January 05, 2004
WARNER BROS. AND ART ASYLUM ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH OF THE BATMAN AND JUSTICE LEAGUE
Los Angeles, CA (January 2, 2004) - Warner Bros.™ Consumer Products has announced it has awarded the rights to its DC Comics™ Batman and Justice League (JLA) franchises to Play Along in order to create a world of construction toys that will be designed and developed by Brooklyn based, Art Asylum.
The new line, simply titled "C3" will be based around their uniquely styled block figures known as "Minimates." Best known for their upscale toy lines based on Star Trek, Tony Hawk and Eminem, Art Asylum has a strategic relationship with Play Along, the makers of the Britney Spears Dolls and Care Bears.
"We feel these powerful properties - Justice League and Batman - will make for dynamic construction sets that will appeal to fans of all ages," said Kelly Gilmore, Vice President, Toys and Theme Park Licensing for Warner Bros. Consumer Products. "Art Asylum will develop innovative and creative toy lines to compliment these exciting brands."
The line will debut at the mass market Toy Fair in New York in October and will be launched at retail in the Fall of '04.
"We're very excited about creating a toy line that captures the strength of the Batman and Justice League Super Heroes, notes Adam Unger, Vice President, Art Asylum. "The lines will bring the fun and action of construction, to the hands of kids and collectors alike. The creative potential here is limitless."
Art Asylum will launch the Batman line based on art from its core comic book collections and will follow with lines from the upcoming movies and the forthcoming new animated series. With Justice League (JLA), Art Asylum will create products based on the hit TV series currently airing on Cartoon Network, featuring a variety of the greatest characters in the DC Comics universe. Products will retail from $9.99 - $39.99 and will be available at mass market and specialty retailers in North America.
About Art Asylum
New York, Brooklyn based Art Asylum was founded by Digger in 1996 as a creative studio providing premier work services to the toy industry. This award winning studio and its staff joined forces with Jay Foreman and Adam Unger in 2000 and transformed itself into a fully functioning new force in the action figure business debuting the newly formed company in 2001. The company has acquired and marketed such popular licenses as Star Trek, Tony Hawk, Eminem, Bruce Lee, KISS and created their own new brands of toys with: N' The Box, Asylum Ultimate, and MiniMates. www.artasylum.com