By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
Kids Preferred has partnered with Universal Products & Experiences for an infant and toddler line featuring brands from NBCUniversal’s childrens’ entertainment franchises.
Kids Preferred is an American design and manufacturing company that offers high-quality toys, gifts and play products that are safe for infants and young children.
The company creates products based on both wholly-owned and licensed brands from children’s literature and family entertainment.
The upcoming NBCUniversal collection has been named Welcome to the Universe Baby!
“Delight the child and captivate the grownups has always been our goal,” said Kids Preferred CRO, Larry Presser. “With our Welcome to the Universe Baby! line of six product categories, parents and grandparents will be able to introduce the next generation of family and friends to their favorite NBCUniversal characters and brands.”
In addition to an expansion for Kids Preferred’s existing Curious George range, the company is rolling out new gender neutral play products for brands such as Shrek, How To Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, Back To The Future and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
The Welcome to the Universe Baby! collection will have six product categories including ultra-soft plush, interactive feature plush, infant blankey sets, playsets/playbooks, jack-in-the-boxes and non-electronic pre-school learning toys.
The licensed plush products included in the collection will be based on character designs from NBCUniversal’s childrens’ brands. The interactive feature plush will also include sounds, lights and movement. The infant blankey sets will feature teethers, soothers and pacifier blankeys.
The Welcome to the Universe Baby! collection is scheduled for launch at global retailers during the summer of 2024 under license from Universal Products & Experiences (UP&E), a division of NBCUniversal. The UP&E division manages the global licensing, merchandising and experiential initiatives for the company’s extensive portfolio of brands, IPs, characters and franchises.
This includes intellectual properties created by Universal Pictures, Illumination, DreamWorks Animation and NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. The UP&E division secures partnerships for products and experiences across brick-and-mortar retailers, digital platforms, global theme park destinations, location-based venues and e-commerce product platforms from around the world.
This new licensing deal with NBCUniversal follows a previous announcement by Kids Preferred last month that confirmed Sesame Workshop will be joining the company’s product line in the spring of 2024.
Kids Preferred and NBCUniversal Partner on New Toy Collection
