With the return of Superman to the big screen, toymakers and other licensors are going completely crazy aiming for the cashgrab of steel. At Toy Fair this week, Mattel introduced what will likely be this summer’s version of Hulk/Thing Hands - the Superman Inflato Suit. Not that it’s anything new - I remember the advertisements for shirt-busting Hulk muscles in my comics back in the day - but it’s damn likely to fly off the shelves this summer and next Christmas.

“When we did our testing, it was all about transformation and kids wanting to become Superman,” said Geoff Walker, vp-marketing for Mattel Brands. “We took a different path before—we geared Superman up with armor—but what kids really want is to have Superman’s powers.”

Or, as DC Comics’ Rubin put it, “What kid doesn’t put a towel around his or her shoulders and jump off the couch and pretend to be Superman?”

Role play has always been a popular, developmentally important play pattern. Kids begin to understand the concept of pretending at about age 3, said the Toy Industry Association’s trend specialist Reyne Rice, who agrees with Frazier that kids wean themselves off this type of play after age eight or so, around the time many come down with iPoditis.

For more Superman Returns-centric Toy Fair coverage, click here.

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