Irwin Toys Announces End of Dragonball Z line
The following story comes thanks to newsweek.com:
Irwin Toys announced that as of today, April 1 2001, that they will be putting a cease to the production of all projected Dragonball Z toy lines. “There was too much pressure from classic toy enthusiasts for us to return to our roots.” Irwin CEO Jean-René Halde was quoted saying early Saturday afternoon at a press conference. “We don’t see it as the end of Dragonball Z toys, but a simple return to classic toys such as Slinky and [the game] Jenga.” Halde went on to say that all planned toys would not make it to retail. “Our Dragonball Z figures from series 4 on will not see store shelves. We wish to start our new business plan as soon as possible.” Halde said.
Comments (0) | Bookmark this entry | March 31, 2001 |
Bootlegs and Bootleggers Siezed!
Hey folks, check this out courtesy of Planet Namek:ROME (Reuters) - Italian police said on Tuesday they had seized 15,000 fake plastic characters from the cult children’s games Pokemon, Digimon and Dragonball.
The models were found in a truck at Rome’s Fiumicino airport after apparently being imported illegally from China.
“The toys were totally unsafe and dangerous for children,” a police spokesman said. “The Chinese exporters, with the collaboration of their Italian importers, had fixed ‘Made in the European Union (news - web sites)’ stickers on them.”
A 41-year-old Italian was arrested.
Pokemon is a game in which children have to collect scores of different monsters. It started as a card game in Japan but has spawned a television cartoon series and a computer game.
Digimon and Dragonball are similar games which followed in Pokemon’s wake.
Finally, copyright laws are being enforced somewhere in the world…
Comments (0) | Bookmark this entry | March 27, 2001 | Jess Horsley
Hmmm...news, news, news...
Wow. what a miraculously dull time for Dragonball toys. No new information as of yet, just some general announcements.
My computer has been down for the last week, so if you’re wondering why you haven’t receieved replies to your e-mails, now you know. This also explains the lack of content updates lately. Sorry about that folks, I should have the beginnings of something tomorrow.
Also, the old counter that I’ve been using since the beginning of the page bit the dust today, so it’s gone. Oh well.
Look for the rebuild to begin this week!
Comments (0) | Bookmark this entry | March 26, 2001 | Jess Horsley
Irwin Toy bought out by Livgroup Investments, Ltd.
Irwin Toy, license holder for Dragonball Z action figures, announced Tuesday, March 6 that it had been acquired by Livgroup Investments Ltd., a private holding company. Livgroup bought 100% of Irwin stock, for which they paid $6.25 each, for a total of nearly $55 million, a figure which includes the debt they assumed from Irwin.
This announcement comes nearly a week after rumors that Irwin was in negotiations to sell. There was speculation that one of hte major US toy companies, such as Hasbor or Mattel, was the potential buyer; however, Livgroup Investments, owned by investor Richard Ivey and consumer products specialist Jean-René Halde, turned out to be the buyer. Mr. Halde, who has experience in consumer products companies throughout Canada, will step in as new CEO.
“What I like is that they’ve gone from, 10 years ago, basically being a distributor of products in Canada to today being a manufacturer of exclusive products which seem to be doing well in the U.S. and other countries,” Mr. Halde said.
From the tone of this and other quotes, it would appear that Irwin will begin pursuing properties such as Dragonball Z, and other properties that promise to do well in the US. This can only be good for Dragonball toys, but we will see for sure in the next few months.