Avengers movie and Avengers Toys

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the the upcoming Avengers movie. To say I am quite excited could be one of the understatements of the year.  This is a blockbuster film that is a long time in the making,  Incorporating a lot of (great) prequels to create solid characters that are finally going to really join together and battle a common foe.

Exciting stuff, I think.

But this has also...
led me to thinking about all of the merchandizing and Avengers toys that will be sold in the wake of this movie.

There are already quite a few of the toys sold from both the runs of these characters in their previous movies as well as the decades long runs these characters had in comic books. (For example, the Ironman superhero plush above is just an example from a large series of plush toys that have been relelased for both marvel and DC comic book characters as well as movie monsters, Lord of the Rings characters and much more.  (expect more of the latter in the future with the upcoming Hobbit movie fothecoming)

But are these merchandizing a good thing or not? Sure on one hand Avengers toys are a fun sideline.  They are great for kids and allow them a lot of fun and playtime.  they can also be a great collectors item for adults who buy them for the long term monetary value in these characters that are sure to be around for hundreds of more years. But does it cheapen the movie?

Look at Star Wars.  I love the orginal Star Wars.  But even by "Return of the Jedi" the series seemed to be made with the purpose of selling cheap toys.  Even further than that is the current trend of Hollywood to skip the middle man and make movies directly about toys (Transformers, battleship). Is this a good thing or simply Hollowood trying to doubledip into our pockets?  Are Captain America toys (for instance) something that would interest you or just make the entire project of the movie into a farce and a rip off.  Let me know what you think.