The Buzz
Staff -- Playthings, 8/1/2001
"The age of 100 licensees is over," says Jennifer Robinson, vice president of domestic sales and worldwide publishing, licensing and merchandising at Fox Consumer Products. "We don't have those long lists of licensees anymore." The program for Planet of the Apes is particularly tight, driven by toys and apparel…The most popular character in the Star Wars universe returns in Decipher's Jedi Knights Scum and Villainy trading card game. Cards featuring Boba Fett and other riff raff from the edges of the galaxy can be used to create individualized decks for multi-player games. Fett, the fan-favorite bounty hunter best known for carting off the frozen Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back, was also issued recently as Hasbro's 300th Star Wars action figure…On the always fertile topic of action figures, Diamond Comic Distributors will offer four exclusive figures from McFarlane's Spawn Series 12 line while at McFarlane, the company that previously plucked Rob Zombie out of semi-obscurity, plans to immortalize Jim Morrison, the considerably more famous Doors singer, as the latest in its series of rocker replicas. For die-hard Trekkies, Palisades is producing a limited-edition figure of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry…San Jose, Calif.-based Get Real Girl will sponsor the Bay Area CyberRays of the new Women's United Soccer Association…Gullane will bring 30 original Thomas the Tank Engine books to consumers through direct mail and Scholastic's school book clubs this fall…For more buzz, visit playthings.com
