TRU’s Bankruptcy Auction Cancelled, Secured Lenders Step in to Acquire Assets
Geoffrey, LLC, Toys “R” Us’ (TRU) intellectual property holding company subsidiary, is moving forward with a plan for substantially all of its assets to be acquired by a group of investors led by Geoffrey, LLC’s existing secured lenders.
The announcement was made following a five-month marketing effort by Boston-based Consensus, an investment bank retained to market the assets of Geoffrey, LLC, that resulted in several formal and informal proposals to acquire the intellectual property assets. After considering such proposals, it was determined that the proposal from the existing term lenders was meaningfully higher and better than any other global bid or the sum of the bids received on individual assets. The transition of the business to its new owners is pending approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and all major creditor constituencies are supportive.
Geoffrey, LLC, as reorganized, will control a portfolio of intellectual property that includes trademarks, e-commerce assets and data associated with the TRU and Babies “R” Us (BRU) businesses in the U.S. and all over the world, including a portfolio of more than 20 toy and baby brands such as Imaginarium, Koala Baby, Fastlane and Journey Girls. The reorganized company will own rights to the TRU and BRU brands in all markets globally, with the exception of Canada. It will also become the licensor of the brands to the company’s existing network of franchisees operating in countries across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East as well as South Africa.
The new owners are actively working with potential partners to develop ideas for new TRU and BRU stores in the U.S. and abroad that could bring back these iconic brands in a new and re-imagined way.
The wholesale toy distributor and intellectual property company whose focus is on popular play patterns across trusted brands that kids and parents love. Geoffrey’s Toy Box is a fully outfitted organization with design, development and global sourcing expertise. Portfolio includes popular brands like Journey Girls, Fastlane, True Heroes, You & Me, Imaginarium, Just like Home and more.
Wave 2 Mego Figures Launch at Target
Mego Corporation released its second wave of action figures at Target this month, following its launch at San Diego Comic-Con in July and at Target in August. The second wave of action figures adds 18 additional characters. As with wave one, the second wave will include a limited run of 10,000 figures per character.
Mego also launched the Mego Ambassador Program, which offers Mego fans the opportunity to become ambassadors and to help the company spread the word about Mego’s comeback. More than 1,000 people have signed up for the program since its launch in June.
Wave two includes more characters from the first run’s featured properties, such as DC Comics, Charlie’s Angels, Star Trek and more. Figures include
- The Gorn (Star Trek)
- Kris Munroe (Charlie’s Angels)
- Cliff Clavin (Cheers)
- Samantha (Bewitched)
- Kelly Bundy (Married with Children)
- Greg Brady (Brady Bunch)
- Frankenstein’s Monster
- Phoebe Halliwell (Charmed)
- Richie Cunningham (Happy Days)
- Jo Jo Polniaczek (Facts of Life)
- Mr. Spock (Star Trek)
- Starchild (KISS)
- Dorothy and the Wicked Witch two-pack (The Wizard of Oz)
- DJ and Stephanie Tanner two-pack (Full House)
There will also be a line of 14-inch DC Super Hero figures, including:
- Classic Superman
- Green Lantern
- Batgirl/Barbara Gordon
- Poison Ivy/Pamela Isley
Wave three of the line is also planned.
BBC Picks Up New Animated Series Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese
Cloudco Entertainment, Watchnext Media, and Kavaleer Productions announce a new animated kids sitcom, Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese. Produced by Watchnext Media and Kavaleer studios in France and in Ireland, respectively, the series has been ordered by the BBC for CBBC in the UK, commissioned by the French television network Gulli, and pre-bought by RTÉ with additional funding secured from the Irish Film board. This is the first time CBBC and Gulli have collaborated on a children’s animated co-production.
Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese (BGDCMC) is an animated sitcom for ages 6–12. Set to debut from 2019, the comedy series is described as the blended family of Brady Bunch meets the lovable disfunction of Modern Family. The dad’s “sons” are a boy, a dog, and a mouse. The mom’s “daughters” are a girl, a cat and an anthropomorphic piece of cheese.
The series will be executive produced by Cloudco Entertainment (executive producers Harry Chaskin, Sean Gorman, Karen Vermeulen and Ryan Wiesbrock), Watch Next Media (Philippe Alessandri), Kavaleer Productions (Gary Timpson and Andrew Kavanagh) and directed by Jeremy Guiter. Jo Allen will serve as BBC Executive on the show.
Overseeing a team of writers is story-editor, Tom Krajewski, who was most recently story-editor on Cloudco’s series Buddy Thunderstruck and whose recent credits include Be Cool, Scooby Do! and New Looney Tunes.
Amazon Prime Video U.S. Gains 10 New Kids’ Programs in Spanish
DHX Media has licensed 10 Spanish versions of its kids’ programming to Prime Video’s U.S. streaming service. The new content is expected to launch for U.S. Prime Video members on October 4.
DHX Media titles newly available on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. in Spanish include:
- Bob the Builder, season 2
- Bob the Builder: Mega Machines (movie)
- Fireman Sam, season 7
- Strawberry Shortcake: Sky’s the Limit (movie)
- Sonic the Hedgehog, season 1
- Super Mario World, season 1
- Busy World of Richard Scarry, season 5
- Madeline, season 1
- Paddington’s Birthday Bonanza (special)
- Sabrina, the Animated Series, season 2
Beyblade Burst Readies for World Championships
With one month remaining before the 2018 Beyblade Burst World Championship takes place in Paris, France, National Championship winners have been crowned in 24 different countries: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the U.S. and Vietnam. These young competitors (between the ages of 8-13) will now move on to the event on November 3 at Kidexpo. Held at the Parc des Exposition at the Porte de Versailles, Kidexpo is expected to attract 90,000 families.
The 2018 Beyblade Burst World Championship is organized by Sunrights and d-rights with support from TOMY and Hasbro.
In anticipation of the event, a newly launched official Beyblade Burst World Championship website now features profiles for each of the crowned National Championship victors, as well as videos and photos from the different National Championship events around the world. The event’s official rules are also available on the new website.
In France, YouTubers Storm and DracoLight have also launched a special series, Mission: Champion du Monde, during which Beyblade fans playfully coach the French National Champion on his way to the Main Event. U.S. social influencers, BeybladeGeeks, also launched a monthly series called Rising Champion, offering tips, tricks and important World Championship event updates.
Netflix Picks Up Fourth Season of True and the Rainbow Kingdom
Netflix has committed to a fourth season of Guru Studio’s original preschool series True and the Rainbow Kingdom. The series will feature a robust lineup of new content including episodes, seasonal specials, a 44-minute movie and a mix of comedic shorts and musical content rolling out on the service throughout 2019 and 2020.
With season three already in production, the new season commitment comes on the heels of this summer’s successful launch of season 2 titles True: Magical Friends & True: Wonderful Wishes, and the spring launch of music video compilation Dance & Sing with True Vol: 1.
The series’ first line of collectible toys launches this month at 400 Walmart stores across Canada, and Halloween costumes are already available at Party City and other online retailers.
Guru Studio also recently signed plush partner Aurora World and other licensees including Palamon (Costumes); American Marketing Enterprises (sleepwear); GBG Socks (hosiery); Chouette (master publishing); and Bendon Inc. for coloring books and art sets. The lines will be available at retail in North America beginning Fall 2018 and will begin to expand globally in 2019.
True and the Rainbow Kingdom is a Netflix Original preschool series produced by Guru Studio in collaboration with Pharrell Williams’ i am OTHER, world-renowned artist collective, FriendsWithYou, and Home Plate Entertainment.