Irwin prototype figures

01.01.00 - Irwin Toy's year of the 'Dragonball Z' debuts at Toronto toy fair

Dateline: Toronto Canada. It's a bird! It's a plane! ... Well, no, it's IRWIN TOY celebrating the Chinese 'Year of the Dragon' with an aerial show-stopper to promote what many industry gurus are predicting will be one of the hottest toys of the new century.

Dragonball Z, the hit, animated cartoon series, now airing weekdays on YTV in Canada, has ballooned from its inauspicious debut on U.S. cable network TV a season ago, into one of the most watched kids' programs in kid-TV history.

And just in case anyone should have doubts about who is holding the North American rights to the action figure spin-offs from the series, IRWIN TOY is flying the hand-painted, traditional silk Dragon above the heads of curious retailers and toy-trade visitors to Toronto Toy Fair 2000 as a firm answer.

Dragonball Z, the Japanese anime-style cartoon series which has steadily gained a faithful, if not indeed fanatical following, of Canadian boys and girls airs weekdays on YTV.

Meanwhile, south of the border, down USA way, the series broke records for 'largest Household Audience ' for Cartoon Network last September, then went on to top that by attracting the networks largest kid audience (6-11 yrs) in the network's history.

With IRWIN TOY'S aggressive thrust into the U.S. Market - part of the all-Canadian company's strategic new emphasis on global marketing - its new 2000 Dragonball Z Action Figure line-up is the focus of the fuss and the reason the company sent a 48 foot version of the traditional Occidental firebreather flying high aloft their trade booth at the Metro-City Convention Centre in Downtown Toronto today to kick-off the Annual Toronto Toy Fair.

"The success of 'Dragonball Z - the Series' in the U.S. has validated our research and our gut-hunch, that partnering with the trend towards anime series cartoons was the ideal vehicle for the company's products and new market directions." says Irwin President, George Irwin. "We launched the first line of Dragonball Z action figures last year, here in Canada, and then we waited and watched. When Canadian kids began responding, and the series' producers sold in to U.S. Cable Network TV, we were pretty well convinced we'd made a profitable choice for the company and its shareholders. While the 48 foot silken version undulates in the ventilation of the convention centre's air conditioning system, down on earth IRWIN TOY will be displaying its latest additions to the considerable line-up of ACTION FIGURES from the series.

Fashioned from the celluloid heroes of what is fast becoming one of the hottest cartoon series currently airing in Canada and the U.S., the company has extended the line with a colourful, high-quality series of Dragonball Z stars in a 5" action figure size which features high detailing, removable accessories and improved articulation to keep young fans wide-eyed with pleasure.

Along with the 5" collection, the company is also introducing a Deluxe version of 5 inchers that feature one of the series' most powerful weapons -you guessed it- Dragon Powerballs! Available with select characters, the Powerballs can be ejected from the hands of the special 5" figures and sent flying towards victory at the other end of the recreation room. ( a tiny switch hidden on the back of the figures activates a spring-loaded mechanism which propels the balls towards would-be enemies of Earth).

The magic continues with the introduction this year, of the famous Flying Nimbus Cloud, a unique version of magic-carpet travel which allows the series' starring heroes a unique means of avoiding traffic jams during major crisis in the storyline.

Back in the real world, kids will now be able to place special editions of Goku and Gohan onto a cleverly-designed Flying Nimbus Cloud which , when activated, actually hydroplanes the action figures across surfaces without ever touching the ground. The battery-powered product was actually developed using the same principles as the real thing.

"It's a very convincing toy!" exclaims Irwin marketing manager, Bret Dilabbio, the man responsible for marketing the entire Dragonball Z Action Figure line-up. " When kids see this, they're going to light-up because it really does float along on nothing more than air."

Rounding off the selection IRWIN TOY will also be introducing packaged sets of six, 2"mini-figures this year. These pocket-sized versions allow kids to keep a few of their favourite heroes close-by in case an impromptu recess crisis should happen their way.

IRWIN also plans an aggressive television campaign to support their latest introductions in Canada and the launch of their Dragonball Z products into the U.S.

Tying in closely with the company's new corporate and brand equity management plans, IRWIN TOY plans to leverage their Dragonball Z line to maximise their new territory as specialists in the action-figure/cartoon series tie which is taking both Canadian and American kids by storm.

"You can almost relate this phenomenon to the type of reaction you see in sports and sports fans. The series acts like a playing field where each new show is a new game with your favourite team. Kid's get almost fanatical about Dragonball Z, tuning in everyday to see how the storyline will play out. It's complex, and it's fun. All we've done is set the same set of marketing drivers into place with the action figures. We did it with Sailor Moon and we're now geared up and ready to bring a lot of knowledge and expertise to our partnership. It's an exciting time for the company." And George Irwin knows what he's talking about, if the phenomenal success of 'Dragonball Z the Series' is any measuring stick. "While Sailor Moon provided us with a lot of practical knowledge about this particular type of marketing, it was skewed heavily towards girls. With Dragonball Z we're appealing to both boys and girls. The series and our action figures have a much broader, appeal."

