Who's Winning the Toy Wars

6:00 AM PDT 8/9/2011 by Alex Ben Block

"Smurfs" scored big at the box office, but that was just the beginning of its revenue push as licensed merch becomes more critical and studios search for the secret to extending a franchise's shelf life.

Look for a crush of little blue characters -- say, a plush 14-inch talking Clumsy Smurf wearing a designer T-shirt -- to invade the holidays this year. As The Smurfs did better at the box office than anticipated, Smurf toys have been dancing into consumers' carts. "Smurfs is selling through very well," says Jeremy Padawer, executive vp marketing and business development at Jakks Pacific, the Malibu-based toy manufacturer with the master license for The Smurfs.