Toikido has struck a deal with the award-winning toy brand, YuMe Toys to distribute the official Among Us branded toy range across the US, Canada, EMEA, Asia Pacific, and Japan. The range, featuring plush toys, feature plush, capsules, costumes and seasonal items will be available to trade from May this year.
The popular online multiplayer game Among Us was the most downloaded game of 2020, with half a billion users last November, according to SuperData. The game is currently available on iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch and PC, with further releases and updates planned for later this year.
“Among Us offers the perfect mix of fun, social factors, and amazing characters,” said Darran Garnham, founder and CEO, Toikido. “Toikido is passionate about giving fans what they love without compromising quality and YuMe Toys are the ideal partner to deliver this.”
Michael Kwan, CEO, YuMe Toys, added: “We’re excited to partner with Toikido to be part of the Among Us gaming phenomenon. The demand for product from the fan community can be seen through the impressive meme culture and millions of Twitch followers.
“The YuMe team have responded swiftly to the games’ popularity and we’re proud to bring this unique toy range to the fans in record time.”
The first Among Us toys from YuMe and Toikido will be available to the public at selected retailers across the US, Canada and Europe from June 2021.
The Munich games developer, Wild River Games has partnered with the international toy company Schleich to launch the first video game title for its popular Horse Club franchise.
The new title, Horse Club Adventures, will be an open-world game for children aged six to 12, allowing them to explore and roam freely across the terrain, while also engaging with the mystery-solving adventure narrative.
Horse Club Adventures is scheduled for release this May, blending adventure, role-playing, and racing elements as players take on the role of holiday makers on vacation at Lakeside Riding Stable, joining the Horse Club clique Hannah, Sarah, Sofia, and Lisa. Together they reveal long-guarded secrets, complete quests, and collect objects such as photos and stickers.
The appearance of the player avatars and their horses can be individually customized with clothing for new game characters that will be made available in physical toy retailers from July 2021.
The single-player game can be played in either the storyline or freestyle mode. The storyline mode is split up into 16 days and has over 40 quests ready and waiting to be completed. They range from getting acquainted with Lakeside to being accepted into the Horse Club clique, all the way to participating in the big Lakeside Tournament.
In the freestyle game mode the player explores the extensive terrain on their own. Optional sidequests enable kids to immerse themselves deeper in the story and, among other activities, attend to daily chores such as grooming horses and scraping hooves, or galloping on one of the numerous race courses while competing with others for high scores and medals.
“Figures from Schleich have stood for quality and educationally worthwhile playing for more than 85 years. The video game from Wild River Games equally orients itself in alignment with these values,” read a statement from the team.
“The highly diversified virtual world including numerous different quests still has surprises in store, even after playing repeated games. This ensures long-lasting gaming fun for children in a variety of age groups and with different levels of experience.
“What arises due to the symbiosis of video game and the original Schleich figures is a balance comprised of a digital and tactile game.”
Horse Club Adventures will be available across Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, as well as a digital download for Xbox One and PC.
A restart programme to support retailers reopening next month and a £300 million culture recovery fund have been announced in a budget described as the Government’s “use of the full fiscal firepower of the country,” by Chancellor Rishi Sunak this afternoon.
Among the first issues addressed by Sunak as he outline the plans for the 2021 budget – billed as a ‘budget of our time’ – as England makes its preparations to ease out of lockdown, was the return to business for the country’s non-essential retailers.
Under a Restart Programme described by Sunak, non-essential retailers who will be on track to have suffered a 17 week closure through the country’s third lockdown, will be offered a £6,000 grant to help them get them moving forward again.
The support will be part of a £5 billion scheme for businesses across the country, adding to the total direct cash support system for business to now total £25bn over the course of the pandemic.
For hospitality and leisure businesses, the grant has been increased to £18,000 in accordance to the staggered re-opening and social restrictions that will be enforced as they return to operation. Business rates for such businesses will remain 100 per cent suspended for these businesses for the next three months, at which point rates will be discounted by two thirds for the remaining nine months of the year.
