INDUSTRY UPDATE FANS REVEAL STAR WARS ROGUE ONE TOY LINE A team of Star Wars superfans revealed the new toy line for the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story movie with a series of animated shorts launching on the Star Wars YouTube channel. As part of a competition in collaboration with creative network Tongal, the team wrote, directed, and produced stop-motion shorts starring key toys from the new line. The series also kicked off a global user-generated content contest that asked fans to share their own “Rogue Stories.” The stories follow the adventures of toys from Hasbro, Lego, Funko, Jakks Pacific, Mattel, and Disney Store toy lines. Fans can pre-order select items seen in the “Rogue Stories” at mass retailers, Disney Store locations, and disneystore. com. The full collection will be available globally on Sept. 30. »
AMERICAN GIRL SIGNS EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP WITH TOYS “R” US Toys “R” Us will be the first and only U.S.-based retailer to feature American Girl shop-in-shops in select stores, and the exclusive retail partner to carry American Girl’s Truly Me line of contemporary 18-inch dolls, doll outfits, and accessories. This marks the first time American Girl has extended its doll products outside of its existing channels. American Girls’ new WellieWishers product line will begin hitting shelves at Toys “R” Us stores nationwide. Toys “R” Us will debut an American Girl shop-in-shop in 97 select locations across the country. Each shop-in-shop will range in size up to 700 square feet and feature an exclusive selection of American Girl’s Truly Me 18-inch dolls, doll outfits, and doll accessories, and WellieWishers. Additional Toys “R” Us stores will open more shop-in-shops next year. »
SNAPTOYS NAMED MASTER TOY LICENSEE FOR WORD PARTY The Jim Henson Co. has named Snaptoys as the master toy licensee for its new ani-
Word Party
mated Netflix original interactive preschool series, Word Party. The show premiered on July 8 and is currently in its first season with 14 episodes. The second season will roll out on Oct. 12 with an additional 12 episodes. Snaptoys has the rights to manufacture Word Party plush, figures, play sets, and electronics, with a targeted launch date of next fall or sooner. »
NINTENDO 3DS BECOMES NO. 1 VIDEO GAME SYSTEM THANKS TO POKÉMON GO The Nintendo 3DS platform topped the hardware and software sales charts for July, according to the The NPD Group. Nintendo says the strong performance is due to the
22 THE TOY BOOK | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 | TOYBOOK.COM
release of the Monster Hunter Generations game, continued momentum from the Nintendo 2DS price drop, and positive public reception for Pokémon Go, which has renewed interest in core Pokémon games. The Nintendo 3DS family of systems sold nearly 80 percent more units in July compared to the same time period last year. Capcom’s Monster Hunter Generations became the best-selling game for any system. July sales of the Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire games for Nintendo 3DS were more than 80 percent higher than July 2015. The games launched in November 2014. In addition, July sales of the Pokémon X and Pokémon Y games for Nintendo 3DS were almost 200 percent higher than a year ago. The games launched in October 2013 and finished No. 16 and No. 22 on July’s best-sellers list, respectively. The Nintendo 2DS system has crossed the 2 million lifetime sales mark in the U.S. Games playable on Nintendo systems claimed five of the top 11 spots on the July best-sellers list. » STAY CONNECTED!
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