DeAPlaneta Entertainment and KidsBeeTV have joined forces to add a range of beloved preschool programming to its streaming platform. Through the new licensing agreement, Milo, the award-winning show about a five-year-old cat who explores different vocations, along with Super Dino, Baby Heidi, and Bubble Bip, will be available this month on KidsBeeTV.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, has announced a new organization-wide focus on the emotional well-being of young children and their families. Responding to the growing mental health crisis for young children and building on decades of experience developing social-emotional learning content for families, the Workshop will address this critical need through a wide range of activities and engaging content designed for the whole family and available on multiple platforms to reach children and families wherever they are.
The Pokémon Company International announced the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) Live will officially launch around the world on June 8, 2023, on iOS, Android, macOS and Windows devices following the current beta period. Ahead of the release of the tabletop version, the latest expansion of the best-selling Pokémon TCG, Scarlet & Violet—Paldea Evolved, will be playable in Pokémon TCG Live beginning June 8, 2023, at 10 a.m. PDT, allowing players to collect and battle with new Pokémon ex and Tera Pokémon ex cards. In addition, to celebrate the official launch of Pokémon TCG Live, players who log in to the game between May 2, 2023, at 10 a.m. PDT, and June 6, 2023, at 10 a.m. PDT, will receive special customization accessories, including a coin, card sleeves and deck box.
Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, a world-leading international producer, distributor, and licensor of children’s animated and live action content, has announced a development deal with Japanese creative powerhouse, Polygon Pictures, to deliver stand out Japanese originated animated content for kids. The new development collaboration leverages Polygon’s premier position and reputation in the Japanese market, with Nelvana’s successful track record of partnering to bring Japanese animated properties, such as Bakugan™, Beyblade, and Cardcaptor Sakura, to global audiences.
JAKKS Pacific, Inc, a top manufacturer of toys and consumer products and its costume division, Disguise, has announced a multi-year partnership with Rooster Teeth and Joey Drew Studios to bring Bendy to the world. JAKKS and Disguise will design, develop and manufacture action figures, plush, playsets, costumes and costume accessories commencing in fall 2023. Disguise first launched Bendy and the Ink Machine costumes in North America in 2018 and saw great success with the horror-gaming-themed Halloween costumes for several years. JAKKS is now joining in the mix with master toy rights and the company-wide rights are being expanded to include worldwide distribution.
Power up those shields, princess: Boba Fett is coming to Star Wars Villainous. Ravensburger, acclaimed publisher behind award-winning board games and high-quality toys and puzzles, has announced that the galaxy’s most infamous bounty hunter is the cover star of Star Wars Villainous: Scum and Villainy, the second installment in the Star Wars Villainous line. Ravensburger has also launched Star Wars Villainous puzzles with original art inspired by the award-winning board game Star Wars (Power of the Dark Side) Villainous. Characters include Darth Vader, Moff Gideon, Asajj Ventress, General Grievous and Kylo Ren, and are available for purchase on Amazon now.
May is National Foster Care Month, and the Marine Toys for Tots Program is expanding its support beyond the holiday season to deliver emotional comfort and gifts to children living in Foster Care. The Program’s initiative, Champions for Those in Foster Care, will provide toys, books, and other gifts to be distributed to foster care children through local organizations across the country. “These children leave their homes with only a small plastic bag of their belongings. Marine Toys for Tots wants to give foster care children not only something tangible to take with them as they move, but also some tools and hope for a brighter tomorrow,” said LtGen Jim Laster, CEO of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.
LEGO Group and Universal Products & Experiences are teaming up to bring DreamWorks Animation’s hit preschool series, Gabby’s Dollhouse to life in LEGO brick form with the launch of its first-ever line based on the popular global series, with four new sets available for pre-order now and launching August 1st.
“We are pleased with our year-to-date performance as we close the first quarter,” said Stephen Berman, JAKKS Pacific Inc.’s Chairman and CEO, “and are excited about the possibilities for the remainder of the year. We shipped over $100 million worth of product in Q1 for the second consecutive year and it is the first time we’ve done that in back-to-back years since 2009. We have challenging revenue comparisons all year, but our significant gross margin improvement lessened the impact in the first quarter. Our Q1 gross profit dollars haven’t been this high since 2015. We managed inventory down further and eliminated most of our temporary warehouse capacity. And, as we previously disclosed, earlier in the quarter we paid down our long-term debt to less than $30 million.