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Creative Kids and Hasbro partner for innovative new Play-Doh products

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Creative Kids, producer of interactive kids’ arts and crafts and STEM toys, has announced a new partnership with Hasbro to produce a variety of new Play-Doh branded products in 2022.

Through the multi-year, multi-national licensing agreement, Creative Kids and Hasbro will introduce a full line of Play-Doh toys with new twists in the Air Dry & Modelling Clay compounds space.

The partnership is a close collaboration between both Creative Kids’ and Hasbro’s product development and marketing teams. Together, the brands are working on a multitude of compounds new to Play-Doh products, including modelling clay and other assortments to offer new creative play experiences.

The first products will launch in Spring 2022 for all distribution channels and will be supported by a dynamic marketing campaign

“We are honoured to partner with Hasbro to help enhance and grow their iconic Play-Doh line,” says Daniel DeLapa, Chief Marketing Officer, Creative Kids. “We have been working on numerous new compounds and to have those innovations branded under the Play-Doh line is a dream come true.”

“Play-Doh has been Shaping Imaginations for generations of families by offering unique and engaging experiences for both kids and parents, for over 65 years,” adds Vice President, Hasbro Global Licensing, Jess Richardson. “This strategic partnership with Creative Kids allows the Play-Doh brand to expand upon that vision, offering kids exciting new innovative compounds to further unlock their creativity and imagination. Can’t wait to see the explorative fun these products will deliver.”

The first products in this new line will debut in the spring. For more information, visit CreativeKids.com.

London and New York toy fairs going ahead as planned

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The organisers of the London and New York toy fairs have both issued strong statements regarding their plans for the events, which are slated to go ahead this January and February respectively.

The Toy Association expects to safely host Toy Fair New York at the Javits Center from February 19-22, 2022.

“Hundreds of small and midsize toy & play companies, entrepreneurs, and inventors across North America depend on Toy Fair New York for access to the market and new opportunities,” says Steve Pasierb, president & CEO of The Toy Association. “Many have been looking to the 2022 show to help their businesses recover from the negative impacts of the past two years of the pandemic. While international attendance will be down, and some major players do not plan to be present, Toy Fair New York is still set for the second half of February.”

To ensure the health and safety of all Toy Fair attendees, New York City’s strict indoor activity guidelines and the Javits Center’s own policy requiring proof of vaccination for admission to events will be rigorously enforced. All who enter Toy Fair will be required to wear masks. “Our steadfast requirement for proof of vaccination and mask wearing was seen as somewhat controversial last spring and today provides confidence that all health and safety standards are in place,” added Pasierb.

The Javits Center, now operating at 100% capacity, allows for social distance and is among the safest venues in the country, having received the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) accreditation and with the installation of hospital-grade High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters (the entire volume of air within the building is completely changed five times per day). Toy Fair has been planned from the onset with wider aisles as part of its health and safety preparations.

“Our industry is one of creativity, human connection, and collaboration, which is something we all desperately need and want – and something Toy Fair uniquely provides,” said Pasierb. “Toy Fair and the Javits Center have the standards and practices in place to deliver a safe environment to gather in person, meet with customers and friends, conduct business, and enjoy networking. With these tools in place, the industry has the opportunity to utilize them.”

Given that no new Covid restrictions are being mooted for England, the British Toy and Hobby Association has released a statement regarding Toy Fair 2022:

“Over the past months and weeks, we have continuously been monitoring the government regulations and industry guidance in order to best prepare and work towards delivering a safe and successful Toy Fair 2022 for the industry.

“We are pleased to confirm, given Government has not changed the conditions under which the fair can take place, that we look forward to delivering a great Toy Fair 2022 at Olympia and to welcoming the industry.

“The current regulations allow for large indoor events like Toy Fair to take place with mandatory mask-wearing and COVID-19 status checks, which we will be operating for allparticipants. The requirements for anyone accessing the halls, including exhibitors, contractors, visitors and staff will be either proof of full vaccination, a negative PCR or Lateral flow test (within 48 hours prior to arrival) or medical exemption.

“We would recommend all participants take a Lateral flow test before entering the show.

“The health and safety of our participants is of utmost importance and hence we continue to track the guidance in order to comply with regulations. We are working closely with Olympia to provide a safe environment with enhanced cleaning, multiple hand sanitising stations and two points of entrance/exit to avoid crowding.

“We continue to recommend that exhibitors also strongly factor hygiene into their planning by regularly cleaning high frequency touchpoints and demonstration products, offering hand sanitiser to all visitors and monitoring numbers to avoid overcrowding on a stand. We would recommend participants make appointments to help avoid potential overcrowding issues.

