February 2010

Mom Talk Radio Host Named ABC Spring Conference Speaker

Award-winning author and radio talk show host, Maria T. Bailey, has been named the keynote speaker for this year’s All Baby & Child, Inc. Spring Educational Conference. The event will be held in Louisville, Kentucky this May.

Bailey is CEO of BSM Media, a full-service marketing and media firm that specializes in marketing to mothers. BSM’s client list includes Precious Moments, Disney, Warner Bros, and more. Bailey is the author of The Ultimate Mom Book, Marketing to Moms: Getting Your Share of the Trillion Dollar Market, and Trillion Dollar Moms: Marketing to a New Generation of Mothers. Her latest book, Mom 3.0, examines how to reach moms with new technologies, such as blogs, podcasts, and social networking.

She also co-hosts The Balancing Act on Lifetime TV and the WE-Women’s Entertainment Network for Women. On radio, Bailey is the host of “Mom Talk Radio,” the first nationally syndicated radio show for moms.

ArtiSands Teams with National Nonprofit for Children

ArtiSands is partnering with PACER Center, a national nonprofit organization that serves children with disabilities and their families. Through the partnership, ArtiSands will promote PACER and provide financial support and product donations to the organization.

ArtiSands provides toy stores and arts & crafts retailers with unique sand kits for children’s art projects. The kits feature pre-cut patterns that peel off in pieces, allowing the child to “paint” their own masterpiece using non-toxic sands.

Burger King Goes Pinkalicious

Burger King restaurants across America will turn “Pinkalicious” this spring in a new partnership with Harper Collins and Pinkalicious, the children’s book property that celebrates the love of pink and the magical world of its heroine. The national Burger King Kids Meal promotion will kick off March 1st.

With the purchase of a Burger King Kids Meal, customers will receive one of four pinkatastic toys including a Pinkalicious figurine with ring comb, a Pinkalicious Star Bright Wand, a Pinkalicious tiara, or Pinkalicious hair play barrettes. Burger King will also distribute Adventures Newsletters in-restaurant featuring Pinkalicious. Each newsletter will also include a limited edition poster.

There’s Still Time to Win Ten Years of TOTY Prizes

Last week, the Toy Industry Foundation celebrated Ten Years of the Toy of the Year Awards, and the organization is giving Toy Story and Pixar fans an opportunity to win the event’s drawing prizes.

Contestants can enter to win a complete Toy Story collection donated by LEGO, or a signed, limited-edition print of concept art from John Lasseter’s short, Luxo, Jr. (1986). Luxo, Jr. was the first film produced by Pixar animation studios after its establishment as an independent film studio. Only 86 framed, hand-numbered editions prints were produced, and the prize comes with a certificated of authenticity and is signed by Lasseter.

Some Info on BCP: A Full-Service Product Development Firm

A Toy Book reader, Leslie, wanted to share some info on an “all under one roof” consumer goods company.

BCP is a full-service product development firm, specializing in consumer products. The company designs, manufactures, and delivers consumer goods to the world. Its services include: forming and relating ideas, 3-D virtual drawings, 3-D digitizing and solid modeling, package design, prototypes, mechanical engineering, manufacturing parts and finished products, retail and promotional product concepts, and presenting products to retail buyers.

BCP’s clients include Irwin Toy, Amazon.com, and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.

For more information, visit www.bcpnow.com or email info@bcpnow.com

Grosset & Dunlap to Publish New Classic Pooh Books

Grosset & Dunlap, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, has announced that it will publish Disney’s Classic Pooh books, marking the first time that a U.S. publisher will create new stories based on the classic Pooh adventures, and illustrated in the classic E.H. Shepard style. The deal was made between Penguin Young Readers Group and Disney Licensed Publishing, an imprint of Disney Book Group, a division of Disney Publishing Worldwide.

Grosset & Dunlap will publish Disney’s Classic Pooh books in a variety of formats, including hardcover picture books, board books, paperback storybooks, sticker books, and novelty books.

Women Declared the Smarter Gender in Online Trivial Pursuit Game

Women were deemed the smarter sex in an online battle of the sexes, Trivia Pursuit style. Since last October, more than 15 million questions were asked and answered by men and women at www.trivialpursuitexperiment.com. The global game ended with the women answering a total of 4,088,139 questions correctly, compared to the men’s 4,077,596 correct answers.

Players participated in Hasbro’s online game by selecting the category they believed they would have the most success. The most popular category was Entertainment, followed by Science & Nature, Sports & Leisure, History, Arts & Literature, Geography, and, lastly, People & Places.

American Greetings Signs New Entertainment Deals for Care Bears

American Greetings Properties (AGP), the intellectual property and outbound licensing division of American Greetings Corporation, has signed new entertainment deals to bring Care Bears entertainment to the UK, Italy, Latin America, Middle East, and Canada. The agreements grant broadcast rights to Cartoon Network in the UK and Italy, Disney in Latin America, and Astral Media’s Playhouse Disney in Canada. Prime Pictures has also been granted home video distribution rights in the Middle East.

Cartoon Network will broadcast the Adventures in Care-a-lot series in both the UK and Italy. This comedy series features new characters such as clumsy-but-hilarious Oopsy Bear, and showcases all of the bears’ newly enhanced belly badge powers.

Toy Fair 2010 Closes with More Buyers, Retailers, and Attendees

More than 1,100 exhibitors from around the world gathered at the 107^th American International Toy Fair, the largest toy trade show in the western hemisphere, held last week. It’s estimated that exhibitors showcased 100,000 new toys and youth entertainment products during the event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

Attendance at Toy Fair 2010 (including buyers, retailers, trade guests, media and exhibiting staff) totaled 25,030, a 4 percent increase compared to 2009. Nearly 285 of the exhibiting manufacturers, distributors, importers, and sales agents were first-time exhibitors.

Walmart Partners with DreamWorks and Spin Master for Dragon Line

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. and Walmart have announced the first of many elements to come from Walmart’s involvement with the studio on its upcoming feature film, How to Train Your Dragon, due in theaters March 26. The toy line, created by Spin Master Ltd., will be available at Walmart stores March 1, and will include action figures and dragons, Viking play sets, roaring plush dragons, flying dragon toys, and role-play toys based on the animated film. The toys will be geared to boys ages 5-8 and will range from $5 to $30.