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4Kids Entertainment International has a powerful list of classic brands and new properties lined up for this year’s International Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, the world’s biggest licensing conference and exhibition. One of 4Kids’ hottest properties is Chaotic® - the first trading card property specifically designed to combine trading card game play with a unique online multiplayer experience. Chaotic has already attracted legions of fans and the website has over 1.4 million registered users, who have collectively uploaded nearly 60 million cards to the Website. A TV series based on the game is now showing across the world and Spin Master Inc. has been appointed as the exclusive worldwide licensee to design, develop and manufacture Chaotic toys, including action figures and collectables, and to distribute them in the United Kingdom, France and Mexico,. 4Kids Entertainment will grant toy distribution rights to distributors for all other territories. Additionally, Activsion will launch the first Chaotic video game on multiple platforms in Q4 2009. Dinosaur King is also sure to attract attention - the sensational animated series chronicles the adventures of Max, Rex and Zoe, known as the ‘D Team’, who search the world for dinosaur cards that have the power to bring dinosaurs back to life. Licenses are already in place across sectors such as publishing (France, Benelux, Germany and Italy), apparel (France, GAS, Benelux, Nordics), footwear (Italy), home entertainment (France and UK), stationery (France), posters (UK) in addition to a toy line from Playmates and Trading Card Game from Upper Deck available throughout Europe. 4Kids will also be showcasing the new toy line for Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, the newest animated television series in the successful kids’ franchise. Over 18.1 billion Konami/Upper Deck Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards have been translated into seven languages and sold in 51 countries worldwide Approximately six million 6-8 year olds collect and play the trading card game across the globe. The new series features new duelists, the Duel Runner (vehicles), speed, competition and challenges sparked by the recent technological advancements in Domino City, which has been transformed into a futuristic metropolis where duelists battle it out in hi-octane contests called Turbo Duels. In this environment, the winners and losers are no longer separated by skill and strength, but by speed. Licensees on board include LINEA D for apparel in Italy, Play Factory for magazines in France, Editions Oberthur for back-to-school and stationery in France, Belgium and Switzerland. Upper Deck will be distributing the new toy line in the UK, Ireland, France, GAS, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Benelux, Nordics, Greece, Turkey, South Africa and Israel. Popular animal photography franchise The Dog and The Cat from Artist Collection have both been phenomenally successful across a number of territories and feature highly expressive and enormously charming pictures of the animals in question, taken using a fish-eye lens. Both brands have established a strong licensing presence across plush, online greeting cards, mobile phone and mp3 accessories, video games, bags, wallets, nightwear, collectables, bedding, and homeware. The Pig is the latest addition to the franchise and following a strong start in the UK, 4Kids are looking to secure a broad range of licensees and territories. The first licensee for France has just been secured. Embassy/Comics World has signed a deal for nightwear, t-shirts and swimwear launching later this year. Visitors to the Expo also cannot fail to miss the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and 2009 sees everybody’s favourite amphibious superheroes celebrating their 25th year in the business. The brand’s enduring popularity amongst the 17-30 age group means that the Turtles are a retro licensing dream and they feature strongly across apparel, accessories and gifts. Monster Jam, the world’s leading monster truck tour, will also be attracting attention in Las Vegas. The tour itself and a hit video game blasted onto the European scene last year and the 2009 tour is set to kick off with a monster event in Poland in May, before roaring into Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in June and carrying on across Europe before a finale in Sweden in November. 4Kids will also be presenting two new movies from director and producer Luc Besson- Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard and Arthur and the War of the Two Worlds - having picked up the rights from French production studio EuropaCorp for the Nordic territories. 4Kids will not just be exhibiting established brands at the Expo - an announcement is due to be made on new properties nearer the time. ”We are very much looking to doing business in Las Vegas and are delighted to be highlighting such an exciting range of brands,” said Sandra Vauthier-Cellier, Managing Director, 4Kids Entertainment International. “With a variety of new properties and classics, we will be offering considerable potential across all sectors.” |
