Merchandisers glad to see return of longtime favorites

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NEW YORK -- During a recent trip to the Big Apple, I took a $2.6 billion trip down merchandising memory lane with a stop by the 2003 Licensing International Show.

Billed as the place to see the hottest properties and biggest names in the entertainment industry, the three-day event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center had 19,000 business suits mingling with corporations loaded with entities available to be exploited on anything from candy bars to shoes to automobiles.

"Nostalgia" was the buzzword for this year's show with film studios, comic-strip syndicators, cartoon networks and publishers hoping that the deals being developed will capture a new generation of fans and their dollars.

"There are a lot of retro properties being exhibited here, which kind of goes along with the movie trend in which most of the films coming out now are based on characters that have been around for years and years," said Charles Riotta, president of the International Licensing Industry Merchandiser's Association.

"And not only in films but properties with plenty of equity built up in them like Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears and Masters of the Universe. Already well-known in the marketplace, they appeal to the parents of today's kids who knew them when they were children."

One of the bigger licensers, Sony Pictures, is banking on the return of a 1950s Japanese superhero to capture the imagination of consumers.

Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy became a cultural icon in his native land after debuting in comic-book form in 1951. His cartoon hit American shores in 1963, and the jet-powered boy robot returns this fall in a new animated show on the Kids WB, true to its anime roots.

"It was natural for the most recognizable brand in the world [Sony] to get involved with the most recognized anime character ever created," said Al Ovadia, executive vice president of Sony Pictures Consumer Products.

"Typical Saturday morning shows are just too soft for the 7- to 9-year-olds conditioned to just consume enormous amounts of information. They watch them, but I don't think they become part of their world. With Astro Boy, its a 26-episode arc delivering epic storytelling through many characters, and kids will want to know about all of them."