The world renowned Tonner Doll Company (Robert Tonner) and multicultural doll designer, The One World Doll Project (Stacey McBride Irby), create new subsidiary, Tonner-One World, in preparation of a multi-year licensing deal with a major television network and hit television series.
Being a long term follower of The One World Doll Project I am oftentimes asked on the message boards, “What ever happened to the merger between Tonner Doll Company and The One World Doll Project? “They created the subsidiary Tonner-One World.” I reply. More often than not they reply, “But I thought the merger was canceled.” Then I link them to the
Form 8-k filed February 25th, 2016 and say “Read the fine print.” This is why it pays to do your homework, folks! The filing shows that both parties would benefit more if they formed the subsidiary
in preparation of a multi-year licensing deal with a major television series.
To fully understand the magnitude of this subsidiary we have to start with the basics.
What do you know about Hollywood's world renowned doll designer and artist,
Robert Tonner? He is a HUGE name in both the doll and entertainment industries.
- His fashion career started in 1975 and in 1991 he formed what would be known as The Tonner Doll Company.
- In 2006 Tonner and Warner Bros teamed up to designed the “DC Stars” Collection featuring figures based on superheroes from DC Comics such as Batwoman and Harley Quinn.
- Tonner and Marvel teamed up in December of 2010 to create dolls based on Marvel super heroes, which became a big hit with collectors!
- Tonner designed special collector dolls for the films Harry Potter, Spider-Man 3, and Twilight.
Current Day[2016]: Tonner and The One World Doll Project, teaming up to form Tonner-One World! So what is it that makes The One World Doll Project such an attractive candidate to partner with a company like Tonner?
The One World Doll Project was established in 2010 by Trent T. Daniels and Stacey McBride-Irby. It was during a meeting between Stacy and Trent when both parties evaluated the doll market. They determined there was a major opening in the market for multicultural dolls. They learned that the customer base of racially mixed children between the ages of 6-11 in the United States was estimated at 24.3 million in 2009. And due to the market domination by Hasbro and Mattel, their strategy was to focus on African-American and multicultural markets which are extremely underrepresented.
Stacy McBride-Irby was already the creator of the very successful “So In Style™“ line of Barbie? products. Her experience in the industry, working with Mattel, gave them an advantage during the Company’s infancy. And so it started, The One World Doll Project began its entry into the fashion-play doll industry whereby the general doll market is estimated at $2.8 Billion.
However, what people should really take note in, is what makes this combination of Tonner/OneWorld so interesting. The Tonner Doll Company did not ever have to go public. Even if they decided they wanted to, already earning millions of dollars in profits, securing mega licensing contracts and enjoying a 25 year history, Nasdaq could have easily been their first stop. So why did Tonner choose The One World Doll Company? We can’t speak for the man [Tonner], per se, but based on various reads and the Tonner-One World introduction video, Robert Tonner was completely enamored by Stacey McBride-Irby’s work – from the “So In Style™“ Barbie? to the PRETTIE Girls™. Essentially, in a show of unwavering support for her venturing off on her own from Mattel, Robert Tonner is throwing the weight of his name, reputation and multimillion dollar company behind Stacy and One World.
How do you know? Just months after the announced venture, you see online sales increase, additional retail distribution outlets open up, and most important, a licensing deal with a major television network. That may have never happen ‘overnight’ without the presence of Robert Tonner. And this is just the beginning I’m sure.