Inside Out

4 Kids Entertainment, New York, has been appointed the exclusive worldwide licensing agent for the preschool television series Ellen's Acres, scheduled to debut on the Cartoon Network this September. 4Kids will launch a merchandise licensing program in 2007 based on the series about a 5-year-old girl whose parents own the Emerald Acres Hotel and her imaginative adventures…Ziggy celebrates his 35th anniversary this year. As part of the celebration, the character, owned by Andrew McMeel Universal, Kansas City, Mo., will be the 2006 “spokes-character” for the National Foster Parent Association (NFPA) and National Foster Care Month. Both organizations will use Ziggy to spread awareness about the need for foster parents…eBay hit a new lunchbox record recently when a 1954 Superman lunchbox sold for $4,649. The box, put up for auction by a seller in Minneapolis, was found at an antique mall and finally sold after seven days and 18 bids…Dimensional Branding Group, San Francisco, has acquired the MoMA Modern Kids program from the New York Museum of Modern Art. The children's products are designed to encourage kids ages 4 to 10 to explore modern and contemporary art through image, sound, animation and interactive features. Dimensional Branding will represent MoMA Retail, the museum's retail organization, for licensing of the MoMA Modern Kids program in publishing, art supplies, activity books, games, toys, and interactive and wireless applications…Nashville-based distribution and licensing company Amity Entertainment, is launching a national partnership between The Big Comfy Couch and Childhood Cancer Foundation Canada. The partnership will feature Molly, beloved doll and co-star of The Big Comfy Couch television show, which airs in Canada and the U.S., as spokesperson for the charity...Sony Computer Entertainment America, Foster City, Calif., will lower the price of its PlayStation 2 system to a suggested retail price of $129 to $139 to make it more affordable throughout North America.

Funrise Toy, Woodland Hills, Calif., kicked off the return of Pog, the flip cap game that originated in Hawaii in the 1930s and sparked a brief craze across the U.S. in the mid-'90s, with a tournament last month in Newport Beach, Calif. At the tournament, players won prizes like Pog T-shirts and Pog collectibles, such as a brand new, uncut sheet of NHL Pogs that was awarded to the tournament winner…A literary tie-in to iconic collectibles, DK Publishing, New York, will be launching three pop culture character guide books for Conan, James Bond and the young Clark Kent (aka Superman) this fall. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Conan creator Robert E. Howard's birth, Conan: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Savage Barbarian, a 160-page hardcover, which will include 350 color and black and white illustrations, is planned for September release. In August, DK will release the 96-page, Smallville: The Visual Guide and in September, James Bond: The Secret World of 007…WizKids, Bellevue, Wash., will launch a ToonClix Collectible Miniature Game in September, targeted for ages 6 to 12. The ToonClix are based on the Warner Bros.' catalog of Cartoon Network, Hanna Barbera and Kids' WB characters. ToonClix will be released in the mass-market and in the hobby market, which will receive a four-month lead on the initial release and 12 exclusive figures not available to mass. A promotion centered on a 14-carat solid-gold figure of Scooby-Doo will support the release.