Basic Fun! is aging down D&D with new toys 

Kids might be about to start adventuring into the role-playing worlds of Dungeons & Dragons, thanks to a new partnership with Basic Fun! Hasbro has granted the toyco worldwide licensing rights to create Dungeons & Dragons Questers, a collectible action figure range designed to draw Gen Alpha fans into the IP. It will feature three blind-box sets of collectible creatures, monsters and adventurers. And each one will also come with a 20-sided dice and a brief story prompt encouraging kids to tell a story with their figures. Hasbro and Basic Fun! are looking to tap into the key Gen Alpha play patterns of tactile and imaginative play, as well as discovery and world-building. And they’re also banking on parents who are D&D fans introducing it to their kids through these products. 

Guru Studio signs several new content deals 

The Canadian animation studio teamed up with Anuvu, which distributes content to the aviation industry, to get Big Blue and 123 Number Squad onto Air Canada’s in-flight entertainment system. And streamer Kanopy, a streamer that’s available through public libraries and schools, picked up both shows for libraries worldwide. Finally, US Spanish-language network HITN has acquired True and the Rainbow Kingdom for linear and its preschool SVOD Edye. 

Cookbook Media is shopping a new CG series concept

The distributor has secured global sales and consumer products rights to a developing CG-animated project called Force Five (pictured). Animators Todd Gallina and David Marshall (The Care Bears Family) created the sci-fi short film Force5: Welcome to the Boom Squad, which they’re now turning into a 13 x 22-minute series for seven- to 12-year-olds. It’s about a group of teens who have to pilot a dangerous robot in order to save the world. 

Tonies expands into plush with Disney

Attention brand owners: A new licensing opportunity has just emerged. Tonies is getting into plush, and its first partner in this category is none other than Disney. The company is launching a new Cuddle Tonie line of plush figures that unlock stories, sounds and music when placed on its proprietary speaker system, with Mickey Mouse, Simba, Stitch and Winnie the Pooh featured in the initial release. 

Moose Toys to develop a Salish Matter range 

The toyco has teamed up with the popular YouTuber to develop a toy line inspired by her interests. Salish Matter has more than three million YouTube subscribers on her channel and is also the face of her dad Jordan Matter’s channel, which has 34.2 million subscribers. Moose Toys hasn’t shared any specific details about the toys yet beyond a release date at the end of 2026, but it hints that the products will blend “trend-forward design, lifestyle personality and collectability for kids and tweens”. Matter is just the latest big YouTuber to do business with Moose, following Mark Rober. And interestingly, she isn’t a stranger to the company; she previously made brand videos to promote its products. 

Jada Toys aims to be the GOAT 

The toyco has been named the master toy licensee for Sony Pictures Animation’s upcoming feature film GOAT, which hits US theaters on February 13. In its pipeline is a line of action figures and collectibles that will roll out this spring. The film is a CG-animated comedy about a goat who wants to be the greatest of all time at a basketball-like sport. It’s expected to make around US$20 million on its opening weekend, according to Deadline’s forecast.

Image courtesy of Cookbook Media.