A NEW DAY FOR THE DARK KNIGHT WARNER BROS. ICON BATMAN RETURNING WITH TOYS, FILM, MORE.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer Batman has returned again. Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . Consumer Products unveiled new toy lines tied to the Caped Crusader on Tuesday at the Licensing International 2004 trade show in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . The 65-year-old superhero su·per·he·ro n. pl. su·per·he·roes A figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon, endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime. will be a major focus for the Burbank company in coming years, appearing in toy stores this fall with a line promoting the animated series ``The Batman,'' and next year in the ``Batman Begins'' feature film. Though he's existed in one form or another since Bob Kane inked the crime fighter in 1939, Batman has played a less prominent role in the toy aisle in recent years. Warner Bros. hasn't had a feature in seven years, nor has it done a major toy launch, which Dan Romanelli, WBCP's president, thinks will help the impact of the new lines. ``He's the ultimate superhero,'' Romanelli said. ``He needs a lot of gadgets, which are men's toys, to get around. He's a normal human with the talents, intelligence and athleticism to overcome evil folks. And at the end of the day, he wins one for the good guys.'' The Burbank-based studio subsidiary will partner with Mattel to produce several lines of toys, beginning with an interactive line incorporating the Video Encoded Invisible Light Video Encoded Invisible Light (VEIL) is a technology for encoding low-bandwidth digital data bitstream in video signal, developed by VEIL Interactive Technologies. VEIL is compatible with multiple formats of video signals, including PAL, SECAM, and NTSC. technology for fall. Similar to past attempts to pair television programming with interactive toys, the VEIL toys respond to TV signals and light up and move around, as well as displaying information on small liquid crystal display liquid crystal display (LCD) Optoelectronic device used in displays for watches, calculators, notebook computers, and other electronic devices. Current passed through specific portions of the liquid crystal solution causes the crystals to align, blocking the passage of light. screens. Mattel showed off three products Tuesday - an action figure, a Batwave Communicator and a Batmobile. Separately, Warner Bros.' characters will take another toy form as Malibu-based Jakks Pacific JAKKS Pacific, Inc. NASDAQ: JAKK is is a multi-brand company that designs and markets a broad range of toys and consumer products and is based in Malibu, California. Its product categories include action figures, art activity kits, stationery, writing instruments, performance Inc. announced Tuesday that it will add Batman, Superman, Justice League and Scooby-Doo games into its TV Games line. The $20 game system will launch next year. ``Remember the first movie where the Joker says, Where did he get all those toys?'' Romanelli said. ``It's all about creating things to overcome his enemies.'' Compared with his superhero brethren, it's easier for a toy company to replicate Batman in toy form than Superman or Spider-Man; kids don't have to know how to fly or stick to walls to emulate Batman at play time. ``What makes it a great toy is that Batman's all about the gadgets,'' said Sara Rosales, Mattel's vice president of public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most . ``He uses his wit, and the Batarang and all the great stuff on the Batbelt, and the most recognizable vehicle of all time in the Batmobile.'' While he liked the concept, toy consultant Chris Byrne Chris Byrne co-founded the band Black 47 with Larry Kirwan in 1989. While still with the band, he created a side project - the "celtic hip-hop" band Seanchai & the Unity Squad. "Seanchai" is Byrne's hip-hop stage name, loosely translated from Irish as 'storyteller'. of TheToyGuy.com questioned the high cost, between $33 and $52. While Batman has been an established consumer brand for five decades and dates back to the 1930s in comic book comic book Bound collection of comic strips, usually in chronological sequence, typically telling a single story or a series of different stories. The first true comic books were marketed in 1933 as giveaway advertising premiums. form, Byrne said it wouldn't automatically translate into the new format. Brent Hopkins, (818) 713-3738 brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Warner Bros. Consumer Products unveiled its new Batman action figure, above, at a trade show Wednesday. A feature film based on the 65-year-old crime fighter is also in the works, featuring an early version of the Batmobile, left. Warner Bros. Consumer Products |
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