Saban Buys Back Power Rangers
Haim Saban has bought back the worldwide rights to Power Rangers from its current owner, The Walt Disney Company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but numerous media outlets are reporting that it’s estimated at $100 million.
In 2001, Disney acquired the Power Rangers as part of the purchase of Fox Family Worldwide, the media business Saban then co-owned with Fox, for $2.9 billion.
In addition, Saban’s company, The Saban Capital Group, just announced a deal to air the Power Rangers on Nickelodeon. Starting this fall, Nickelodeon’s Nicktoons will begin airing existing episodes with new episodes expected in 2011. Saban Capital also announced that it has signed a new deal with long-time Power Rangers licensee Bandai Namco for toys and video games.
Bravado Partners with The Rolling Stones
Bravado has partnered with The Rolling Stones to create an extensive line of merchandise commemorating the re-release of the group’s seminal recording, Exile on Main Street.
Exile on Main Street, a double-LP originally released in May 1972, has been digitally remastered and will be re-released on May 18 by Bravado-parent Universal Music Group. The re-release features 10 new tracks, including “Plundered My Soul,” “Dancing in the Light,” “Following the River,” and “Pass the Wine” as well as alternate versions of “Soul Survivor” and “Loving Cup.”
To commemorate, Bravado will launch an extensive line of Exile on Main Street- and band-inspired merchandise that will feature more than 60 premium items, which is the only official line of Rolling Stones merchandise available to the public created in collaboration with the band. The line, which will be available worldwide through such leading retailers as Bloomingdale’s, Target, H&M, Hot Topic, Cache Cache, and Zara International, among many others, ranges from exclusive T-shirts, caps, sweatshirts, to collectible, limited-edition luxury goods such as leather jackets, and an ebony collector’s box with a Chrome Hearts-designed Rolling Stones jeweled emblem and autographed lithographs. Moreover, as part of the activities surrounding this campaign, the Bravado suite of Exile on Main Street items will be featured in the windows of New York City’s flagship Bloomingdale’s department store later this month. The line will also include a special “As Worn By” selection, which features copies of actual clothing worn by band members.
What Ever Happened to Paul Nawrocki?
As the global economy was bottoming out at the end 2008 and early 2009, many people were losing their jobs. However, readers alerted us to one person in particular who became, quite literally, the poster child for those seeking work during the recession. His name is Paul Nawrocki. He lost his job in early 2008 and as the year dragged on and things got worse his job search went nowhere. He decided to take some drastic measures to get noticed. So he put on a sandwich board and a suit and stood in front of New York City’s Grand Central Terminal to find a new job.
Instead of finding a job, he became a worldwide media sensation (and got quite a makeover in the process). He represented job seekers everywhere—hard working people with great resumes, lots of contacts, and eager to work yet unavailable to find a job.
But we are happy to report that Nawrocki was hired in March by New York City’s Fantasma Toys as operations manager. In addition he is getting involved in Fantasma product development. Fantasma has an extensive line of magic products, a store in New York City, and a new product—one which is quite a departure from the company’s line—the R/C Arachnid, which will be introduced in the fall. Just to offer a simplistic description, it’s a spider that climbs walls.