Meanwhile, the Culture Recovery Fund which provides financial support for music venues, independent cinemas, museums, galleries, theatres, and heritage sites as they weather the financial storm of the pandemic, will receive a boost of £300 million.
The first recipients of support from a fun that now totals £1.87bn were detail in October last year, with over 1,385 theatres, museums, and cultural organisations across England benefitting from a £257 million share of the fund.
The Prime Minister’s roadmap out of lockdown has also raised hopes around the return of the live music scene, with June 21st earmarked as the date of full relaxation on any and all coronavirus restrictions.
Elsewhere, a final key point to have arisen in Sunak’s afternoon budget address was the introduction of a increase to corporation tax from 2023 to 25 per cent. The tax will be applied to profits of the businesses in excess of £250,000. Companies with profits of less than £50,000 will remain at 19 per cent corporation tax.
“It’s a tax rise on company profits, but only on the larger more profitable companies, and only in two years’ time,” said Sunak.
The Chancellor also went on to confirm that the furlough scheme will be extended until the end of September with employees set to continue to receive 80 per cent of their wages until the scheme ends, but with firms asked to contribute 10 per cent in July, and 20 per cent in August and September as it begins to wind down.
Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of retail industry charity retailTRUST, said: “Retail will have an absolutely vital role to play in tackling issues like youth employment and social mobility as we move out of this crisis so decisions taken now will not only protect vital jobs and businesses, but the social, economic and cultural importance of the sector to the UK.
“People working in retail have been hit hard financially, emotionally and physically during the entire course of the pandemic. They have had to cope with extremely difficult changes in their working conditions, livelihoods have been placed on hold during the lockdown periods, and, very sadly, tens of thousands of people have been left with no jobs to return to due to the pandemic’s devastating impact on shops and businesses up and down the country. This has led to record demand for retailTRUST’s services.
“It is essential that the government and businesses now work together to safeguard our colleagues’ long-term interests and their wellbeing. And as a sector, we all have a responsibility to come together and make the most of initiatives which will help to protect, support and create roles.”
It didn’t take a global pandemic to facilitate the manner of changes to have taken place at the dress-up and costumes specialist, Rubie’s, over the course of the last 12 months – but it certainly did help.
Having ended 2020 – the year of the great halt – considerably stronger than how it started it, there’s an electricity of excitement running through the Rubies business right now that is almost palpable, even if you are chatting through email.
It was only last month that Rubie’s witnessed the momentous point in its modern day history, as co-owner and managing partner (and also the founder of NECA – what a side project!) Joel Weinshanker take direct oversight of the company’s global business, and since then there’s been a bigger buzz about the costume company than ever before. Then again, this time of year always does seem to get the blood racing for many within the business, because with the dawn of March comes the favourite season of all for so many in the Rubie’s team.
We’re talking, of course, about World Book Day.
It’s by no accident that Rubie’s has become a name somewhat synonymous with the annual charity event developed to encourage reading among children across the UK. Over the years, the firm has carefully aligned itself with the core values that World Book Day promotes; the importance of literacy among children and the rallying of the industry – across its breadth – to do what it can to encourage an enjoyment of reading.
This year, Rubie’s has taken that alignment one step further, through an official partnership with the World Book Day Charity and its mission to change to the lives of the youngsters and families that it acts to serve.
ToyNews catches up with Fran Hales, head of content and marketing at Rubie’s to learn more about the partnership, talk the finer points of developing book character dress-up, and cover the facts of why encouraging children to be active readers is one of the best things the toy industry could for the next generation.
Fran Hales, head of content and marketing, Rubie’s
Hi Fran, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. Just to get us started in a nice orderly fashion, can you tell us how things have been for you guys over the course of 2020?
It’s a very exciting time for Rubies! We welcomed Joel Weinshanker, our co-owner and managing partner, who will have direct oversight over the entire worldwide Rubie’s business (Rubie’s One World).
Rubies ended 2020 in a much stronger position than it was in at the beginning of the year. We are very confident moving forward into 2021 that we will see our industry rise as a result of the hard work that has been put in by the team over the past months, as we continue to support our retailers who are the core focus of our business.