“We would also advise in this exceptional year in light of the ongoing pandemic that exhibitors be prudent on expenditure where possible, especially in case the situation or requirements from government necessitate changes.

“Once again, we thank you for your understanding, patience and support during these difficult times and look forward to welcoming the industry to Toy Fair at Olympia from 25-27 January.”

Quarto announces The Official Peaky Blinders Cookbook

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With the sixth and final series of Peaky Blinders set to air in 2022, White Lion Publishing, a division of Quarto, has announced the forthcoming release of the first official cookbook based on the hit series.

Containing 50 recipes, the book takes inspiration from the iconic locations the infamous gang inhabits, from the bar at The Garrison to the glamour of the Eden Club and the extravagance of Arrow House. Dishes include Warming vegetable & barley soup with Alfie Solomons’ soda bread, Grilled Oysters with parmesan crumb, Roast Rabbit with bacon & mushrooms in a whiskey sauce, and Sloe Gin jelly with blackberries and cream. The book combines stills from the series with specially commissioned photography.

Peaky Blinders is distributed by Banijay Rights and has sold in more than 183 countries, and is widely available on Netflix. The Peaky Blinders brand enjoys international success across multiple categories including gifting, live experience, apparel, accessories and essentials, and now boasts 40 licensees across multiple territories.

The Official Peaky Blinders Cookbook is out on 8 March, priced at £14.99 hardback.

Nissan partners with Brainbase to drive licensing programme

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Brainbase, the venture-backed company helping licensing teams optimise their partnerships from contract to revenue, and Nissan Motor Corporation have announced a partnership whereby Nissan will unify its global licensing operations on Brainbase’s  brand licensing platform.

“Nissan has a rich history of ingenuity and innovation in the auto industry not only in their home country of Japan, but across the globe,” says Nate Cavanaugh, co-founder and CEO of Brainbase. “Our companies’ combined commitments to excellence and disrupting the status quo brought us together, and the Brainbase team is excited to support their high-growth licensing business with our industry-leading technology.”

“In a space of seemingly many software vendors, Brainbase is in league of its own in the intellectual property licensing industry,” said a spokesperson from the Licensing Business Group, IP Promotion Department at Nissan. “By partnering with Brainbase, we are setting up our licensing team for success in the present and in the future for years to come.”

Brainbase is designed to bring together every feature required to run a global licensing business at scale so licensing teams can make smarter, faster decisions. With the help of Brainbase, IP owners are able to unify their global operations into a single software platform – from deals, product approvals, royalty reporting and digital asset management to dashboard analytics.

Nissan aims to establish a win-win relationship with its customers through the automotive brand licensing business. From toys to apparel, Nissan will bring licensed product to market even faster to the fans of Nissan vehicles such as Skyline, Z and many more.

Nissan joins a Brainbase customer roster with leading global brands including BBC Studios, BuzzFeed, Chefclub, Crayola, kathy ireland® Worldwide, Moose Toys, Penske Media Corporation, SYBO Games and the Van Gogh Museum.

IP licensing platform Brainbase wins top award

GODIVA expands licensing portfolio in North America with four new partnerships

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GODIVA is expanding its licensing portfolio in the U.S. and Canada in 2022 with the launch of four new licensing partnerships, with Boardwalk Frozen Treats, Jimmy’s Gourmet Bakery, Le Vian and Cookies United.

These four new partners join other brands in GODIVA’s North America licensing portfolio, which includes General Mills, The Cheesecake Factory and, most recently, Jessica Pastries, which just launched as part of GODIVA’s Holiday 2021 collection.

“We are thrilled to offer this first-class selection of GODIVA-inspired products that imbue the unmatched quality and essence of our premium brand, while reinforcing that GODIVA is the perfect choice to make any moment into an amazing one,” says Nurtac Ziyal Afridi, GODIVA’s chief executive officer. “Establishing new partnerships reinforces our strategy of expanding our accessibility and democratising premium chocolate to open more people’s eyes to the wonder of GODIVA. Licensing will continue to play a critical role in these endeavors in North America and around the world.”

“We are highly selective when choosing a licensing partner as we want to ensure they are each ‘GODIVA-worthy’ and must share the same vision and mission: spreading happiness and wonder to all,” says Meghan Furse, Global Director of Business Development, GODIVA. “With each partnership, we are providing a new channel to extend our premium quality brand to a wider audience and attract a new generation of GODIVA fans.”

Boardwalk Frozen Treats will introduce seven new GODIVA ice cream pints with each flavour inspired by GODIVA’s classic premium chocolate pieces and flavour profiles. The frozen treats will roll out in grocery stores throughout the U.S. beginning this January. Exclusive flavours include: Hazelnut Crunch, Mint Medallion, Praline Cone Crunch, Salted Caramel Brownie, Caramel Embrace, Chocolate Strawberry, and the iconic Midnight Swirl.

