The Toy Association, the trade association advocating and working for the success of all businesses involved in creating and delivering toys and youth entertainment products for kids of all ages, has announced that recognized toy safety expert Jos Huxley will join the organization as senior vice president of technical affairs, effective immediately.
Kilburn Live, the global market leader in creating large, branded, live event attractions with an emphasis on family entertainment, has announced the opening of the new immersive attraction The Search For Snoopy: A Peanuts Adventure. Created alongside Peanuts Worldwide, the Adventure will take fans of Charles Schulz’s world-renowned comic strip on a one-of-a-kind adventure inside the Peanuts world at Hawaii’s Ala Moana Center.
TOMY has announced several key leadership changes to position them for expanded global growth. Pete Henseler is moving to the role of non-operating Chairman of the TOMY International Board. In his new capacity, Pete will remain a key advisor to TOMY International. Pete’s career spans over 40 years in the children’s consumer products industry at companies like Hasbro, McDonald’s and RC2. For the last 26 years Pete has been in various executive management roles at TOMY. In addition to his numerous business contributions, Pete also served as a board member for the Toy Industry Association for 3 terms, as well as Board Chairman of the Toy Industry Foundation.
WildBrain CPLG, one of the world’s leading entertainment, sport and brand-licensing agencies, has been appointed by Peanuts Worldwide as the exclusive licensing agent for the Peanuts brand in Asia-Pacific (APAC), bolstering the agency’s already growing business in the region.
License Global magazine, published by the Global Licensing Group, examines retail sales of licensed consumer products across all sectors for the 2021 fiscal year in its recently released Top Global Licensors Report 2022. Total revenue for licensed consumer products at retail reported by the 88 licensors featured accounts for $260.8 billion, with 40 of those brand licensors bringing in at least $1 billion individually.
Jada Toys, leading manufacturer of premium collectibles, has announced the launch of the interactive Transformers Converting Optimus Prime RC. This announcement marks the newest addition to the product line from the licensing partnership between Hasbro and Jada Toys.
Women in Toys, Licensing & Entertainment (WiT) has announced that registration is open for its annual WiT Empowerment Day event, to be held on Monday, September 19, 2022 at Dallas Market Center, in partnership with The Toy Association’s Preview & Holiday Market.
Following a monthlong fan vote, Hasbro, Incorporated (NASDAQ: HAS), a global play and entertainment leader, announced that the Thimble token will return in the next generation of the Monopoly game later this year after receiving the most votes during the Monopoly Throwback Token Vote campaign. The “sewing companion” will take the place of the T-Rex token, after the ferocious dinosaur couldn’t fight off the fans – receiving the most votes to leave the game. Players can still get a hold of the current Monopoly game with the T-Rex token before it heads to extinction this summer at Amazon.com!
Licensing International has announced that nine executives—Casey Collins, Hasbro; Michael Connolly, Retail Monster; Javier Garza, Warner Bros. Discovery; Alexandra Heyd, BurdaVerlag Germany; Tanya Isler, Netflix; Stuart Pollock, Segal Licensing; Marc Schneider, Beanstalk; Kalle Törmä, Flowhaven; and Angell Xi, Jingtian & Gongcheng—were elected by the Licensing International membership to serve three-year terms on its Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2022.