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Industry
FanTOYstic Fact Bazooka Candy Brands, the manufacturer of the lollipop/toy hybrid Ring Pop, is a division of The Topps Co. Inc., a leading producer of sports-themed cards. However, Topps did not start out in the sports trading card business. Founded in 1938, The Topps Co.— which at the time was called Topps Chewing Gum—was best known for gum that only cost a penny. After World War II, Topps started to produce Bazooka Bubble Gum. Baseball cards, however, did not join the company’s product line until years later, in 1951. Today, Topps produces trading cards for baseball, football, basketball, hockey, and a host of other sports and non-sports brands. Earlier this year, Bazooka Candy Brands launched its #RockThatRock campaign, which invited Ring Pop fans to share photos and videos of themselves with their Ring Pops. As part of the campaign’s Choose the Next Big Flavor competition, fans could choose from three Ring Pop flavors hand-picked by the pop band R5, with the winning selection slated to hit retail stores this fall. With the most votes on the Ring Pop Facebook page, Cherry Limeade will be available at retail outlets such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Sam’s Club.
20 • THE TOY BOOK
LEGO IS WORLD’S LARGEST TOY MAKER, THANKS TO THE LEGO MOVIE Lego is currently the world’s largest toy maker. Revenue at Lego during the first six months rose 11 percent, boosted by The Lego Movie products. Lego is now the biggest toy company in the world in terms of both revenue and profit, ahead of Mattel Inc. The jump also puts Lego slightly ahead of Mattel in sales for the first six months of the year. The licensing of the movie has not been as significant as sales of The Lego Movie-related construction sets. Overall first-half sales for Lego rose to 11.5 billion Danish kroner, or $2.03 billion, from 10.4 billion kroner in the same period last year, the company stated.
MINECRAFT WILL JOIN MICROSOFT STUDIOS Microsoft Corp. has reached an agreement to acquire Mojang, the Stockholmbased game developer behind the popular Minecraft franchise, for $2.5 billion. Subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory review, the acquisition is expected to close later this year. Minecraft is the most popular online game on Xbox, and the game’s community is among the most active in the industry, with more than 2 billion hours played on Xbox 360 alone in the past two years. Microsoft plans to continue to make Minecraft available across PC, iOS, Android, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms.
PATCH PRODUCTS UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP Patch Products has announced that its founders, Fran and Bryce Patch, have sold the business to Topspin Partners, a private equity firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1985, Patch has grown from a small puzzle and game manufacturer to a family entertainment company that designs, manufactures, distributes, and markets games, children’s puzzles, preschool toys, creative activities, and teaching tools. The Patch headquarters and management team, led by CEO Bob Wann, will remain in place. “We are excited to have Topspin as our partner going forward,” Wann states. “It was very apparent from all of our discussions that Topspin shares the same excitement and support for the strategic vision we have for Patch.”
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014