Zodiak Kids Appointed French Agent for 'B-DAMAN'

Paris, France -- Zodiak Kids and Sunrights Inc. announced that Zodiak Kids has been appointed the French Licensing Agent for B-Daman Crossfire(52 x 30), a boys’ action property aimed at 6-12 year olds.  Created by d-rights, the team responsible for Beyblade, B-Daman is both a long-running TV series as well as a hugely successful toy distributed worldwide by Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) and Takara Tomy.

Zodiak Kids CP Paris will manage licensing rights in France, French-speaking Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. The French toy partner is Hasbro while the series is being broadcast three times a week on top kids net Gulli. Headed up by Patricia de Wilde, Zodiak Kids CP Paris is a leading licensing agency in France, which manages well known global brands such as Pacman, Simon’s Cat and  Where’s Wally, in addition to its own properties (Totally Spies!, Redakai).

Patricia de Wilde, Senior Vice President, Zodiak Kids CP, Paris, comments, “We are very excited to bring B-Daman to the French market as we are confident, from our wide experience with boy properties, that B-Daman will be extremely well received B-Daman brings together an excellent toy partner, an exciting on-line platform, and a high-performing TV series - so we strongly believe in the property’s potential.”

Zodiak Kids has licensed B-Daman from newly established, NY-based rights management company, Sunrights Inc., a d-rights sister company which manages all non-Asian rights of the property. Mr. Nishimura, President of Sunrights Inc. states, “We are delighted to work with Zodiak Kids as they have managed so many successful brands and created some truly original promotions for their properties. We look forward to a great collaboration with Patricia and her team.”

Hasbro, the toy partner in the Americas and Western Europe, will provide strong international brand support with its new B-Daman toy line and app, which offer kids the opportunity to connect the physical figures with a digital experience. Players can scan any B-Daman figure via the B-Daman app on their mobile devices, which allows the user to choose a figure for use in the digital experience. The B-Daman experience allows kids, both in the physical and digital world, to unlock virtual B-Daman figures, gain access to exclusive digital content on the B-Daman Battles website, and battle opponents from around the globe anywhere at any time.

First created as a marble-shooting toy in 1993, B-Daman grew into a vast and highly successful global brand which spawned six TV series broadcast in over 80 countries. The most recent series B-Daman Crossfire (26 half hours) launched in the US in August on Saban Brands’ Vortexx Saturday morning programming block on CW, as well as in Western Europe, SE Asia and Australia. In France initial results on Gulli have been very positive: By the second week of broadcast in August B-Daman delivered a 19% share among 4-10 year olds (up by 11% vs slot average). Across the second week, B-Daman had 255 000 viewers on average and rated 2.6 among this target.  The series keeps improving: it realized its best score among children on August 31st with a 28% share (including 340 000 viewers and a rating of 4.4). On Sept. 4th, it realized its second best score among children with a 23% share.

The all-new B-Daman Crossfire TV series takes place in the town of East City, where the newest toy, B-Daman, has become all the rage. The series follows Riki Ryugaski, a quirky schoolboy with an appetite for adventure and mystery. After attending his first B-Daman tournament with friend and classmate, Sumi Inaba, Riki develops a strong interest in the toy. Upon hearing a rumor about a secret B-Daman tournament that only a select few can participate in, Riki’s curiosity grows and he becomes determined to learn more about this urban legend.

Source: Zodiak Kids

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.