New York City is slated to become the next stop on the global licensing circuit as the Toy Industry Association (TIA) launches its new Brand & Entertainment Showcase in February. Co-located with the 109th American International Toy Fair, February 12-15, the showcase offers an impactful and convenient content connection for entertainment licensors and brand owners alike. The event provides opportunities for exclusive access to top-tier media, marketing agencies, and an audience of 30,000+ tradeshow guests from more than 90 countries. Adventure Publishing Group is the exclusive media partner of the Brand & Entertainment Showcase.
The new Brand & Entertainment Showcase satisfies increased demands from the licensing community to collaborate in a formalized setting at the show. Content providers will be able to simply show up and show off in small, private meeting spaces or large, public theaters. Turnkey presentation solutions and an audience of marketers ensure that all participants’ needs will be met.
As the largest and most important gathering for youth entertainment in the Western Hemisphere, Toy Fair last year welcomed an unprecedented surge in entertainment executives (+31 percent) and licensors (+8 percent). In 2010, licensed toys represented 25 percent of total industry sales. In addition, the co-located Brand & Entertainment Showcase gives participants access to the important ancillary advertising, marketing, and promotion-oriented industries that are concentrated in and around the media epicenter of the world.
Adventure Publishing’s signature publications—The Licensing Book and The Toy Book—and its online communities will be a primary conduit of information and updates about the Showcase to the global community, and the key vehicles for brand advertisers during the event itself.
For more information about participating in TIA’s Brand and Entertainment Showcase, contact Jennifer Coleman, sales executive and producer (973.760.8181, jennifer@jcinc.biz); for information about advertising opportunities, please contact Jonathan Samet at Adventure Publishing (212.575.4510, jsamet@adventurepub.com).
Dress up your imagination with Rubie’s at Fall Toy Preview. The 2012 collection from the Rubie’s Dress Up Division will be on display from October 4-6 at Booth 501, on the 12th floor of Dallas Market Center. Make an appointment by calling 516-326-1500.
American Idol fans take note: a new book, cataloguing the past 10 years of the groundbreaking show, is now available. Licensed by FremantleMedia Enterprises and published by Abrams Image, American Idol: Celebrating 10 Years (The Official Backstage Pass) is designed as a yearbook and takes readers through each season up to the 2010 “class.” Know what Kelly Clarkson’s profession was prior to her American Idol fame or Fantasia’s biggest hit on the show? Find out this and more with the new book.
In other American Idol news, remember Brian Dunkleman? Well, he was Ryan Seacrest’s co-host on the first season of American Idol. He famously walked away from the show after the first season and, well, yeah…
My colleague Elizabeth Reid of The Toy Book and I got to meet Mr. Dunkleman at Toy Fair a few weeks ago while he was promoting Sky Ball League—a new coed game that combines basketball, volleyball and handball. Starting next month, the company will visit several U.S. cities with a televised competition looking for the best Sky Ball players. Elizabeth and I were not aware our interview with Dunkleman was being taped, but it was and here is the proof: watch?v=ySSh9qKSSLw
Yesterday, I told you about some cool games that made their debut at Toy Fair. Today I bring you dolls and plush.
I remember as a kid, I had a teddy bear named Radar—the same name as Big Bird’s teddy bear on Sesame Street. As far as I know, the bear was not based on any particular movie, book or TV show and now, after years of love, it is quite worn out and barely even looks like a bear anymore. Kids today have the opportunity to take their favorite characters home with them in the form of cuddly plush and adorable dolls.
A few new licensed items in the plush and dolls categories include a Girl Scouts collection under the Adora brand from Charisma, and three new 18-inch dolls will be added to the Wizard of Oz collection. Both product lines will be available mid 2011.
Zoobies is also expanding its Eric Carle offerings and adding products featuring the Big Red Dog, Clifford.
Of course, we will bring you more on Toy Fair soon!
-Mackenzie Allison
Imagine a brightly lit, stadium-sized room filled with toys. Imagine four days walking down aisle after aisle of the hottest items to hit shelves in 2011, including adorable plush, every gadget and gizmo known to man, games, games and more games and even encountering a mascot or two. No, this wasn’t the best dream EVER, it was Toy Fair 2011 held at the Javits Center in New York City. This is where the toy industry comes to meet every year and show off what will inevitably be on every kids wish list come holiday season.
It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it and here are just a few of the hottest licensed products at Toy Fair.
