Tag Archives: star wars

Disney and Lucasfilm launch Mando Mondays as The Mandalorian returns to Disney+ for second series

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Disney and Lucasfilm have given Star Wars fans another reason to dial in their comms systems, with the launch of Mando Mondays, a new global consumer products, games, and publishing programme centered on the Disney+ original series, The Mandalorian, kicking off this October 26th.

After premiering last autumn, The Mandalorian – which went on to take home seven awards last week during the 2020 Emmy Awards – will return for its second season Friday, October 30, streaming only on Disney+. The series will see the Mandalorian and the Child continue their journey, facing enemies and rallying allies as they make their way through the dangerous galaxy in the tumultuous era after the collapse of the Galactic Empire.

Fans will then be able to visit the Star Wars UK Facebook page each Monday to discover what new toys, collectables, apparel, books, comics, and digital content will be unveiled. Mando Mondays will then run for nine weeks, culminating on December 21st.

“When ‘The Mandalorian’ debuted last year on Disney+, the show became an instant phenomenon, with fans of all ages expressing excitement for products related to its iconic characters – particularly the Child,” said Kareem Daniel, president, consumer products, games and publishing.

“This fall, as the world continues to watch the narrative unfold, we will further bring this unique Star Wars story to life through a must-have selection of toys, books, comics, digital content, and more.”

To celebrate this announcement, select pre-orders for the first wave of Mando Mondays products will kick off today at 9p.m. BST across top retailers globally.

Products available for pre-order today include the Hasbro Black Series Credit Collection, new Funko Pop! bobbleheads, the LEGO Star Wars The Child construction set and much more.

PAW Patrol, Star Wars and LEGO Nintendo among Argos’ top 12 Toys for Christmas 2020 picks

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Argos has revealed its top 12 toys for Christmas 2020 in anticipation of the Christmas toy shopping season and a nation that ‘has rekindled its love for toys,’ through more time spent at home throughout lockdown. Among the top toys, PAW Patrol, Star Wars, and LEGO’s Super Mario collection all feature.

With less than 200 days to go until December 25th, the British store predicts LEGO Lamborghini, Baby Yoda and a pooping flamingo to be among its top sellers this Christmas, while this season will see consumers tap into nostalgia-fuelled shopping driven by the lockdown and time spent at home.

According to research carried out by Argos, more than a fifth of parents plan to gift their child something that conjures memories of their own childhood this year. It goes some way to explain why the likes of Star Wars and LEGO’s Nintendo Super Mario range are among the predicted top sellers for 2020.

Juliet Ward, head of toy buying at Argos, said: “With so much time spent inside during lockdown, the nation has rekindled its love for toys, turning to them now more than ever to keep themselves entertained during what has been a difficult time for many.

‘This year’s top toys list offers a huge variety of new products, ranging from toys inspired by the biggest TV and gaming franchises to bizarre – but crucially, fun – pooping animals.

‘When we craft the list of our top toy predictions for the year, we always try to accurately gauge the “toy crazes” that are set to make thousands of wish lists.

‘This year it’s heartening to see so many toys that will encourage families to spend time together, whether that’s putting together a LEGO Lamborghini or reminiscing over the Mario games of the 80s and 90s.”

An animatronic doll of The Child from The Mandalorian – affectionately known as Baby Yoda – is expected to be one of this year’s biggest hits, joined by the LEGO Adventures with Mario Starter Course, enabling fans to recreate the iconic platform game in brick form.

As Argos’ research goes on to suggest that 40 per cent of parents are set to purchase more toys that encourage active and imaginative play this year, the retailer is firmly tapping into the trend with its Little Live Pets Gotta Go Flamingo that tells kids when it has to sit on its potty. Joining it is the Poopsie Dancing Unicorn.

Familiar faces come in the form of new toys from LOL Surprise and PAW Patrol. Spin Master’s PAW Patrol Dino Rescue Dino Patroller is joined by the LOL Surprise OMG Fashion Dolls Series 3.

The £350 LEGO Technic Lamborghini denotes a desire for the high-end toy lines this year, while the £60 KidiZoom Studio reflects the youth’s lean in to the world of TikTok and YouTube. The list is rounded out with the Hatchimals Pixies Crystal Flyers, and Laser Battle Hunters, promoting active play.

Mulan, Star Wars and all four Avatar sequels delayed over Covid-19 pandemic

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Disney has delayed the release of a trio of major films this year, citing the ‘global health crisis’ that has come out of the coronavirus pandemic. The live action re-make of Mulan – originally planned for a March release this year, but hoping to make an August launch – has now been postponed indefinitely.

“It’s become clear that nothing can be set in stone when it comes to how we release films during this global health crisis,” said a Disney representative. “Today that means pausing our release plans for Mulan as we assess how we can most effectively bring this film to audiences around the world.”

