The basic idea behind the "Toys to Life" concept is that the consumer purchases a character figurine in-store. The figurine is then activated at home with a base platform enabling the user to play through a virtual world (game) as that character. Essentially, the value in the purchase is in the new digital content.
What makes this an interesting concept is that it creates a marriage between the ease of digital content delivery (downloading media) and the desire many consumers have to hold something tangible in their hands.
Activision and Disney have provided something tangible that kids can put on display in their rooms or show off in school. Parents and family can wrap a gift with actual dimensions beyond that of a gift card. Yet, these figurines are merely a 'place holder' for the digital content.
Why is this such an important thing for media companies?
Believe it or not, there are video game consumers that are willing to part with a few dollars just to change the skin (clothing) for an in-game character; even though, often, nothing changes functionally within the game itself. But, that only makes a select percentage of the target audience.
How can media industries adapt the "Toys to Life" model in order to target more of their adult demographic?
I've seen attempts made to provide 'uber' editions of your favorite movie with pewter figures and full sized posters included in steel, holographic, 3D embossed case, but it doesn't seem to reached the same level of mass appeal and acceptance as "Toys to Life"...
... I think media companies are missing out on something big. It is just going to take a couple of clever people to figure out how to implement it.
