Look! Labels!

After what seemed like an eternity, my Blogger account was migrated from Old to New Blogger last Friday night (GMT)!

The transition was, almost, seamless, and proved the edict that one should always backup a template (to a text editor such as bbedit)! For some reason, which I haven't had time nor desire to explore, illegal characters were introduced! However, a quick cut n' paste and, presto, time to start exploring all the new features.

For me, tags have always, literally, been the missing link on my blogs!

A tag is a (relevant) keyword or term associated with or assigned to a piece of information (like picture, article, or video clip), thus describing the item and enabling keyword-based classification of information it is applied to.

The notion of manually adding tags, to existing posts, seemed daunting and arduous in the extreme! And there was no guarantee that the addition of tags would increase Technorati and Google traffic and, by extension, readership. Thankfully, New Blogger introduces Labels (AKA tags) and there's no coding required (a panacea for those of us with heavily customised templates). Labels are available out of the box! Thank you Blogger.

The result? All posts should soon contain relevant tags and, hopefully, improve the reading experience in ways my prose, alone, never could!

Doctor Who Underground

BBC Worldwide announced today the appointment of Underground Toys Ltd. as the North American manufacturer and distributor for Doctor Who toy and collectible products, including the popular figure line from the UK’s award-winning Character Options Group. The deal was brokered by MOST MANAGEMENT, BBC’s North American licensing agency for the Doctor Who franchise.

Underground Toys will be bringing action figures, R/C figures, 12" collector dolls, clocks, watches, electronic gadgets, electronic keychains, diaries and more to market through their own distribution channels, direct-to-chain stores and through sub-distributors around the country. Underground Toys directly supplies specialty market retailers including Borders, Hot Topic and Spencer Gifts as well as independent retailers, comic book and hobby stores. Underground Toys will begin shipping initial products in time for the holidays, with a full roll out of the items in February 2007 at the International Toy Fair in New York.

Already a huge success in the UK, the Doctor Who toy line was the second highest-selling last Christmas in the UK and is expected to repeat its success this year. The line also won Best Licensed Toys and Games Award and the Innovation Award at the 2006 Licensing Awards.

“Underground Toys recognizes that there is a growing demand for Doctor Who products at retail in the USA and will be strongly pushing and supporting the brand into specialty retail,” said Robyn Morgan, Underground Toys' Licensing Manager. “We are focused on executing the merchandise program effectively in conjunction with the growing popularity of the new Doctor Who series."

“Underground toys has a wealth of experience and knowledge in the market along with an enthusiastic approach to the Doctor Who brand,” said Anna Hewitt, Head of International Licensing, BBC Worldwide. “We are thrilled that fans both new and old in North America will have a chance to purchase Doctor Who products.”

The first season of the new Doctor Who proved a huge success for SCI FI Channel, delivering an average of 1.5 million viewers each week. The second season began with a two-hour premier on September 29th, where over a million viewers tuned in to watch the new Doctor, David Tennant.

Doctor Who: The Complete First Series has become BBC Video’s best selling ‘Doctor Who’ DVD title ever in North America. The second series will arrive on DVD January 16, 2007, following the airing on SCI FI Channel this fall. In addition, over forty classic Doctor Who episodes are currently available on DVD through BBC Video, with new releases in the classics line releasing each quarter. A range of Doctor Who novels, featuring adventures from the new and classic Doctor Who series, is available through Diamond Book Distributors.

The Secret of the Sword

Yesterday morning a UPS package arrived sans import duty (close call)! The Best of She-Ra - Princess of Power, a strictly limited edition variant.

This limited DVD comes with all new art, from the back of the packaging to the interior packaging scenes.

The cover you see is an homage to the classic Secret of the Sword theatrical promo art, and the spine features the Secret of the Sword logo.

It also comes with its own two unique artcards, featuring the art of fan-favorite illustrators Nathan Baertsch and Emiliano Santalucia. These art cards will not be available in any other release!

Plus, each DVD is individually numbered on the back making every copy one-of-a-kind!

The DVD discs are the same as those in the regular Best of She-Ra DVD in stores now, so you won't miss out on any DVD content with this variant. Those disc features are:

*The Secret of the Sword theatrical film feature
*Five of the five best episodes of the series, as voted on by fans
*A brand new documentary featurette with a variety of talent involved in the making of the original animated series, including the creators, producers, writers, voice over actors, animators and others working behind the scenes
*Feature length audio commentary with Lou Scheimer, Larry DiTillio, Gwen Wetzler and Alan Oppenheimer
*“I Have the Power” music video featurette with new storyboard comparison and new sheet music sing-a-long
*Trivia/Fun facts
*DVD-ROM – scripts for all 5 episodes
*Easter Eggs
*Spanish Language Audio Track

Much obliged to He-Man.org for producing this very rare variant, which will only increase in resale value.

Recommended for Mature Collectors

Don't you love it when video games spawn action figures and assorted collectibles? Even Zelda has been immortalized in plastic. But what about those franchises that never see release? The House of the Dead is a prime example.

The House of the Dead is a first-person, light gun rail shooter arcade game released in 1996 by Sega, where the player assumes the role of a government agent who must shoot his way through an army of recently resurrected zombies.

The House of the Dead is a straightforward light gun game. Players simply use a light gun to aim at approaching enemies, and click the trigger to shoot them. The characters' pistols use clips of rounds, so even though the player has infinite ammo, they must reload once each clip is spent. This is done by pointing the gun away from the screen and pressing the trigger. A set of torches next to each player's clip shows their health. Anytime a player is attacked or shoots a civilian, one of their torches is put out. A player is considered "dead" when all of that player's torches are out. A dead player may continue by inserting more money (or selecting continue in the home versions). Sometimes a first-aid pack can be shot to restore health, and some civilians will give first-aid packs to the player if he or she saves them.