On top of this, the forthcoming Star Wars trilogy has been pushed back a year as a result of the uncertainty around the coronavirus outbreak. The first film in the new trio will now be release on December 22, 2023, instead of its original December 2022 date.

The first instalment of a four-part sequel to Avatar has also been pushed back to December 16, 2022. Avatar 3, 4, and 5 are due out on December 20, 2024, December 18, 2026, and December 22, 2028.

Avatar director, James Cameron released a statement regarding the set back, citing that delays were due to the pandemic. He revealed that “prior to COVID-19, everything was on track to bring you the first sequel in December 2021.

“Unfortunately, due to the impact that the pandemic has had on our schedule it is no longer possible for us to make that date.”

Disney to launch cloth face coverings and donate proceeds to the Red Cross

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Disney is launching a range of non-medical, reusable cloth face coverings featuring Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters for kids and families in the UK via its shopDisney platform.

As part of the launch, Disney will donate 100 per cent of the proceeds from the sales of the cloth face coverings, up to £500,000, to Red Cross organisations across Europe, including the British Red Cross and its ongoing work to support people in crisis, from now until November 30th this year.

Disney will also donate 100,000 cloth face coverings to vulnerable children and families in local communities across Europe through long-standing charity partners, including in the UK MediCinema, who aim to bring comfort and inspiration to children.

“We hope that Disney’s donation of critical funds and cloth face coverings will help bring comfort and support to kids and families in need during these challenging times,” said Mike Stagg, general manager, The Disney Store and shopDisney EMEA.

“This is another great example of Disney’s ongoing support to bring comfort to vulnerable children and families when they need it most,” said Kat Mason, MediCinema Chief Executive. “These cloth face coverings, with the Disney characters that children know and trust, will help our hospital patients feel more comfortable with staff and when they visit our in-hospital cinemas.”

The cloth, non-surgical face coverings come in small, medium, large and extra-large sizes and in a wide variety of prints featuring a range of fan favourite characters, including: Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Elsa, The Avengers, the Child – affectionately known as Baby Yoda – and more.

Disney’s cloth face coverings are available to pre-order from today in packs of four on shopDisney.co.uk. They are priced at £20 and are estimated to ship in August.

Disney to launch cloth face coverings and donate proceeds to the Red Cross

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Disney is launching a range of non-medical, reusable cloth face coverings featuring Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters for kids and families in the UK via its shopDisney platform.

As part of the launch, Disney will donate 100 per cent of the proceeds from the sales of the cloth face coverings, up to £500,000, to Red Cross organisations across Europe, including the British Red Cross and its ongoing work to support people in crisis, from now until November 30th this year.

Disney will also donate 100,000 cloth face coverings to vulnerable children and families in local communities across Europe through long-standing charity partners, including in the UK MediCinema, who aim to bring comfort and inspiration to children.

“We hope that Disney’s donation of critical funds and cloth face coverings will help bring comfort and support to kids and families in need during these challenging times,” said Mike Stagg, general manager, The Disney Store and shopDisney EMEA.

“This is another great example of Disney’s ongoing support to bring comfort to vulnerable children and families when they need it most,” said Kat Mason, MediCinema Chief Executive. “These cloth face coverings, with the Disney characters that children know and trust, will help our hospital patients feel more comfortable with staff and when they visit our in-hospital cinemas.”

The cloth, non-surgical face coverings come in small, medium, large and extra-large sizes and in a wide variety of prints featuring a range of fan favourite characters, including: Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Elsa, The Avengers, the Child – affectionately known as Baby Yoda – and more.

Disney’s cloth face coverings are available to pre-order from today in packs of four on shopDisney.co.uk. They are priced at £20 and are estimated to ship in August.

LEGO brings pop culture to the home with LEGO Art launch featuring Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles, Marvel and Star Wars

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What have Marilyn Monroe, The Beatles, the Marvel Universe, and the cast of iconic characters from Star Wars all got in common? Answer, they’re all the subject of a new pop-culture focused LEGO Art launch aimed directly at the adult fans.

The LEGO Group has launches a new canvas for creative expression, aimed at adult fans of LEGO and offering them ‘a different way to transform their passion into art,’ in the form of a series of new building sets that once complete become their own LEGO artwork portrait to display.

The LEGO Art sets offer adults a new creative experience to help them relax and recharge as they transform a blank canvas (or in this case, small interlinking base plates) using LEGO tiles. Each set can be reimagined in a number of different ways to express the personality of each different builder, and to make it easy and simple for pop culture lovers to refresh the LEGO Art piece on display in their house.

All four new sets come with a signature tile unique to the set that is worthy of any true work of art, and a new hanging element to make them easy to hang up and switch around.

