Marvel announced that it has signed a global, multi-year licensing agreement with Russ Berrie for the plush and gift categories.  The agreement covers specific Marvel characters, including Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Daredevil, Silver Surfer, Namor, and Spider-Man and Friends, Marvel's pre-school line. 

 

The first products under the new agreement are expected to hit stories for the holiday season. 

 

Russ Berrie is a publicly traded company with $329 million in annual sales. 

 

The agreement is limited to the specialty retail, drug and grocery stores, department stores, duty free shops, flower shops, and military post exchanges.  Notably absent from that list is mass merchants, a channel that Marvel will still have available for another licensee, or for retailer exclusives.