Bulldog Licensing and Moose Toys announce success across licensing categories and on screen

Bulldog Licensing, one of the licensing industry’s leading agencies, has announced major wins in licensing, broadcasting and at retail for Moose Toys’ Magic Mixies.

New product launches and continuing success for both product sales and the new-to-Netflix kids’ show are boosting an already phenomenally successful brand, which continues to grow within and beyond the toy category – with more licensing extensions signed or on the way. At retail, nightwear pyjamas and onesies company Aykroyds TDP launched a successful range of kids’ nightwear through a number of retailers including George at Asda and Character.com. Meanwhile Kokomo, a market leader in the UK health and beauty market, will be launching a number of Magic Mixies ranges, including a Bath Potion gift set and Popping Bath Crystals, at the end of this year.

New licensing activity continues apace. Leading housewares specialist DNC is planning a spring/summer 2024 launch for its range of insulated, reusable containers for healthy food and drink and the first publishing lines, from Curious Universe, will be joining the programme when they launch later in 2023. Bulldog is now in advanced discussion with a number of partners across secondary toy, arts and crafts and activity, publishing, home and further soft lines, with new announcements expected shortly. Bulldog and Moose Toys are building on Magic Mixies’ astonishing strength at retail, which saw it hit the Number One Property spot in the Special Feature Plush listings in 2022 while, in the same period, the Cauldron was Number One Best Selling Item in the Special Feature Plush listings. In fact, the Mixies property saw a staggering 92% growth year on year in 2022 and 2023 has seen further success.

The New Magic Colour Surprise Cauldron entered the Special Feature Plush listing at number 8 in its launch month of February. The property has also had two top ten items in the Playsets, Dolls and Collectibles year to date chart including Number Two Property in the Special Feature Plush list and Number Three Property in Playsets, Dolls and Collectibles. And now there’s a content series, which has already had 17.5 million views on YouTube to date; it launched globally on Netflix on 3 April. In the show the adventurous Sienna accidentally finds an entrance to a mystical world that is inhabited by magical creatures such as Mixies and Mixlings. This activity builds on the incredible success of the Magic Mixies toys range, which all began with the Magic Mixies Cauldron. This special toy comes with a spell book and everything else needed to mix a potion to create an interactive magical Mixie pet. It has been a runaway hit since launch, both in its own right and as inspiration for licensed products.

Sophie Yates, Brand Manager at Bulldog Licensing, commented: “Magic Mixies is the latest Moose Toys original brand to take off beyond the toy aisle – and already one of the biggest. Its entertainment and licensing extensions have translated into incredible sales and helped fuel growth for the property. We’re looking forward to many more announcements in 2023.”

Lucy Wynn-Jones, Licensing Director at Moose Toys, added: “ We’re delighted with the phenomenal growth in popularity of the Magic Mixies brand. With retail demand still high, a hit streaming show and discussions under way with a number of potential partners about licensing in ever-more diverse categories, this is going to be a very busy year!”

Video game phenomenon will be licensed across multiple categories

Bulldog Licensing, one of the licensing industry’s leading agencies, has been appointed to represent PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, the genre-defining battle royale game from leading global game company KRAFTON.

In PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, up to 100 participants parachute onto strategic locations in a winner-takes-all showdown. Survivors must locate and scavenge their own weapons, vehicles, and supplies, and defeat other players in a visually and tactically rich battleground. PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is free on PC, Xbox One, PS4, Xbox Series X|S and PS5.

When PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS launched into Steam Early Access in 2017, it popularized the battle royale game genre. Before going free-to-play, the game has sold more than 75 million copies across PC and consoles, making it one of the best-selling games of all time. Its popularity has led to in-game collaborations and brand promotions in partnership with famous football players like Son Heung-min and Neymar Jr, actors like Don Lee, and pop stars like BLACKPINK, as well as major football clubs like Liverpool FC and vehicle and motorcycle brands like Maserati and Maclaren.

Now the brand has appointed Bulldog Licensing to build on the massive awareness of this multi-billion-dollar brand and develop licensed merchandise for the European market in several categories, including adult apparel, collectibles, gifts, novelties, accessories, housewares, publishing and, of course, game peripherals.

Bulldog Licensing Group MD Rob Corney says: “PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is a video game like no other, defining a genre and gaining a devoted following and near-legendary status in only a few years. This is the perfect time to build on the stratospheric awareness of the brand as its fans seek out PUBG-branded merchandise to underline their devotion to this ground-breaking game.”

