Aurora’s Valentine’s Day 2011 Product Highlights
Pico Rivera, CA – October 6, 2010 – Toy and gift manufacturer Aurora World Inc. announced today highlights from its Valentine’s Day catalog, offering retailers a large selection of plush toys and gifts themed for the annual day honoring love and romance. Aurora’s debuts include new Valentine’s Day themed styles for its most popular lines including YooHoo & Friends™, Fancy Pals™ and Cheeky Charlie & Carmen™. A slew of irresistible impulse buys such as the Hamster Hearts collection round out the newest plush offerings for 2011.
“We are taking some of our more popular character lines and making them ‘Val-friendly’ with dressed up items and accessories. These are great sellers in our everyday lines and are sure to translate well into seasonal sales,” says Michael Kessler, SVP of sales. Speaking about trends for 2011, Kessler says retailers should expect red, pink, and white colors to be top sellers again. He explains that despite attempts to vary these colors in the past, “red, pink and white are the colors people gravitate to for the Valentine’s Day season.”
YooHoo & Friends Greetings combines a greeting card and plush animal (3.5″, MSRP: $6) in one. The Valentine’s Day assortment – a great gift for friends, family, classmates and colleagues – features YooHoo’s face popped through the front and its signature tail hanging out the back. Each dimensional card includes a removable plush animal, a “to and from” section and an area to inscribe a personal message. The four styles for 2011 include “Happy Heart Day,” “I Love You,” “Key to My Heart” and “Kisses for You.” Kessler says, “It’s the gift that keeps on giving because once the greeting card is no longer needed, each removable YooHoo animal features a loop for key rings, or to hang on backpacks and purses for example.”
One of Aurora’s best selling lines called Fancy Pals features the original Pet Carriers — a purse and plush animal in one. “The plush animals are interchangeable – kids have fun mixing and trading the animals to other carriers,” says Kessler. Three new styles include “Sweet… Sweet… Sweet,” a pink poodle in a heart shaped bag with the word “sweet” embroidered on the side; “I Heart U,” a purple kitten and fancy pink bag embroidered with “I ? U”; and “Love” (pictured) featuring an adorable black and white puppy in a flashy pink bag embroidered with shiny hearts and the word “love” (carriers vary from six to eight inches in size, depending on style; MSRP: $12).
“The Cheeky Charlie & Carmen debuts for Valentine’s Day are absolutely one of a kind yet a little more edgy than the traditional items on shelves,” says Kessler. Their shirts are embroidered with, “You Rock My World” (Charlie) and “Rocker Girl” (Carmen), which complement the wild hair styles; the animals are bean filled and the hands have Velcro for easy hanging. Each holds a microphone in its tail instead of the signature banana on previous Cheeky Charlie & Carmen styles (14.5″, MSRP: $17).
Kessler says “Last minute buyers rule Valentine’s Day and want a ‘package’ so they can just grab and go. We suggest retailers pair chocolates or balloon items with plush products such as our ‘Hamster Hearts’ for example.” Six white and black bean filled hamsters (4.5″, MSRP: $6) make up the assortment. Each hamster holds an oversized red heart embroidered with either “XO,” “Love,” “Hugs,” “Kiss Me,” “I ? U” or “Love Me.”
For more information, please visit http://www.auroragift.com, email info@auroragift.com or call 888-287-6722. Shop Aurora online at http://shop.auroragift.com or more than 25,000 retail outlets worldwide.
About Aurora
Aurora World, Inc. (www.auroragift.com), celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2011, is a leading manufacturer and supplier of high quality, competitively priced plush toys and gifts. Aurora’s name reflects its extensive product lines and growing influence in the worldwide marketplace, as well as its international manufacturing, R&D and distribution resources. Founded in 1981, the Korean company with headquarters in the United States, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Germany, has ascended quickly to become a respected leader in the world’s toy and gift character and contents industry. Aurora created the international plush toy phenomenon – YooHoo & Friends™ – and its corresponding free, interactive web site (www.yoohoofriends.com), appealing to young children and tweens alike. The company sells its products via a wide variety of retailers including major zoos, high-end toy stores such as Learning Express, top gift chains such as Hallmark and Claire’s as well as hospital gift shops, fine florists, candy stores and gift/stationery stores worldwide.
