Dark Spidey not only gives "Spider-Man 3" a new twist, he gives the toy makers and sea of other sellers something fresh to market.

	The Spider-Smart Learning Laptop, billed as a new learning aid for children 5 years and older, is among the barrage of products hitting the market. Click photo for larger image.

That's why a Spider-Man action figure, wearing his black suit as he battles Sandman, can be found on store shelves near web blasters, attack figures which "leak ooze," a Mr. Potato Head called Spidey Spud and a soft Spider-Man doll that talks when you squeeze his chest or right hand and comes with a blue blanket.

Not to mention: a Spi-Dog that allows users to play their MP3 music through its speaker; collectible toys available at Burger King; T-shirts with a dozen designs from 80stees.com; and a Spider-Smart Learning Laptop from a company called KIDdesigns and targeted at children 5 and older.

We could eat up a chunk of newspaper real estate listing all the tie-ins swinging our way. Movie merchandise, after all, is big business.

In 2006, retail sales of licensed merchandise in the United States and Canada hit $71.25 billion, according to The Licensing Letter, an executive newsletter covering the consumer-product licensing business.

The "entertainment/character" segment, which includes film, TV and animated characters, accounted for roughly $12.7 billion of that total, executive editor Marty Brochstein said this week from New York.

Taking the largest slice: licensing of corporate brands and trademarks, such as Harley-Davidson apparel or Mr. Clean mops. In second place, a subject close to Pittsburghers' hearts: sports. Entertainment/character was third.

Although Brochstein isn't in the prediction business, he figures "Spider-Man 3" will be among the biggest licenses of the summer. "Generally, there's a bit of a slippage from the first one to the sequel, to the sequel to the sequel, because a certain portion of the audience isn't going to buy more."

However, he added, "It will be interesting to see how consumers react to the black version of the Spider-Man persona. I would expect it to be one of the big ones of the summer. There's no reason to think that it wouldn't."

As the cuddly Spidey with the blankie indicates, there are toys for children too young to see (or appreciate) the 140-minute movie rated PG-13.

"Even if they are not going to go to the movie, there's enough marketing around them that they're conscious of the character, and the character is one of these accessible sorts of things," Brochstein says. "He's not overly violent. Tobey Maguire is kind of an everyday kind of guy. So's Peter Parker," he adds, switching to the character's name.

Spidey may be the first movie out of the summer gate, but it won't be the only one vying for attention and dollars.

The third installments of "Shrek" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" will be, too, along with "Transformers," which started life as a line of toys before inspiring a host of TV shows. A fifth "Harry Potter" is due, along with the big-screen debut of "The Simpsons."

"You go back a decade or so and there were one, maybe two, 'tentpole' movies per summer. Now, you have three in May," Brochstein says of the releases the studios hope will be blockbusters propping up the box office.

"It's harder for a single movie or character to maintain share of mind for as long as they used to, because there's always something new coming down the pike and something else beckoning for the wallet."

Sequels are a blessing and a curse, in that they return familiar characters such as Spidey, Shrek and Jack Sparrow, but there's less mystery attached to them, too.

Which leads back to timing and marketing expert Jack Trout who says, "Better to be first than to be better."

However, he thinks "Spider-Man" is the best franchise in the business. "I would say this is numero uno," the president of Trout & Partners, a marketing strategy firm based in Old Greenwich, Conn., said by phone.

"This has got a lot of play, especially to the younger generation. The nice thing about Spider-Man, he plays well to the 5-year-olds, the 6-year-olds, the 7-year-olds. So, in a way, you have a new market. The older kids have done their Spidey thing but I think the younger kids are just moving into your marketplace, they want the pajamas and they want the toys."

Trout asks, "Is that going to do big giant numbers? I don't know. There's a lot of stuff out there."

Some franchises, such as "Star Wars," have loads of characters and hardware, such as spaceships, and inspire adult collectors as well as children. But the combination of a known franchise and some new wrinkles -- Spidey's black outfit, fresh villains in Sandman and Venom -- can only help.

Just as DVD sales are crucial to a movie's income, so is merchandising.

"Disney, of course, is the granddaddy of all merchandising. Disney has really made an enormous living off of their characters over the years," Trout says. "They've written the book on this thing, and they have ongoing vehicles such as Disney World, where they can push their merchandise, which the other guys don't have."

Disney parks boast "Pirates of the Caribbean" attractions, for starters.

"Overall, in terms of totals, you got to give Disney the nod. ... And it continues, because it's part of Disney World. But at the same time, it's not an automatic thing," as some previous marketing disasters have proven.

"If the movie doesn't do well, the stuff doesn't do well. Therein lies the trap," Trout says. "You can't beat a great movie."

Or resuscitate a bad one.