By Dylan Desmaris

A year after the actors’ and writers’ strikes forced many film studios to pull out of Comic-Con International, the annual event returns to San Diego this week with added energy and a focus on evergreen brands. 

Comic-Con, which first launched in 1970, has for the past decade been a major destination for the announcement of new projects. But with pop culture taking a turn in recent years toward classic brands reinventing themselves for new audiences, this year’s Comic-Con will be as much about the tried and true as it is about new brands and film releases. 

Free-to-play virtual pet website Neopets is now freshly spun off from NetDragon. The platform’s popularity has risen and fallen sharply over the years as management changed multiple times since its founding in 1999. Now, Neopets is staking out prime booth space at Comic-Con to highlight licensing deals with PhatMojo (master toy), Upper Deck (trading cards), and G-Fuel (40-serving energy drink tub packaged with a 16-ounce tumbler). The platform boasts between 300,000 and 350,000 monthly active users, up from the 100,000 reported when new management took over in July 2023, according to Neopets CEO Dominic Law. It peaked in 2008-2010 with 150 million registered users. 

Playmates Toys, meanwhile, is relaunching versions of its 1988 and 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to mark the 40th anniversary of the comic book release. It also recently signed a licensing agreement for Power Rangers collectibles, marking the first time Hasbro has licensed out the brand since acquiring it from Saban Entertainment in 2018. Playmates’ Power Rangers, which will launch at retail in fall 2025, will be available in children’s and collector versions and feature “well-constructed figures at a better price than other collectible companies, including Hasbro,” said Jeff Trojan, VP of Marketing at Playmates. 

“Adults don’t age out of toys anymore because they can celebrate their fandom by putting the collectibles in their office or their home—something they didn’t do 20 to 30 years ago,” Trojan said. “Whatever came out in the 1980s or 1990s is still viable. There used to be years where Walmart wouldn’t talk about collectibles and toys were a loss leader with a small section during the holidays. Now, they talk about it and have a section dedicated to the [collectible] category.” 

Some franchises that will be front and center at Comic-Con this week—like Star Wars and Harry Potter—have seen toy sales slow slightly this year, retailers and licensees said. The Noble Collection’s sales of Harry Potter products, including wands, have been “a bit challenged,” according to Julian Montoya, Senior VP at The Noble Collection. But that business is expected to bounce back with the release of new content, including a 10-part TV series on HBO and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max in 2026. As a hedge against those slowing sales, Noble is focusing on Universal Pictures’ upcoming film Wicked (November 22) with products set to hit retail floors in early October. 

“The children’s business seems to be down with respect to Star Wars and Marvel, but the collector business is still healthy,” Montoya said. “All the Star Wars content coming out seems geared more toward the [adult] fans and it is not really bringing new children into the property. But like any of these brands, there are ebbs and flows to the business.” 

Those ebbs and flows will be on display at Comic-Con, with speculation around whether this year’s event will match the 135,000 attendees it attracted in 2022, the year before the writers and actors’ strike. The show, which runs July 25 to July 28, is expected to have a range of brands featured in the legendary Hall H, which contains a 64,842-square-foot stage. Among the properties scheduled to be there are Hasbro’s Transformers, Marvel’s Deadpool and Wolverine, and Aniplex’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. 

Many companies, including Hasbro, will feature multiple IPs at the event. Hasbro is spotlighting nostalgia with its lineup, which includes Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, G.I Joe, Beyblade, and the Disney-licensed Star Wars and Marvel brands. Retailer Hot Topic’s Her Universe will feature its 10th annual fashion show and Warner Bros. Discovery will be at the event to promote the new Superman film with a collectible S-Shield as it is featured in the upcoming movie (set to be released in 2025). Warner Bros. Discovery will also highlight merchandise for the upcoming animated series Creative Commandos, which will be released on Max and features a black opps team of monsters.  

And while many brand owners are focused on spotlighting anniversaries to appeal to adult fans as well as reinventing classic brands to connect with younger consumers, this focus on evergreen properties isn’t a guarantee.   

“Not everything from the past is primed for a comeback, so to a certain level it is what makes the most business sense for merchandisers and manufacturers,” Trojan said.