The launch comes following research from The LEGO Group that found that 73 per cent of adults often research new ways to help them relax. Each LEGO Art set comes with a bespoke soundtrack to aid the construction, each featuring anecdotes from the creators of Iron Man and Star Wars, or those closest to the stories of Andy Warhol and the Beatles; the soundtracks dive into the inspiration behind each design.

The LEGO Marvel Studios Iron Man set will be available exclusively from LEGO Retail Stores and LEGO.com while the other three sets will be available from retailers from 1st August 2020, or from 1st September in the US.

LEGO Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe set will allow pop art admirers to recreate Andy Warhol’s famous bright pink screenprint of Marilyn Monroe from 1967, or reimagine it in three different colours using LEGO tiles.

With LEGO The Beatles, music lovers can bring Beatle-fandom into the home with a LEGO portrait of their favorite band member, whether it’s John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison or Sir Ringo Starr. Each set can be used to create four unique portraits or collect four and display the full band side-by-side. Fans can get by with a little help from friends of the Beatles as they switch their headphones over to accompanying soundtrack to listen to music and stories about the band as they build.

LEGO Marvel Studios Iron Man challenges super hero fans to decide between powering their hero up with the Mark III, the Hulkbuster Mark I or the Mark LXXXV with this three-in-one set. After the tough decision is made, builders can recharge by listening to cool details about the set and stories from Marvel Experts as part of the accompanying soundtrack.

Fans who want to channel Tony Stark and ‘run before you walk’ can combine three of the same sets into one to create the ultimate Iron Man artwork.

Finally, LEGO Star Wars The Sith celebrates iconic villains from a galaxy far, far away with this three-in-one portrait set. Choose between portraits that pay tribute to the Sith, with Darth Vader, Darth Maul or Kylo Ren, or take the artwork to the next level by combining three sets into an ultimate Darth Vader wall piece.

The soundtrack means the Force will be with fans as they create their very own piece of wall art while listing to music from the films and fun stories from Star Wars creators.

Louise Elizabeth Bontoft, senior design director at the LEGO Group, commented: “We know adults are always trying to destress after a day at work, and we thought, what better way to help them switch off than by encouraging them to explore their favourite passion in a new creative way?

“With these wider ranging designs, we believe that we can inspire film fans, music lovers and art and design aficionados to immerse themselves in a world of art and creativity linked to their idols. Through this new experience, we believe adults can unwind, engage in a mindful building activity and ultimately create a beautiful piece of wall art that perfectly reflects their personality.”

These new wall art sets are the second 2D tile creative concept to be announced by the LEGO Group this year, following the launch of LEGO DOTS, a new theme that offers children a new way to express themselves inspired by arts and crafts.

The LEGO Art range will be available to pre-order from Zavvi.com and lego.com from 2nd July.

Siso Toys UK is launching The Child plush toys later this year

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Siso Toys UK has become the latest to tap into the popularity of one of the Star Wars canon’s most baby-faced characters, having detailed the forthcoming launch of its new plush range inspired by The Child from the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian.

Coming in at 25cm tall, and as cute as a button, the new The Child plush toy will be available to fans and collectors from October this year, giving 2020 the silver lining it truly needed.

Mayur Pattni, head of marketing at Siso Toys UK, said: “We’re excited to be bringing our new plush toy inspired by the Child to market. Made from quality fabrics, it is incredibly cute and is bound to capture the heart of every Star Wars fan.”

The new release will be promoted with fanzine sampling and social media activity that will run throughout the season.

The Child shot to popularity when the character appeared in Disney’s first live-action Star Wars streaming series, The Mandalorian back in 2019. A popular licensing programme swiftly followed, emerging from the US and now landing on UK shores to coincide with the launch of Disney+ earlier this year.

Wild + Wolf signs major Disney deal for its growing Ridley’s Games brand

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The design-led gifting company, Wild + Wolf has signed a new partnership with Disney to bring a cast of popular Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars properties to its Ridley’s Games portfolio this year.

Marking the first licensed range for the growing games brand, the product collection will consist of games and puzzles featuring gameplay that remains true to and captures the detail of the licensed characters and properties.

Ridley’s’ bestselling games like Think Fast! and Selfish will be adapted into editions, popular formats such as reaction games will be developed with unique themes, and original games will also be launched across the Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars franchises.

The contract will include rights across the UK, France, Iberia, GAS, Benelux, Nordics, Italy, CEE, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The initial collection will be launching in AW20 will include: Think Fast: Disney Edition, Drawsome: Disney Edition, Disney Villains Selfish, Disney Quiz Trivia, Star Wars Force Battle, Star Wars Selfish, Star Wars Jigsaw Puzzle, Star Wars: Mandalorian Game (Name TBC), Star Wars Quiz Trivia, Star Wars: Don’t Upset The Wookie, Marvel Hulk Smash, Marvel Spidey Sense, and Marvel Quiz Trivia.

