Banbotoys, or how to succeed in football merchandising: "The best-selling one is Lamine."
"We're big football fans, and we saw that the types of footballer figurines available were rather precarious and bore no resemblance to the players. We spoke with an English company and began distributing the figurines in Spain. We noticed an interest in the market, and from there we spoke with clubs about developing our own action figures." These were the beginnings of Banbotoys , a Catalan company that sells official football figures, according to its CEO and co-founder, Miquel Barti .
Today, after a period of these beginnings, Miquel Barti and Òscar Bosch —the founders—can happily celebrate their consolidation in the licensed toy market. They closed 2024 with 540,000 units sold and are aiming to reach 800,000 this year, with a turnover of €3.5 million. By 2026, the year of the next World Cup, they expect €5 million.
It's a success story: from feeling like the products on offer were failing to creating their own and succeeding. " Banbotoys started with a couple of fans who wanted to find player merchandise because there were practically none on the market. What was available were for the clubs, not the players, and football these days is not so much about teams but about footballers: you can be a Real Madrid fan and buy a Lamine Yamal figure because he's Yamal and has a huge impact," explains Miquel . His short-term goal is to focus solely on the world of football, and in the future perhaps open up to other types of licenses from other sports, as well as from the entertainment world.
They currently operate in 36 different countries with distributors, selling their toys in places like the United States, Mexico, Panama, Argentina, Dubai, Romania, South Africa... Nationally, the best-selling product is the 20 cm figure of Lamine Yamal , followed by Mbappé , and internationally, the lead is held by Messi , leaving second place to Ronaldo .
Beyond all the work behind it, Miquel believes their success came from "finding a quality product that appeals to both children and adults. The joints are good, the player looks very similar, and it's an official product."
THE CREATIONThe beginnings were "complicated." Miquel and Òscar spoke with different manufacturers about the product design, which then went through the approval of each club, a slow and costly process because "this was like a hobby, it wasn't a profitable business, so we did it when we could and it took time," says Miquel . It wasn't until 2021, after internal problems, that they restarted the project. "The capitalist partners" came in and sought licenses, managing to close deals with Barça, Betis, and five Premier League teams. This was also helped by the change of factory they made to a much larger one in China (their figures are developed in Barcelona, and the manufacturing, assembly, and preparation of orders are done in that East Asian country).
Having the licenses, which allow us to sell the official product, is "the most important thing in the business, first and foremost: without licenses, there's no brand, and without brand, there's no licenses. We need them no matter what," the CEO emphasizes.
The first of these agreements was with FC Barcelona, "because we're in Barcelona and yes, we're culés... But we're also delighted that Mbappé is selling a lot," he admits with a laugh. They started with the Blaugrana club, which opened the door for them to acquire other licenses.
These agreements with the teams weren't easy, "firstly because they're not cheap," and also because "you have to keep insisting, presenting the product to them... It's a difficult negotiation, and some are more flexible than others. In addition, they require a minimum of five players per team, which means more investment, more product approvals, and a more laborious process. We also encountered some clubs that refused." Their goal is 50 licenses, with 25 for football and then other sports and personalities.
FUTURE PLANSBanbotoys is already working on expansion plans for 2026—the year of the World Cup—and is in negotiations to secure eight or ten national team licenses. Their long-term goals include expanding the company, obtaining more licenses in the world of soccer and other sports, and developing new products.
Regarding these new features, Miquel explains three in particular. To start, they'll aim for greater mobility in the figures, allowing them, for example, "to shoot. It will automatically have a system where you hit it on the knee and it shoots the ball," seeking greater interaction between the figure and the end consumer. Secondly, they're developing a smaller figure, about 10 centimeters tall, for the South American and Asian markets. Finally, they'll also test a collector's item: "a figure that costs more than 50 or 60 euros that's more realistic, with more articulations... although this is part of the growth plan for next year."
The entrepreneurs' dream is to become a leader in the world of collectible soccer toys, thus consolidating their position in the sector. Banbotoys currently sells in official team stores, toy stores, and online. They recently opened their first store in Barcelona, serving as a showroom , and the idea is to franchise the "Banbo Store" —as they call it—around the world. In addition to the famous figurines, the store also features crests, buses, 3D stadiums, and a wide range of merchandise for soccer fans.
elmundo