It’s important to note that the changes we have made this year were always scheduled to happen and were not a result of Covid-19. If anything, the pandemic has hastened the progress, ensuring that we bought a consolidated Rubies UK operation quicker than it was perhaps originally planned.
How resilient has dress-up been throughout the pandemic? How important has book character licensing been in the wake of big movie releases at cinema etc?
License ranges have certainly held their own throughout the pandemic, with our new ranges such as The Mandalorian proving to be massive success and sold out of stock within weeks. While licensed product remains desirable, the industry has seen a significant fall in general costume sales because of the hospitality and events industry being hit with severe restrictions throughout 2020 and continuing into 2021.
On the flip side of this, we found lockdowns inspired the nation by providing more focus on dress-up, with parents keen to keep the children entertained at home. We also made sure we were proactively prominent in the national media, which really helped keep the dress-up industry at the forefront during key seasons.
As we haven’t seen as many theatrical releases this year it has had a knock-on impact with product releases also being delayed. There are plenty of new ranges in the pipeline though, not just for movie theatres but from streaming site productions with Disney+ leading the way with epic original series such as WondaVision and Falcon and The Winter Soldier – the next big release on the hugely popular platform.
It’s March, which means we’re coming up to the big day in the Rubie’s calendar… Can we talk about your relationship with World Book Day? Why has the annual event become such an important one for you guys?
We are very excited about our new collaboration. It brings together Rubie’s global experience of delivering best in class costumes and accessories as a trusted manufacturer of licensed and generic dress-up products and the World Book Day Charity who is actively changing lives through a love of books and shared reading.
World Book Day is personally one of my favourite times of year. The event encourages children across the globe to get creative through reading, which can benefit lives an immeasurable amount through such a simple activity. Over the years the day has grown to be a remarkable success. It’s due to the hard work by the charity and the backing they’ve received from publishers and booksellers along with the help of schools to reach out and engage with pupils of all ages.
Our approach when it comes to costumes is for them to be utilised more so as a tool to encourage creativity and nurture the joy experienced from reading or reading to others. It is important that we also recognise the core principle of World Book Day which is to celebrate reading and to share books together this year.
Reading for pleasure is in decline with only 29 per cent of 0-13s reading for pleasure daily (down from 30 per cent in 2017). Fewer than 19 per cent of eight to ten-year-olds are read to daily.
What does the Rubie’s offering bring to the World Book Day event, how does it help heighten children’s engagement with the event and reading in general?
It’s easy to lose sight of what World Book Day is actually about. Here at Rubies, we fully believe that reading knows no bounds, if you can encourage engagement with reading a book through say the use of a costume, as it can only be beneficial to aide enjoying the experience.
It’s proven that wearing costumes motivates children when learning to read, which is the reason schools encourage dressing up as part of the event. We fully endorse any resource to support the education of a child and open their eyes to the joys and endless possibilities of creativity through reading.
There are many children that are compromised by reading and some have parents who may not feel confident reading themselves or have the time to do so. A costume can open those doors by bringing the story to life, help to visualise the characters, and inspire the imagination. Some children need the visual stimulation to get started and once they start, what could be more fun than recreating some scenes dressed as their favourite character to show parents, grandparents, or even friends across video calls helping with much-needed social interaction.
Kids love dressing up, especially in clothes that make them feel grown-up or looking like one of their favourite characters. Adults like dressing up because it reminds them of that feeling of being a child again and getting excited about dressing like a grownup. In a time when we may need to have a break from reality, a costume offers escapism from the world, along with newfound confidence or just making someone else smile and who could argue with putting a smile on someone’s face in these testing times?
Why is children’s literacy such an important issue for you guys, particularly this year and following the events of 2020?
Every hero starts with a story! That’s our saying and the power of literature spreads far and wide through storytelling, it’s fundamental to shaping and forming a child’s imagination. The core reasoning behind WBD is that reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background, or their income.
Every child should have the opportunity to own their own book and we feel very strongly about this core message from World Book Day, it’s one reason why we fully support the day in our own way by bringing the stories to life through dress-up.
“We as an industry can work together to help utilise the power of dress-up to help the cause when it comes to inspiring children to develop key skills from reading.”
