A magical crystal ball, a giant pyramid climbing tower, and the most diverse assortment of dolls ever are among the 122 innovative finalists for the 2022 September’s Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards. A long-treasured event, The Toy Foundation’s (TTF) TOTY Awards celebrate the creativity of the toy and play community and recognize the industry’s collective philanthropy for the benefit of children in need.
The powerful price monitoring tool MAPP Trap has just launched InteliTips, a new system driven by proprietary machine learning algorithms and MAPP Trap’s expert knowledge base. InteliTips subscribers receive weekly emails that address changes to their ecommerce conditions. What makes InteliTips so intelligent? The InteliTip bot evaluates the torrent of market data that brands see every day and compares it against their objectives to provide proven best practices in simple language that the brand can take to improve their conditions.
Spin Master Corporation, a leading global children’s entertainment company, has announced the acquisition of Nørdlight, a digital game studio based in Stockholm, Sweden. The acquisition supports Spin Master’s plans to grow revenue and penetration within digital gaming as well as leverage its proprietary intellectual property across all three creative centers: Toys, Entertainment and Digital Games.
Moonbug Entertainment Limited has announced a new agreement with the BBC to share new content and IPs with its audiences. The agreement includes the relicense and new episodes of the show CoComelon as well as Digley and Dazey. It also includes new IPs to the BBC including Blippi Wonders, Little Baby Bum, Gecko’s Garage, and Lellobee City Farm which will be available on BBC iPlayer. Gecko’s Garage will also be available on CBeebies, the BBC’s free-to-air pre-school children’s channel.
Award-winning global independent animation studio ZAG has launched a new global toy division to be spearheaded by Helena Perheentupa, former ZAG Vice President Central and Northern-, Eastern Europe & Russia. The new toy arm is a division of ZAG Play—formerly known as ZAG Lab—which includes the licensing and merchandising, promotions, and gaming groups. The announcement was made by Jeremy Zag, CEO & Founder, to whom the ZAG Play division reports.
The Pokémon Company International has announced a new Pokémon animated special, Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles is coming to Netflix this September. Inspired by the popular Pokémon Legends: Arceus video game, the special follows Ash, his Pikachu, and friends as they adventure and explore the Sinnoh region.
Global gaming phenomenon Cuphead is celebrating a year of massive success, from debut of the acclaimed series The Cuphead Show! in February, to the June 30 release of the highly-anticipated video game expansion Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course — which has already reached at platinum status. With new international agents and a range of consumer products launches in the market, the brand continues to be a fan favorite with a continually growing social presence. Studio MDHR’s eight-time platinum-selling video game, Cuphead, has been a global sensation since its 2017 release.
It’s finally here, Match Madness Duo, the highly anticipated follow-up to the best-seller Match Madness from the award-winning toy and games manufacturer and distributor, FoxMind. Unveiled last week at Gen Con, the largest annual event dedicated to tabletop gaming and culture in North America, the new game did not disappoint, and offers the perfect blend of engaging puzzles and speed driven dexterity challenges that are sure to bring fun and excitement to your next family game night.
It’s The Alma Train Party! Join Fred Rogers Productions, the MTA, and Thirteen to celebrate Alma’s Way, the hit PBS KIDS series created by Sonia Manzano (the iconic “Maria” on Sesame Street) and the launch of the new digital game, The Alma Train. The special “block party”-like event will feature activities and “stations” from some of the Bronx’s most famous institutes!