News & Articles
Jessica Simpson’s Daughter Maxwell Celebrates 10th Birthday with BFF North West
Time to party! Jessica Simpson‘s daughter, Maxwell Drew, celebrated her 10th birthday with her BFF, Kim Kardashian‘s daughter North. In a series of photos shared to her Instagram stories Wednesday, Simpson, 41, showed Maxwell and North, 8½, in the back of a cozy, decorated pickup truck for a drive-in movie. Maxwell is pictured opening a decadent present from North: a pair of cream-colored Nike shoes. North’s cousin, Penelope, 9, was also pictured in Simpson’s stories. The daughter of Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick appeared to join in on the birthday extravaganza. Simpson’s husband Eric Johnson coaches Maxwell’s basketball team, where she plays alongside Kardashian and Kanye West‘s daughter. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE‘s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Read original article here
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JAZWARES DEBUTS NEW SQUISHMALLOWS LICENSEES AT LICENSING EXPO
Squishmallows-themed puzzle (left) and Monopoly (right) from The Op/USAopoly | Source: Jazwares/the Toy Book They’ve taken over the plush category, and now they’re ready to take on … pretty much every other consumer products category. Jazwares has made its Licensing Expo debut this year with its Squishmallows plush brand, the No. 2 toy property and No. 1 plush property, according to Jazwares and The NPD Group‘s April 2022 report. The mass appeal for consumers of all ages has led to a cross-category program, including beauty, games, apparel, home decor, and more. “As Squishmallows continues its evolution as a pre-eminent global lifestyle brand, we’re opening the door for big-sky opportunities setting the stage for meaningful fan first product extensions,” says Judd Karofsky, executive vice president, Jazwares. “Demand for Squishmallows is skyrocketing so we’re more than ready for millions of people around the world to enjoy their favorite Squishmallows characters via a wide array of growing product categories and experiences.” RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: THE MULTI-GENERATIONAL POWER OF JAZWARES’ PLUSH TOYS BRING JOY TO ALL Jazwares created the Squishmallows global licensing program last fall with licensees including Bioworld, BigMouth, BBC International, Franco., Fashion Angels Enterprises, Primary Colors, and HarperCollins Publishers. At Licensing Expo, Jazwares debuted new licensees at its Booth No. 0241, including Taste Beauty for lip, nail, cosmetic, and bath and body products; The Op | USAopoly for puzzles and a custom Squishmallows Monopoly game; and Kurt Adler for ornaments and stockings. The company plans to announce more licensees for bath and beauty, swimwear and apparel, bedding, and more. More than 125 million Squishmallows have been sold since the brand debuted in 2017. There are more than 1,000 characters ranging from 2-24 inches in size. The brand has nearly 6.5 billion views on TikTok, and @squishmallows and its related hashtags have been tagged in more than 1 million Instagram posts. Squishmallows on Roblox has become the No. 1 toy game on the platform with 1.5 million monthly users. Read original article here
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Diving Headfirst Into Squishmallows at VidCon
After taking over TikTok, Squishmallows have conquered a new horizon: VidCon. The Kellytoy brand, which has formed one of the largest fandoms on the social-media platform, offers a wide range of stuffed animals that come in a variety of shapes — each marked with its own personality. Since the inception of Squishmallows in 2017, more than 125 million toys have sold (with 1000 variations). Squishmallows are currently the No. 2 toy, according to the NPD Group’s market research. (I only have one Squish, Wendy the Frog, who loves to play basketball and study chemistry.) The obsession with these colorful creatures made them VidCon 2022’s biggest attraction, ushering them into ’90s Beanie Babies–phenomenon territory. At one of more than 100 attractions across four days at VidCon, fans waited for more than four hours to participate in a “human claw machine,” where they had 20 seconds to grab all the Squishmallows they could — including some rare and unreleased toys. Collectors, content creators, kids with their parents, and adults with friends they’d met in the Squish community all shared the same amount of excitement when it was their turn at the claw. Lucky collectors hit the Squish jackpot by finding rare items like Jack the Cat, which is sold on StockX for $700. (Yes, the same StockX where your high-school friends buy their Yeezys.) Longtime Squish fans like Kalei Glozier, a 25-year-old who came from Michigan and has a collection of more than 500 Squish, were impressed by the selection at the booth. Some even took home a Hectico the Cobra Snake, which holds an estimated value of $125 on the Squishmarket. While most of the crowd seemed like organic traffic and genuine fans of the plush product, a few people were paid to participate. This is a creators’ event after all! BuzzFeed News reporter Kelsey Weekman, who attended VidCon, said she was blown away by the popularity of the Squishmallows booth. “I know creators like Logan Paul and Tana Mongeau have created chaos in the past at VidCon, but I can’t think of any brand-run exhibit that had that kind of impact,” Weekman said. While some creators had hundreds of fans waiting to see them — MrBeast’s panel, “YouTube’s Algorithm, Explained,” was packed and turned away more than 200 people — no one matched the hype at the claw. Bret Ingraham, director of PR at Jazwares, the parent company of Squishmallows, confirmed that more than 10,000 Squish were given away to fans at VidCon — a total that could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars on the resale market. This won’t be the company’s only event this year: Squishmallows will be at San Diego Comic-Con next month with a new game and rare toys for sale. Unfortunately, the human claw machine will not be present. At a time when former VidCon king David Dobrik — who was nowhere to be seen this year — faces a $10 million lawsuit brought by collaborator Jeff Wittek for a near-fatal excavator accident, this (lucrative) internet minority isn’t hustling to pull Vlog Squad pranks or start an influencer collective. They’re cuddled up at home with a pink axolotl named Archie. Read original article here
