Diamond Select acquires Art Asylum

By Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 5/15/2007 10:51:00 AM

TIMONIUM, Md.—

Diamond Select Toys and Collectibles (DST) has acquired select assets of New York-based Art Asylum, effective immediately. The deal comes “after a long and prosperous relationship between the two companies,”DSTsaid.

Art Asylum’s longest running brand, the 2-inch, articulated Minimates block action figures, will now be controlled by DST, which has utilized the brand previously for its Street Fighter, Rocky and Marvel licenses. DST had also contracted with Art Asylum for its Star Trek and Marvel lines; but will now “have the full breadth of talent in house, and available for upcoming releases—including the new Battlestar Galactica line and future projects,” DST said. The company also has licenses to create Spider-man 3(pictured) and 24 products.

Adam Unger, who served as a vice president at Art Asylum, will work with DST on a consulting basis during the transition with a focus on new business development and sales.

Art Asylum was founded in 1996 by Digger T. Mesch and Donna Soldano as a development and design house; its work has been manufactured by numerous toy companies, including Toy Biz (Marvel Toys), Playmates, Hasbro and Play Along. After several years, the company created Art Asylum LLC to manufacture its own toys, developing lines for licenses such as Batman, Star Trek, Tony Hawk, Bruce Lee and the rock band Kiss.

“Art Asylum made its mark on the toy industry with its unique style and top of the line development. We are excited to have access to all the tools that built the company and utilize them to help grow our business even further,” says Chuck Terceira, director of DST.

Soldano—as well as Art Asylum’s Robert Yee—will join DST as part of the deal. Soldano has more than 10 years of experience in developing toy lines for both the specialty and mass markets, while Yee has occupied several toy industry posts, including serving as director of legal affairs for Toymax Inc. and as director of research and development for Monogram International.

More recently, Yee, an original member of Art Asylum, rejoined the company in 2005 to head up product development. Mesch, meanwhile, recently formed Dig Deep Entertainment inHong Kongto develop original content for film and television as well as to develop proprietary 3-D products. Mesch will continue to act as consultant on projects that Dig Deep develops forDST; recent lines includeDST’s Marvel Civil War busts and Marvel Zombies.

“The acquisition takes DST’s product development and production departments to new levels, and we are excited on all fronts,” Terceira says.