GAMES
Bringing Home a Bit of Primetime TV and Big Screen Fun
Test your knowledge of everything Jersey Shore with a new trivia game from Cardinal Games. The new game, which hits shelves in March, is the perfect opportunity to impress your friends–and co-workers–with your knowledge of the MTV series. Think the questions on Million Dollar Money Drop are a cinch? Well, the company will also debut a new board game based on the hit Fox show.
Pressman Toy is getting on the Smurf train with several new products based on the Columbia Pictures’ release, which hits theaters in August. The lineup includes a matching game, Race to Smurfs Village and a bingo-style game. Other big (and small) screen releases that translate to new product include an action-style game for Green Lantern, a Modern Family trivia game, and a new game for Happy Feet 2, where players fish for penguins.
From USAopoly, Pirates of the Caribbean will get a Yahtzee twist this year, as well as Glee and Family Guy. Other new products include Muppets Monopoly, Glee Cranium and a Three Stooges Yahtzee game.
There was so much to see at Toy Fair and this is just the first entry in our series on Toy Fair news. Stay tuned for more!
–Mackenzie Allison
On Tuesday, October 5 visitors to this year’s Fall Toy Preview in Dallas will have the opportunity to meet StinkyKids creator Britt Menzies. Originally conceived as a simple drawing of her daughter as a ballerina, StinkyKids evolved into several characters and a recognizable brand. A long roster of retailers carry the products, including Wal-mart.com, Nordstrom, Nordstrom.com, Fat Brain Toys Catalog, FAO Schwarz, FAO.com, FAO in Toys “R” Us, Target.com, Marshall Retail Group, Saks, MadameAlexander.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders and Books a Million. StinkyKids have nearly sold out on Amazon.com and now trading cards and bookmarks add to the list of offerings.
The company is seeking licensees in categories including toys/games, coloring books, jewelry, stickers, keychains, puzzles, gift & novelty, party paper products, and apparel and accessories.
The January/February issue of The Licensing Book is now online! In this issue, you’ll find:
• A feature on Nickelodeon at 30
• The hottest toys at Toy Fair
• The biggest news from around the industry
• A look at YMI Jeanswear
• Other features including People on the Move, Of Counsel with James Kipling, and a how-to-choose-a-property guide from brand development advisor David Niggli
We hope you like it. Check it out!
Whew. We’re back from Toy Fair, where, in addition to getting out on the show floor and seeing what there was to offer, we tweeted and re-tweeted about Toy Fair news and products that everyone else saw at the show. Were you on twitter during the show?
We saw everything from Hasbro’s Walking Iron Man to the Drip Drops, and everything in between. (We also saw a farting elephant that, although not licensed, was pretty freakin’ awesome). We hope many new partnerships were formed and that great new products were discovered.
What was the best thing you saw at Toy Fair? How did social media change how you experienced the show? How were attitudes, products, and prices different from last year? Leave some comments and let us know!
The Licensing Book’s booth, #1601, is THE place to be this Toy Fair! If you want to reach the industry, and consumers too, be sure to drop by with your licensing news so we can “tweet” your news to our followers (industry, mommy bloggers, consumers, and anyone who likes licensed toys) and to everyone at the Fair! Simply drop by with your news and we’ll get the word out for you! If you can whittle your news down to 140 characters or less we can blast it to the masses! Be sure to follow @LicensingBook so you can follow our newsfeed! Even if you’re not currently on Twitter and have no idea how to “tweet,” just show up and we’ll take care of getting your message out!
Last year, Uglydoll costume characters were walking around Toy Fair, and one stopped by The Licensing Book magazine booth to give me a hug and take a picture with me. It is, without a doubt, the “Ugly-est” picture I’ve ever taken, and I can’t wait to see the Uglydolls again at Toy Fair this year.
Pretty Ugly has lots of ugly news coming up for Toy Fair and beyond, including eight new plush characters: Pointy Max, Picksey, Mynus, Ninja Batty Shogun, Ket, Wippy, Nandy Bear, and Cozymonster.
In March, there will be a collection of 12 new Series 2 Action Figures, and April will bring the release of the Big Toe Collection. Also in time for spring will be new Uglydoll book titles from Random House: Ugly Guide 4 — The Ugly Guide to Eating Out and Keeping it Down! and a board book, Ugly Colors. Also keep an eye out for Super Ugly reusable Shopping Totes and another book in the fall, Babo’s Cookie Problem.
Pretty Ugly has also announced new licensing partners, including Schylling, to produce a line of tin truck pencil holders, coin banks, wind-up robots, an alarm clock, and a tin keepsake lunchbox; Abrams for 2011 wall calendars and locker calendars releasing this summer; and Mighty Fine for new Uglydoll T-shirts for men, juniors, and kids.