What is the process like in bringing children’s book characters to life through dress-up? How closely do you guys work with source material and publishers throughout the process?
We work closely with our licensors to ensure we capture the true spirit of the character and their story, from concept to final costume approval.
To start a project, the Design Team hold creative brainstorm meetings discussing all elements of the characters personalities, colour pallets, fabrications and environments. They use this information to design a range of costumes capturing the characters essence.
It gives the team such pleasure to be able to lift a character from the page and bring it to life in a 3D form, enabling children to become their most treasured characters from literature.
What sort of growth have you guys seen in engagement with World Book Day over the last few years? How important is the event to Rubies’ UK business?
World Book Day plays a significant part on any costume calendar, it’s up there with Halloween as the second largest dress-up season of the calendar year. It’s a celebration of the characters and narratives that we’ve all grown up with and can share with younger generations.
The event has been seen to shift in recent years, in the way it has adapted to reflect the way children now engage and interact with stories, whether on the page or screen. The potential that World Book Day offers has grown exponentially over the years, by providing vast opportunities for collaborations between retailers, publishers and licensees.
Last year the charity encouraged at least 25,000,000 minutes of shared reading and made an impact with 64 per cent of early years settings and 66 per cent primary schools confirming World Book Day changed reading habits. However, there is still work to be done, as reading for pleasure is in decline with only 29 per cent of 0-13s reading for pleasure daily (down from 30 per cent in 2017). Fewer than 19 per cent of eight to ten-year-olds are read to daily or nearly every day and 383,755 children and young people in the UK don’t have a book of their own.
We as an industry can work together to help utilise the power of dress-up to help the cause when it comes to inspiring children to develop key skills from reading, encourage autonomy, enthusiasm, achievement and a sense of enjoyment.
What kind of growth have you seen in the children’s book IP licensing space? Are more and more publishers engaging with it?
Yes indeed, more and more publishers have absolutely seen the benefit of working in the licensing space and engaging with our category. Bringing stories to life is a mutual objective. At a time when encouraging children to read has never been more important it is great to work together with this aim.
Why should retailers be keen to work with Rubies for the coming year?
Well, not only do we have Joel’s arrival, but we have also been working very hard behind the scenes to provide our customers with an improved 365 wholesale experience from Rubie’s.
It’s a giant step forward in the industry with our innovative systems now in place to support our expansive range of the best licensed and generic dress-up product in the world.
Over the past year, we have moved to address the diverse challenges of a changing global market, to provide retailers with the opportunity to grow on today’s marketplaces and ecommerce platforms.
The services we offer have also had to adapt to the changing digital landscape, one example of this would be our live virtual shows from our dedicated showroom in Nuremberg – in addition to our new Rubie’s showroom, complete with a media studio, in our Bristol site.
It all signifies part of our continuing promise to offer innovative and sophisticated solutions to elevate customer’s experience throughout the seasons.
What’s the next step for you guys in terms of the World Book Day partnership? How will you guys look to continue to build in this relationship?
Of course, we have the long term in mind for this partnership as we work closely together to understand each other’s requirements, objective and to ultimately benefit one another for the foreseeable future. The partnership provides reassurance for World Book Day by ensuring they are represented in the correct manner within our industry.
The iconic rock group, Queen, is making its mobile gaming debut with the launch of Queen: Rock Tour, an official game for Android and iOS devices delivered to coincide with the band’s celebration of 50 years since its recruitment of John Deacon this year. Well, any reason for a party…
2021 was planned to be the year of the Queen Golden Jubilee, with a massive 29-date European stadium and arena tour for the band to share its milestone year with the fans. However, with live music still in lockdown and the tour shelved until 2022, the rock group was forced into rethinking its celebratory strategy.
Queen: Rock Tour gives players a chance to experience the might of the Queen experience on their phones supported by extensive attention to detail contributed by the official Queen archives and experts. User can hit the stage and perform with the entire band as they unleash their music talents to play thrilling guitar riffs, heart-pounding drum solos and more.
“Be a Lockdown Rock Star! No turning back!” said Queen’s Brian May on the game launch.
