Basic Fun!, a leading global marketer of toys and consumer products, announced a Master Toy license agreement with Hasbro, Inc (NASDAQ: HAS), a global branded entertainment leader, for the iconic Littlest Pet Shop brand. Basic Fun! is expected to manufacture and distribute Littlest Pet Shop collectible figures, playsets, and accessories to retailers worldwide as early as 2024.
Littlest Pet Shop collectible figurines were originally launched in 1992 and quickly stole the hearts of collectors around the world. With over 3,000 variations and millions of pets sold worldwide, Littlest Pet Shop quickly became a lifestyle brand expanding into other consumer products as well as electronic games and an animated television series. When relaunched in 2005, Littlest Pet Shop was one of the fastest growing collectible brands in the toy industry with hundreds of millions of pets sold to-date plus playsets and accessories that made the Littlest Pet Shop play experience complete. As a testament to its legacy status, the quirky, edgy, and cute characters that are signatures of Littlest Pet Shop remain popular with collectors today.
“We are excited to expand our partnership with Hasbro to bring back one of the world’s most iconic and best-selling global collectible toy brands,” shared Jay Foreman, CEO for Basic Fun! “We are specialists in ‘newstalgia’ and re-igniting the power of legacy brands with a robust portfolio of classic brands that have become generational favorites such as Tonka, Lite-Brite, Lincoln Logs, Care Bears and K’NEX. We are excited for the opportunity to honor the rich history of Littlest Pet Shop as a heritage brand and introduce the classic to a whole new generation of today’s kids and kidult collectors via immersive physical and digital play experiences.”
“Littlest Pet Shop was a runaway success when it first launched in 1992 and again in 2005. With Basic Fun! at the helm, we are looking forward to bringing back this beloved franchise to delight our newest fans,” said Jess Richardson, VP, Global Toys & Games, Licensed Consumer Products at Hasbro. “This move is a great example of our Blueprint 2.0 strategy in action, moving from owned and operated to a licensed-out model to unlock new categories for consumers and unleash the potential of our classic brands like Littlest Pet Shop.