Diamond Select Toys announced that it has acquired select assets of the design house Art Asylum, which designs and produces the Minimates block figures and produced DST's Star Trek (see ''Wrath of Khan' Figures') and Marvel toy lines (see 'Diamond Select Announces Ghost Rider Minimates'). Art Asylum is already slated to design the upcoming Battlestar Galactica line (see 'Diamond Select Does Battlestar Galactica With Art Asylum').
The deal includes co-founder Donna Soldano and Richard Yee coming on board as DST employees. Soldano has developed toy lines for specialty and mass markets for more than 10 years and Yee has been Director of Legal Affairs for Toymax and Director of R&D for Monogram International.
Art Asylum VP Adam Unger will consult with DST on new business development and sales during the transition, and co-founder Digger Mesch, who recently formed Dig Deep Entertainment in
According to DST, Minimates is the best-selling block figure brand in the world.