The game allows users to immerse themselves into the world of Queen – progress and score points by playing along to 20 of their most popular hits including: Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You, Radio Ga Ga, I Want to Break Free and We Are The Champions, whilst performing at 10 historic concert venues from around the world.
Players can then style their performances with over 40 official costumes from the band’s history and help unlock fun trivia facts and exclusive images from the official Queen archives, by scoring highly in the game.
Queen: Rock Tour was created in association with Universal Music Group, Hollywood Records and developed by Gameloft for brands, leader in the creation of gaming experiences for brands.
Cedric Ratajczak, creative director at Gameloft for brands, said: “Our ambition was to push the boundaries of music and gaming with a fun and rewarding experience that would put players in Queen shoes at pivotal points in their career and make them perform in real-time Queen’s live music unlike ever before.
“The creative challenge was to modernize the traditional rhythm-game genre with innovative and mobile-friendly twists inheriting from hyper-casual gaming, and with a unique and happy visual style that offers a timeless look to the band, appealing to the new generation of players.
“We devoted enormous attention to the details of Queen’s history, authenticity and artistry to craft a fitting tribute to one of the most significant bands in rock history and aim at setting new standards for how band-focused music games could be executed on mobile today.”
Andrew Kronfeld, executive vice president, marketing at Universal Music Group, added: “Today, Queen are globally recognized as one of the most iconic and important bands in history. Decades after their first live shows together and following on from the huge worldwide box office success of the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic, their popularity continues to grow every year.
“We hope the launch of Rock Tour will introduce their inimitable rock legacy and catalogue to a new generation of fans, through this unique new gaming experience.”
The iconic rock group, Queen, is making its mobile gaming debut with the launch of Queen: Rock Tour, an official game for Android and iOS devices delivered to coincide with the band’s celebration of 50 years since its recruitment of John Deacon this year. Well, any reason for a party…
2021 was planned to be the year of the Queen Golden Jubilee, with a massive 29-date European stadium and arena tour for the band to share its milestone year with the fans. However, with live music still in lockdown and the tour shelved until 2022, the rock group was forced into rethinking its celebratory strategy.
Queen: Rock Tour gives players a chance to experience the might of the Queen experience on their phones supported by extensive attention to detail contributed by the official Queen archives and experts. User can hit the stage and perform with the entire band as they unleash their music talents to play thrilling guitar riffs, heart-pounding drum solos and more.
“Be a Lockdown Rock Star! No turning back!” said Queen’s Brian May on the game launch.
The game allows users to immerse themselves into the world of Queen – progress and score points by playing along to 20 of their most popular hits including: Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You, Radio Ga Ga, I Want to Break Free and We Are The Champions, whilst performing at 10 historic concert venues from around the world.
Players can then style their performances with over 40 official costumes from the band’s history and help unlock fun trivia facts and exclusive images from the official Queen archives, by scoring highly in the game.
Queen: Rock Tour was created in association with Universal Music Group, Hollywood Records and developed by Gameloft for brands, leader in the creation of gaming experiences for brands.
Cedric Ratajczak, creative director at Gameloft for brands, said: “Our ambition was to push the boundaries of music and gaming with a fun and rewarding experience that would put players in Queen shoes at pivotal points in their career and make them perform in real-time Queen’s live music unlike ever before.
“The creative challenge was to modernize the traditional rhythm-game genre with innovative and mobile-friendly twists inheriting from hyper-casual gaming, and with a unique and happy visual style that offers a timeless look to the band, appealing to the new generation of players.
“We devoted enormous attention to the details of Queen’s history, authenticity and artistry to craft a fitting tribute to one of the most significant bands in rock history and aim at setting new standards for how band-focused music games could be executed on mobile today.”
Andrew Kronfeld, executive vice president, marketing at Universal Music Group, added: “Today, Queen are globally recognized as one of the most iconic and important bands in history. Decades after their first live shows together and following on from the huge worldwide box office success of the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic, their popularity continues to grow every year.
“We hope the launch of Rock Tour will introduce their inimitable rock legacy and catalogue to a new generation of fans, through this unique new gaming experience.”