It appears that IRWIN TOY's silken Dragon at Toronto Toy Fair won't be the only Dragon flying high this year.

07.10.00 - All-new Dragonball Z action figures ready for take-off

Dateline: Toronto Canada, July 10, 2000. It's been only 3 weeks since Irwin Toy tore down it's ageing Website in preparation for the Fall debut of its 'all new, all-cool, IT site', and the e-mail feature is already deluged with more than 150 letters a day. - "Where's Dragonball Z's new line of 5" and 5" deluxe action figures?" - "I think DBZ rules! I can't wait for you guyz (sic) to bring out your new figures!" Over and over again, the mantra continues as kids across North America scan popular action figure websites in search of news about one of the most popular animated cartoon series ever aired.

The series doles out the classic theme of good against evil with a cast of other-worldly heroes and villains who have made Earth the battleground to disputes that began light-years away on planets with curiously Asian sounding names.

"Dragonball Z was a bit of a sleeper." claims George Irwin, President and CEO of Irwin Toy Limited, Canada's largest toy and game manufacturer and distributor. "We negotiated the rights to the series with FUNimation in late 1998, and the series went to air on the U.S. Cartoon Network in a less-than-ideal time slot in early 1999. They pulled the plug on it only a few weeks later."

Last September, the American kids' network tried again, placing Dragonball Z in its prestigious 'Toonami' mid-afternoon time slot, and the series' popularity shot up like a rocket, breaking the network's all-time best viewing for the category in late September and again in October.

With imported product from Asia and Europe, Irwin Toy kept up to demand while racing the clock to design their own new line-up of action figures from Dragonball Z's sizeable list of cast-characters.

"Our imported product was not up to our standards." admits Irwin Toy Vice-President of Marketing, Fran Wells-Cunningham. "Newer manufacturing technologies could give our Dragonball Z action figures some pretty incredible advantages over our imported fare. The new line features much finer facial detailing, more elaborate and colourful costuming looks, and incredible articulation that lets kids pose these new figures in an infinite variety of ways."

The much-anticipated new line will launch this August in major toy retailers across Canada and the U.S. Hyped by a recent North American Burger-King promotion, featuring special pewter-colour finished versions of the figures, the company has big expectations for the arrival of the new 5" and 5" deluxe series. The twelve new poseable figures - featuring some characters never before produced - have been selected from research compiled by both Irwin Toy and the series' North American distributors, FUNimation . In conjunction with the launch, FUNimation will be releasing dozens of new episodes of the cartoon this FALL on Canada's YTV and CARTOON Network in the U.S.

Shepherding the new action figures from initial design to final product has been the sole occupation of Irwin Toy Marketing Manager, Bret Dilabbio. "It's been one heck of a ride and I've wracked up enough air-miles with this launch to fly to the moon and back first class!" quips the 30-something DBZ expert. "We've had terrific reaction to the new figures from insiders, and we're pretty confident kids are going to feel the same."

While Irwin Toy's temporary Website gathers in hundreds of messages a day, one thing is clear: kids right across the North American continent are more than eager to become the Company's first practical test-group.

New packaging for the figures will quickly ID the new product on retailers' shelves. Irwin Toy plans to add more new characters on an every-other-month basis, beginning later this year.

July 31, 2001: New Dragonball Z toys by IF to receive a “grittier” look by Toxic Mom!

In a move much like Mattel’s upcoming, new He-Man and the Masters of the Universe line, it has been revealed that ONE of the sculpting studios behind these new toys will be Toxic Mom’s Studio.

Ralph Cordero from Toxic Mom explains that “The characters we did for IF toys are Dragonball Z related- Lord Slug (a Deluxe figure) and a new Bulma in battle attire for a new wave of toys that Funimation is designing and having sculpted by U.S. talent. The Protos are then sent to Irwin for fabrication. The new Dragonball (Z) figures are going to be a lot more grittier and Mcfarlanesque (a phrase we are hearing alot more these days,) companies are really into the anime line he (Todd McFarlane) put out and it seems to be a mainstay of art direction for the stateside toy producers.”

Not familiar with Toxic Mom’s Studio? The company is known for alot of work for Resaurus, such as Speed Racer Series 2 (Inspector Detector), and unrealesed Gex figures (Pirate Skeleton, Sarge and Mooshoo Pork to name some- accessories, TV and such, were done by the model makers at Resaurus). The company is also currently behind High Dream’s upcoming Tekken Tag Vinyl Figures.