John Parker, who’s been Vice President--Business Development at Diamond Comic Distributors since early 2011 (see "Tokyopop Goes to DBD, Parker Goes Along") and was president and COO of Tokyopop for 12 years prior to his time at Diamond, is joining Bluefin Distribution as President, reporting to CEO and owner Steve Fujimura. In his new role, Parker will be responsible for sales and marketing, new product and client development, budgeting, and oversee a 2015 move to an expanded facility for Bluefin.
Bluefin, founded in 2002 in southern California to bring Japanese hobby products to the U.S., is exclusive North American distributor of the Bandai Collectors brand (Tamashii Nations), Bandai Candy Toy, Bandai Gashapon, GSI Creos, Capcom, and Sentinel Toy; and an official U.S. distributor of Bandai Hobby, Square-Enix, and Kotobukiya. It maintains a direct presence in Japan, which will fit well with Parker’s skill set; he’s spent over 20 years working in Japan.
At Diamond, Parker was responsible for developing merchandise programs around brands, including a number from Japan: Studio Ghibli (see "Diamond Gets Studio Ghibli"), Tezuka (see "Diamond to Distribute Tezuka Merchandise"), and Godzilla (see "Diamond Deal with Toho for Japanese 'Godzilla' Merch"). The approach was then expanded to American products, resulting in branded merch sections in Diamond’s Previews catalogue for brands such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Game of Thrones, and Frozen.
Parker will bring elements of this approach to Bluefin. "Bluefin Distribution is in a strong position to leverage its existing success to become the market leader in focused, boutique pop culture brand management and wholesale distribution of toys and collectibles," Parker said of joining the company.
As President
Posted by ICv2 on September 30, 2014 @ 4:05 pm CT