Lego Duplo adds to Disney Princess line

Four new products realised in a variety of price points.
The Lego Duplo brand is strengthening its relationship with Disney through the launch of its new Disney Princess building sets, aimed at pre-school girls between the ages of two to five years. There are four sets on offer each including a Disney Princess complete with handsome prince, with the choice between Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Cinderella.

Various sizes and prices are on offer, starting with Sleeping Beauty’s Room (£9.99) and Snow White’s Cottage (£12.99), extending to the deluxe Cinderella’s Castle (£39.99).

Cinderella’s Castle features Disney’s Cinderella and her Prince, with the castle consisting of tall towers, big doors, chandeliers, a staircase, twin beds and more.

Cinderella’s Carriage includes a decorated Pumpkin Coach with opening and closing doors as well as a white horse, a grand clock tower portal and a glass slipper brick (£19.99).

Snow White’s Cottage comes with big bricks and attractive furniture and little girls can take the Princess to play in the woods. The set also includes a rabbit, bird brick and a plate of apples.

Finally, Sleeping Beauty’s Room includes the Princesses bed and blanket, as well as a Fairy Godmother Brick, re-creating the iconic Disney scene.

Brand manager, Claire Bradley, has said: “Disney offers the Lego Duplo brand a great opportunity to appeal to an Intellectual Property hungry audience, offering strong relevance to pre-schoolers, particularly those in the older age bracket of three to four years. The new Disney Princess range is the ideal introduction to the world of construction for pre-school girls, and offers parents a variety of price points which we hope will drive trial of Lego Duplo.”

Gibsons Jubilee Puzzle

To mark the celebrations over the Jubilee, Gibsons is launching a limited edition 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle titled Proud To Be British. The jigsaw will feature some of the most memorable highlights of the occasion, including the Red Arrows fly-past, and the 1,000 boat flotilla. Each limited edition Proud To Be British jigsaw puzzle comes with a serial number certificate creating a collectable, patriotic souvenir. Each image captures the occasion with the Union Jack flag adorning hats, umbrellas, clothing and entire street parties, The Proud To Be British jigsaw puzzle will be available for delivery mid-July.

Olympic / Euro 2012 Special

We take a a look at just some of the officially licensed merchandise for Euro 2012, the England football team and London 2012.
With both the Euro tournament and the Olympic and Paralympic Games due to captivate the UK from this month, how can toy retailers take advantage? Samantha Loveday brings you a guide to the officially licensed merchandise for Euro 2012, the England football team and London 2012.

GOLDEN BEAR
Master toy licensee Golden Bear has a vast array of official mascot products, and, with just weeks to go, is urging retailers to stock up quickly.
Wenlock and Mandeville are available as everything from cuddly collectables, through to soft key rings and giant 80cm plush.
As part of the 80 SKU collection there are plenty of souvenirs which the firm believes are ideal for impulse purchases. These are displayed in CDUs and range from commemorative eight-colour pens to collectable figures of Wenlock in a number of sporting poses. There are also some unique renditions of the mascots such as the Union Jack Wenlock and also a version dressed as a Queen’s guard.
Golden Bear also has Wenlock and Mandeville Mini Sketchy-Fun scribblers and dominoes sets, all of which sport the London 2012 colours and logos.
In addition, the firm is offering Pride the Lion which is available in a choice of red, white or blue, with a mane of all three colours.



CARTAMUNDI
Cartamundi has a collection of Euro 2012 products.
First up, the Euro 2012 Donkey Game (£2.99) is a two-in-one card game which includes the Black Peter game, where players must collect and discard as many pairs as possible, while trying to get the ‘Donkey’ card; plus the Pairs game, where the winner ends up with the most pairs.
Euro 2012 Poker-sized Playing Cards (£3.99) are aimed at age eight and up and feature Euro 2012 imagery, while the Euro 2012 Bridge-sized Playing Cards (£2.99) are standard sized cards featuring similar imagery.
Finally, Cartamundi has Euro 2012 Twin Bridge Set Playing Games (£5.99). The themed set contains two packs of cards with different reverses.



HORNBY
Hornby was granted its licence back in 2009 and has an extensive range of product across all of its brands: Corgi, Hornby, Scalextric and Airfix. The collection includes die-cast model vehicles, die-cast figurines, 3D die-cast key rings, London 2012 train sets and a Scalextric Velodrome Cycling set among other items.
The Mini Olympic Torch is the latest addition to Hornby’s London 2012 line-up. The 1:5 scale die-cast model is currently being allocated as demand is exceeding supply.
One of the firm’s best selling ranges is Great British Classics. Since its launch in October 2010, the collection has been flying off shelves and breaking Hornby records. The line consists of five iconic British vehicles: the Routemaster, Mini, taxi, Concorde and tube train. Each vehicle has a decoration by the London 2012 tourist icons and Union Jack Flag designs. Both the Concorde and tube train are only a few per cent away from being sold out.
Finally, the Destination London 2012 range is a collection of 40 Olympic and Paralympic taxis, with decoration inspired by the official pictograms. From a base production exceeding half a million units, Hornby is reporting to have less than 20 per cent of the product left, with the busiest period of retail activity still to come.