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Squishful thinking at Jazwares
Jazwares senior vice president, Europe, Jonny Taylor & MD of UK & Nordics, Holly Oldham give Toy World the lowdown on the company. Jazwares enjoyed a recordbreaking year in 2021, fuelled by its phenomenal portfolio of brands and with a host of new launches in the pipeline, another bumper year is on the cards for 2022. As the company looks forward to celebrating its 25th anniversary and the 10th year of its UK office, Jonny and Holly chat about the year ahead, the runaway successes of Squishmallows, direct distribution of the Pokémon range and further European expansion. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, increased sales and expansion of the UK office have seen the Jazwares team nearly double in size. Bringing in resources to support the growth, which will continue as the range carries on expanding, has been a huge focus for the company. Holly Oldham attributes Jazwares’ success to “having the right brands with some great products.” She adds that much of the company’s growth in recent years has come from acquisitions made by the company. “A real highlight for us has been growing the business every year in the UK over the last nine years, and we are confident, based on the product portfolio we have, and traction at retail, that next year will be our 10th growth year in a row,” adds Jonny. “The thing that I’m probably most proud of is the quality of product that Jazwares has been making – and the product is getting stronger and stronger.” The company has an enviable licensing portfolio which is performing well and is investing heavily in developing its own private IPs, working on broader IP propositions. Jazwares will also be launching a number of licensed collaborations for Squishmallows in 2022 and says more will be revealed at Toy Fair. Jonny enthused: “Overall, we are confident of being in a position to have a really successful and enjoyable year. There really is a lot more to come over the next 12 months and beyond.” To hear more about Jazwares successes with brands such as Roblox, Fortnite, Pokémon, Spidey & His Amazing Friends, Squishmallows and brand extension Squishville, and hear about the company’s exciting plans going forward, read the full article, which appeared in the January edition of Toy World, here. Read original article here
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Toy Sensation Squishmallows Signs With CAA (EXCLUSIVE)
Squishmallows, a top-selling range of plush toys that found a global audience during the pandemic, is giving a super-soft hug to its new agent. The range of collectibles will be represented in numerous areas by CAA, including film, television, video games, publishing, live touring and more. Produced by Jazwares, the toys have moved over 86 million units in over 40 countries since launching in 2017. In March, the New York Times wrote about the phenomenon, saying they had “cultivated a fandom in a year of grief, isolation and uncertainty.” The craze has been compared to the fevered Beanie Babies movement. Founded with eight characters, the original world has now grown to over 1,000 and also counts licensing deals (yes, there’s a Baby Yoda). The brand has found particular success with children and young adults thanks to an expansive TikTok (or “SquishTok”) presence, boasting a combined social reach of 650,000. “The Squishmallows brand is at this incredible stage, experiencing tremendous growth and increasing popularity over the past year. Now is the perfect time to join forces with CAA, the best partners in the industry, to fully take advantage of the momentum behind the brand and create significant content and entertainment experiences for our brand fans,” said Michael Rinzler, executive vice president and partner at Jazwares. Prior to signing with CAA, Jazwares expanded the world of Squishmallows with the June 2021 launch of the YouTube animated series “Squishville.” Produced by Moonbug Entertainment, new episodes of “Squishville” will debut every Saturday through October 2021. The series is based on the line of Squishmallows-inspired collectible playsets and accessories, which was introduced at retail in March. Read the full article here.
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THE POP INSIDER’S 2021 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
DECK THE HALLS WITH BOUGHS OF FANDOM This year, the Pop Insider is bringing you its biggest holiday gift guide EVER, full of hand-picked merch featuring a variety of fandoms, from Marvel and DC to Avatar and Star Wars — and beyond! The guide includes a huge assortment of collectibles, video games and gear, board games, and even home goods to delight every geek on your shopping list. Check out our Pop 20 list to see what we think will be the most sought-after, fandom-focused gifts for geeks. And, if you’ve got some young Padawans on your list, the Pop Junior section features the perfect gifts for the next generation of fans! Read the full article here.
