Contact the editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com Straight from the floor of New York Toy Fair, TLL brings you the latest and greatest in toy trends. They just happen to be the same as last year's—only more nuanced, thoughtful, and developed. The good news this year: No one's freaking out about the ability of America's largest toy retailer to actually pay its vendors. More … [Read more...] about What’s the [Toy] Story? Same as Last Year, Just Better!
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M&A: New Faces, Same Places
Contact the editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com Penske Media Corp. (PMC) purchases the last remaining 49% stake in Rolling Stone from BandLab Technologies, giving it full ownership over the magazine brand, including all event and licensing rights, as well as the parallel entity Rolling Stone Intl. Other PMC properties available for licensing include Variety, Deadline … [Read more...] about M&A: New Faces, Same Places
Feature Creatures: Horns, Hooves & Hybrids
Contact the editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com Take a moment to recall last year's feature headline for New York Toy Fair: Blind Bags, Glitter & Poop. This year, we can safely replace the last one with: Unicorns. The unicorn motif dominated the show floor across practically every animal and creature—everything from the household cat and dog (and hamster), to the … [Read more...] about Feature Creatures: Horns, Hooves & Hybrids
Going Corporate: 2019 Toys/Games Built on a TM
Contact the editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com Lest TLL neglects to honor those corporate trademarks/brands with influence in the toys and games space, here are some of the top highlights amongst those branded offerings we spotted on the floor at New York Toy Fair: The Smithsonian expands its a widening line of STEM toys aimed at older kids from Sakar. The line includes … [Read more...] about Going Corporate: 2019 Toys/Games Built on a TM
Deal Sheet —2/20/2019
Quick Navigate Properties Available or Recently Assigned, U.S. Licenses Recently Granted, U.S. Intl. Properties Available or Recently Assigned Intl. Licenses Recently Granted Archived Deal Sheets Licenses Recently Granted, U.S. *Extension or renewal. PropertyGranted ToProducts ManufacturedGranted By Carmen Sandiego Basic Fun Inc.Games Brandgenuity FAO Schwarz … [Read more...] about Deal Sheet —2/20/2019
2019 U.S. Retail Growth Forecast Rosy; But Not Without Challenges
Contact the editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com This year's batch of respondents to TLL's Annual Licensing Business Survey agree with the experts: the U.S. economy is good for business in 2019. But uncertainty threatens to tank that rosy optimism. Half of the respondents to the 2018-19 Annual Survey—just under 50%—say that their licensing business will improve in 2019, … [Read more...] about 2019 U.S. Retail Growth Forecast Rosy; But Not Without Challenges
State of the Union: Reviewing Video Games in 2018
Contact the editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com The U.S. video gaming industry broke records in 2018 to hit an estimated $43.4 billion in sales, according to the NPD Group, marking a rise of 18% year-over-year. Hardware revenue, including peripherals, hit $7.5 billion for a markup of 15% year-over-year. Software revenue was up 18% to reach $35.8 billion. Accessory and … [Read more...] about State of the Union: Reviewing Video Games in 2018
Who’s News—February 2019
Are you hiring—or being promoted, changing jobs, retiring, launching a new company, or otherwise changing your employment? Contact the Editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com to announce the news in our next issue of Who's News. 2/18/2019 Activision Blizzard names Steve Young President Consumer Products as Tim Kilpin retires from the post. Cloudco Entertainment (form. … [Read more...] about Who’s News—February 2019
Deal Sheet —2/13/2019
Quick Navigate Properties Available or Recently Assigned, U.S. Licenses Recently Granted, U.S. Intl. Properties Available or Recently Assigned Intl. Licenses Recently Granted Archived Deal Sheets Properties Available or Recently Assigned, U.S. *Extension or renewal. Property (Description)Categories AvailableLicensing Contact Best Friends Animal SocietyAmerican … [Read more...] about Deal Sheet —2/13/2019
Right of Publicity & Using Celebrities Without Permission
Contact the editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com Consider, for a moment, the following situations: EA Sports uses likenesses of well-known college athletes as characters for its video games Samsung uses images and bios of legendary Olympians for its “Genome Project” app Pitbull mentions Lindsay Lohan in a song lyric Abercrombie and Fitch uses a famous surfer’s photo in … [Read more...] about Right of Publicity & Using Celebrities Without Permission