Surge Licensing Signs Toy Partner for A Little SPOT

Surge Licensing has signed TOMY International as the global master toy partner for Diane Alber’s A Little SPOT book series.

Per the agreement, TOMY will develop a range of branded products focused on social-emotional learning, including plush toys—with and without added features and technology—and plastic figures. TOMY will also distribute the book and plush box sets to brick-and-mortar chains around the world.

The new products will be available online and direct-to-consumer in the first half of 2023, followed by brick-and-mortar stores later that year.

The A Little SPOT book series features the brightly colored, stick-legged sphere Little SPOT. The books were originally developed to help children visualize their emotions as characters and evolved to address topics such as kindness, empathy, honesty, diversity, inclusion and reading.

Elan Freedman, executive VP at Surge Licensing, said: “Diane has created a massive body of work appealing to parents, their children and teachers alike, carefully crafted to make not only teaching SEL fun but learning it too. TOMY is the ideal partner and platform for Diane to design new experiences for children to explore and understand their emotions, become better humans and learn to communicate effectively.”

Alber added: “The stressors associated with the pandemic and global events have only increased the need for social-emotional learning tools to teach children how to handle their feelings in a healthy way. I’m delighted that TOMY is our global partner to create new toys for Little SPOT that will help to support kids and families to prepare for the challenges of the world.”

Morgan Weyl, managing director of licensing and global development, said: “Infant and preschool is well-anchored in TOMY’s historical DNA, and we have deep expertise in successfully launching preschool brands. We will bring Diane’s highly inspiring and beloved series to life in playthings that can help children practice effective communication in a fun and natural way. TOMY’s mission is to make the world smile, so helping children learn to express themselves through play with the Little SPOT brand is perfectly aligned to the happy, healthy development we fully embrace in our daily work.”