Anyone paying any level of attention to the general narrative of the toy industry over the course of the past 12 months will know that there’s been a re-awakening among some of the market’s more traditional sectors.
The hobby community is one among them. As consumers have found themselves with more time on their hands and a greater tendency to lean back into the pastimes and brands of yesteryear, it comes as little surprise that the hobbyist sector has undergone a resurgence.
The pandemic, for all of its ills, has played a helping hand in driving those dormant hobbies out of the shadows and into the limelight. Gaming – whether it is tabletop or role-playing – has never been so popular, with Hasbro citing record years for both its Magic: The Gathering and Dugeons & Dragons franchises, while the more traditional pursuits – and we’re looking at model building and the hobby trains segment here – have too ploughed full steam ahead into a wider-spanning, more mainstream audience.
As a result, Hornby Hobbies, a name synonymous with the hobbyist market, has reported some of its best results in years. It’s in fact the success of sales of Hornby Hobbies products over the past two years that have given the outfit a new lease of life, and a new grasp on the contemporary market. Consumers have rediscovered the joys of slowing down, and in turn, things at Horby Hobbies have been, well, speeding up.
Earlier this month, the company announced a definitive return to the licensing sector with the appointment of licensing consultant, Michele Pearce, who has taken on the role of leading a new charge of licensing opportunities for the company’s popular Scalextric brand.
Talking with Licensing.biz, Pearce has confirmed that the programme will commence with a few of the more pertinent categories, spanning luxury goods such as watches, video games, board games, sportswear, sports equipment, footwear, and apparel. While it may be early days for the programme still, the message is a big one; after a period of softer sales not some five years ago, Horby Hobbies is ready for growth, and licensing is a very viable route towards it.
“Hornby has dipped its toe into licensing in the past,but this has not been the focus for some years due to changes in the company and a need to really focus on the core product ranges,” Pearce told Licensing.biz.
“However, with the success of the sales of Hornby products over the last two years, the company is now in a great position to expand its options. This is also the perfect time to connect with the customers with other consumer products.
“There is a strong nostalgia response trending amongst all consumers right now as well as a focus on known and trusted brands, and Scalextric is definitely a good fit on all points.”
A traditional slot-car racing system with more than 60 years of rich history behind it, Scalextric is keen on bridging the gap between the surge in demand for nostalgia, with the necessity to contemporise for modern day audiences. It’s by no accident that Pearce talks about Scalextric in the same breath as Mattel’s Hot Wheels, or Hasbro’s Monopoly; each pedigree brands with the vision to remain contemporary and span audiences.
“Scalextric has both the fun and excitement of a dynamic speed-driven toy and the gravitas of being a retro brand,” says Pearce. “This is not something many toy brands can share as an accolade, and the few that do are already partnering successfully with licensees.
“Scalextric has a wealth of imagery in its archive relating to box artwork, catalogues, and old logs and slogans which can be utilised in bringing an extra zing and classic look to a range of adult product.
“Then the new style guide offers a bright and dynamic range of colours, logos, and the digital tie in with the Scalextric Performance App that will appeal to the younger audience.”
Racing into the future
While the potential for the Scalextric brand within the consumer products space lies before it like an expanding horizon, Pearce has already earmarked her markets for initial exploration, and amng them, of course, is digital gaming.
“With the Scalextric App already developed and the ability to play via your mobile phone or tablet to control your cars and then share scores and discuss via social media means that this is a natural extension for the brand,” she explains.
Then, there’s the scope for audience engagement that live eventing – when the world opens itself back up to in-person events of course – has to offer.
“Once the opportunity is available again to participate in the public space, we will be looking for partnerships with stores and other types of events that could host Scalextric events,” Pearce added.
Reading the signs offered to the Scalextric brand over the past 12 months, engagement with the slot-car racing brand is expected to remain high. House-bound consumers have rekindled their love and affinity with a brand to a degree that it has welcomed families back into the field, while Hornby Hobbies has been active in engaging new fans through its social media platforms.
“All of these actions have either reawakened past fans or brought the brand to the attention of new enthusiasts who have discovered the fun and excitement that is Scalextric. We now want to build out the partnerships over the next six months and have a positive story to tell at the Brand Licensing Show in late November,” Pearce continues.
