Whenever anything becomes popular, "Cottage Industries" (An industry where the creation of products and services is home-based, rather than factory-based) pop up around the thing that is popular. I thought it would be interesting to discuss the many Cottage Industries that have developed around the popularity of Disney Pixar's Cars. Some make a few hundred dollars, while others may make tens of thousands of dollars!
A first example would be Cars blogs and collector web sites. Most are done out of pure joy and rarely make money. If they do, it is through Google AdSense or other ad based revenue.
Another example is Card Guards that were made to protect your die cast toys in their original packaging. These Card Guards keep the cardboard from becoming dog eared, bent and otherwise damaged.
We've also seen people making Cars Display Cases primarily out of plexi-glass that hold various numbers of Cars for display and protection.
We are all highly aware of people selling all sorts of Cars merchandise from the die cast toys to posters on Ebay. The "Secondary Market" is always critical to sustaining collector interest and product longevity.
Finally, we've seen people making what many refer to as "Customs," which I've written about at length. Those I feel are legal, and those I've pointed out infringe on copyrights.
Just how long these "Cottage Industries" generate profits, is determined by the size and popularity of the Primary Industry. Once the Primary Industry is damaged, or the consumer loses interest, you can expect to see the Cottage Industries die very quickly.
The Cars "Cottage Industries" have done fair to poor. No one is making a killing on these things. But, who knows what is around the corner!
http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com
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