Summer of 2002 Debut
October 30, 2001
Toy giant Hasbro has reached an agreement with Sony Pictures for the right to produce a full line of toys for Sony's summer blockbuster sequel Men in Black 2 .
On G.I. Joe, Transformers, Harry Potter CCG
October 24, 2001
Hasbro announced its third quarter earnings this week, and the news was better than expected. On sales that were down to $893 million from $1.1 billion a year ago, the company earned $50.6 million, compared to $13.8 million in 2000.
From the Las Vegas Retailer Summit
October 13, 2001
Here are a few of the tidbits from presentations of major comic publishers at the Diamond/Alliance Retailer Summit held in Las Vegas last week.
G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Star Wars
October 9, 2001
Marvel Comics is preparing trade paperback collections of the G.I. Joe and Transformers comics that it published in the 1980s, and Dark Horse will reprint the Star Wars comics that Marvel published in the 1970s and 80s.
Akira, DBZ CCG, Farscape Big Winners
August 22, 2001
The big players seemed to dominate this month, with multiple products associated with the strongest properties taking many of the top slots.
Robots Large in Toys, TV, Games, Video
May 30, 2001
The success of Gundam on the Cartoon Network, the video revival of the Transformers , and the surprising interest in Comedy Central's Battlebot s have created something of a 'robot trend,' which has inspired a slew of robot-themed TV series and toys coming this fall.
Robot Series Primed for Toys
April 26, 2001
Nelvana, the Canadian-based company that packaged Cardcaptors for American (and Canadian) television, has just announced that its latest anime import, Medabot will appear this fall on the Fox Kids network Like Cardcaptors, the Medabot anime series comes from NAS/Kodansha, Japan's largest multi-media company. Nelvana has acquired worldwide distribution and merchandising rights.
D-Day Set for June
April 19, 2001
Wizard Entertainment is preparing its first totally anime publication, Anime Invasion , which is being solicited in the current (April) edition of Diamond Previews . Retailers will be able to select from two different covers, one featuring an Akira design by Pat Lee ( Warlands ), and one with a DBZ and Sailor Moon 'Toonami' cover. The magazine will carry a $4.99 cover price.
Toy Close-Outs Online
April 4, 2001
Retailers looking for bargains on toy close-outs can now check out KB Toys' online wholesale toy operation. The wholesale online service shares fulfillment and customer service with KB's regular online consumer site.
Transformers and Shinzo
April 1, 2001
Fox Kids has announced two new anime series that will be a part of their fall lineup along with new cartoon series based on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Evolution . The new Japanese cartoons on Fox Kids include Transformers: Robots in Disguise and Shinzo.
