150 licensing executives recently attended an event held by Activision to try and secure licensing rights for Skylanders. While they’ve already signed Penguin Children’s Books, who will release five Skylanders books this year – including a sticker book, a novel and an e-book –  they’ll try to expand out into things like plush toys, lunch boxes, clothes, back packs and more.

“That deal is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Skylanders’ VP of consumer marketing John Coyne. “We have just held a licensing conference in the U.K., with 150 people attending. I’ve worked on a number of these IPs for the likes of Mattel and Spin Master in previous roles, and you can sense things are going well when people approach you about licensing opportunities, rather than you having to approach them. That’s what we’re seeing here.”

“Lunch boxes, apparel, back packs, publishing, other toy areas – these are all things that are currently in the works,” he added. “Hopefully Skylanders will be everywhere. It tends to go that way. Once kids get into something, they really get into it. You see that on a number of movie properties and TV shows. It becomes a lifestyle thing for them. Skylanders is following that curve.”

Skylanders was a toy phenomenon this past holiday season, and retailers want items that keep people coming back. “Coming from the toy industry, I never underestimate the importance and power of retail,” Coyne added. “That hands-on experience, to be able to see something and interact with it at retail, was something we knew was going to be important from the start. Kids are going back to stores week-in week-out looking for new Skylanders, which is a great thing for retail.”

Source: MCV