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Louise O’Shea
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THE CHARACTER GROUP PLC AWARDED LICENSE BY WARNER BROS.
CONSUMER PRODUCTS TO CREATE SCOOBY-DOO CONSTRUCTION TOYS

EXTENSION OF A 12-YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH WBCP WILL SEE THE
LICENSEE LAUNCH PRODUCT IN EMEA AND NORTH AMERICA
UNDER ITS CHARACTER BUILDING BANNER
LONDON – 13th June 2012- (Virtual Press Office) – Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP) is delighted to announce an extension to its long-term partnership with The Character Group plc that will see the leading toy company launch Scooby-Doo construction toys under its Character Building brand across EMEA and North America.

The deal includes rights to brick-based construction vehicles, buildings and collectible figures, allowing The Character Group to tap into the current consumer trend for building blocks and collectibles, as well as giving kids the chance to create traps just like the ones Scooby-Doo and the gang use to catch the monsters and ghosts that appear in every episode of the smash-hit show.

WBCP and The Character Group have worked together on Scooby-Doo for over 12 years and have maintained a continually growing relationship. Representative of this growth, the company was awarded the Pan-European Master Toy licensing rights in 2006 and the North American distribution rights in 2010, as well as the addition of the Latin American region in 2012.

There have been many notable successes over this period, including The Character Group plc being named Toys ’R Us North American ”Pre-school Supplier of the Year” in 2011, as well as having sold 5 million Scooby-Doo figures in the last 3 years alone.

“As the master toy licensee with over 12 years experience working with the brand, The Character Group was the obvious choice to take Scooby-Doo into the construction toy category in Europe and North America,” said Bruno Schwobthaler, Senior Vice President, Sales and Business Development, Warner Bros. Consumer Products EMEA. “We’re confident that they can replicate the success of the toy range through construction lines and we very much look forward to building the Scooby brand further with The Character Group team.”

Jon Diver, Joint MD of The Character Group plc, said, "Scooby-Doo has been a key franchise for The Character Group for over 12 years. We're delighted to now be the company taking Scooby into the construction toy aisle in Europe and North America for the first time through our successful new 'Character Building' brand."

Diver added, "Working together with WBCP and all of the great Scooby-Doo characters, vehicles, environments and of course Fred's traps, we have been able to create an exciting range of products and building experiences. We are confident that this product range is going to be amongst the must-have products for Scooby loyalists and construction toy fans alike."

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SCOOBY-DOO and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Hanna-Barbera.
(s12)

About Warner Bros. Consumer Products
Warner Bros. Consumer Products, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is one of the leading licensing and retail merchandising organizations in the world.

About The Character Group plc
The Character Group plc was founded in 1991 is an AIM listed company. The Group is engaged in the design, development and international distribution of toys and games. In 2003 the Character Group made a strategic decision to develop its own products to market along side those sourced from our third party distributor partners. Today over 75% of all products marketed by the group are developed in-house. A major benefit of this strategy was the opening of international markets for our product, which is now sold in over 30 countries worldwide. The Group now has offices in London, Manchester, Hong Kong and China, and employs over 230 people. Character Group plc is an AIM listed company.