LEGO and Warner Bros. Reach Partnership Agreement

Scooby-Doo is getting the LEGO treatment as revealed in LEGO & Warner Bros. Team for Scooby-Doo Building Sets. Five new LEGO sets with a Sooby-Doo theme will hit stores in August. In addition, Warner-Bros. animation will produce a new 22 minute Scooby-Doo themed LEGO special.

NBA Players Become Art Aficionados

When you think of the NBA, you probably don't connect it to the art world. But a strong connection is described in the fascinating article In the Paint: How Art Has Become the Latest Craze with the NBA and Its Stars. Several NBA stars are collecting art including: Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Grant Hill, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Lamar Odom, Stephen Curry, and Deron Williams.

Everything You Want to Know about Monopoly

You will learn a lot you didn't know about Monopoly in the article 80 enterprising facts you may not know about Monopoly. For example, did you know that there have been more than 300 licensed versions of the Monopoly game developed themed with topics such as sports teams (see- Sports Themed Monopoly Board Games) and movies (see - Monopoly Games Based on Movies and TV Shows)? Or that in 1978, the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog offered a chocolate version of the Monopoly game priced at $600. How do you play the game after you eat the chocolate?

Adidas Eyes Licensed Products Expansion

Adidas is aggressively pursuing increasing it's market share by seeking out professional NFL and MLB players (see - Adidas Goes Shopping for 500 Football and Baseball Players). Adidas is embarking on a three-year spending spree. By 2017, Adidas hopes to have 250 football players under contract and the same number in baseball. Adidas struck deals with both the NFL and MLB to allow players to wear its cleats and gloves without covering up the brand name and logo.

John Wayne Vanquishes Debit Cards

You can soon buy a prepaid MasterCard with John Wayne's image. The details are found in Sammi’s Favorite Things: Card.com and John Wayne. If you love John Wayne, you will love these MasterCards. They have great John Wayne images. If you are in a hurry to get one, you can sign up for one at https://www.card.com/gallery?tag=john+wayne. Even if you don't want one, take a look at the images. They're terrific.

Oregon Licensing vs. Ohio State Licensing

Oregon recently decided its athletics brand had outgrown the school's internal licensing division. So Oregon employed the firm Fermata Partners to handle its licensing (see - Oregon’s Rise to Football Power Boosts Business for Former Ducks). Ohio State, in contrast, uses a full-time staff of five to manage its licensing. The Buckeyes generated about $14 million in gross licensing revenue last year, and netted more than $12 million. While Oregon generated $4.78 million in licensing revenue and netted $2.14 million. It will be interesting to see how the licensing programs of the two universities compare in the years to come.

Elvis in Denmark

I'm an Elvis fan, but you can see what a rabid Elvis fan is in Celebrating Elvis at Denmark's King-size Graceland. Henrik Knudsen quit his job and became Denmark's only professional Elvis fan. He built a replica of Elvis's Graceland mansion in Randers, Denmark. Inside the mansion there is a diner and a $1.6 million-valued collection of Elvis memorabilia. In the diner you can get one of Elvis's favorite sandwiches, a peanut butter, jam, banana and bacon sandwich.

Kodak Rises from Bankruptcy

As reported in  Kodak brand is returning to store shelves , Kodak is having a resurgence focused exclusively on printing-related equipment and technology. Licensing has become a cornerstone with brand licensing and intellectual property property agreements realizing $51 million in earnings in its more recent fiscal quarter. Kodak stopped making digital cameras in 2012 as part of its bankruptcy. In 2013, Sakar International launched a line of Kodak camera and photo accessories, and JK Imaging secured a digital-camera licensing agreement.