Over the holidays, the news came out that Paramount Consumer Products and its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are parting ways with licensee Playmates when their current agreement expires at the end of 2026, closing the latter’s 38-year run as the property’s master toy partner. The end of the relationship is significant not only for the […]
Tag Archives | Just Play
Say It With (Plush) Flowers
By Karen Raugust on February 13, 2025 in Character/Entertainment, Gifts/Novelties, Holiday, Licensing
Plush bouquets are an increasingly popular gift for Valentine’s Day—as well as for Mother’s Day and other gift-giving occasions—and character/entertainment licensing plays a role in the sector. The product consists of plush figures assembled in a plush wrapper, like a bouquet. Some of the plush items are specially designed to combine character likenesses with flower […]
Controlling the Narrative
By Karen Raugust on November 21, 2022 in Character/Entertainment, Interactive gaming, Licensing, Toys/Games
For years now, toy companies have been launching or acquiring entertainment and gaming studios, in the hopes that bringing these businesses in-house will strengthen their ability to control their all-important forays into TV, film, and interactive gaming productions based on their proprietary brands. There has been some news on this front since the start of […]
Kid Stuff
At Toy Fair New York in February, one of the trends was the large number of influencers signing toy deals. Most of the celebrities associated with the products on display there were young adults whose content appealed to children or collectors. More recently, a raft of agency representation and toy-centric licensing agreements have been focused […]
Online Properties, Offline Products
By Karen Raugust on March 20, 2017 in Character/Entertainment, Digital, Licensing, Publishing, Toys/Games
Original entertainment series distributed on streaming platforms, rather than on traditional television, have quickly gained traction as viable licensing opportunities. The first licensed products for these sorts of IP, which began to emerge in the world of licensing nearly two years ago, tend to be toys and/or books. Some examples: Jim Henson Productions’ Word Party, […]