Nickelodeon has signed 30 UK licensees ahead of the eagerly anticipated premiere in October of the new CG animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – the largest batch of license agreements for a Nickelodeon property in the UK before a series debut.
The deals cover all product categories, and the first products to launch – action figures from master toy distributor Flair on behalf of Playmates Toys – will go on sale in the UK in December.
In addition to Flair, Worlds Apart is developing a bedroom and outdoor play range, while Sambro is launching wheeled goods and arts & crafts. In fashion, TV Mania is the outerwear partner and Cooneen Misirli is handling nightwear. Among the accessories and gift partners are VMC, William Lamb and Zeon.
Character World and Vogue International have signed homewares licenses and Egmont joins the roster for annuals books alongside the previously announced Parragon as a publishing licensee.
In stationery and back-to-school, Copywrite Designs, Hallmark, moonpig.com and Amscan have all signed for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. BIP, Kinnerton and Lightbody have all inked food licensing deals.
Considered one of the most popular kids’ television programs of the 1980s, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an iconic, global property created in 1984 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird as a comic book series.
The property then became a hit animated TV show, a live-action television series and later spawned four blockbuster movies. The original property also translated into a significant consumer products business – with DVDs, video games, toys and more.
Nickelodeon acquired the property in 2009 and is rolling out the new CG-animated series starting in the US, followed by international markets from this autumn.
“The reaction from license and retail partners to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is unlike anything that we have ever seen before and being able to announce a roster of deals such as this is just phenomenal,” said Mark Kingston, VP Consumer Products UK, Australia, Russia, Israel & CEE, Retail Sales & Trade Marketing Europe.
Source: Viacom International Media Networks