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Toy News
JAKKS PACIFIC® PIONEERS THE NEXT PLUSH COLLECTIBLE PHENOMENON WITH NEW NEOPETS® LINE
First Wave of Plush Now Hitting Shelves at Target; With More Nationwide Retailers for Fall 2008
MALIBU, CA – Feb. 17, 2008 – JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (Nasdaq: JAKK) is excited to launch a full line-up of collectible plush, mini figures, playsets and activities with an interactive online component and based on the expansive virtual world of Neopets®, and its extraordinary characters, found at www.neopets.com.
The JAKKS™ product line brings the online experience of Neopets, the world’s original youth-targeted virtual world, to the real world with a focus on collectible plush toys that tie-in to the extensive variety of Neopets species and characters featured throughout the world of Neopia.
Neopets is one of the most popular kids and tween online destinations, boasting over 44 million
registered users worldwide, and is the No. 1 “stickiest” youth entertainment site in terms of time spent
(5 hours 24 minutes average per month), page views per user (617 pages average per month), and
total page views (2.5 billion pages average per month).
The site provides an online experience for kids and tweens where they can create and adopt virtual
companions called Neopets. While Neopets membership and wealth of content is free and open to all,
JAKKS products will unlock added play experiences for site members via virtual prize codes. As a
digital-first experience, the Neopets product line represents a fresh approach to toys and collectible
plush with a meaningful web component.
JAKKS recently unveiled a limited-release of the Series I of collectible plush at Target stores nationwide. Neopets fans have already started to collect their favorite Neopets plush. Each character has a unique, irresistible design and includes a virtual prize code that can be entered online to link the plush with a
virtual token representation of the same plush that was purchased in-store. The initial series contain both Limited-Edition and Retired versions to increase collectability and generate coveted online bragging rights. Ages 6+, Suggested Retail Price $7.99
In Fall 2008, JAKKS plans a full roll-out of Neopets product including mini figures and playsets to add to
the plush line-up. Neopets recently announced Key Quest, a multi-player online gaming and collecting
experience, which will link JAKKS’ product line into the expansive Neopian® world. With Key Quest, the
virtual tokens representing purchased plush toys become playable game pieces, and all purchased
Neopets products are displayable in a special Key Quest Collector’s Case. Players can play with and
against each other while showing off their acquired collections.
JAKKS also plans to launch activity toys in Fall 2008, which allows kids to paint, decorate and display
creative artwork featuring all of their favorite Neopets characters. With the Neopets Paint-A-Figure
Set, kids can use paints and stickers to decorate blank sculpted vinyl figures, giving each Neopet a
unique look, just like their customized Neopets online! The set includes 3 vinyl figures, 10 paint palettes
and 1 sticker sheet. Ages 6+, Suggested Retail Price $9.99.
The new Custom Computer Decorating Kit will let kids customize their computers by decorating their monitor with a Neopets monitor frame, create their own customized Neopets mouse pad and mouse holder featuring their favorite characters, and also personalize their keyboard with their very own Neopets stickers. Ages 6+, Suggested Retail Price: $14.99
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About JAKKS Pacific, Inc.
JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK) is a multi-brand company that designs and markets a broad
range of toys and consumer products. The product categories include: Action Figures, Art Activity Kits,
Stationery, Writing Instruments, Performance Kites, Water Toys, Sports Activity Toys, Vehicles,
Infant/Pre-School, Plush, Construction Toys, Electronics, Dolls, Dress-Up, Role Play, and Pet Toys and
Accessories. The products are sold under various brand names including JAKKS Pacific®, Play
Along®, Flying Colors®, Creative Designs International™, Road Champs®, Child Guidance®,
Pentech®, Trendmasters®, Toymax®, Funnoodle®, Go Fly a Kite®, Color Workshop®, JPI™ and Plug
It In & Play TV Games™. JAKKS and THQ Inc. participate in a joint venture that has worldwide rights to
publish and market World Wrestling Entertainment video games. For further information, visit
www.jakks.com.
About Neopets
On Neopets.com, players create a Neopet to be their companion that they can dress and take care of while
exploring the fantasy world of Neopia®, rich with 54 species of Neopets, 16 lands and hundreds of characters, stories and plotlines. With more than 44 million global memberships, 200 games, an active virtual economy
based on Neopoints, daily and weekly creativity contests, Neovision video player, discussion boards, quests and thousands of virtual items to collect, Neopets offers its audience an almost endless array of engaging activities. Neopets is a global community, available in 11 languages.
About Nickelodeon® & Viacom® Consumer Products
Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products manages the world’s third largest licensing business, representing
leading properties such as SpongeBob SquarePants® and Dora the Explorer®, and managing merchandising for
Nick Jr. ®, Nickelodeon®, Comedy Central®, MTVN® International, and Spike TV®. Nickelodeon, in its 28th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in almost 96 million households and has been the
number-one-rated basic cable network for 13 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).
This press release may contain forward–looking statements (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) that are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about JAKKS Pacific's business based partly on assumptions made by its management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such statements due to numerous factors, including, but not limited to, those described above, changes in demand for JAKKS' products, product mix, the timing of customer orders and deliveries, the impact of competitive products and pricing, and difficulties with integrating acquired businesses. The forward-looking statements
contained herein speak only as of the date on which they are made, and JAKKS undertakes no obligation to update any of them to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.
© 2008 JAKKS Pacific, Inc. All rights reserved.
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