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Kellytoy Partners with Sanrio® to Bring Hello Kitty and Friends Squishmallows to Market
LOS ANGELES — April 19, 2021 — Kellytoy, a subsidiary of Jazwares, LLC, today announced that in partnership with Sanrio®, the brand is debuting an all-new Hello Kitty® and Friends Squishmallows™ squad rolling out to retailers now. Kellytoy is producing 5-inch, 7-inch, 8-inch, 12-inch, and 20-inch versions of the cuddly and snuggly Hello Kitty and Friends mallows (SRP range from $4.99 to $49.99), and are expected to be in high-demand as both fan bases rush to collect the first-of-its-kind Squishmallows. Characters include Hello Kitty, Tuxedosam™, My Melody™, Pompompurin™, Badtz-Maru™, Chococat™, and Keroppi™. Kellytoy will offer various styles of the characters such as Hello Kitty dressed as a flower, mermaid, or pineapple, or Pompompurin dressed as a burger or sundae. Hello Kitty squads are available now at Claire’s and will hit shelves this month at Hallmark, TJX, Learning Express, Sav On Foods, London Drugs, Hot Topic, EB Games, Mr. Toys Toyworld, and Toymate. Five Below and Costco (U.S., Canada, Australia, UK, and France) will carry Hello Kitty collections starting in May 2021 as well as Sanrio.com. Squishmallows and Hello Kitty are loved by “kids” of all ages around the world. More than 80 million of the loveable Squishmallows have found homes since their debut and have quickly grown into a TikTok toy sensation, with nearly two billion organic video views on #squishmallows (and related) video tags. “We know how much fans and collectors have been clamoring for a Hello Kitty and Squishmallows collaboration, so we’re excited to partner with the global icon to bring these characters to fans around the world,” says Kellytoy Co-President Jonathan Kelly. “For over 60 years, Sanrio has been committed to spreading friendship and kindness through small gifts,” says Jill Koch, Sr. Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Sanrio, Inc. “Plush has always been a top category for Sanrio that ties back to our heritage. In partnering with Squishmallows, who also aims to fill hearts with love and affection, we are able to deliver new interpretations of our lovable characters as well as the exciting element of collectability.” Caring for Squishmallows is easy; give them lots of love, machine wash in cold water and tumble-dry on low heat—remember not to iron them! Make sure not to miss out on anything this year by joining the #SquishmallowSquad online and follow @Squishmallows on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. The shape, look, feel, and texture of Squishmallow® and Squishmallows™ branded plush toys constitute Kellytoy’s proprietary trade dress. About Kellytoy Kellytoy manufactures a portfolio of award winning everyday and seasonal plush products that includes its best-selling Squishmallows®, Kellybaby as well as a pet products line called Wags & Purrs™. Over the past three decades, Kellytoy has positioned itself to meet the needs of its customers in mass market, gift/specialty/toy retailers, party and pet stores, supermarkets, discount stores, drug stores, amusement parks and even crane machines in arcades the world over. Kellytoy also makes products in collaboration with leading classic characters, including major licenses, as well as blockbuster theatrical franchises. www.squishmallows.com. About Jazwares Jazwares, a subsidiary of Alleghany Capital Corporation, is a global leader in consumer products including toys, plush, action figures, collectibles and musical instruments. Jazwares’ portfolio includes a variety of dynamic licensed and wholly owned brands. With over 20 years of design, development, and manufacturing expertise, Jazwares is an award-winning company with a progressive focus on identifying new trends and transforming them into high-quality products for consumers of all ages. Jazwares, which is headquartered in Sunrise, FL, has offices around the world and sells in over 100 countries. Since its inception in 1997, Jazwares continues to grow through the development of new products and the strategic acquisitions of companies like First Act™, Russ Berrie™, Zag Toys™, Wicked Cool Toys™ and Kellytoy®. For more information about Jazwares, please visit www.jazwares.com. About Sanrio® Sanrio is the global lifestyle brand best known for pop icon Hello Kitty®, and home to many other beloved character brands including Chococat™, My Melody™, Badtz-Maru™, Keroppi™, Gudetama™ and Aggretsuko™. Sanrio was founded on the “Small Gift, Big Smile®” philosophy – that a small gift can bring happiness and friendship to people of all ages. Since 1960, this philosophy has served as the inspiration to offer quality products, services and activities that inspire unique consumer experiences across the world. Today, Sanrio’s legendary breadth of products are available in over 130 countries and in retail locations including department, specialty, national chain retailers and Sanrio boutique stores. To learn more about Sanrio, please visit www.sanrio.com and follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – @sanrio, @hellokitty.
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Insider.com – How Squishmallows Went Viral in 2020
Palmer Haasch, a reporter at INSIDER.com said that with over 500 distinct Squishmallows, “If you look at — or even better, hug — a Squishmallow, you’ll start to understand why they’re so popular.” Read the Full Insider.com Article on Squishmallows Here
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