SILLY PUTTY STRETCHES OUT A TOY BRAND FROM YESTERYEAR GAINS A NEW MARKET WITH POWERFUL HELP FROM SUPERHEROES.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS - A pink blob of goo has become a hot commodity for Funrise Toy Corp.

The ``goo'' would be Silly Putty, an American classic that has been revived by the toy makers, who, with some shrewd repositioning, have united the stuff with one of the hottest trends in marketing.

When Funrise acquired the rights to the putty last year, it decided to marry it to comic book characters. Its creative team slapped an X-Men logo on the classic egg package and printed up some new comics. Suddenly, the company had a hit on its hands.

The box-office hit ``X2: X-Men United'' has pulled in more than $150 million in two weeks; Funrise has millions of orders for its Silly Putty. Leading up to the success was a challenge: The toy makers had to take a brand with more than a half century of history and adapt it to current trends. They decided not to alter the elements that made it famous, but to update its packaging and branding.

``The egg was key,'' mused Dave Schwartz, Funrise's vice president of marketing. ``This is a tricky business we're in. It's not often that something like this comes along.''

Last year, Funrise approached Binney & Smith, Silly Putty's Easton, Pa.-based manufacturer, with the idea of licensing the toy. Funrise already had a relationship with Marvel Comics, so it proposed connecting Marvel's characters to the putty. At the time, the massively successful ``Spider-Man'' movie was just hitting its stride at the box office, sweetening the deal considerably. Funrise and Binney & Smith reached a multiyear agreement for undisclosed terms to stick Marvel, DC Comics, ``The Simpsons'' and Warner Bros. characters onto Silly Putty packages.

``They had a great idea,'' said Susan Taylor, a spokeswoman for Binney & Smith. ``Silly Putty has been evergreen for 50 years. After that long a time, you see it as stodgy and staid. Funrise made it relevant to kids once again.''

To modernize the brand, Funrise had to use some old technology. Part of Silly Putty's classic appeal was its ability to pick up comic book images and distort them. Funrise hit upon a snag, however, when it learned American printers had switched to a different printing method and ink formulation that doesn't react with the pink goo. Executives in the firm's Hong Kong showroom volunteered a press could likely be had from Asian printers, so Funrise dispatched agents abroad, seeking out a decades-old hot-type press compatible with the putty's formulation.

``In the old days, you could lift from newsprint to Silly Putty,'' Schwartz said. ``But with the advent of the cold press and soy ink, it doesn't work as well.''

Once they'd turned up a hot press, they put it to work cranking out the tiny comics that accompany each oversized egg. Though the putty still works on newsprint, the black-and-white images of Wolverine and Spider-Man transfer much more crisply.

By riding the comics bandwagon, started by ``Spider-Man,'' perpetuated by ``X2'' and expected to continue with this summer's highly anticipated ``The Hulk,'' Funrise has opened itself to a new market. In addition to growing its kid consumer base, toy experts project that the putty's latest incarnation could suck up a whole new market segment.

``There's a lot of adults who like cartoons, too, so I could see this as a fun crossover product,'' said Stevanne Auerbach, who follows the industry for DrToy.com. ``It brings up your nostalgia from childhood and gives it a new spin. Almost all the classic toys have been updated for now - even the hula hoops.''

And this particular update breathes life into the franchise in several new ways. The larger, snappier package carries a distinct brand which can shift with future trends. Funrise also developed activity sets and imprintable stamps as tools to further develop play routines. Significantly for both firms' bottom lines, rather than retailing for 99 cents like the classic red plastic egg, the new package sells in Toys `R' Us, KB Toys and Blockbuster Video for $5 apiece.

``It takes Silly Putty out of the commodity aisle,'' said independent toy analyst Chris Byrne. ``When you add an X-Men brand name, it adds incremental sales. If the kid buys the X-Men now, they'll want to buy different ones later on. Before this was a product that didn't wear out, but now it's a consumable.''

The privately held Funrise declined to release sales figures, though Schwartz said it had taken multimillion unit orders. By adding a nonseasonal license, which generates sales during the generally slow first half of the business year, the firm has helped buoy itself during a tough time for all toy firms.

``It's real important,'' Schwartz said. ``This is not a flavor of the month for us. It could last a long time.''

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(1 -- 3 -- color) Above are Silly Putty kits linked to comic book characters, including The Hulk, left, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man. At left, an egg boasts the tremendously hot X-Men brand. A new Silly Putty kit, below, includes a comic book for transfers.Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer