey and His Amazing Friends.

“We are seeing a steady growth with a good combination of core ranges and theatrical and streaming releases to refresh the ranges.

“For the wider licensing industry, there has been a shift recently towards exploring branded online opportunities including Pudgy Penguins and Super Smashling Pinata.”

Current events provide boosts in sales for Smiffys’ licensed ranges, as Elliott tells us: “Our Elton John costume collection has been soaring in popularity this year, as the man himself embarked on his final tour ending at Glastonbury last month. We spotted our sequin embellished jumpsuits across social media.”

Some are seeing a drop in demand for certain items, so licences are key to keeping ranges relevant. Mel Beer, group licensing director, Amscan, comments: “With customers having less money in their pockets to buy non-essential items, we are seeing an inevitable drop in basket spend for balloons, party and dress-up items, so it’s important we tailor our ranges to the core must-have products and focus on the must-have licences at the right price for consumers.

“We’ve got lots of design refreshes currently in development for favourites such as Barbie, Miraculous, Thomas, Harry Potter, TMNT, Elf on the Shelf and more, and some new licences joining the portfolio for 2024 include Gabby’s Dollhouse, Monster High, Hot Wheels, Addams Family, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Tom Gates, HP Sauce and Winx – with lots more currently in discussion.

“We’ve also expanded our Disney/Marvel/Lucas foil balloon offering with the introduction of Disney Classics to celebrate Disney’s 100th year, introduced Spidey & His Amazing Friends for preschool boys, the new Little Mermaid movie tie-in, with an updated Nightmare before Christmas Airloonz for the 30th year. Lots more designs are planned across the Disney portfolio for 2024, including Groot, Stitch and Star Wars Young Jedi Knights.”

To sum up, Elliott explains what consumers are looking for from licensed products: “Customers are looking for both authenticity and quality in licensed costumes, as they trust the well-known brands to be the real deal. Our licensed portfolio continues to grow at Smiffys, as brands and our retail customers realise the demand for costumes year-round, as well as key seasons such as Halloween.”

Above: Amscan’s new Addams Family range features five different character styles with something for all the family. Separate into single costumes with Fester, or pair as couples styles in Wednesday and Pugsley, or Morticia and Gomez, or simply have a family affair and all join in the theme.

Below left: IT is a top seller for Smiffys during the key Halloween season.

Below: The Ghost Face VI adult costume from Palmer Agencies is available as a one size fits most and includes dark hooded robe, matching belt and gloves and the very special Scream VI updated mask on this character – the icon of Halloween.

Qualatex has recently updated its popular Disney Frozen Bubble Balloon design.