It's a given that boys play with less female figures than male ones. Obviously, they will always relate to male heroes more, but do you think there is a way to make them want to play with heroines and villains, if a you want to explore more female concepts for your toyline?

I've been really into MOTU as of late and I noticed female characters tend to lack a certain fantasy. Warriors like Teela or witches like Evil-Lyn are cool but nowhere near as creative as toys like Mekaneck, Sy-Klone or Modulok. Solid character design is one thing, but maybe toy companies should attempt more crazy, gimmicky female characters, like a three-headed Amazon (not Two-Bad) or a girl with stretchable limbs (not Extendar). Those might not appeal to girls, who probably have an easier time projecting into Teela and She-Ra, but boys might see more to them than "the girl". That doesn't sound necessarily far-fetched to me: I heard that Louisa from Encanto, a pretty outside-the-box type of female character in terms of design, was extremely popular with girls and boys alike and there was a demand for toys of her, which Disney didn't expect.

While I'm fascinated with toys, I don't know the market as well as most people here. This questions has been on my mind for a while and I'd like to know if such attempts have been made by the past, if there are factors are missing and how kids tend to think and operate with toys.