“We couldn’t be happier to work with Disney,” said Emma Puzey, licensing manager of Wild + Wolf. “Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars are global household brands that are loved by millions of people around the world. Our licensed range strengthens our mission to create innovative, giftable, and entertaining games for all ages.”

The license comes at a time of significant growth for the games brand, as Ridley’s Games was just exhibited at its first London Toy Fair, celebrated a bumper year of award wins, received a dedicated UK account manager, as well as seeing great success in expanded international distribution with translations into multiple languages.

Surge in Disney+ subscribers amid global lockdown boosts demand for Hasbro’s ‘Baby Yoda’

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The surge in subscribers to Disney+ amid global coronavirus lockdown measures has already provided a boost to Hasbro’s licensed toy sales, particularly, the global toymaker has stated, to the popularity of the ‘Baby Yoda’ character from the Disney original TV series, The Mandalorian.

Demand for the character – officially called The Child – was already high when Disney+ first launched to US audiences in November last year, but, according to Hasbro’s CEO Brian Goldner in conversation with Yahoo Finance, the recent spike in Disney+ subscribers looking for entertainment while in self isolation, has drive the demand further.

“We clearly have seen that streaming has become more of a force in making connections with consumers and driving merchandising,” Goldner said earlier this week. “That’s always been a question: Could streamed content drive merchandising? And clearly Baby Yoda has done that. We saw that in the fourth quarter with some of our product directly related to The Mandalorian.

“Our pre-sales around Baby Yoda have been incredibly robust and we’re very excited to ship Baby Yoda late spring.”

Available for pre-order for the past few months, Hasbro newest Star Wars The Mandalorian toy range – including the Baby Yoda product line – will be landing on shelves this spring.

On top of this, Goldner has revealed that it’s not just Star Wars merchandise that has received a boost recently, but so too has Frozen, other Disney Princess lines, and Marvel toys.

“We’re seeing that overall Star Wars sales are performing well year-to-date, because the movie [‘Rise of Skywalker’] was incredibly popular, and then the home entertainment window has come more quickly, as has ‘Frozen 2.’ Disney has advanced those windows and made those home entertainment windows available to consumers more quickly on Disney+. We clearly see Disney+ as a major advantage to Disney and also to licensees of Disney like Hasbro,” said a representative from Disney.

Star Wars and Frozen II fuel Q4 sales growth for Hasbro as toy firm hits $1.43bn

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Strong sales of Star Wars and Frozen II toys have helped Hasbro enjoy a three per cent increase in revenue, hitting $1.43 billion in sales in the fourth quarter.

Despite the fallout felt from President Trump’s trade war with China, net income rose to $267.3 million in Q4, ended December 29, a stark increase from the $8.8 million it made just one year earlier.

It’s a return to form for Hasbro who was previously weighed with the threat of tariffs in the third quarter, disrupting the company’s supply chain and leading some retailers to cancel shipments. The company had been working to diversify its supply chain and reduce its reliance on sourcing in China.

On an earnings call, chief financial officer, Deborah Thomas, said that the coronavirus has since disrupted Hasbro’s supply chain and commercial operations in China, citing a ‘small impact’ to date, yet highlighting the difficulty in quantifying the potential magnitude.

The biggest increase for Hasbro in its q4 results came from its entertainment, licensing, and digital segment in which it saw revenues rise 22 per cent. The company recently completed a $4 billion, all cash purchase of the British production and distribution company, Entertainment One.

While it saw particular success in Frozen II and Star Wars toys, it was Hasbro’s Magic: The Gathering Arena and the Transformers: Bumblebee film that helped drive entertainment and licensing revenue.

For the full year, partner brands rose 24 per cent to $1.22 billion, with strong sales of Frozen II, Avengers, Spider-Man, and Star Wars lines. Hasbro currently owns the master toy license for Disney’s Marvel and Star Wars franchises.

Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner said that the partnership with Disney is “very successful” and noted that “The Rise of Skywalker” and “The Mandalorian” have been big drivers of sales for the company.”

On the topic of the impact of the coronavirus on Hasbro’s business, Deb Hancock, senior vice president of investor relations for Hasbro, said: “Impact to our business today is small, but it’s challenging to quantify the potential magnitude at this time, as it will depend on how long it takes to contain the outbreak.

“If it takes a significant period of time to control, there could be a larger impact of our business.”

In games, Hasbro saw revenue fall eight per cent to $246.4 million, driven downwards by a decline in in sales of Pie Face and Speak Out. Even strong sales of Hasbro’s Dungeons and Dragons couldn’t off-set the drop.

Dungeons and Dragons revenue grow for the sixth year running, and Magic revenue increases more than 30 per cent during the year.