In 1999, the company released a line of animated watches called C-watches. These watches allowed the user to set alarms for Mon-Fri, alerted the user to mealtimes, and had many other uses and animations. Special editions of these watches included the *NSYNC edition, Austin Powers Edition, Pro Wrestling Edition, Pokémon Edition, Star Wars Edition, etc.
Trendmasters produced the War Planets toy line, which led to the creation of the television series Shadow Raiders; however, the series is off the air and the figures have ceased production since Trendmasters closed.[3] In addition, the company created the Rumble Robots toy line in 2001, as well as the Wuv luv line of fuzzy toys. Trendmasters also created the KittyCatz and PuppyDogz line for the game Petz, which contains the combined games Dogz and Catz. They were also ingame as advertising for the real toys. Petz 5, the last old-school style Petz version, made in 2002, still had these, and there was no update system to get these out of the game. The company also produced the Starcastle line, a series of fantasy castle playsets for girls, each with an interior containing hidden secrets and treasures depending on the theme of the castle.
Ironically, although the figures based on the classic Godzilla series are often attributed to Trendmasters' rise in popularity, the failure of the extravagant toy line from the 1998 film is sometimes blamed for its ultimate demise – retailers refused figures for Godzilla: The Series due to the failure of the 1998 toy line. However, while the 1998 Godzilla line proved to be a loss for many retailers, Trendmasters profited for several years.
Legacy
Trendmasters is remembered for the 1998 Godzilla film products made by the company have become some of the most purchased and expensive vintage toy items in online stores such as eBay and Amazon due to their rarity.
Many of Trendmasters' employees went on to work at Cepia, which was founded after Trendmasters closed.
Voltron is an American animated television series franchise that features a team of space explorers who pilot a giant super robot known as "Voltron". Produced by Peter Keefe and Ted Koplar through his production company World Events Productions, Voltron was an adaptation of several Japanese anime television series from Toei Animation. The original television series aired in syndication from September 10, 1984, to November 18, 1985. The first season of Voltron, featuring the "Lion Force Voltron", was adapted from the series Beast King GoLion. The second season, featuring the "Vehicle Team Voltron", was adapted from the unrelated series Armored Fleet Dairugger XV.
A virtual pet is a type of artificial human companion. They are usually kept for companionship or enjoyment, or as an alternative to a real pet.
Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, is an American toy brand owned by Hasbro. Kenner Products began as a toy company founded in 1946, going on to produce several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures for the original series of Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Batman as well as die cast models.
Lost in Space is a 1998 American science-fiction adventure film directed by Stephen Hopkins, and starring William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, Gary Oldman, and Heather Graham. The plot is adapted from the 1965–1968 CBS television series of the same name. Several actors from the TV show make cameo appearances.
Petz is a series of single-player video games dating back to 1995, in which the player can adopt, raise, care for and breed their own virtual pets. Developed by PF.Magic, original Petz has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. The series has grown to over 22 million copies as of 2011 since coming under Ubisoft.
Shadow Raiders is a Canadian animated television series produced by Mainframe Entertainment and syndicated by The Summit Media Group, that aired from September 16, 1998, to June 23, 1999. The show was loosely based on the Trendmasters toy line, War Planets. The original character designs were created by ReBoot designer, Brendan McCarthy. The series focused on the four warring planets of a solar system called the Cluster as they were forced to set aside their differences and form a coalition against the menace of the Beast Planet.
Jakks Pacific, Inc. is an American toy manufacturer founded in January 1996. The company is best known for producing licensed action figures, playsets, dolls, plush toys and dress-up sets.
Zilla is a fictional monster, or kaiju, in Toho Co., Ltd.'s Godzilla media franchise. The character first appeared in Godzilla (1998), released by TriStar Pictures. It was initially created as a reimagining of Godzilla but was later re-branded as a separate character appearing alongside Toho's Godzilla. Patrick Tatopoulos designed it after iguanas with a slim theropod appearance rather than the thick, bipedal designs of Toho's Godzilla. TriStar's Godzilla, both the film and character, were negatively received by fans and critics. In 2004, it was featured in Toho's Godzilla: Final Wars as "Zilla". Afterwards, Toho trademarked new incarnations as Zilla, with only the iterations from the 1998 film and animated series retaining the Godzilla copyright and trademark.