“Over the last three years or so, Hornby has invested heavily into the Scalextric brand, with new scales, new sets, new features, and new licensed characters. The team has reinvigorated the brand with such innovations as SparkPlug, but there is still plenty to come.
“Scalextric is a 60 year old brand with an eye to the future with both product, brand awareness, and vision,” she concludes.
Beano Studios has unveiled a special partnership with the traditional Scottish company, Prickly Thistle to create a birthday tartan in celebration of the fan-favourite rebel, Dennis, in the colours of his iconic black and red jumper.
The Highland born and based company has brought the design to life with intricacy, saluting the character’s 70th birthday within the thread count of the design, with its block pattern of 70 threads. To make it even more official, the design has also been accepted and recorded into The Scottish Register of Tartans, which form part of Scotland’s national archives.
More than this, not only does the tartan celebrate 70 years of the Scottish born character himself, it also puts a message of sustainability at the heart of the product, through the use of its own green energy supplied by the company’s mill, and the use of local labour and supply chain.
In fact, Prickly Thistle prides itself on its transparency in the production process which it believes gives it output the authenticity of a product of Scotland. The products themselves use natural fibres, while the packaging is recyclable.
Dennis’s Birthday Tartan will launch on March 17th this year.
Clare Campbell, founder and director of Prickly Thistle, said: “We have always prided ourselves with a mission statement we formed a few years ago, changing the future, by disrupting the past. This became so important to us to challenge the long associated negative and or limiting stereotypes attached to what is Scotland’s national fabric, tartan.
“Now, to have our very first tartan project that can be directly shared with children really is a massively proud moment for us. Children can see it for what it is, a symbolic colourful fabric that championed and can champion again sustainable living.
“We have been so lucky to work with many people over our early years, but there is something special about this one. I am sure you can sense the rebel in us now to challenge for what we care about, so to partner with a character like Dennis and a brand liked Beano on this message is nothing short of perfect.”
Rob Wijeratna, joint managing director, Rocket Licensing, the UK licensing agency for Beano Studios and brokers of the deal, added: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with Prickly Thistle and Beano Studios on these wonderful tartan designs for Dennis’ birthday and to support the mission of authentic and locally produced product.
“The very special Beano tartan is being used for jumpers, scarves and braces which we know Beano fans will love.”
Vanessa Andreis, franchise planning and partnerships director, Beano Studios, said: “As the tartan rebels we couldn’t imagine a better partner than Prickly Thistle to create a birthday tartan for Dennis. For 70 years kids have read and laughed along with Dennis and now fans big and small can celebrate their inner rebel for the next 70 years in style.”
A small artisan collection of products in Dennis’s Birthday tartan will be available on the 17th March via Prickly Thistle’s online shop. The tartan will be woven by them, in the only mill based in the mainland Highland region of Scotland and all products will be made in-house, living up to a truly made in Scotland (by rebels) label.
The collection will comprise of three sustainable staple products for everyday living and all the family.
Hobby and tabletop gaming fans can immerse themselves deeper within the lore of the popular role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons and the strategy card game Magic: The Gathering thanks to a raft of new products courtesy of WizKids.
WizKids is recognised as the premier manufacturer of premium pre-painted miniatures and tabletop games, but will now introduce an arsenal of new game accessories and lifestyle products for fans wishing to show their affinity to their beloved brands. Debut product categories include action figures, prop replicas, apparel, and game accessories such as maps, battle mats, bags, carrying cases, and more.
“As players and fans of these two popular games, we are thrilled to be creating dynamic products that will enhance the play experience for enthusiasts of these long-admired franchises,” said Justin Ziran, president at WizKids.
WizKids will also offer branded, high-quality paints and paint supplies as a companion to its successful Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures line – designed for all levels of painting experience. Additionally, WizKids is adding high quality, unpainted, sprue miniatures for intermediate and veteran miniature painters.