MV SPORTS
MV has an official Team GB collection of bikes, scooters and accessories focusing on the strong, patriotic livery of red, white and blue. The firm says it is also the only range which displays both the lion’s head motif and London 2012 insignia.
The cornerstone of the line-up is the selection of Team GB bicycles. The firm has Team GB BMXs in 12, 14, 16 and 20 inches, while there are also two new racing style models in 20 and 24-inch sizes. These combine sleek frame design with Team GB graphics, along with racing bike style drop handlebars.
In terms of scooters, MV Sports offers a Team GB in-line scooter aimed at beginners; a Team GB BMX stunt scooter; and a Team GB racing scooter with high spec precision bearings and large wheels.
MV also has a range of helmets and protection gear to complement the wheeled line-up. Three new helmets include a beginner’s kid’s helmet, a racing style and a BMX model. Other accessories include bicycle bells, drinks bottles and saddle covers, a supporter’s bike flag and a couple of combination sets.



LEGO
Lego has launched a special edition range of Team GB Minifigures.
The collectable range will only be available in the UK to commemorate the event.The Minifigures spark the sporting imagination, so kids can stage their very own Games.
At £1.99 each, the Team GB Lego Minifigures will be in stores from July 1st 2012.There are nine exclusive characters in the line-up, including: Brawny Boxer; The Stealth Swimmer; Relay Runner; Judo Fighter; Tactical Tennis Player; Flexible Gymnast; Wondrous Weightlifter; Horseback rider; and Agile Archer.

TOPPS
Topps boasts the official England trading card game, Match Attax England 2012.It features all of the players from the England team, as well as top players from other footballing countries. There are over 200 cards to collect, featuring the latest player stats and photos, plus rare ‘Man of the Match’ special cards and new limited editions. The starter pack is £3.99 and includes a limited edition card of Wayne Rooney, plus a collector binder, a pitch to battle opponents on and 11 cards.
Topps also has the England 2012 Official Sticker Collection, which includes over 302 stickers in a 64-page album. It retails at £1.49 and features in-depth player stats and all the current England squad, plus greatest ever players, goals and classic moments, as well as stars of teams from other countries.

WINNING MOVES
Winning Moves has produced its biggest ever product range for a single licensor with its London 2012 collection of games and puzzles.
The games have been designed to span a broad price range and to cater for the whole family.
Pocket money items such as Top Trumps and playing cards retail at £3.99, with mid-price items like the three souvenir jigsaws start at £7.99. Higher priced items include the London 2012 Monopoly game and the Top Trumps Tournament game, while Winning Moves has also produced a ‘bite-sized’ Trivial Pursuit especially for London 2012.
On top of this, the company has launched a London 2012 version of the word game Bananagrams (£16.99). Staying true to the original game, five coloured ‘joker’ tiles featuring various Olympic sports pictograms have also been added.

Vivid Signs Little Mix

Firm teams up with music merchandiser, Bravado, to launch range based on The X Factor winners. The new range will include Little Mix Collector Dolls, micro-sized Celebz dolls, accessories and games and puzzles and will launch in November, in time for Christmas. Little Mix was the first girl band to win The X Factor. The four girls - Jesy, Perrie, Leigh-Anne and Jade - who have just finished their UK country-wide X Factor arena tour, are set to blitz the music charts this autumn and are currently planning further tour dates. "We are thrilled to be working with Little Mix and look forward to delivering a full product range to fans and collectors in time for Christmas," said Neil Bandtock, Vivid UK anaging director. David Boyne, Bravado’s UK MD commented: "We are delighted to bring together Britain’s most exciting new girl band and Britain’s leading Toymaker Vivid, I am confident that between us we will be delivering some of the most exciting product the market will be seeing this year." Jane Kennedy, director of licensing at Modest Management, concluded: "We are delighted to be working with Vivid as the fashion doll and accessories partner for Little Mix. The girls love fashion and so it’s fitting that this passion is being extended into their doll line."

Skylanders Giants details released at E3

Eight Giant figurines will be available at launch; Trailer makes its debut.It has been revealed at video games expo E3 that eight of the new Giant-sized Skylanders figurines will be available for kids to collect this autumn.
In addition to the eight Giants, eight new regular sized Skylanders will be released.Eight of the new batch will use 'Lightcore' technology, which enables the Skylanders to light up - without the use of batteries - when placed on the Portal of Power.
It has not been specificed which Skylanders figurines, whether they be giant or standard sized, will be Lightcore versions. Also coming is Series 2 of Skylanders, which will be comprised of 24 new figurines.