Month: February 2024

Rocket Licensing, licensing agent for Beano, one of the best-known and most recognizable brands in children’s entertainment, has announced the success of a Beano-themed half-term event at Berkshire’s leading shopping destination, the Lexicon retail and leisure complex in Bracknell. Bakehouse Factory, a multi-award-winning creator of interactive theatrical events, organized a series of activities featuring characters from the iconic Beano comic in time for February half-term. The Lexicon activation is the first Beano shopping centre event this year, with more in discussion.

Pudgy Penguins, the IP and brand-development company behind the series of globally-recognized characters, has announced that its line of collectible toys, Pudgy Toys, will expand its Walmart relationship with the addition of 1,100 new locations that will carry the line and the introduction of new Walmart toy exclusives. This is a major milestone for Pudgy Toy’s collaboration with Walmart and demonstrates the continued success of Pudgy Penguins’ retail strategy, turning the digital collectible characters into toys, to reach the consumer market at scale.

Spin Master Corp (“Spin Master” or the “Company”), a leading global children’s entertainment company, announced preliminary unaudited Revenue and Toy Gross Product Sales for Q4 and the full year ended December 31, 2023. All financial information is presented in United States dollars (“$”, “dollars” and “US$”) and has been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand, except where indicated. These preliminary unaudited Revenue results for the fourth quarter and full year 2023 are intended to provide context for Spin Master’s performance in line with timing of financial results for the broader industry. Spin Master is scheduled to report its financial results for Q4 and year ended December 31, 2023 after the close of business on February 28, 2024.

Women in Toys, Licensing & Entertainment (WiT) is excited to announce the launch of the Tabletop Gaming Learning Community (TLC), a new initiative building on the success of the  Sustainability Learning Community (SLC) in 2022.  The TLC aims to create an inclusive and supportive space for women working in, or aspiring to enter the tabletop gaming industry, facilitating collaboration, learning and growth. Led by seasoned tabletop industry professionals, the community will harness diverse talents and insights of its members to explore trends, tackle challenges, celebrate successes, and champion impactful change within the industry. Its mission is powerfully focused on inspiring and supporting new generations of women to join the tabletop gaming community and cultivate future industry leaders.

Polestar, the Swedish electric performance car brand, is launching its 2024 Design Contest in collaboration with Mattel’s Hot Wheels Brand, one of the number-one selling toys in the world. This year’s contest brief invites designers to surprise and thrill the judges with submissions propelled by the imagination of their youth. Weaving Polestar’s design DNA into their vision of the ultimate Hot Wheels collectible promises the most extreme edition of the Polestar Design Contest to date. The winning design is planned to become part of the Hot Wheels offering, available for purchase across the world, as the first Hot Wheels x Polestar vehicle to be produced as part of a wider partnership with Polestar production models.

Dart Zone is energizing the new year, and industry standards, with exciting updates and advancements to its highly successful Tactical Strike line of blasters – bringing new and improved adjustments to the Nexus and Aeon Pro X by Adventure Force. In 2020, Dart Zone and Adventure Force pioneered the half-length pro dart category for players 14 years and up. Four years later, the revamped blasters were unveiled at Spielwarenmesse in January and will be available for purchase exclusively at Walmart mid-April at the same price points the popular, original Pro blasters were sold while packed with industry leading upgrades.

Claire’s Holdings LLC, the global fashion brand powerhouse known for its curation of fun, fashionable jewelry and accessories and industry-leading piercing services, has appointed global licensing leader IMG as its first-ever exclusive licensing partner. IMG will deliver Claire’s branded products in new categories building upon existing touchpoints among Claire’s beloved customers while further expanding its distribution footprint and geographic coverage. Under the multi-year agreement, IMG will bring to market complementary products that support Claire’s brand purpose to inspire self-expression and individuality. The licensing program will extend across the globe with a focus on categories ranging from apparel, fashion accessories, room decor, and other lifestyle and special occasion products for Gen Alpha, Gen Z and beyond. The licensed products will align with Claire’s current positioning with an offering that is accessible in style, price, and distribution.