Microman was a science fiction toyline created, manufactured and marketed by Takara Co., Ltd. from 1974 to 1984 as well as from 1998 to 2007. The Microman line was a series of 3.75-inch-tall (9.5 cm) action figures with accompanying vehicles, robots, playsets and accessories. Unlike other toylines at the time, Microman figures were marketed as being the "actual" size of cyborg beings called "Micros" that hailed from a fictional planet known as "Micro Earth" and disguised themselves as action figures while on planet Earth.
PF.Magic, Inc. was a video game developer founded in 1991 and located in San Francisco, California, United States. Though it developed other types of video games, it was best known for its virtual pet games, such as Dogz and Catz. The company was able to make extra revenue by selling plush toys under the Petz trademark. It was bought out in 1998 by Mindscape, Inc. After changing hands a few more times, Ubisoft now owns the copyright on its Petz, Oddballz and Babyz titles.
National Entertainment Collectibles Association Inc. is an American manufacturer of collectibles typically licensed from films, video-games, sports, music, and television based in New Jersey. The company was founded in 1996 and has over 60 licenses for which it produces products.
Godzilla, also known as Gojira, is a fictional Japanese monster.
Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon, also known as Space Gulliver, is a 1965 Japanese animated feature that was released in Japan on March 20, 1965, and in the United States on July 23, 1966.
As an enduring and iconic symbol of post-World War II cinematic history, the fictional giant monster Godzilla has been referenced and parodied numerous times in popular culture. Godzilla and other atomic monsters have appeared in a variety of mediums, including cartoons, film, literature, television, and video games.
Margaret Wallace is an American entrepreneur, gaming and media professional. In 2009, she co-founded Playmatics with Nicholas Fortugno in New York, New York. The company focuses on bringing new kinds of immersive experiences to casual gamers. In 2006, she was named one of the hundred most influential women in the game industry.
Petz: Catz 2 and Petz: Dogz 2 are video games for the PC, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2 and Wii, in the Petz series. Players can choose from 40 breeds of dogs or cats; in Dogz most breeds have a choice of two fur colours. In Europe, these games are titled Dogz and Catz.
G.I. Joe is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier, Action Sailor, Action Pilot, Action Marine and later on, the Action Nurse. The name is derived from the usage of "G.I. Joe" for the generic U.S. soldier, itself derived from the more general term "G.I.". The development of G.I. Joe led to the coining of the term "action figure". G.I. Joe's appeal to children has made it an American icon among toys.
Pet toys can refer to toys intended for pet animals, or to toys that take the form of pets. Examples include:
Independence Day is a franchise of American science fiction action films that started with Independence Day in 1996, which was followed by the sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence in 2016. The franchise revolves around extraterrestrials invading Earth and seeking to eradicate mankind while the remaining human resistance uses everything at their disposal to defeat the invaders and take back the planet. Now considered to be a significant turning point in the history of the Hollywood blockbuster, the original film was released worldwide on July 3, 1996, but began showing on July 2 on limited release as a result of a high level of anticipation among moviegoers. The film grossed over $817.4 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1996 and, briefly, the second-highest-grossing film worldwide of all time behind 1993's Jurassic Park. Currently, it ranks 69th on the list of highest-grossing films, and was at the forefront of the large-scale disaster film and sci-fi resurgence of the mid-late 1990s. The film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing.
Dogz: Your Computer Pet and Catz: Your Computer Petz are a pair of virtual pet simulation software developed by PF.Magic, and released in 1995 and 1996 respectively. Developed for Windows, they were the first games in the Petz series, and were followed by Oddballz.
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