Licensing 2007: Finding Winners
By Mary Ford, Editor

Although blockbuster movies continue to be an important source of Halloween properties and 2007 promises a
number of expected hits including “Pirates of the Caribbean 3” (Disguise, Inc.), “Spider-Man 3” (Disguise), “Shrek The Third” (Rubie's Costume Co., Inc.), and “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (Rubie's), many other types of licensed properties are also being tapped by Halloween licensees. These run a wide gamut — from old television shows (“The Three Stooges,” Paper Magic Group, Inc.) to Easter candies (Peeps, Rasta Imposta) to television commercials (the Burger King character, Rubie's).

There are also more suppliers offering licensed properties. As ever, Rubie's and Disguise have the longest list of licenses, but other licensees with new properties include Franco American Novelty Co. LLC, Pony Express Creations, Fun World and California Costume Collections, Inc.

Until recently most Halloween licenses were geared to young boys, but now suppliers are also licensing costumes for the adult market. These costumes typically involve humor, nostalgia, irony or a mix of all three. Some examples include “Reno 911” (Disguise), “The Love Boat” (Pony Express) and 1950s pin-up model Bettie Page (California Costume).

Adults, specifically moms, are also the decision makers for infant and toddler costumes, and more licensed properties are being selected for their ability to make the cutest Halloweeners even cuter. Licensed pet costumes are another growing segment. Rubie's has the pet costumes licenses for a number of television shows including “Blue's Clues” and “South Park.”

Brand Licensing
Licenses generally focus on popular characters, but well-known brands are also being used. California Costume, for example, has UPS and U.S. Postal Service costumes for toddlers.

The popularity of sexy costumes has created a demand for sexy licenses. Pony Express has the Playboy brand license, which features the crew of blondes from the television series “The Girls Next Door” as its packaging models. Rubie's has sexy versions of such licenses as Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz,” “I Dream of Jeannie,” Batgirl and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

Other notable new acquisitions include the hit television cartoon “Danger Rangers” (Fun World); Barbie, (formerly licensed by Rubie's,  now Disguise's); Bratz dolls (Rubie's); the horror movie “Saw” (Paper Magic); “Rocky,” which had still another surprise-hit sequel in 2006 (Franco American); “Edward Scissorhands” (Rubie's); “Ratatouille,” a Disney/Pixar 2007 release (Disguise); the 2006 movie “Talladega Nights” (Rasta); “High School Musical” (Rubie's); the movie “Eragon” (Rubie's);  and Steven Spielberg's new “Transformers” (Disguise).