Raving Toy Maniac

MGA Entertainment in Partnership with Justice Reveals Stellar New Brand Novi Stars™

Earth Landing: August 2012

LAS VEGAS, June 13, 2012 -- International Licensing Expo -- What on Earth is Going On?! Award-winning toy manufacturer MGA Entertainment, makers of the hit toy franchises Bratz®, Lalaloopsy™ and Little Tikes®, in partnership with Justice, the hottest destination for tween apparel, accessories and lifestyle products, announces the terrestrial landing of Novi Stars™. Available at Justice stores and major retailers beginning August 2012, Novi Stars™ is a new girls property and cosmic branded entertainment that combines outrageous, other-worldly adventure with cutting edge toy features never before seen in doll play. Filled with rich relatable storylines and humorous character content, the Novi Stars™ are on a galactic mission to meet new friends, try new things and find out what on Earth is going on?!

June 13, 2012 - (Sponsor Announcement) - Online retailer BigBadToyStore.com has several items of interest to collectors:

Hi - Here is a quick update from http://www.bigbadtoystore.com about more cool new preorders as well as some nice new arrivals.

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NEW PREORDERS
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DC DIRECT OCTOBER ANNOUNCEMENTS
The latest month's worth of DC Direct items includes New 52 Superman and Starfire busts at $59.99 each ($10 off the MSRP), a Cover Girls Catwoman Statue from the New 52 ($84.99 - $15 off the MSRP), Ame-Comi Harley Quinn Version 02 and Brainiac at $59.99 each ($10 off MSRP each), Batman Black and White Statues of Batman ($69.99) and Bane ($84.99) done in the style of Kelley Jones, a Dark Knight Rises Bane Winter Battle Bust at $69.99 ($10 off MSRP) and the Batman Arkham Titan Joker Action Figure at $59.99, $13 of the MSRP.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/list.aspx?list=9827

LEGEND OF ZELDA LINK FIGMA ACTION FIGURE

In Stores Today: The Amazing Spider-Man Marvel Select Figure

June 12, 2012 - Last week, comic shops and specialty stores across North America got in their deliveries of the Marvel Select Lizard figure from the upcoming "Amazing Spider-Man" movie. Well, in hot pursuit is Spidey himself, who arrives in shops this week with a cool, wall-mountable display base! Packaged in the same displayable Select packaging as his scaly foe, Spider-Man stands about 6.5 inches tall with 16 points of articulation for a variety of action poses. He even comes with two sets of gloves -- fists and web-shooting hands! Pick up both figures today, and find your nearest comic book shop at Comicshoplocator.com!

K'NEX® Announces Its First Ever "Roller Coaster Week" Contest

Grand Prize Winner will Receive A Son Of Serpent Coaster!

Hatfield, PA, June 11, 2012 – K'NEX, the only US construction toy company focused on Building Worlds Kids Love™, is celebrating its 20th Anniversary with the release of its highly anticipated K'NEX Thrill Ride: Son of Serpent Coaster™ with its first ever Roller Coaster week contest!

Starting Monday, June 11, 2012 at noon, through Friday, June 15, 2012, K'NEX fans can log on to http://knex.com, click on the link on the homepage and attempt to solve the roller coaster themed puzzle! If solved correctly, an entry form will appear. Participants may enter once per day per e-mail address. Entries will be placed into a random drawing from which 10 winners will each receive $200! From those 10 winners, one Grand Prize winner will be randomly selected to receive a Son of Serpent Coaster, a $1000 retail value! For rules and official details click here: http://www.knex.com/rollercoasterweek2012/

EAGLEMOSS TO RELEASE PARTWORKS COLLECTIONS FOR THE TWO FILMS BASED ON THE HOBBIT AND THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY

LONDON – June 11, 2012 - Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP) is proud to announce that it has awarded leading partworks producer Eaglemoss the global licensing rights to develop collections based on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Under the terms of the deal, the licensee also has the rights to develop products based on The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Eaglemoss has already successfully launched DC Chess and Figurines Collections and now is extending its relationship with WBCP to develop figurine and chess partworks for the two films based on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy that will launch in Q4 2012.

BBC WORLDWIDE AT LICENSING EXPO 2012

Featuring key brands Doctor Who, Top Gear, BBC Earth, and Lonely Planet

New York, NY - June 8, 2012 - BBC Worldwide returns to Las Vegas to showcase its continuing strong portfolio of television properties at the Licensing Expo 2012. The commercial arm of the BBC will be seeking new partners for key brands like Doctor Who, Top Gear, BBC Earth, Lonely Planet and more, as they continue to expand internationally.