“We are excited to expand our strategic partnership with WizKids to encompass both D&D and Magic. By increasing the variety of products available in key categories, we will further enhance our fans’ experience around the gaming table and offer new collectibles and lifestyle products that allow them to show off their fandom with friends and family,” said Ann Earp, director of licensing at Wizards of the Coast.
“The product quality of WizKids and their ability to tap into what fans are really looking for has grown our business exponentially for D&D, and we look forward to them bringing that same success with Magic: The Gathering products and accessories.”
Expanded categories include Dungeons and Dragons sprue miniatures, action figures, an official paint line, artifacts and prop replicas for both Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, and Dungeons and Dragons battle mats, maps, bags, and a carrying case.
These new product categories will join the previously announced papercraft and 2D miniatures lines.
The Pokémon Company is celebrating a ‘significant increase in sales’ of its Pokémon Trading Card Game and extensive toy range from Jazwares across the European markets, despite all of the challenges that retail has faced at the hands of the Coronavirus.
According to figures recorded by the NPD Group Toys retail tracking service, sales figures increased in the UK, France, Germany, and Benelux during 2020 for the Pokémon TCG and toys from Jazwares. Year-on-year sales for Pokémon continue to outperform the market trend—a regular achievement for the brand in recent years.
Pokémon was the number one NPD toy property in France up to week 49 in 2020, finishing the year in third place overall with a total growth of seven per cent.
Remaining the number one Strategic Trading Card property in Europe, according to NPD, Pokémon sales continued to rise in key territories with YOY growth of 15 per cent in the United Kingdom, six per cent in France, and 28 per cent in Benelux.
According to TPCi’s own EPOS tracking service, which began in Germany four years ago, 2020 registered the best like-for-like retailer sales since tracking began, and Q4 was up a staggering 319 per cent against the same period in 2018.
Meanwhile, Jazwares launched an extended range of new products for 2020 which proved popular among kids and fans, and resulted in a 36 per cent uplift in sales across Europe. Its Advent calendar sold out well before the start of December, and the Pokémon Carry Case Playset sold out in the UK.
Also new for 2020 was the launch of Pokémon TCG Battle Academy, the first board game adaptation of the TCG,combining strategic Pokémon TCG gameplay within a classic family game experience.
Battle Academy won the Best Game category in the 2021 US Toy of the Year Awards.
Mathieu Galante, licensing director EMEA for The Pokémon Company International, said: “In what has been an extremely challenging year for retail, we are delighted that Pokémon has performed so strongly and helped to provide a welcome diversion and entertainment.
“Appetite continues to grow for our innovative range of best-in-class products, reflecting Pokémon’s widespread appeal and innovation which keeps it fresh, relevant and in-demand. 2021 is our 25th anniversary, and we have a whole host of exciting celebratory plans in place for this landmark year.”
Simon Benton, VP Pokémon TCG Sales Europe, added: “Pokémon TCG sales were beyond expectations in 2020, with four significant markets enjoying their best-ever years. Our hugely popular Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield Series expansions maintained a high profile throughout the year. The launch of the Battle Academyboard gamebrought an added new dimension to Pokémon’s TCG appeal.
“2021 is off to a fast start despite European retail lockdowns, with January EPOS sales figures higher than any we’ve seen before. The recently launched and highly anticipated Shining Fates expansion, featuring 100 all-important Shiny cards, is set to be another big hit; we’ve already had to instigate reprints to keep up with the huge demand at preorder.
“It’s a great start to what’s set to be an exciting year of special promotions and activity to celebrate Pokémon’s25th anniversary.”
Pokémon was first launched in Japan in 1996 as a role-playing game for Nintendo’s Game Boy system and reached the United States and Europe in 1998-99. It has since grown into one of the most popular entertainment properties in the world, encompassing video games, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, mobile games and apps, animation and movies, Play! Pokémon competitive events, and licensed products.
It is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time with more than 368 million video games sold worldwide. In addition, more than 22 billion TCG cards have been shipped to 77 countries in 13 languages, while the mobile game sensation Pokémon GO has received more than one billion downloads globally since launch in 2016.
More than 1,000 episodes of the animated TV series span 23 seasons, licensed for broadcast in 176 countries and regions in more than 30 languages.
