At the New York International Toy Fair, Palisades Toys showed off several key new licenses including three hip animated properties, Fairly Odd Parents, Ren & Stimpy, Invader Zim. Palisades has also secured some new licenses for its Factory X replica line including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Battlestar Galactica.
In addition to its new lines, Palisades will produce four series of action figures and playsets (1 per quarter) for its flagship Muppets brand plus large Mega Muppet figures and Mini Muppet PVCs (now available individually). Palisades will also continue to produce polystone statues for both the Transformers and G.I. Joe, though the majority of this year's output will be in the form of 6' statues, which should retail in the $60 range, well below the price of Palisades previous 12' sculpts. Palisades will also produce a number of new polystone busts based on the Alien and Predator licenses as well as a number of products based on the Alien vs. Predator movie, which will start hitting retail in August.
Animation
Palisades may soon be known as 'the house of hip cartoons,' thanks to new licenses such as the Fairly Odd Parents, Invader Zim, and Ren & Stimpy. Late this year, Palisades will produce the first series of six action figures based on the popular Nickelodeon cartoon series. Palisades has acquired a number of major licenses before, but most of them, such as the Muppets and Transformers, are based on retro properties. The Fairly Odd Parents is the first major action figure license Palisades has acquired for a new, happening property.
Jhonen Vasquez' Invader Zim never reached the ratings level enjoyed by the Fairly Odd Parents, but it does have a devoted cult following, which will undoubtedly be energized by both the release of the Invader Zim DVD by Media Blasters and the series of Invader Zim Action Figures due out from Palisades in August.
Palisades' action figures for another cult cartoon, Ren & Stimpy, will make their first appearance in the second quarter of 2004, along with a polystone bust of Stimpy as Dr. Stupid. Palisades has also recently acquired the license to create figures based on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim/Hanna Barbera properties including Space Ghost, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Brak, Sealab 2021, and Harvey Birdman, but no information on releases is available yet.
Factory X
Earlier this year, Palisades acquired Factory X, one of this country's leading manufacturers of prop replicas (see 'Palisades Acquires Factory X'). Palisades is still not prepared to reveal the fate of all of Factory X's previous licenses, but two movie licenses negotiated before the Palisades takeover form a key part of the new Factory X brand. Palisades will issue three replica daggers from the Jeepers Creepers horror movies as well as the Sword of the Hessian from Tim Burton's Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
The first newly acquired license for Palisades' Factory X brand is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Palisades' first Buffy product will be a replica of the silver cross necklace given to Buffy by Angel. It will be followed by The Sword of Angelus, which Buffy used to kill Angel at the end of Season 2 and Mr. Pointy, Buffy's beloved stake.
Palisades' other new Factory X license is Battlestar Galactica (see 'Battlestar Galactica to Be Regular Series'). Palisades is planning to produce a number of Battlestar Galactica items under its Factory X brand including a Cylon Sword, Cylon Blaster, and a Cylon Shirt.