Rainbow Secures Mattel Licensing Agreement for “Mia and me”

June 18, 2012 By

Italian producer, distributor, and licensor Rainbow has partnered with Mattel for toy rights to its new girls’ property and animated television series Mia and me.

The television series was developed and co-produced by Lucky Punch, Rainbow, March Entertainment, and ZDF and is jointly distributed worldwide by m4e and Rainbow. The show is a hybrid of live action and CGI animation aimed primarily at girls ages 5-8. More than 50 territories globally will launch the first season of 23-minute episodes this year.

In this fantasy adventure, twelve-year-old Mia finds herself hurled into the mystical world of Centopia, where she becomes an animated fairytale elf. Meanwhile, she is trying to fit in at her new school in her real life. A licensing program is underway for the property with a number of international licensing partners, including Panini, Unilever Germany, Belltex, Clementoni, Schmidt Spiele, and Egmont. Consumer products will be available this summer.

This post was originally written by Ali Mierzejewski and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.

Filed Under: 5-8, Licenses, News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mattel to Release New Series of Star Trek Die-Cast Models

June 15, 2012 By

Mattel, under license from CBS Consumer Products, will create a line of die-cast models inspired by the iconic Star Trek franchise in anticipation of the upcoming Star Trek movie next year.

The detailed miniatures will include the U.S.S. Enterprise, and will hit retail May next year. This deal is similar to the agreement the companies reached for the 2009 theatrical reboot. The next Star Trek movie arrives in theaters on May 17 next year.

This post was originally written by Loren Moreno and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.

Filed Under: Licenses, New Products Tagged With: , , ,

Rubie’s Receives 2011 Monster High Rookie Licensee of the Year Award

May 18, 2012 By

Rubie’s Costume Company Inc., has received the 2011 Monster High North America Rookie Licensee of the year award from Mattel, the worldwide leader in design and marketing of toys and family products.

As one of the most successful children’s licenses of 2011, characters from the Monster High Costume Collection include Frankie Stein, Lagoona Blue, Cleo de Nile, Clawdeen Wolf and Draculaura. Available in children’s, tween and new adult sizes, each character comes to life with unique designs, intricate detailing and coordinating accessories. In addition to the colorful costumes, the line also includes wigs and make up kits.

“We are thrilled to be a part of the Monster High phenomenon.” said Howard Beige, Rubie’s Executive Vice President. “It is truly an honor to receive such a prestigious award and we look forward to developing even more fun and fashionable products for Monster High fans this upcoming Halloween season.”

With the expansion of the 2012 Monster High Collection, Rubie’s continues to create costumes that reflect the characters unique personalities while paying homage to their cool monster heritage. As they say at Monster High, freaky just got fabulous.

This post was originally written by Leah Rocketto and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.

Filed Under: New Products, News Tagged With: , , ,

Reports: Mattel Finalizing Deal to Buy Hit Entertainment

October 20, 2011 By

According to multiple news outlets, including the Financial Times, Mattel is in talks with Apax Partners to buy Hit Entertainment for £500 million. Two anonymous sources told the Financial Times that Mattel is in the final stages of negotiations to purchase the company that Apax bought in 2005 for £489 million. The sale of Hit will not include the group’s stake in children’s channel Sprout, but will include Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, Angelina Ballerina, Fireman Sam, and Pingu.

Filed Under: Financial, News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Top Toy Trends This Holiday Season, According to Target

October 19, 2011 By

This holiday season there will be nearly 7,000 toys featured in Target stores and on Target.com. Stephanie Lucy, vice president of merchandising at Target, shares what she thinks will be the five key toy trends this season and the hot toys that match them.

Interactivity

“One of the key items we selected is Fijit Friends. You look at Fijit and the ability to put it in dance mode, and the voice-recognition and built-in responses. Also, Let’s Rock Elmo is interactive for a much younger child, but we believe interactivity is important.”

[Read more...]

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New Video: Toy Story Characters in Toymation

October 6, 2011 By

Let your imagination soar with Disney•Pixar’s new space-themed “Toymation” video. The video features the Toy Story Buzz Lightyear Command Center and other action figures from Mattel.

In the video, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and sidekick Rex venture into outer space to battle the evil Emperor Zurg. Using stop-motion animation, this video combines old techniques with new concepts to create a modern animated short for Toy Story fans everywhere.

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Filed Under: 9 and up, News Tagged With: , , ,

Barbie’s First Commerical, Circa 1959

June 24, 2011 By

ah, the good old days… ;)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Shane Acker to Lead Thomas the Tank Engine Film Adaptation

June 13, 2011 By

Thomas the Tank Engine will star in a live-action fantasy film adaptation of the popular children’s television series. Academy Award-nominated director Shane Acker (9), has signed on to lead a creative team consisting of Academy Award-winning Weta Workshop (Avatar, The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Mattel’s entertainment properties design team. The goal of the new film is to make the Thomas characters and storyline more appealing to the entire family.

Hit Entertainment, which owns the Thomas franchise, has also named Chris Viscardi and Will McRobb (Alvin and the Chipmunks) and Josh Klausner (Shrek the Third, Date Night) as the writers for the film. Julia Pistor (Charlotte’s Web, Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events) will serve as the producer.

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Classic Media Celebrates Masters of the Universe Anniversary

June 13, 2011 By

In celebration of the upcoming 30th anniversary of Masters of the Universe, Classic Media and Mattel are launching a consumer products program for the franchise. The Masters of the Universe Classics toy line, featuring updated sculpts of vintage Mattel toys, will continue throughout next year, exclusively on Mattycollector.com. The 2012 annual subscription will go on sale the week of San Diego Comic-Con, starting July 22.

The program will also include Halloween costumes and accessories from Disguise, launching first with Skeletor, He-Man, and She-Ra adult costumes, available this fall through a leading online e-tailer. Other new products include a 30th anniversary apparel line from Changes and a special 30th anniversary edition DVD box set from Mill Creek Entertainment (fall 2012). Publishing partners will be announced shortly.

Additionally, Classic Media is introducing a brand-new comprehensive Masters of the Universe style guide this summer, featuring retro artwork, all-new modern artist renderings, as well as a special 30th anniversary logo (above).

Filed Under: Licenses, New Products, News Tagged With: , , , , ,

Toys “R” Us Names Neil Friedman President of U.S. Business

April 4, 2011 By

Toys “R” Us, Inc. has announced the appointment of Neil Friedman as president, Toys “R” Us, U.S. Friedman most recently served as president, Mattel Brands. In his new position at Toys “R” Us, Friedman will oversee all merchandising, marketing, store operations, merchandise presentation, global sourcing, and product development, as well as merchandise planning and allocation for the company’s 866 stores and online business in the United States. Friedman will report to Gerald Storch, chairman and CEO, Toys “R” Us, Inc.

“We could not be more pleased that Neil is joining our leadership team,” says Storch. “Neil has extensive knowledge of, and has made significant contributions to, the toy and juvenile product businesses throughout his career. We look forward to working with Neil to further our growth strategy as we continue to advance our authority and specialist positions through our many initiatives ahead.”

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