DOCTOR WHO

The international iconic brand and television hit Doctor Who is the longest-running sci-fi series in the world and continues to earn critical acclaim as BBC AMERICA's highest rated series. From award-winning lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat (Sherlock, The Adventures of Tintin) and starring Matt Smith as the eleventh Doctor, Doctor Who was the #1 downloaded series on the iTunes store for 2011 in North America and has been featured on NBC's Today Show, CBS's The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and G4's Attack of the Show.

LEGO Announces New LEGO Monster Fighters Set

June 2012 - LEGO has sent along pictures and information about a new LEGO Monster Fighters set, the Haunted House:

Coming this September as part of the new LEGO Monster Fighters line, this is the first ever official LEGO Haunted House. Featuring 3 floors of creepy creations and ghastly ghouls, the Haunted House includes details at every turn from the unexpected hidden staircase and attic gramophone to the spider webs and broken floorboards leaving no visitor safe.

Builders beware, this house is home to 6 of the creepiest minifigures available – 2 glow-in-the-dark ghosts, Lord Vampyre, Lord Vampyre's Bride, Monster and Zombie chef and butler. Muahaha.

Other details of the set:

LEGO Monster Fighters, Haunted House
SRP $179.99
Ages 14+, 2,064 pieces

CLUTTER MEDIA GROUP Invites Fans to Submit Entries for the 2012 DESIGNER TOY AWARDS

June 12, 2012 - CLUTTER MEDIA GROUP and the DESIGNER TOY AWARDS are thrilled with the entries submitted for the 2012 DESIGNER TOY AWARDS. Once again, The DTA's are expanding global awareness for the Designer Toys by bringing together dozens of artists, writers, manufacturers and fans to celebrate creative excellence in the global Designer Toy market. The 2012 Call For Entries comes to a close at 11:59 pm on Friday June 15th, 2012: ONLY THREE DAYS LEFT to add your favorite Artist, Brand, Blog or Collector for consideration!

Once the Call for Entries period is closed, a group of Nominating Committees will carefully select the official nominations. Nominees in each category will be officially announced during the San Diego Comic Con in July 2012 and the ceremony itself will be in New York City in October 2012.

The 2012 AWARD CATEGORIES are:

TOY OF THE YEAR
BRAND OF THE YEAR (Previously Manufacturer of the Year)
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST
BEST CUSTOMIZER
BEST MINI SERIES
BEST SELF-PRODUCED
BEST COLLABORATION
BEST LICENSED PRODUCT

Sony Pictures Animation Drives TONKA Trucks To The Big Screen

Fully Animated Film To Be Produced By Happy Madison and Hasbro

CULVER CITY, Calif., June 11, 2012 -- TONKA, the Hasbro brand that for 65 years has stood for its line of toy trucks for children, will bring its TONKA toughness to the big screen in a fully animated motion picture to be produced by Sony Pictures Animation, Hasbro and Happy Madison Productions. The announcement was made today by Bob Osher, president, Sony Pictures Digital Productions, Michelle Raimo-Kouyate, president of Production for Sony Pictures Animation and Brian Goldner, president and CEO of Hasbro. The film will also be produced and developed by Goldner and Hasbro's senior vice president and managing director of motion pictures, Bennett Schneir and will be written by Fred Wolf.

The new TONKA project strengthens the growing ties between Sony Pictures and Hasbro, following the announcements that Sony Pictures is developing motion pictures based on Hasbro's RISK and CANDY LAND brands. CANDY LAND is also a Happy Madison project.

Marvel Minimates Series 13 Now Arriving at Toys "R" Us!

June 12, 2012 - Minimate maniacs across the nation are calling in with reports that the Toys "R" Us-exclusive Marvel Minimates Series 13 has shown up on store shelves! Featuring Spider-Sense Spider-Man with First Appearance Punisher, Daredevil with Kingpin, Mirage with Magma and Boom-Boom with Rictor, this series includes must-have figures for both Spidey and X-Men fans!

All of these Minimates (except the shared Daredevil) are exclusive to this series, so look for them only in your local Toys "R" Us. If you don't have one in your area, don't worry -- they'll soon be up for order on http://toysrus.com! Check out some photos of the Minimates in action, and happy hunting!