New content and consumer product launches feed the Care Bears’ growing performance in the UK at retail and in online commerce, as well as on TV, YouTube, and social media

Cloudco Entertainment, owner of the Care Bears™ franchise, is proud to announce six all-new animated Care Bears: Unlock the Magic specials set to air on Narrative Entertainment’s commercial children’s channel, Tiny Pop, as well as four new UK-based consumer product licensees. These additions provide further momentum to a brand already experiencing huge growth across all channels and audiences, on TV, in retail, on social media and YouTube, and across audiences of all demographics and genres.

Launched to great fanfare on free-to-air broadcasters Tiny Pop and POP in 2019, Care Bears: Unlock the Magic, will soon add six all-new animated specials to its existing Care Bears content slate, the first of which, “Grumpy’s Ginormous Adventure,” is set to premiere on Tiny Pop on May 20, 2023. The debut of the other specials will be announced shortly, with all of them leaning into bigger, more “theatrical” stories from the Care Bears while nonetheless remaining true to the look and style of the animated TV series on which they are based.

The success of the new Care Bears animated series has helped spark growing fan engagement of the Care Bears brand in the UK. From a good base in 2019, retail sales of Care Bears in the UK have grown 894% to the end of 2022, with further growth forecast in 2023 and notably brisk momentum across high street, grocery, and fast fashion. Capitalizing on that interest, Bulldog Licensing, Care Bears’ UK agent, has recently signed new brand partners, including Gibson’s Games for jigsaw puzzles, Flamingo Candles for candles, Pawprint Trading for pin badges and embroidered badges, and Famous Forever for apparel such as t-shirts, hoodies, and sweatshirts.  These new partners join a family of strongly performing UK Care Bears partners that include Fizz (gifting), Somerbond (loungewear and nightwear), Basic Fun! (toys, plush, and collectibles), Bioworld (clothes, bags, gifts, and accessories), Dennicci (infant and babywear), and many others.

The Care Bears also recently marked their 40^th anniversary and had a strong brand presence at the most recent MegaCon. Those experiences, combined with a YouTube Channel that has recently surpassed 175 million views, collectively demonstrate that Care Bears is a brand that captivates its existing fans while simultaneously appealing strongly to the next generation.

“We’re thrilled to announce that the first of six brand-new Care Bears: Unlock the Magic 22’ specials. This fresh content continues the Care Bears’ commitment to promoting empathy and positivity, but also showcases a ton of (perhaps unexpected!) wild fantasy, humor, and fun.” said Sean Gorman, President of Cloudco Entertainment. “We’ve always promoted The Care Bears as the rare commercial brand that’s also authentically caring, sharing, and emotionally impactful.”

Adventure, magic, friendship, classics and much more

Bulldog Licensing, one of the licensing industry’s leading agencies, has announced its plans for the Las Vegas Licensing Expo 2023*. Bulldog will be promoting yet another strong line-up of brands, headlined by such world-beating names as classic property Care Bears, toy phenomenon Magic Mixies, international hit pre-school TV show Odo, top-rating kids’ superhero brand Miraculous, the iconic Me to You character brand, and evergreen hit Sesame Street.

Care Bears celebrated its 40^th anniversary in 2022 with multiple fashion and food collaborations which were excitedly received by fans young and old alike. Cloudco Entertainment, owner of the Care Bears™ franchise, has been able to announce that, from a good base in 2019, retail sales of Care Bears in the UK have grown 894% to the end of 2022, with further strong growth expected in 2023. Sales continue to be phenomenally strong across high street, grocery and fast fashion. As Care Bears’ UK agent, Bulldog Licensing has recently welcomed a wide range of partners that include Gibsons Games for jigsaw puzzles, Flamingo Candles for candles, Pawprint Trading for pin badges and embroidered badges, and Famous Forever for apparel including t-shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts. These partners are joining a flourishing licensing programme for one of the world’s best-known and best-loved family brands which sees huge retail traction across multiple categories ranging from Basic Fun’s top-selling plush line, through to apparel, accessories and homewares lines, making Care Bears one of the must-have brands in the UK.

