Report by UKGB members Benjamin King and Tara Petar "October may be half over, but for commercial licencing, things are still pretty busy, as seen with the latest edition of the Brand Licensing Europe event in Central London. The event saw many familiar names in attendance, including Hasbro, Nickleodeon, Games Workshop and Lamborgini. For Ghostbusters fans however, the event was all about the stands being operated by Rocket and Sony, and the UKGB were on hand to find out a little more about what was on. | |
Rocket was showcasing a number of it's Ghostbusters-related items, ranging from branded slippers and uniform T-shirts, to drink mugs and cuddly toys with sound effects.
Sony for it's effort, was going all-out with plugging Ghostbusters, ranging from a booth covered in logos and slime, to the glass display case featuring one of the prop Proton Packs from the Paul Feig movie.
Mark Caplan, recently promoted to the position of Senior Vice President of Global Consumer Products, was in attendance on the final day of the event, and revealed a few interesting tidbits in conversation: It had been Sony's plan to produce replicas of the classic 1980s Proton Packs, however they'd found that they would currently have been cost prohibitive, even with the resources and processes available to a large-scale manufacturer.
Mattel are slated to produce toys based on the 2016 reboot, however Sony are looking at other companies to manufacture replicas of the reboot's Proton Packs.
Sony is looking into plans to have a touring exhibition, much like the BBC's Doctor Who: The Experience, which would feature props from the classic movies (and possibly the reboot, a clarification wasn't available at this time), with the potential to be held at the same venue as the Licensing Expo was if it were to visit London.
Whether these plans come to fruition in the future is a ball that's in Sony's court, but they would certainly make for some exciting developments in the years ahead."
Sony for it's effort, was going all-out with plugging Ghostbusters, ranging from a booth covered in logos and slime, to the glass display case featuring one of the prop Proton Packs from the Paul Feig movie.
Mark Caplan, recently promoted to the position of Senior Vice President of Global Consumer Products, was in attendance on the final day of the event, and revealed a few interesting tidbits in conversation: It had been Sony's plan to produce replicas of the classic 1980s Proton Packs, however they'd found that they would currently have been cost prohibitive, even with the resources and processes available to a large-scale manufacturer.
Mattel are slated to produce toys based on the 2016 reboot, however Sony are looking at other companies to manufacture replicas of the reboot's Proton Packs.
Sony is looking into plans to have a touring exhibition, much like the BBC's Doctor Who: The Experience, which would feature props from the classic movies (and possibly the reboot, a clarification wasn't available at this time), with the potential to be held at the same venue as the Licensing Expo was if it were to visit London.
Whether these plans come to fruition in the future is a ball that's in Sony's court, but they would certainly make for some exciting developments in the years ahead."