Fisher-Price Introduces Imaginext Power Rangers at TRU
Saban Brands announced that Fisher-Price will introduce a new line of Imaginext products featuring the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The new toy line will include a range of figures, villains, weapons, Zords, and a giant Megazord with multiple levels of play and eight points of articulation. This line will be available exclusively at Toys “R” Us beginning in May followed by a global rollout to additional retailers later in the year.
TIA Elects New Leadership
At its annual General Meeting held yesterday, the Toy Industry Association (TIA) announced the election of three new members to the TIA board of directors for two-year terms of office expiring in February 2017.
Nominated to serve their first terms on the TIA board were Kerry Cunnion, senior vice-president of sales at TOMY International; Howard Kahn, chairman of Madame Alexander and CEO of Kahn Lucas; and Bruce Raiffe, president of GUND.
Re-elected for a second term, set to expire in 2017, were John Barbour, president of LeapFrog; Richard Barry, senior vice-president and CMO at Toys “R” Us; and Manuel Torres, senior vice-president of global toys and publishing at Nickelodeon Consumer Products. It was announced that Tim Kilpin, president, chief commercial officer at Mattel, will fill the board seat left vacant by Mattel’s David Allmark.
The following retiring Board members were recognized for their service: Joel Berger of Cardinal Industries and Pete Henseler of TOMY International.
CORRECTION: Ad Magic Launches Publishing Arm
Ad Magic announced that it is launching a publishing arm called Breaking Games. At launch, Breaking Games has more than 15 games that it is partnering with to print, manufacture, and publish, many with the augmented reality (AR) Layar technology. Ad Magic is one of the largest indie game printers in the U.S. and the company is the printer for the game Cards Against Humanity.
“Ad Magic has always had a vested interest in our gaming partners, and with Breaking Games, we will take that partnership a few steps further,” said Shari Spiro, CEO of Ad Magic and Breaking Games. “By launching Breaking Games with more than 15 other independent game designers, it shows that our partners believe in what we’re doing and want to be a part of it, especially with the augmented reality Layar technology we’ll be employing at retail. It will literally be a game changer.”
Using the AR Layar technology, consumers will be able to scan the face of any game box published by Breaking Games with their mobile devices, where they will see and hear video of an unboxing of the game’s contents, one round of game play, and a message from the game’s designer.
CORRECTION: In yesterdays’s news, we referenced Ad Magic as the creator of Cards Against Humanity. They are not the creator of the game. They are the printer of the game. Ad Magic is one of the largest indie game printers in the U.S. We regret this error. We are sorry for any confusion this may have caused.