What is it with bad guys and crushing communication devices??
Get me George Irwin on the phone this instant!!!"
Fan Input Convinces Companies To Upgrade Toys
Irwin's New Sailor Moon Line
Queen Beryl Fails To Make The Cut

Irwin Toys informs us that they will be releasing their new line of action figures within a few months. They are currently seeking approval from Toei on the look of the characters. Irwin says that the new figures will have a lot more detail with such additions as earrings, "noses like Barbie" and more individuality with each character. This is in response to the fan survey conducted by the SOS for DiC Entertainment.

DiC Entertainment is taking these new dolls very seriously as it will be their major profit center from any new episodes.

Scott Out, George In
Farewell & Good Luck to Scott Irwin!

Mr. Scott Irwin left the Irwin Toy Company late last year (1999) to persue other interests. He was one of Sailor Moon's biggest supporters and played an important, fundamental role with the property. Many of the positive developments which have occurred with the show over the years were partly due to his actions.

During one of the questionable periods with the series, Scott asked us to bring him up-to-date (as best we could) as to what was going on with certain aspects of "Sailor Moon." It was for this reason that we expanded our toy and Japanese coverage of the property--leading to such stories as our Toy Roundup. We trust that such coverage was beneficial to him and the company.

Scott was particularly intrigued with the possibilities of a live action feature and even wondered aloud once if we thought Britney Spears might make a good Sailor Moon. (A few of us here have been known to hypothesize even more alarming choices--but it's just talk!)

We hope Scott has even more success in his future endeavors and would not be surprised if our paths crossed again one day. On behalf of Sailor Moon fans everywhere, we thank you for all of your support!

Staying on at the company is (notably) father George and brother Grant and an unknown, seemingly infinite number of other Irwins, which, we have been reminded, are just as committed to the show!

Regardless of DiC's involvement we trust that fans will buy these new dolls. As we understand it, one of the major reasons for Irwin to improve the line was because of fans claiming that they would be willing to spend more money on better dolls. We hope that fans remain true to their word. Irwin, it should be mentioned, is a major advertiser on the Cartoon Network in the United States--which makes the translation of more anime possible.

It appears to us that some of the companies involved were not aware to what extent Irwin had already taken the toy line. Some of the companies (until earlier this year) did not seem to know that Irwin had named and released figures from beyond the "Sailormoon-R" television series. Irwin itself has claimed innocence in this matter

Irwin hopes to release the new dolls in June or July. The line is to be introduced in the speciality market first--which nowadays means at just about all toy stores except for the big chains (such as Toys 'R' Us, F.A.O. Schwarz, Kay-Bee, etc.).

The one figure not to be upgraded and rereleased is Queen Beryl. A special Rini doll as a Sailor Scout is to be released sometime in early 2001. If handled properly, we expect this character to be a big seller as Rini is very popular with the prime doll market, Girls under 12.

A dated story (and one that we now take exception to) about Irwin & DiC appeared on Kidscreen.com's site. Later they posted a good, comprehensive overview of the TV animation business itself.

For more information on "Sailormoon" Dolls visit Spooky's excellent site on "The Selling of the Moon Princess." There you'll find the only blue-haired Mercury (She's Italian! And boy does she look it!) and one of our favorites, the Excellent series!




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