Sales of Kiss kitsch are expected to exceed $10 million by year's end and to surge in 1998 thanks to a profile-raising album, tour and movie.

Not since Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe has an entertainment icon so dominated the expanding market for memorabilia and novelties. In addition to conventional T-shirts and posters, Kiss offers coin sets, billiard balls, jigsaw puzzles, Jacquard-woven afghans, porcelain steins, place mats, dartboards, mouse pads, leather baseballs, refrigerator magnets and yes, condoms. Prices range from $1.50 for trading cards to $1,300 for a golf bag.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg," says tongue-waggling bassist Gene Simmons. "We plan on going where no band has gone before."

The group's marketing ambition is fueled by one of rock's most loyal fan bases, the Kiss Army. Items to keep the ranks well-outfitted: makeup kits ($6), latex masks ($40), watches ($33-$50), silk boxer shorts ($16) and a leather jacket ($650).

Four Kiss action figures, introduced in July, were voted among the best products at the 1997 International Toy Fair. The Peter Criss doll has a spring-loaded drum that fires drumsticks; Paul Stanley's guitar shoots a spiked missile. About 2 million have been shipped, defying early projections that only 250,000 would sell.

"Everyone was caught with their pants down, which is not always bad," quips Simmons.

The figures are in Toys R Us, FAO Schwarz, Target, Musicland and 525 Kiss boutiques opened in Spencer Gifts outlets since August.

"Selling merchandise at concerts has been part of the music business for years," says Dell Furano, chief of Sony Signatures, the music licensing division of the Sony empire. "Selling at retail is still new. Kiss is taking it to the next level."

Older acts are prime candidates for retail stardom. Elvis Presley, the king of rock keepsakes, continues to reign at record stores and gift shops. The Beatles, the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones also have successfully peddled their images. Sony Signatures will soon offer a Bob Dylan clock, a Beach Boys pager, Santana salsa and Michael Jackson in-line skates (in Germany only).

Kiss is upping the ante with soon-to-be-available chocolate bars, cigars, motorcycles, pinball machines, slot machines, video games and telephones. And to go with your Kiss keychain: the Kiss car.

"It's not going to be for the faint of heart," Simmons says. "It'll be a car on steroids, with too much power under the hood. Size does count and bigger is better. Our car will be a sleek, attention-grabbing extension of our libido."

Targeting adults has been key to the success of upscale Kiss gear.

"There is a huge gift and collectors market driven by nostalgia, and the marketplace is begging for ideas," Furano says. "Young kids keep changing their attitudes and preferences. We focus on adults 18 and older, people with more established tastes."

But aren't Kiss and maturity mutually exclusive? Perhaps, but fantasies of the 9-to-5 set often revolve around youthful obsessions.

"Kiss represents the extravagant, irreverent, party-all-night rock 'n' roll theme," Furano says.

Signatures pursues all avenues, from Visa cards to Christmas ornaments. Kiss nixed coffee and bubblegum licensing opportunities but agrees to deals that sound "hip, cool and fun," Furano says.

"As soon as someone steps up with the check, we'll do anything," Simmons cracks. "We are the ultimate whores of the universe. Incidentally, I find whores very credible people. At least they tell upfront what it will cost you. That's not the case with wives and politicians."

No other current acts hawk such a variety of products. Some decline for fear of being seen as greedy.

"All artists are concerned about overcommercializing," Furano says. "Bruce Springsteen still says no to everything. Germany wanted Springsteen jeans. His manager told me, 'Why do you even ask?' Billy Joel is still reluctant. Some will do celebrity licensing only overseas. So you have Mariah Carey fashions in Asia and Celine Dion eyewear in Japan."

Hypocrisy, Simmons charges. "I'm so glad I'm in Kiss instead of those other bands that worry about credibility. Credibility is the shortest cut to a boring life. Credibility means you're concerned with media and the intelligentsia and other big words like gymnasium. How boring.

"We've always been the black sheep of rock 'n' roll. We're never in style. Style and fashion and credibility, it's the biggest load of hokey malarkey I've ever heard. It means you have to check with someone else before you do anything."

Still, Kiss has its standards. The band turned down a seven-figure cigarette deal as well as liquor offers. There is a Kiss table wine, but "by and large, we are very against drugs and booze," Simmons says. "We don't want to step up to the plate holding a pack of Marlboros. The money is nice, but there is a moral price we're not willing to pay."