This game was one of the first such games to incorporate the possibilities of multiple routes. For instance, in the beginning of the game, a male civilian is about to be thrown off the bridge to his death. If players shoot the zombie and save the civilian, they will enter the house. If the civilian dies, players go down an underground route through the sewer. There are other critical points in which the players' actions decides where they go. This "choose-your-path" was later implemented in its three arcade sequels.

Back in 2003 Palisades cancelled their proposed second series of The House of the Dead action figure line, which is too bad as they looked great.

Video V.E.N.O.M.

The '80s was a golden era for animated brands from Masters of the Universe to The Transformers. M.A.S.K. (which is an acronym for the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) was no exception to this rule and had a memorable theme tune (sung by College and School students alike).



M.A.S.K. was Kenner's hybrid G.I. Joe and The Transformers toyline, which debuted in 1985. Although I predominently collected Star Wars and Transformers merchandise, Rhino and Jackhammer vehicles were worthy, if expensive, editions. The brand was retired in 1988, but remains a staple of Generation X. Hope you enjoy this slice of nostalgia and there'll be more to come.

Kenner's M.A.S.K.

The following press release, from DIC, should delight animation, video game and toy brand enthusiasts alike! Of particular note, to me at least, is Kenner's M.A.S.K. and Pole Position (licensed by Atari/Namco) animated series. Both had memorable theme tunes (advertising jingles) and primetime slots on commercial television stations.

Although M.A.S.K and several other brands have already been distributed on VHS and DVD, it remains unclear what DIC intends to do with the properties. The smart money is on season box sets and extras.

DIC ENTERTAINMENT RE-ACQUIRES THE RIGHTS TO OVER 750 HALF-HOURS OF ANIMATED PROPERTIES

March 22, 2006
DIC ENTERTAINMENT RE-ACQUIRES THE RIGHTS TO OVER 750 HALF-HOURS OF ANIMATED PROPERTIES FROM THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY AND JETIX EUROPE FOR GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

20 Television Series Returned to DIC for Television and Home Entertainment Distribution and Merchandising

Burbank, California – March 22, 2006 – DIC Entertainment (DIC) has re-acquired the rights to an extensive slate of animated children’s properties from The Walt Disney Company and Jetix Europe for television, home entertainment and consumer products. The announcement was made today by Andy Heyward, Chairman and CEO, DIC Entertainment.

As part of the deal, DIC will now control various marketing and distribution rights for 750 half-hour episodes of globally recognized brands previously produced by DIC, including Care Bears, Inspector Gadget, Heathcliff, Dennis the Menace, The Littles, and more.

“We have one of the largest libraries of animation in the world consisting of some of the most popular children’s properties ever, and we are thrilled to have these properties back in the DIC family,” comments Heyward. “There is always a huge demand for classic children’s programming, particularly in the home entertainment marketplace, and we look forward to offering our clients these series across multiple platforms.”

The slate of top-programming, which will be offered at MIP-TV this year, includes, Inspector Gadget (86 half-hours), Beverly Hills Teens (65 half-hours), Care Bears (11 half-hours), Dennis the Menace (78 half-hours), Dennis the Menace specials (3 hours), Get Along Gang (13 half-hours), Heathcliff (86 half-hours), Hulk Hogan (26 half-hours), Jayce & the Wheeled Warriors (65 half-hours), Lady Lovelylocks (10 half-hours), The Littles (29 half-hours), MASK (75 half-hours), Photon (26 half-hours), Pole Position (13 half-hours), Poochie (1 hour), Popples (23 half-hours), Rainbow Brite (13 half-hours), Starcom (13 half-hours), Sylvanian Families (13 half-hours), The Littles Movies (6 hours) and Ulysses 31 (26 half-hours).

Brand highlights from the new programming include Care Bears, an evergreen property and one of the most popular children’s brands across the world. Since re-launching four years ago, Care Bears has grown into a 1.8 billion dollar franchise and generated more than 600 million dollars n worldwide retail in 2005. Inspector Gadget, DIC’s flagship property, is a hit franchise that includes a television series which has aired for over 20 years in key territories around the world.

Additionally, the property has been a major success with two blockbuster features--a star-studded, Disney live-action feature film that generated over $100 million at the box-office and a direct-to-DVD title which has sold nearly 3 million units to date. Based on the classic cartoon strip which still appears in over 1,000 newspapers globally, Heathcliff has been a best-selling children’s book, a greeting card line and #1 best-selling comic book.

About DIC Entertainment:
DIC Entertainment, a fully-integrated global brand management company, is dedicated to creating, developing, producing, distributing, marketing and merchandising family-based intellectual properties. DIC has distinguished itself by building one of the largest libraries of western-style animation with approximately 2,800 half-hours of renowned programming, including Trollz™, Inspector Gadget™, Strawberry Shortcake™, Sabrina™, Madeline™, Liberty’s Kids™, Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?™, Sonic The Hedgehog™, Super Mario Bros™ and Care Bears™. In 2003, the company launched the DIC Kid’s Network, a unique syndicated programming block designed to meet core FCC requirements and the only network for kids that reaches effectively 98% of U.S. households on over 300 stations. As a pre-eminent supplier of kid’s programming worldwide, DIC has developed strategic partnerships with key domestic and international broadcast partners throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and Australia. DIC is headquartered in Burbank, California with international offices in Paris, London and Cologne.