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Playthings EXTRA for May 6, 2009

Editorial Invitation: Licensing Show News
FINAL DEADLINE! If you are an exhibitor at June's Licensing Show, PLAYTHINGS wants to include your show news in our annual Licensing Show preview issue. Please send press releases and high resolution images to our editorial department via licensingshownews@reedbusiness.com by May 8, 2009.

Jakks jumps into Bella Sara deal
ITV Global Entertainment has granted Jakks Pacific wide-ranging toy rights to girl-targeted property Bella Sara in the U.S. and Canada. Click to continue

LeapFrog's losses slow slightly on cost cuts
LeapFrog Enterprises reported a slightly smaller net loss in the company’s fiscal first quarter despite seeing net sales sag 49 percent. Results were buoyed by a double-digit drop in operating expenses. Click to continue

Bandai preps for push into new categories
Bandai America has appointed Tor Sirset vice president of marketing with responsibility for creating a new group within the toymaker’s business focused on brands outside of its core boy demographic. Click to continue

TOY OF THE WEEK
Whizizzle Phonics ($12.95) is a fast-paced reading card game series that teaches the sounds of the English language. It aims to help kids learn by using sight, sound and color, and includes everything from short and long vowel sounds to blends, vowel brothers and digraphs. Click to continue

Pacific Cycle plans 'Kitty' bikes
Children’s bicycle maker Pacific Cycle recently announced the pending debut of a collection of Hello Kitty branded bikes and protective gear in time for fall 2009 sales. Click to continue

Play It Safe Blog: On CPSIA and the Labs
The CPSIA has placed additional burdens on toy manufacturers by adding requirements such as lead content and phthalates and by mandating third party testing. One outcome of the CPSIA requirements is that quality assurance laboratories such as STR have seen a dramatic increase in their testing business. Some companies suspect that labs have helped push this legislation through as a way to increase profits! This is simply not true. Click to continue

Action adds reps in South
Action Toys, the toy business arm of Action Product International, has inked agreements with new rep firms in Florida and the Southeast. Click to continue

PlaySmart buys building set line
In a deal between Canadian toycos, PlaSmart has acquired the i-Gami construction toy line from Plastic Play of Oshawa, Ontario. PlaSmart had been the exclusive US distributor of the origami-inspired building toy since March of 2007. Click to continue

Out of the Toy Box Blog: Honoring salespeople
Richard Gottlieb writes: In a great New York Times column entitled “Attention Must Still Be Paid,” Ben Stein makes an important statement: “When the recovery starts, [salespeople] will be the ones making purchases happen.” In other words, it will be salespeople who will lead us out of this recession. I think everyone in Toy Nation—no, make that everyone in business—needs to read what Ben Stein has to say about salespeople.

Click to continue

PLAYTHINGS.com POLL

Have you as a business owner had to voluntarily cut your salary in order to keep your business afloat in the current recession?

Yes, out of necessity
Yes, but only to spare my staff from similar cuts
No, but I'm contemplating doing so
No, and I don't anticipate needing to
No, because I've cut other expenses instead

To vote on this week’s poll, or to see the results of previous poll questions, visit www.Playthings.com.

For daily news updates visit the "Breaking News" section of www.Playthings.com

Have a profitable week,

Cliff Annicelli, Editor
Karyn Peterson, Managing Editor