Nintendo Characters Add Collectibility to Sports Helmets

CRP/NW in Seattle may start a new collectibles category when it introduces its line of Nintendo Safety Sports Helmets this month. The helmets feature colorful graphics based on popular video games and are packaged in durable boxes that serve as P-O-P advertising."The graphics on the packages themselves are stunning, the visibility factor is huge," says Kevin McCoy, ceo for the firm. "That's why we designed the package that way -- as a point-of-purchase piece itself to showcase the product."The packaging was designed and manufactured in-house by The Corporate Image, a subsidiary of CRP/NW. McCoy explains that the boxes will be placed on shelves instead of on a freestanding display. "The difference is that you see this product because of the three exclusive boxes we have -- it just lights up the shelves because they're so colorful and visible."The packages are die cut and UV coated on 24-point board with four-color process printing. McCoy says the coating enhances the durability of the packages. "When people are handling boxes at the store level, they have a tendency to rip the packaging. This makes it a little more difficult because the coating plasticizes the package."The helmets will also be supported by a variety of in-store promotional pieces, including 40,000 shelf talkers, 100,000 danglers and 20,000 22-inch by 28-inch interior and window posters.The materials will be supplied to mass merchants and independent bicycle dealers in time for the big spring push for the helmets, McCoy says. "Our intention is to create a helmet for each hot new game Nintendo brings to the market."This approach does more than provide attractive, licensed properties for the helmets, he adds. "We have found through focus groups that the market for these helmets is strong among boys aged 9 to 17, the core of the video-game market," he says. "These kids thought the helmets would be perceived as collectible, creating a continuity buying pattern. The focus groups showed that the kids would be interested in buying all of the helmets, not just one for use."Three helmets currently are in production: Killer Instinct, Donkey Kong and Mario World. Packaging for each helmet reflects the individual product graphics and offers additional promotional selling power, McCoy notes. He envisions producing about four different helmets per year, based on results from previous versions and the popularity of new video games.The firm's Corporate Image subsidiary also does work for Nintendo and Wizards of the Coast, makers of the Magic card game. "It's a perfect fit for this type of approach to market, and we're very excited about the possibilities."To expand on those, McCoy is already working on a follow-up line. He's commissioned three "nouveau art" painters in New York to create designs for "urban helmets." These represent the painters' interpretations of helmet art. He plans to offer them to elite catalogs as collectible artwork, producing them as a limited edition that would come with a certificate of authenticity and some background on the artist."It's a neat idea, and I've already got two of the paintings in-house," he says. "They're going to be dynamite."

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