Magic Mixies, the brand inspired by the award-winning and muti-million-selling Magic Mixies Cauldron, continues its unstoppable growth. The cauldron, which is used to create an interactive magical Mixie pet, has been a runaway hit since launch, both in its own right and as inspiration for licensed products. The Magic Mixies Mixlings collectable, featuring 40+ characters in cauldron vessels with wands and magical features, launched in the UK in May 2022 selling nearly 100,000 Mixlings in the first three months. Webisodes launched alongside the collectable featuring both Magic Mixies and Mixlings, building out the magical world of Mixia for fans. Originally launched on YouTube and Kidoodle, they are now available on Netflix. Bulldog and brand owner Moose Toys are building on Magic Mixies’ astonishing strength at retail, most recently in categories that include nightwear, health and beauty, and lunchware , and are now in advanced discussion with a number of partners across secondary toy, arts and crafts, publishing, home and soft lines, with new announcements expected shortly.

Odo is a beautiful 2D-3D animated series for pre-schoolers in which a little owl at the Forest camp for Young Birds learns about friendship and self-belief among a diverse and delightful group of feathered creatures. Internationally, Odo has been sold to 145 countries and many major broadcasters including Kika (Germany), RAI (Italy), ABC Kids (Australia), Canal+ (France), MiniMini+ (Poland), Warner Discovery (Latin America), Tencent (China), Knowledge Kids & TVO Kids (Canada) and many more. Season one airs weekdays on Milkshake in the UK while season two has been commissioned and is currently in development. The first two English-language Odo book titles from master publisher Macmillan were published in March 2023 and one – Super Owl – was included in the Milkshake Mornings live readings of books for kids at Parkdean Resorts, the UK’s largest holiday park operator. Best-in-class partners signed by Bulldog for the Odo UK licensing programme including master toy partner Wow Stuff, Poetic Brands, RJ Bags, Roy Lowe and Rainbow Productions.

Miraculous – Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir is a globally popular animated television show focusing on the lives of Marinette and Adrien, two outwardly ordinary teens living in Paris who transform into the superheroes Ladybug and Cat Noir to protect the streets of Paris from the evil Hawkmoth. Airing on Disney+, POP and Netflix, Miraculous is consistently one of the top shows for POP. Season five is currently available on Disney+ while season four is airing on POP. Two extended-episode specials have aired to date; both were number one ratings hits when aired on POP. Miraculous is also popular for gaming. The console game Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx launched last year becoming the #1 international title for the publisher, and the #2 title in the US. And the Roblox game Miraculous RP: Ladybug and Cat Noir, has had over 500 million plays and is the #1 brand for engagement on the platform. With over $1 billion+ in retail sales, Miraculous has already notched up more than 29 million subscribers across social media and over 35 billion views on YouTube. Playmates Toys is the brand’s master toy partner together with ZAG, with distribution by Bandai in the UK. Miraculous-inspired toys continue to see strong sales and growth year on year. This is supported by a cross-category licensing programme including apparel, accessories, health and beauty, games and homewares.

It was late in 2022 that Carte Blanche Greetings, best known for the award-winning Me to You brand, its signature character Tatty Teddy and the nursery property Tiny Tatty Teddy, announced a partnership with Bulldog Licensing. Since 2001 Carte Blanche has partnered with best-in-class licensees to bring to market best-selling Me to You products across many categories including apparel, print on demand, food, gifting and nursery – selling 19 million products worldwide in 2022 alone. Now Bulldog plans to take the extraordinary reach of this brand to the next level. Achieving around $200m in retail sales value each year, Tatty Teddy is already one of the most popular character brands on the market and has a full, cross-category licensing programme reaching ladies, children and infant markets.

Hit pre-school brand Sesame Street is a key focus for Bulldog in the UK, on behalf of non-profit organisation Sesame Workshop, and the agency has announced new deals for the popular brand as Sesame Street continues to grow its presence on screen, on digital and at UK retail. New launches in the wellness and homeware categories, as well as Just Play’s successful high-quality toy range, designed to support children’s learning and development, have been boosted by Sesame Street’s hugely successful and growing presence on Tiny Pop, the UK’s number one commercial channel for pre-schoolers. There are now six Sesame Street programmes on the channel, all of which regularly top the viewing charts.In addition, Sesame Street Mecha Builders, airing on Milkshake – the UK’s leading commercial kids’ block – and a wildly successful YouTube channel make Sesame Street one of the UK’s must-have brands, both for the pre-school market and an adult fan market brought up on one of the first – and best –engaging educational shows.

Bulldog Licensing Group MD Rob Corney says: “It’s been another busy year for Bulldog Licensing as we build on established hits and continue to grow new favourites. From adventure and magic to comedy and classics, we think we have a lot to offer would-be partners across a wide range of kids’ and family brands.”

*To organise meetings and discuss opportunities during the Las Vegas Licensing Expo 2023, please email Bulldog Licensing Group MD Rob Corney