When You Think of Hollywood, Think of Toys

Star Wars has become a  $27 billion franchise thanks in no small part to a plethora of licensed toys. The toy market thrives in Southern California as reported in Hollywood helps make Southern California center of toy universe. Toys licensed from film, television, and other media franchises account for nearly 30% of the toys. Toy makers are well-aware of the need to develop media related to their toys. Lego has thrived since establishing licensing deals with Star Wars and Harry Potter. Since 2009, Hasbro has produced shows that are distributed threw its own network. Following the trend, Mattel has created an in-house studio to develop media content to promote new toys.

Christmas Shopping Guide

A handy guide for your Christmas shopping is found in The Best Collectible, Toy and Game Gifts Of 2014. If your budget is limited you can buy Disney Infinity Marvel Figures at a bargain price of around $14, or the R2-D2 Sixth Scale Figure for $149.99.  There are also several nice LEGO sets such as LEGO Superheroes The Tumbler for $324, or  LEGO Creator Palace Cinema for $149. If price is no object, then you can purchase QMX's Enterprise NX-01 Artisan Replica for $3995, or QMX's Serenity Film-Scale Artisan Replica for a mere $7495.

Sacramento Kings in Ugly Christmas Sweaters

When I look at the Sacramento Kings wearing ugly Christmas sweaters in Sacramento Kings take tacky photos in ugly Christmas sweaters I don't know whether to laugh or cry. See for yourself.

'Frozen' Remains Hot

As reported in How Disney turned 'Frozen' into its hottest cash cow, consumers have spent more than $1 billion in Frozen merchandise over the past year. There are about three million 4-year-old girls in North America which about matches the number of Frozen dresses that have been sold. This intriguing article reveals how this has all been accomplished.

Holy Spidey Batman!

Spider-Man conquers Batman as revealed in Spider-Man/Marvel Tops Batman/DC In Licensing. Spider-Man generated $1.3 billion in sales of licensed products in 2013. Batman was a distant second at $494 million. Marvel is churning out an increasing number of licensed products. In 2009 Marvel shipped under 1,000 licensed products. That was increased to 5,000 products in 2013.

Learn from Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of Kiss recently published a book Me, Inc: Build an Army of One, Unleash Your Inner Rock God, Win in Life and Business. A review of the book and some sage advice from Simmons are contained in What your business can learn from the king of rock 'n' roll mayhem. Simmons manages over 3,000 licensed merchandise items, a realty show, a professional sports team, a restaurant chain, and a record company. This seems to go along with his philosophy "It/s better to be an octopus than a fish. If an octopus loses a tentacle to a predator, the octopus will survive with seven tentacles left for itself".

How the Virgin Brand is Leveraged

A revealing story about the Virgin brand is contained in Virgin group: Brand it like Branson. It turns out Sir Richard Branson manages very little of the Virgin brands. He is primarily an investor, not a manager. Josh Baylis, chief executive of Virgin Group Holding (VGH), states "His attention on a day-to-day basis is not on the operational aspects of the businesses". Of the 80 businesses with the Virgin name, VGH has a direct stake in less than half. VGH receives significant revenue from fees it charges companies for licensing the Virgin name. It does not always work. Some flops include Virgin Brides, Virgin Cola, Virgin Cosmetics, Virgin Limobikes, Virgin Net, and Virgin Vodka.

Polaroid Finds a Way to Succeed

Polaroid is making a comeback as revealed in Taylor Swift helps with ongoing Polaroid photo resurrection. Polaroid has gone through two bankruptcies and sizable downsizing. It is now relying largely on trademark licensing to survive. The Polaroid brand is being associated with ground-breaking tech products developed by other companies. The Polaroid Cube camera, developed by Ammunition, is one such product.  Polaroid CEO Scott Hardy says simply "our role is a curator of innovation".

Hello Kitty Has Her Own Convention

Hello Kitty Con? Time magazine reported on the first Hello Kitty convention in Hello Kitty at 40: Sexist Throwback or Empowering Icon?. About 25,000 Hello Kitty fans were expected to attend the Hello Kitty convention in Los Angeles. Hello Kitty is one of the best selling characters, selling an estimated $8 billion annually in licensed merchandise. The 4-day convention was sold-out. Read the article if you want to know why Hello Kitty does not have a mouth.