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Green Brook, NJ – June 2015 – Pretty Ugly™, LLC, official licensors of the UGLYDOLL® brand is thrilled to announce its recent partnerships with multiple companies in Japan. Uglydoll creators David Horvath and Sun-min Kim, in coordination with Fields Corp based in Tokyo, have taken a hands on approach with Uglydolls rapid expansion through Asia. “I have always believed the right way into Asia is to deeply care about each territory”, says Horvath, “I think it’s critical to personally spend time there, live there, eat there, make friends there and really saturate and absorb and understand, not just plug into pre-existing marketing scenarios and routines.”
Horvath says, “Our fantastic first outing with Takara Tomy comes from my deep respect for their incredible attention to detail, quality, and the creative choices they have made over the course of their remarkable history. Our upcoming collaboration with Ultraman comes from a love I’ve had for kaiju, tokusatsu, and the Ultraman brand since early childhood. I believe the deep rooted passion I feel for Ultraman will result in a program which then connects with those who love both brands. We will take the same approach with every project coming to Japan, Korea, China and beyond”.
Our licensing agent, Fields Corp, has been a critical part of Uglydoll’s growth in Japan, and it’s been a joy working with them. Look for collaborations with Ultraman, Thunderbirds, Hello Kitty, and other key properties through China, Japan, Korea and most of Asia within the next 18 months.
Perhaps the biggest news coming from Japan this week is the Uglydoll plush license for the Japanese market awarded to Sun Arrow based in Tokyo.
“We have been huge fans of Sun Arrow for decades”, says Horvath. Their work with plush has been beyond what anyone else out there is doing, worldwide. We are absolutely thrilled to be very close to releasing the very first Uglydoll plush from Sun Arrow for the Japanese market this summer.
The broad expansion throughout Japan will also include crane game machines manufactured by System Services, with a program already planned to refresh throughout the next several years and a fun line of food storage products manufactured by OSK.
ABOUT UGLYDOLL & PRETTY UGLY LLC
David Horvath & Sun-Min Kim created the first UGLYDOLL hand-sewn plush toy in 2001. Since the inception of the first character, Wage™, who David drew on a love letter to Sun-Min, UGLYDOLL has grown into an entire universe of characters, stories, and products for all ages. The UGLYDOLL brand was launched in 2002 by Pretty Ugly, LLC of Green Brook, NJ.
The property is distinguished by David & Sun-Min’s unique aesthetic and voice defining, “ugly” as distinctive and unique, that we should be celebrating that which makes us different, never hiding the twists or turns which make us who we are, inside and out. The award-winning UGLYDOLL characters appear in a variety of toys, books, apparel, and other licensed products that are available in thousands of stores, worldwide. For more information, please visit
www.uglydolls.com and find us on Instagram and Twitter @UglydollUSA.
Uglydoll® and Pretty Ugly™ are registered trademarks of Pretty Ugly, LLC.
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