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Bryan Joiner
Editor in Chief
bjoiner@licensingbook.com
The NASCAR industry has announced the official formation of the NASCAR Teams Licensing Trust, an industry operated organization created to provide NASCAR fans with new and innovative licensed products. The Licensing Trust, which along with the sanctioning body is initially composed of NASCAR teams including more than 30 NASCAR national series drivers, will streamline the licensing opportunities and processes for its partners and bring operational efficiency to the entire industry.
The Licensing Trust, which is open to any NASCAR national series race team that chooses to participate, will initially explore merchandising opportunities in four key categories – apparel, collectable die-cast, toys, and trackside retail. The Licensing Trust is structured to add licensing categories in the future. NASCAR and the teams will directly manage their respective licensing rights in categories outside the Licensing Trust.
The NASCAR Teams Licensing Trust has recently formed a joint venture with Lionel Electric Trains to make and sell NASCAR replica die-cast racecars.
The joint venture is not a traditional licensee agreement; both the Licensing Trust and Lionel will actively manage and develop the business, in which it will be partners.
Lionel has plans to offer fans and collectors die-cast models representing all of the teams and more than 30 NASCAR national series drivers included in the Licensing Trust. The joint venture will take over the category from Motorsports Authentics, a Concord, N.C.-based company that will instead focus on its core competency of trackside retail and be the exclusive die-cast car retailer at NASCAR tracks around the country.
Tags: Lionel Electric Trains, nascar
Posted in Around the Industry, Auto Licensing | No Comments »
CMG has announced its licensing partnership with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and the Hall of Fame legends who are participating in the Member Licensing Program.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Cooperstown, New York is an educational institution, dedicated to preserving the history of the game, honoring its excellence, and connecting generations of baseball fans around the globe through exhibits, public programs, and educational outreach. Founded in 1936 and opening its doors for the first time in 1939, the non-profit organization is three institutions in one: a Hall of Fame to honor the game’s greatest players, managers, umpires and executives; a Museum that documents the game’s history and its most compelling storylines; and a Library, which serves as the research hub and the official repository of the game.
The Museum’s collections total more than 35,000 three-dimensional artifacts, more than 2.6 Library volumes, nearly 500,000 original photographs, more than 10,000 hours of recorded media, and more. The Museum welcomes more than 300,000 visitors to Cooperstown annually, while reaching millions of school children nationwide through distance learning initiatives and videoconferencing programs. On site, the Museum hosts nearly 1,000 public programs to augment the visitor experience in the Museum.
CMG will pursue opportunities to license the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Marks and the participating member marks in the Hall of Fame Member Licensing Program.
Tags: CMG, National Baseball Hall of Fame
Posted in Sports | No Comments »
Scholastic Media has announced a new addition to its I SPY franchise with the release of I SPY Universe for the Nintendo DS. I SPY Universe will take gamers on an interplanetary exploration of riddles, puzzles, and brainteasers as they try to save the universe. The game will be available at retail this summer.
Set in a unique I SPY cosmos, players must search for and find objects located on 12 photo-realistic planets to reach and repower the sun. Players unlock new planets and explore the universe by finding more than 400 objects in 36 I SPY riddles and playing six brain-teasing games. The game is being distributed by Cokem International, Ltd.
Tags: Coken International, I SPY, Nintendo DS, Scholastic Media
Posted in New Deals, Video Games | No Comments »
In an effort to raise funds for the Gulf Coast cleanup and continue to raise awareness about the dangers of offshore oil drilling, O’Neill and Surfrider Foundation have teamed up to create a limited edition T-shirt, available for purchase on the O’Neil website and other sites online while supplies last.
Proceeds from sales of O’Neill’s Oil and Water Don’t Mix T-shirt will support the Surfrider Foundation’s Not The Answer offshore drilling campaign, which includes monitoring and response efforts in the Gulf, as well as Surfrider’s ongoing efforts to reinstate the federal moratorium on new offshore drilling.
Tags: O'Neil, Surfrider Foundation
Posted in Apparel, Around the Industry | No Comments »
Good Housekeeping Good Food is adding five new products to its pantry line. Building on the success of the brand, which launched in fall 2009, the new products are being introduced at the National Association of Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) Fancy Food Show in New York.
With the addition of two new pasta sauces, Tomato Vodka and Roasted Garlic, the category will now offer six options and range from the popular Marinara to more adventurous flavors that include artichokes, olives, and roasted peppers. Three new products will increase the dressing/vinaigrette category to a total of six with the additions of BLT Dressing, Honey Lemon Dijon Dressing, and Italian Balsamic Vinaigrette.
As Good Housekeeping celebrates its 125th anniversary, the Good Food pantry line also celebrates its success in the marketplace with placement in nearly 3,000 supermarkets since its introduction last fall.
Tags: Good Housekeeping Good Food
Posted in Food Licensing | No Comments »
Forum Novelties, Inc., a division of Rubie’s Costume Company, has been awarded the “2009 Vendor of the Year” Award for Best Category Development given by Spirit Halloween, a division of Spencer Gifts, in recognition of Forum’s creativity and extraordinary service.
