A new breed of toys?

[Michael Pajaro]

One strange thing about potentially having multiple Knight Rider projects at the same time will be with the merchandising. I don't think NBC's TV-movie will generate any new toys (and keep in mind, at this point NBC hasn't committed to a new series yet). But if it does become a series, then we can expect some new models, shirts, etc. The movie will certainly have its own set of merchandise. And I think there will always be a place for the retro toys of KITT as the classic 82 Trans Am.

This is kind of new territory. Although there were mulitple Star Trek series, they were all from the same studio and all took place in the same universe. With Knight Rider, we potentially have 3 different vehicle designs to deal with. Because there will be different studios involved, there may be seperate toy companies and there wouldn't be just one set of Knight Rider toys.

Should be interesting to see if the projects compliment eachother or compete against eachother. Either way, I expect I'll be spending a lot of money at Toys 'R Us over the next couple of years.

[Lost Knight]

I don't think a television pilot in and of itself would be enough to warrant a line of toys. But I do think a major motion picture certainly would. And let's keep in mind that a model of the Knight 4000 from Knight Rider 2000 was produced, so perhaps the same could come from this TV pilot, but I doubt we'd get anything much more. Now, if a series does indeed develop, I'm pretty confident that it will have it's own toy line (just like the original series did) because if for no better reason, history repeats itself.

As for Glen's film having a toy line of it's own, I think they'd be separate entities just like the projects themselves. I would imagine that since Glen owns the film rights that he is in all control of any potential toy lines that would develop from his movie. (Am I right, Victor?) I can't really use previous toy lines as examples here like, say, Spawn, because I can't think of any case off the top of my head where feature films and television series of the same franchise were in competition with each other.

[FuzzieDice]

I haven't even finished the KITT, KARR and KIFT models I already have. But hey, I'd get another model, and even a t-shirt or two if I can afford. I hope they have more things too - like KR iPods (like they did with U2 but maybe they could build in a scanner or something), and who knows what else now that we have higher technology. Heck, maybe even new KR computer themes (boot up talking like KITT, etc.) I'm sure the fan base will keep everyone happy even if there isn't many toys / merchandise. I can imagine the fan art and fanfic that will be cropping up!

But yeah, I can't wait to see what stuff they'll have out. I hope it'll be big like it was in the 80s.

[sarfraz]

I'm betting on if the series takes off, we'll see quite abit of merchandising. NBC/Universal would be mad not to cash in on it. The toy possibilities of morphing KITT and enemy vehicles is pretty endless as are any base/command units that would house any of the teams vehicles....see where I'm going with this. If you take the Batman toys as an example. It is just one figure, but theres loads of iterations based on specific actions/themes along with base sets.....anyway going off on a tangent but you get the idea.

I see the movie merchandising being more upmarket (ala Batman begins) with statues, scaled-vehicles and what not. They obviously be a cross-over but I doubt it'll be that much considering tone of the two competing KR projects.

Speaking of different toy companies and designs, Transformers has a rediculous number of toylines. Not all are part of the Hasbro/Takara-Tomy lineup. Collectors for TF (like me) tend to pick and choose what they want. Some stick exclusively with the old school, some the new and many mix it up. The market is so saturated that you'll find collections of only Optimus Prime figures.....theres that many!!

Sarfraz

[Victor Kros]

Toys are always fun, I still have the 82 Kenner Talking K.I.T.T. up in my closet next to my collection of other movie cars like the Batmobiles from the Batman films (all of them, sans Batman Begins), Ecto I, M.A.S.K., etc.

As far as merchandising goes here is my opinion about it. I know that Glen has a great deal regarding merchandising rights and how much he profits from every bit sold. When he did Knight Rider back in the 80s he was given an unheard of deal that gave him 50% of everything made off merchandise, a good deal of his money today comes from that alone.

I would venture that Universal will indeed make toys for their tv show simply because the theme parks will need things to sell. Just like in the 80s when KITT was on display, I wouldn't be surprised if the cars from the pilot will find their way in the spotlight as well.

Their focus in the mean time is primarily on the Harry Potter theme park rights they've recently attained which will be taking over the Universal parks by storm next year, especially in Florida.

These days merchandising is BIG business. Even a crappy sequel can recover from its loses in the theaters by its DVD, apparel, and toy sales alone.

We'll see what the future brings us but I've already given Glen some ideas to use certain props and KITT sequences in the script that would warrant a series of KITT's in different modes for merchandising possibilities.

With great companies like Master Replicas, Hasbro, and Gentle Giant the possibilies are endless and exciting to explore.

=VK=

[KITTfan]

Oh yes, I'd love to buy new Knight Rider merchandise, scalemodels of the new KITT etc. Maybe there would be even remakes of the original KITT models too, would like to see Michael Knight figurine too. Especially now that ERTL has stopped making diecast models and Aoshima's 1/43 KR models are pretty much available only in ebay. Dare I even give a suggestion that we'd get KITT model made by Autoart, Kyosho or Minichamps? These companies are famous for accuracy and attention to detail in scale models

[sarfraz]

Agreed, the difference between ERTL (Joyride) and AutoArt really is embarassing. I would however put good money on Aoshima if they were allowed to make their own 1/18 KITT. The sharp lines of the 1/43 put the ERTL 1/18 to shame....but hey thats just me!

Victor, I see your on the right track with companies like Master Replica......high-spec limited peices. I would also like to say Hasbro have really upped their game on the new Transformer Movie toys. The techniques they used on the auto-morph features are really cool, especially on the 08 Deluxe Concept Bumblebee.....

Sarfraz