FUNimation Productions Ltd. And Jakks Pacific Inc. have announced that FUNimation has granted the master toy license for Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT to Jakks, effective immediately. The licenses for Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z had previously been held by Irwin Toys, which recently entered bankruptcy (see 'Irwin Toys Files for Bankruptcy'). Court approval of the deal was granted in the U.S. and Canada on Monday, December 23. There had not previously been a licensee for Dragon Ball GT, which is headed for video in the U.S. in 2003 (see 'The Future of Dragon Ball'). Irwin's Dragon Ball Z toys have been bestsellers for years, so this is a major coup for Jakks, which recently announced that it believes it is the third largest U.S. toymaker (see 'Who's Third in U.S. Toys?'). The license to Jakks is a 3-year deal. Jakks expects to premiere its first designs at the New York Toy Fair in February 2003.
From Irwin
Posted by ICv2 on December 24, 2002 @ 11:00 pm CT

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