Forum Novelties, Inc. has become a leader in the Halloween industry, as well as the joke, trick, magic, and novelty gift item business. Over the past 30 years, Forum’s product line has evolved to meet customer needs and consumer buying trends. Forum Novelties is a manufacturer, importer, and distributor of more than 8,000 items, and only sells to the retail and wholesale trades.
Tags: Forum Novelties, Rubie's Costume Company, Spencer Gifts, Spirit Halloween
Posted in Around the Industry, Halloween | No Comments »
Chapman Entertainment, UK-based producer and license holder for series Roary the Racing Car and Fifi and the Flowertots, and Walltastic, designer wallpaper mural company, announced a deal that will see the creation of wall murals for Chapman’s franchises.
“We are expanding our business to offer licensed products,” says Walltastic’s managing director Julian Evans says, “and Fifi and Roary really appealed as they hit the right target age group for us.”
Walltastic’s Roary- and Fifi-themed 3-D children’s murals are available now. Both programs air on PBS KIDS Sprout in the U.S. .
Tags: Chapman Entertainment, Fifi and the Flowertots, PBS KIDS Sprout, Roary the Racing Car, Walltastic
Posted in Brand Licensing, Character Licensing, Home Goods, Television | No Comments »
Vertigo Films and Novel Entertainment have announced the production of a 3-D, live-action movie based on Novel’s children’s property Horrid Henry. Vertigo, producers of Europe’s first 3-D feature film, Street Dance 3D, will produce the live-action feature with Paradise FX Europe. The film will be a co-production between Vertigo Films and Novel Entertainment.
British director and editor Nick Moore has been signed as the film’s director. Casting has already begun, with filming scheduled to take place in October and November. The film, to be shot entirely on location in the UK, is slated for release in 2011.
The live-action adventure will be the first British kid’s movie to be filmed in 3-D. The film stars Horrid Henry, Lord High Majesty of the Purple Hand Gang, as he wages his ever-constant battle against the tyranny of adults. Only this time it seems the adults really are out to get him, forcing him into an unlikely alliance with his irritating little brother Perfect Peter and the infuriating girl next door, Moody Margaret.
Tags: Horrid Henry, Novel Entertainment, Vertigo Films
Posted in International, Kids Properties, Mobile Licensing | No Comments »
Mercy Corps and Sesame Workshop have formed a partnership to bring engaging, educational programming to Haiti’s children. Sesame Workshop has dubbed one DVD featuring two Sesame Home Videos into Creole, and produced three short original films shot in Haiti, specific to the country’s post-earthquake challenges.
The Sesame Street films provide entertainment and learning opportunities for children, and stress the importance of physical activity, healthy eating, teamwork, and play. Cinderelmo, starring Keri Russell, Kathy Najimy, and Oliver Platt, follows the trials and tribulations of Elmo as he escapes from his evil stepmother and seeks true love with a princess. Happy Healthy Monsters features Wyclef Jean, India Arie, other celebrities, and a host of Muppets promoting healthy, active lifestyles.
Accompanying the DVD releases are three live-action films created by Sesame Workshop and the filmmaker Linda Costigan after the earthquake. The films, built around original footage shot in Haiti in partnership with a local production team, promote cooperation, self-esteem, creativity, and hope. Helping Hands features children helping each other and adults with activities such as preparing food and pitching a tent; I Am Haiti reinforces the message that children will be key to Haiti’s recovery; and Recycled Car uses a metaphor of two young boys building a toy car to suggest that Haitians will build their country anew.
This Sesame Street project in Haiti is made possible through generous grants from Connie and Bob Lurie and Motorola Foundation to Sesame Workshop.
Mercy Corps will distribute 1,000 DVDs of the films throughout Haiti, and may distribute up to 5,000 additional copies in the coming months. The DVDs will be sent to schools, orphanages, hospitals, health clinics, and youth centers. The Sesame Street episodes are also being screened at Cinema Under the Stars (Sinema Anba Zetwal), a Mercy Corps-supported tour of interactive open-air events that use film, music, and skits to educate and entertain tens of thousands of Haitians in earthquake-affected areas.
The films will be integrated into Mercy Corps’ Comfort for Kids program, which trains parents and other caregivers to help children emotionally recover from the earthquake.
Comfort for Kids is part of Mercy Corps’ multi-faceted response to the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12. The organization has delivered emergency food supplies, enabled nearly 6,400 Haitians to earn much-needed income, and created drainage ditches, clean water systems, and latrines. Mercy Corps is also providing income opportunities for people in Haiti’s Central Plateau, where hundreds of thousands fled after the earthquake.
Tags: Comfort for Kids, Mercy Corps, Sesame Workshop
Posted in Around the Industry, Charitable Causes, Kids Properties | No Comments »
Bright Group International (BGI) and the Zoological Society of London’s London Zoo announced details of their joint publishing program today. The deal sees BGI’s Bloomsbury heading publishing for content related to the society’s cornerstones of conservation and education.
ZSL London Zoo’s history spans from the 19th century, with Bloomsbury planning to take full advantage of the organization’s brand power and familiarity. Planning to trasition the stories the zoo already tells its visitors into children’s books, Bloomsbury recently introduced Hallmark UK’s Country Companions franchise into the publishing realm.
Tags: Bloomsburry, Bright Group International, Country Companions, Hallmark, London Zoo, Zoological Society London
Posted in Brand Licensing, Kids Properties, Publishing | No Comments »
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