It's the Busness of toys

[Tekwych]

A place to post about the Busness of making toys.

[Tekwych]

Thomas, Barney, Sam, and Bob all join the Mattel family.

http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main ... ertainment

[dayraven]

Thomas, Barney, Sam, and Bob all join the Mattel family.

http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main ... ertainment

nice... kids, keep those thomas the trains away from your mouth!

[you_will_forget]

As a side note, how are those shows presented in the US?

Our family have a bit of a connection to Postman Pat due to the similarity between Greendale and the village we're from in Yorkshire, which spread to other similar shows like Thomas the Tank Engine, Fireman Sam and Bob the Builder (somewhat less so, as it came along later).

Are the original voices used or have they been re-dubbed into American?

Jo

[dayraven]

As a side note, how are those shows presented in the US?

Our family have a bit of a connection to Postman Pat due to the similarity between Greendale and the village we're from in Yorkshire, which spread to other similar shows like Thomas the Tank Engine, Fireman Sam and Bob the Builder (somewhat less so, as it came along later).

Are the original voices used or have they been re-dubbed into American?

Jo

i don't know about the others, but bob is redubbed.

[you_will_forget]

That must be really weird without Neil Morrissey

Jo

[dayraven]

That must be really weird without Neil Morrissey

Jo

not really, since i've never heard him do it. the odd thing is, there are other cartoons that have british lead characters on US tv, and the accent is not a problem. it's not like we're talking hindi vs farsi here, it's all english. we have australian characters too, and they get understood just fine also. i could understand the redubbing for like japan, but for the US, that's just stupid.

[you_will_forget]

All good points.

One of the selling points of Bob the Builder in this country originally was that Bob was voiced by Neil Morrissey (I don't know how familiar he is to you guys - he's most famous here for Men Behaving Badly and other "stupid person" comedy roles, though he does a lot of charity work and has been very open about his childhood in the Fostering system and the good and bad experiences there).

On a similar note, early Thomas the Tank Engine was voiced by Ringo Starr.

Jo

[Tekwych]

Meanwhile inventory of toys at mass merchants looks like it will be down, a lot, for the holiday season this year.  Toy imports, as measured by container volume hitting U.S. ports was down 9% in September vs. the same period a year ago, continuing an eight month trend, as reported by The Journal of Commerce/PIERS.  That’s over 30,000 fewer containers of toys hitting U.S. ports in the first nine months of 2011 than arrived in the first nine months of 2010. 

That's containers, as in tractor trailor loads. The article goes on to suggest that toy isles coul get very empty the week before Christmas with nothing to restock them with.

[Tekwych]

Warner Bros. Consumer Products and DC Entertainment have extended the master toy agreement with Mattel for the complete universe of DC Comics characters. 
Mattel now has access to the complete breadth and scope of the DC Comics vault of characters which includes Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Joker, The Flash, Aquaman, Shazam!, Green Arrow and Hawkman.

Mattel is set to develop toy lines for two upcoming Warner Bros. theatrical releases: The Dark Knight Rises, which will hit theaters July 20, and Man of Steel, scheduled for a June 14, 2013, release. Future TV-based collaborations include "Green Lantern: The Animated Series," "Young Justice" and Cartoon Network's multi-platform property "DC Nation," which will debut in 2012.

The extension also includes Mattel’s rights to produce toys based on future DC Comics films and animation projects.

Mattel will continue to use DC Comics characters across its portfolio of core brands including Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Barbie, Mattel Games and Fisher-Price, as well as Imaginext, Shake ‘n Go, GeoTrax, HeroWorld and Little People. In 2012, Mattel will partner with Diamond Comic Distributors to distribute the DC Comics 6" action figure line in Europe.

"We have developed an incredibly successful partnership with Mattel and we are very excited about taking the relationship to new levels," says Brad Globe, president, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment have an unrivaled slate of content support across all key platforms essential to our global consumer products business which is anchored by our alliance with Mattel.”

"Mattel has been a longtime, valuable partner to the DC Comics creative team,” says Diane Nelson, president, DC Entertainment. “We look forward to working with Mattel and the Warner Bros. Consumer Products team to bring new DC Comics Super Hero toys to life for our fans around the world.”

“We are thrilled to further our long-standing partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products and support the extensive DC Comics portfolio’s franchise development,” says Tim Kilpin, executive vice president of Mattel Brands. “The DC Comics characters are rich in story and we look forward to bringing these popular characters to life through innovative product design.”