Ark Music Factory’s New Star, Lexi St. George, Signs Deal

Ark Music Factory has announced that its newest star, Lexi St. George, will appear in TV ads for WowWee’s Paper Jamz Pro Jam Series Microphone. The ads will feature St. George and her debut single and video “Dancing to the Rhythm.”

The Paper Jamz Pro Series Microphone helps kids sing like a pro by allowing them to transfer their favorite songs onto the microphone, and letting them adjust to their “perfect pitch” with chorus, harmony, vibrato and other vocal controls. The microphone is $29.99 and available at Wal-Mart, with distribution in Target, Toys “R” Us, and KMart later this month.

New KISS Models Bring Destroyer Album Cover to Life

Round 2 is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the KISS album Destroyer by creating model kits based on the album’s cover art. The kits are pre-painted in minute detail, from the iconic black-and-white makeup to the traditional hairstyles and monstrously tall platform boots. Fully assembled on the base, each figure—Starchild, Demon, Spaceman, and Catman—stands nearly a foot tall.

Each kit is packaged with one of four mini posters, which, when assembled together, form a 2.5-by-2.5 foot poster of the Destroyer album art.

The deal was brokered by Live Nation, KISS’ worldwide licensing agent. For information on Live Nation licensing, email Steve Senk, VP of Licensing, at stevesenk@livenation.com, and visit Live Nation licensing online.

CBS Reveals Exclusive Merchandise at Comic-Con

CBS Consumer Products announced that it will debut new products for Star Trek, CSI, NCIS, Dexter, Charmed, Cheers, and The Twilight Zone, at San Diego Comic-Con, beginning July 21.

Star Trek is annually one of Comic-Con’s biggest draws, and will have 11 licensees on hand exhibiting products, including Diamond Comics (Booth #2607), which will show Star Trek Mr. Potato Heads from PPW featuring characters from The Original Series. At the CBS booth (#4129), StarTrek.com will offer free limited-edition Enterprise Bottle Opener Keychains and wristbands to fans.

New Willy Wonka Contest for 40th Anniversary DVD Release

Warner Home Video will release a special 40th anniversary edition of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, complete with a Wonka Bar and Golden Ticket Instant Win Piece for a chance to enter and win a trip for two to Los Angeles.

The three-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray/DVD combo will cost $64.99, while a single-DVD version will retail for $12.97. The film will be available On Demand and through online retailers including Amazon on Demand and iTunes.

The releases will come in October, no matter how much Veruca wants them now.

—Charlie Bucket

Rubicon Group Holding, a diversified global entertainment organization producing innovative digital animated content and location-based attractions, will design and produce The Red Sea Astrarium (TRSA), a 184-acre themed entertainment resort located in Aqaba, Jordan, which, through a license from CBS Consumer Products, will prominently feature an attraction inspired by the 2009 international hit motion picture, Star Trek.  The “Star Trek” attraction is being creatively developed by Paramount Recreation.

RGH has joined with CBS Consumer Products and Paramount Recreation to create a stunning Star Trek-themed center that will deliver a variety of multi-sensory 23rd-century experiences, culminating with a state-of-the art space-flight adventure that takes real-time immersive entertainment experiences to bold new heights. This exciting, world-class attraction will serve as the cornerstone of the TRSA sector’s world of tomorrow. This will mark the iconic property’s first themed entertainment venue outside the United States.

Lots of properties have fans. Lots of properties have licensed stuff. But every once in awhile, there comes a property that evolves from a brand into a living, ever-changing, sentient being, whose fans become a whole ‘nother species.

One such property is Star Trek. The brand has gone from a TV show to movies to licensed products, then moved on from there to live conventions, costume contests, and so much more—it’s a lifestyle. Like the brand itself, the fans have evolved into a culture of their own, set apart from fans of other properties because of their passion, their fervor, their creativity, and their desire for total immersion.

It is with this in mind that CBS Consumer Products today re-launched www.StarTrek.com, the online destination that brings the brand and its fans together. “StarTrek.com aims to embrace all of fandom and to be as interactive as possible,” reads an article posted on the site, about the site. The site will strive to reach that goal through exclusive celebrity interviews, guest bloggers, breaking news, an online store, biographies, pictures, the inside scoop on events, conventions, live shows, and more.

To check out the site for yourself, and read the complete article introducing the re-launch, click here.

–Jennifer Sinclair Ringler

CBS Consumer Products Teams with CafePress CBS Consumer Products and CafePress, which specializes in user-designed apparel and gifts, have signed a worldwide licensing agreement that allows TV fans to design and sell authorized show merchandise from CBS’s television library of more than 180 shows. Based on an extensive portfolio of properties that range from current primetime hits including the CSI and NCIS franchises, Survivor, and 90210—to classic shows under the Television City licensing banner such as Twilight Zone, Brady Bunch, and Jericho—the partnership will allow consumers to customize their own apparel, drinkware, hoseware, and stationery/office products. The deal also includes the Star Trek franchise as well as the upcoming feature film, Beastly, from CBS Films.

Products will be available on Cafepress.com in late summer. Merchandise in the apparel category will include T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, tank tops, underwear, hats/caps, baby bodysuits, and bags and totes. In the stationery/office category, consumers will find a wide range of posters, stickers, buttons, magnets, mouse pads, calendars, journals, and greeting cards. Household items will include aprons, clocks, coasters, license plate frames, and drinkware products such as mugs and water bottles.

StickerYou has launched an online service for designing, customizing, and creating high-quality stickers. StickerYou’s platform lets users create their own 8.5” x 10.5” sheets of removable, vinyl stickers, combining uploaded personal images and art from StickerYou’s library of thousands of images.

StickerYou launches with several brand partnerships, including Peanuts, Mr. Men and Little Miss and Star Trek, with the Lego brand, Showtime’s Dexter and additional brands to follow.