Oh, 'nuts!
By Tina Benitez -- Playthings, 5/1/2006
The Charles Schultz-created Peanuts characters celebrated 50 years in 2005. And the celebration continues in 2006 with more Peanuts-themed product planned for collectors and fans.
Cider Mill Press, New York, will be re-releasing the Happiness Is... titles with four available this month, four in September and a box set with the ninth book in 2007.
For Peanuts toy nuts, this fall Dark Horse Comics, Milwaukie, Ore., will release several syrocco figures based on the Peanuts characters. Funko, Bothel, Wash., will launch 40th anniversary bobbleheads to celebrate the 40th anniversary of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. A 40th anniversary puzzle will also be available from USAopoly, Carlsbad, Calif.
Nutty gamesSababa Toys, New York, will also produce Peanuts-themed dominos, UNO and board games. This fall, Namco, Sunnyvale, Calif., will release a three-player Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron video game for PlayStation 2, PSP and PC. Players get to play as WWI flying ace Snoopy as he tries to stop enemy the Red Baron across six different worlds. The game includes cameo appearances by the 12 other Peanuts characters, including Charlie Brown, Woodstock, Linus, Marcie and Sally. Upgrade Snoopy's craft by adding new weapons and gadgets, including a lightning-fast Woodstock missile. Players can also fight through more than 50 single-player and co-op missions as well as in five different modes: single-player, cooperative, team multiplayer, versus multiplayer and battle.