Jimmy’s Gourmet Bakery will roll out GODIVA “bake-at-home” chocolate chip cookie dough filled with chocolate ganache. Sold both frozen and refrigerated, these premium products are inspired by GODIVA’s ganache-filled chocolates.

Le Vian, a leader in fine jewellery, has a select line of natural fancy colour diamonds which are exclusively trademarked “Chocolate Diamonds”® across the globe. For Valentine’s Day 2022, three cobranded GODIVA x Le Vian Chocolate Diamonds pendants will be launched as a special-edition collection available at Kay Jewelers. The pieces are inspired by GODIVA’s classic chocolates and iconography. The collection also includes a very limited number of high jewelry parures and ring sets, created for the red carpet. Additional designs will roll out in the future.

Cookies United has created GODIVA Gingerbread House and Cookie Decorating Kits featuring GODIVA chocolate cookie pieces and the chocolatier’s premium “Masterpieces” Dark Chocolate Ganache Hearts as decorative pieces. These decorative kits will launch at Easter and during the Holiday 2022 season.

Jessica Pastries’ ready-to-eat round and log cakes launched as part of GODIVA’s 2021 holiday collection exclusively in Canada. These GODIVA Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt cakes feature multiple layers including sponge cake, mousse, and chocolate crunch.

GODIVA’s existing licensing partnerships include The Cheesecake Factory, which offers GODIVA-inspired desserts including the popular GODIVA® Chocolate Cheesecake, and General Mills Baking Kits, including GODIVA Chocolate Torte, GODIVA Lava Cake and GODIVA Brownie Cheesecake Swirl. To learn more about GODIVA’s products and partnerships, visit www.godiva.com.

Rubber Road extends partnership with Warner Bros Consumer Products

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Pop culture specialist Rubber Road has announced a continuing partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products to produce merchandise inspired by some of the biggest, most iconic global entertainment franchises under its design arm, Numskull Designs.

Rubber Road has been working with WBCP since 2018 and has launched official merchandise inspired by Lord of the Rings, Friends, DC properties including The Suicide Squad and Wizarding World, and horror properties including The Lost Boys, It and The Exorcist. Characters from these franchises have been made into TUBBZ Cosplaying Collectibles, with Lord of the Rings being the biggest collection featuring 16 characters, available now for purchase. Other licensed lines include gaming lockers and Christmas jumpers.

This continued partnership will see Rubber Road introducing many more new products for these franchises as well as having the opportunity to design merchandise based on other much-loved Warner Bros. properties.

Liam Taylor, Commercial Director at Rubber Road, says: “We are thrilled to have this extended opportunity with Warner Bros. Consumer Products. We have had the pleasure of introducing some fantastic products over the last few years which have gone down really well with pop culture fans.

“Warner Bros. has some super exciting stuff coming up and we can’t wait to develop the current franchises and get started on some new ones. We have lots of ideas up our sleeves and our designers are raring to go!”

Hasbro partners with Rubber Road to launch merchandise range based on its hit global franchises

Dragon Ball Super x FILA footwear collection hits stores

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FILA has teamed up with global anime powerhouse Toei Animation and its U.S. agent Funimation to launch a limited-edition Dragon Ball Super x FILA footwear collaboration.

The collection, which first debuted at New York Comic Con in October, will feature a total of seven character-inspired styles. Offered in men’s and kids sizes, each style is a unique custom colourway with design elements that celebrate the most notable traits of fan-favourite characters from the massively popular Dragon Ball Super anime series produced by Toei Animation.

The footwear offerings include a mix of classic FILA silhouettes like the Original Fitness and F-13, as well as four distinct FILA Renno designs, one of the brand’s newest styles, first launched in early 2021. The Dragon Ball Super x FILA collection features seven different designs based on Goku, Goku Black, Vegeta, Golden Frieza, Trunks, Beerus, and Super Shenron.

All styles feature Dragon Ball Super logo treatments on the tongue, heel and sock liner. The FILA Renno styles retail for US $100 (men’s) and $90 (kids); FILA F-13 for $80 (men’s) and $70 (kids); FILA Original Fitness for $75 (men’s) and $65 (kids).

The Dragon Ball Super x FILA collection is available in the U.S. and Canada only, exclusively through Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports and Footaction.

 

Sony Pictures Consumer Products and Tockr team up for ‘The Wheel of Time’ inspired wristwatches

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American watch brand Tockr has announced a new, limited series of “The Wheel of Time” inspired wristwatches.

