Licensing World 2024 tipped to be a key year for Tara Duncan As head of Licensing for Princess Sam Consumer Products (PSCP) since January 2023, Laurent Taieb has enjoyed a very busy year building on the fast-growing awareness of the TV show Tara Duncan. This 52 x 13’adventure-comedy-fantasy, about an ordinary girl from Earth with extraordinary powers making friends and fighting evil on the magical planet OtherWorld, has made its mark in publishing and TV and is now developing a licensed products offering, with toys very much front and centre of planning. Until the TV series burst onto the scene in 2022, Tara Duncan was better known as a range of 12 books by Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian, first published in 2003 and since then selling tens of millions of copies around the world. The books have provided outstanding material for an animated show, but its creators say Tara Duncan is ‘anything but an ordinary animated show’. Tara Duncan uses the talents of more than 170 artists from the feature film industry and its characters are created through a combination of state-of-the-art motion capture and CGI. Every episode features a vast number of different sets and animated characters. Since early last year, PSCP has been steadily bringing this look and feel to the licensing world, initially by appointing regional partners with local offices who know their country or region’s licensing scene and its local retailers. Products have already arrived: the first Tara Duncan toys had a limited release on the French market last autumn and are selling well, while magazines and activity books have just launched in Italy via Playpress. PSCP notes that there is a clear appetite for licensed Tara Duncan products. The show that lends itself to fashion dolls and action figures, but also to play sets based upon the worlds of the character themselves. Series one has rolled out in many territories and series two is on the way, making 2024 a key year for Tara Duncan. Following a promising Nuremberg Toy Fair, there’s a lot more to come, too. Laurent Taieb says: “The source material is well known, the TV series has a massive following and partners in many key territories are in place. Throughout 2024 we intend to license and develop products in a wide range of categories that build on the key strengths and high consumer awareness of Tara Duncan.”
Ravensburger offers first look at Disney Lorcana 2024 line-up Ravensburger has unveiled a selection of the 2024 Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game line-up, including new products, competitive events and organised play activations. In addition, the company is also sharing the official on-sale dates for the four new sets slated to debut throughout the year. “Disney Lorcana TCG has struck a chord with players, collectors and fans around the world and we’re so grateful for the support,” said Filip Francke, global head of Games at Ravensburger. “It has proven to be a fantastic entry point for first-time TCG players, and we will continue to do everything in our power to make the product available at MSRP pricing. As we move into 2024, we will continue to support our growing and diverse community through new discoveries for collectors, organised play and competitive events for players and new products that help beginning fans take their first steps into trading card games. We’re only just getting started, but consumer feedback and industry data supports our belief that this game will be around for a very long time.” This year, the Disney Lorcana TCG will introduce a new stand-alone product: Disney Lorcana TCG Gateway, a progressive learn-to-play experience designed to ease new players into the game and TCG space. This ultimate beginner’s introduction to the Disney Lorcana TCG includes everything two players aged eight and over need to play right out of the box: two 30-card basic Disney Lorcana TCG decks, a two-player game board with character standees, rules and player’s guides, and additional cards that players will be rewarded with to add to their decks as they learn about the card types and gameplay. When players have played through Gateway, they will have built two standard Disney Lorcana TCG decks they can take and play with friends. Gateway will be released on 9th August 2024 and will retail for £22.99. For established players, Ravensburger will launch an official competitive circuit in North America and Europe starting in May 2024. Titled Disney Lorcana Challenge, the events will begin at a regional level, where players can compete to qualify for North American and European Championships respectively. The top players will earn invites to the Disney Lorcana World Championship slated for early 2025.
Posh Paws and Warner Bros. partner on multiproperty licensing Posh Paws International has announced a multi-property UK licensing partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products (WBDGCP). This new deal includes WBDGCP’s entire catalogue of DC, Wizarding World, Looney Tunes, Friends, Horror and many more. Posh Paws will start the partnership by bringing to market a range of plush toys inspired by Warner Bros. Animation and DC’s hit animated pre-school series, Batwheels. This series launched in the UK on Cartoonito in March 2023 and has since been a top-performing show among pre-schoolers. In summer, Posh Paws will launch with the show’s main characters, Bam the Batmobile, Robin’s Redbird and Batman, in 7-inch and 10-inch plush sizes with high-quality detailing to ensure the characters’ key features are accentuated in the design. Included in the deal with WBDGCP, Posh Paws secured the rights to develop plush toys and gifts inspired by more DC characters including Superman and more. From the Wizarding World, Posh Paws will be developing a new range of Harry Potter plush toys and gifts. The hit TV show Friends celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and Posh Paws is developing a gifting range that will incorporate the show’s most memorable, sentimental and comical quotes and phrases that fans know and love, with plush characters that relate to them. “We are absolutely delighted to partner with such a prestigious and global powerhouse like Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products across its entire portfolio of the biggest and most popular brands,” said Lauren Shipman, Group Brand and Marketing director. “As a market leader in developing and producing licensed plush toys and gifts that are perfect for all ages, we are excited to be launching with our new pre-school Batwheels plush toys this summer and to be working on iconic brands like Harry Potter, Friends and more.”
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