January 2005 - Diamond Select Toys and Collectibles is pleased to announce that it has signed a licensing agreement with the Hasbro Properties Group for Hasbro's TRANSFORMERS brand. The TRANSFORMERS brand joins DST's growing portfolio of licensed properties.
Diamond Select's reputation of creating superb collectibles will continue with its most recent addition. There are already plans to release several TRANSFORMERS product lines, including replicas, bookends, plaques, motion globes and wall mounted statues.
"For twenty years the TRANSFORMERS brand has been a multi-dimensional success... We are looking forward to adding to that success by developing some great products for collectors, casual fans, and new fans," said Diamond Select Toys Director, Chuck Terceira.
In 1984, the TRANSFORMERS brand took the world by storm with its compelling saga of the ROBOTS IN DISGUISE, and quickly became a childhood rite of passage with a tremendously successful toy line from Hasbro and Takara, comic book series, television program and animated feature film. Twenty years later, a new generation of kids has discovered the excitement of the TRANSFORMERS brand and the legendary characters, such as OPTIMUS PRIME and MEGATRON, which truly are "MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE."
Hasbro's TRANSFORMERS brand expands well beyond the core toy line with a variety of entertainment and licensed merchandise, including the TRANSFORMERS ENERGON animated series airing on the Cartoon Network, a top-selling comic book series from Dreamwave, which sold more than two million copies last year and the highly rated Atari video game for the PlayStation 2 game console. In addition, it was recently announced that Hasbro will work with DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures on a live-action, motion picture based on the property slated for the summer of 2006, which Steven Spielberg will Executive Produce.
ABOUT DIAMOND SELECT TOYS AND COLLECTIBLES, LLC
DIAMOND SELECT TOYS AND COLLECTIBLES, LLC was founded in 1999 by sister company Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. Envisioned to create unique and
exciting collectibles for children and adults alike, the company has licensed a variety of pop culture properties to be turned into merchandise. With partners such as Marvel Enterprises, Dreamwave Productions, Twentieth Century Fox, MTV, Bliss House, and MGM, Diamond Select Toys and Collectibles produces a large range of products based on a wide variety of properties, and is headquartered in Timonium, MD. For more information, visit www.diamondselecttoys.com.
ABOUT THE HASBRO PROPERTIES GROUP
The Hasbro Properties Group (HPG), the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc., (NYSE:HAS), translates one of the industry's richest portfolios of brands into a world of fun and excitement for children and adults globally. Through a host of publishing, lifestyle and entertainment platforms, HPG is able to surround fans worldwide with consumer products that expand Hasbro's core brands, such as G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS, MY LITTLE PONY, MONOPOLY and CANDY LAND, beyond the toy and game aisle, creating rich lifestyle experiences.