With their luminous serpentine watch dials, the new unisex Tockr “The Wheel of Time” models channel the mystery and magic of the new fantasy series from Prime Video and Sony Pictures Television, available to stream now on Prime Video.

Tockr Founder Austin Ivey says: “We are so proud to be the timepiece licensee for ‘The Wheel of Time,’ and it is our hope that this is just the first of many exciting collaborations to come with Sony Pictures Consumer Products and Prime Video.”

Each watch is presented in a 42 mm stainless steel case and is powered within by a high-grade Swiss quartz movement. The solid case back bears a detailed engraving of “The Wheel of Time” logo and a unique serial number engraving.

A textured black silicone strap subtly mimics a serpent’s scales and adds a dramatic finishing touch, complete with a stainless-steel pin buckle engraved with the Tockr logo. Each wristwatch will come delivered in a custom “The Wheel of Time” branded leather pouch.

The watches are available for pre-order ($449 USD each)  exclusively at Tockr.com, shipping worldwide, with delivery in early 2022.

Cobra Kai consumer products programme expands ahead of Season 4

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In anticipation of the Cobra Kai fourth season release on December 31, Sony Pictures Consumer Products (SPCP) has announced a significant expansion to the Cobra Kai consumer products programme.

Boasting apparel, accessories, toys, collectibles, home goods, novelty, costumes, jewellery, publishing and more, the Cobra Kai consumer products line covers all licensing categories with goods for everyone to enjoy while streaming the hit show. In addition to the U.S., the brand can be found in hundreds of formats across the globe, including key markets the UK/Europe, Mexico, Brazil and Japan.

“Cobra Kai ratings have been strong throughout its run, and as the fourth season approaches, consumer demand for show-themed products has never been stronger,” says Jamie Stevens, EVP, Worldwide Consumer Products, Sony Pictures Entertainment. “With Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang, fans have the opportunity to show their support for any of their favorite dojos with the breadth of merchandise we’re offering, and just in time for the show’s debut on New Year’s Eve!”

Just released from Playmates are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. Cobra Kai 2-Packs: Mikey vs. Daniel LaRusso, Donatello vs. Johnny Lawrence, Ralph vs. John Kreese and Leo vs. Miguel Diaz. The figures can be seen across several top media outlets’ holiday gift guides and general gift roundups, and are available from Amazon.

U.S. partnerships include:

  • A HERO x Cobra Kai speciality coffee collaboration with HERO Beverage Co, which can be found online at drinkhero.com or at participating retail partner locations across the U.S.
  • A limited-edition collaboration with head to toe looks inspired by each dojo, from Champion Athleticwear, launching in February 2022.
  • Sleepwear, headwear, hosiery and accessories from Bioworld at Walmart.
  • Boxerbriefs, hats, shirts, sweatshirts and tanks from Contenders Clothing at www.contendersclothing.com.
  • All-new 7-inch figures from Diamond Select Toys, available for pre-order now at  www.diamondselecttoys.com.
  • Costumes and accessories from Disguise, Party City and Spirit.
  • Diverson3’s Cobra Kai: Card Fighter mobile game for iOS and Android.
  • FunkoPop! vinyl figures, available for purchase at www.funko.com.
  • Han Cholo earrings, pendant necklaces, rings and enamel pins, found at www.hancholo.com.
  • A four-part limited edition comic book series from IDW, available at www.idwpublishing.com.
  • Ripple Junction apparel, including dojo-themed t-shirts, tanks and hoodies, socks and more, at the official Cobra Kai Amazon store.
  • Drinkware, stationery, throws and novelty items from Surreal Entertainment and apparel from Mad Engine online and at various retail locations.
  • Trends International posters, bookmarks and calendars available at www.trendsinternational.com.

Europe/UK partners include:

  • Party Delights (at www.partydelights.co.uk) and Amscan International Limited (also available in Australia) for dress-up.
  • Bioworld International, the UK and Europe day- and nightwear license holder, for apparel, currently available at retailers such as Asda, Primark and Next.
  • Cend International Limited (The Hut Group)/Zavvi for apparel, accessories, gifting and home items, available now at www.zavvi.com.
  • Ecell Global for phone and tablet cases, found at goheadcase.com.
  • Pyramid Posters for poster and gifting items, at Truffle Shuffle, HMV and The Range.
  • STOR S.L. holds a drinkware and crockery license for Europe, UK, and MENA and is set to launch early 2022.

SPCP is giving fans a one-stop-shop to snag all their favourite goods across every major product category at cobrakaistore.com for shoppers in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Australia and uk.cobrakaistore.com for European shoppers.