Remember the Characters in Your Life? Blog first appeared in 2009!

I just finished attending my third Licensing Expo at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas. I WROTE THIS BLOG in 2009. At this year’s event, I saw more than ever that whatever was old is new - or reimagined - again. So … I thought I would rerun these thoughts. Only thing maybe changed is popularity of Jonas Brothers? What licensed characters do you remember from childhood?

Got me thinking of the licensed characters of my childhood, and those that came and went during the “licensing years” of my three children over 20 years ago.

Davy Crockett – King of My Wild Frontier
The licensed product I remember best as a boy was my Davy Crockett Coonskin Cap. Complete with “real” furry raccoon tail! The TV show and theme song were the rage in the late 50’s. I got the cap in Frontierland at Disneyland, really the only place I ever remember getting any character products. Of course, being called Dave at the time led many to just call me Davy.

I also went through a “talented” performer phase when I got an authentic Jerry Mahoney ventriloquist dummy, just like the one Paul Winchell had on TV. Complete with a head of hard plastic red hair.

Fad Favorites of My Kids – Rainbow Brite , Elvis and Audrey Hepburn!
I sure do remember more licensed products form my kids’ childhoods than I do my own! My daughter’s collection included Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, Cabbage Patch Kids (the year when none could be found before Christmas!), and the rite-of-passage New Kids on the Block.
The boys battled with WWF Wrestling Buddies, Spider-man and Batman. Adam, now 24, loved all things Elvis, and even visited Graceland when he was about 10. Jesse, 22, collected N-I-B Simpsons toys and now has a calendar and poster of Audrey Hepburn in his room. (Adam favored Carmen Electra!)
All three shared the Pog bug and X-Men card craze. Who else has boxes of Pogs somewhere in their homes? Could these ever be like the baseball cards of my youth that my mom threw away that would have paid off my mortgage today?

What Goes Around Comes Back Again.
I’m old enough to have seen several reincarnations of licensed characters of the past. As an adult, I got into Goofy. My kids knew that the go-to present for Dad was anything Goofy. Fit my lifestyle. My role model.

As my kids’ friends became adults, and many their age being new parents, licensors seem to know exactly when to re-introduce the licensed products to a new generation. How did our kids get old enough to have anything to be nostalgic about? But Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, and perenial favorites Batman and Spider-Man have re-energized popularity. Or all-things from the Disney kingdom of characters, who are reinvented more times than Madonna.

With everything old being new again … can Davy Crockett maybe grin down that bear once again? The coonskin cap may only take one Jonas Bro wearing it to make a big fashion comeback! Listen up, Disney!

What characters were in, or are still, part of your life? What place do license products have in your stores?