For Keeps™ Fashion Doll Line Launches with a Game Changing Blend of Fun, Positivity and Self-Empowerment! Collectibles Company The Loyal Subjects™ Creates a Product Line with a Powerful Message – “You Are Love!”

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – (September 23, 2020) – The Loyal Subjects™ (TLS) – a collectible toy company most recognized for its artful articulated licensed figures – has entered the Fashion Doll category with a completely fresh take…a GAME CHANGER. For Keeps™ is a new 6” fashion doll brand with great fashion play that carries a powerful message of positivity and self-empowerment.

The For Keeps™ concept was inspired by parents’ experiences with their young children, in particular the impact technology and social media have on kids’ perception of self-worth, gender stereotypes, and the imprinting of critical thought patterns by age 4. “How can a 4-year-old girl be comparing herself to social media influencers flaunting extravagance?” and “Too much screen time is pulling away from the visceral, human engagement needed for developing brains and for honing social skills.”

From this inspiration, TLS Founder and CEO Jonathan Cathey had an idea: create a toy promoting positive messages and affirmations, meaningful validations to inspire and empower, building confidence and self-esteem while creating meaningful interaction in a safe, trusted, uninterrupted, non-judged way. Something ALL kids really want: To be heard! To feel good about themselves! To share! To feel important! All without adults interrupting, correcting, or changing their course of feelings.  And so For Keeps™ was born. Said Cathey, “For Keeps is truly the first positive affirmation- and message-driven Fashion Doll – still filled with a ton of fashion play, but better!”

Characters in the For Keeps™ world are relatable, in contrast to the cool “Big Sister” or “Adults on the Town” from social media and TV that are reflected back in Fashion Dolls today. Rather than the “video-vixen,” For Keeps™ characters are decision makers in positions of power: a Filmmaker, a Journalist, a Veterinarian, a Music Producer, a Choreographer, and Creatrix Twins™ who run a cosmetics empire!  The three call out buttons on the packaging “Aspire,” “Inspire” and “Affirm” share messages of “Aspire to Be!” “Inspire Others!” and “Build through Positive Affirmations, Acceptance and Encouragement!” The character designs are reflective of kids themselves – look into the mirror to find your hero, YOU!

For Keeps™ includes GREAT FASHION PLAY. Fun accessories include headbands, necklaces, bangles, handbags, laptops, cellphones, and a boombox.  Each character has a secret message tee with powerful messages like “YOU ARE LOVE”, “YOU CAN DO IT”, and “YOU ARE AWESOME”. Kids can change outfits and shoes, and swap them between characters!  Also included is a For Keeps™ memento: an autographed picture hidden away inside the packaging uncovering an intimate glimpse into the character’s world.  For Keeps™ character Mia comes with her furry pal, Roxy! Twins London and Paris are accompanied by their pet cats, Sasha and Shadow.  If you want to pose your character, you can: For Keeps™ is articulated, and includes a translucent stand for maximum posing.

Each For Keeps™ fashion doll includes the Cupcake Keepsake™, the ultimate note passing stash box! Who doesn’t like to pass notes? Why a cupcake? It’s a great disguise for a secret note passer, and a cupcake can represent a gift, a reward, a symbol of trust, and a sign of friendship. What better way to deliver a positive message to a friend or family member than inside the Cupcake Keepsake™ for them to keep, For Keeps!  Each doll comes with 20 affirmations that double as stickers, just peel and stick!  Stick them to your iPad, notebook, cellphone or bedroom door to remind everyone that “YOU ARE LOVE™”, “YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL”, and “I AM LOYAL TO YOU”. Just gently twist the top off the Cupcake Keepsake™, place an affirmation inside, twist the top back on to secure your message, hand the Cupcake Keepsake™ to your friend, loved one or family member, and watch their eyes light up with joy after opening and receiving your affirmation! The POWER of For Keeps™ is in the MESSAGE!

Let’s meet the For Keeps™ cast: Mia the Veterinarian, Ella the Music Producer, Emma the Filmmaker, Bella the Journalist, Sophia the Choreographer, and last but not least London and Paris, the Creatrix Twins™!

If ever the world was in need of a product like For Keeps™, the time is now. Kids’ lives are fraught with uncertainty as schooling and friendships are disrupted, and negativity abounds. Enter a positive, empowering confidence builder, doing it one affirmation at a time, allowing for role-playing with a dynamic Fashion Doll who lets you know that YOU are the HERO you are looking for!

On shelf at retail it’s impossible to miss For Keeps™, to not be drawn in by the packaging with its dynamic header messages scrolling across the top – “You Shine Bright”, “You Are Loved”, “You Are Talented”, “You Are Radiant”, “You are Awesome”, and “You Are Powerful”.

For Keeps™ - Ages 4+ with a $12.99 SRP.  Available this Holiday in select retailers, at www.TheLoyalSubjects.com, and on Amazon!  A perfect gift for the Holiday, a POWERFUL MESSAGE with a great Fashion Doll, packed with surprises!

Here’s to making Toys powerful and meaningful!  YOU ARE LOVE™!

For Keeps Social Media:

Instagram: @ForKeepsDolls

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ForKeepsDolls

Twitter: @DollsKeeps

Tik Tok: @forkeepsdolls

Hopefully everyone is catching a glimpse of the My Hero Academia show?  In between nerdgasms brought on by the Mandalorian, switch off the Boba Fett juice box, and get hip to one of the coolest Super Hero toons from Japan.  Nothing against Mandalorians, I think Bounty Hunters are cool too.  Looks like Disney made another bazillion dollars.  Let’s share that wealth around town, and get on the My Hero Academia train!

TLS gets a ton of flack on the Distribution – I get it, I love it, you guys want access, you want more, and we’re trying to give it to you!  My Hero Academia has character exclusives at Box Lunch, Hot Topic, and Game Stop, as well as color treatment exclusives, and we’re starting to see Froppy’s pop up at Barnes & Noble, and other great retail outlets!    Character exclusives are special.  It means a very expensive tool was made for a very limited run of an exclusive character.  I’m like the Larry guy from the “You're killing me Larry” Sit N’ Sleep commercials.  My partner is the dude pulling his hair out screaming, “You’re killing me Larry!”  I’m essentially giving it away to no profit of ours.  It’s a fortune to make a tool for a very low run character, a bloody fortune!  It makes zero financial sense but we do it.  Also, colors come in giant gallon paint buckets.  If we have something extremely limited like metallic paint, or an off color, or a Club 28, we still have to buy the whole bucket even if we’re only using a couple fluid ounces!  Industry insiders literally tell us we’re crazy but we do it anyway.  So when you're combing the aisle ONLY looking for chase figures, know that the commons were also a fortune to create, and there’s nothing common about them because they are all really limited in numbers.  As many know, TLS hardly uses a tool twice.  99.9% of the time, once it’s done, it’s done, there is no going back to the well.  There’s nothing common about any of our figures.  Our runs in scope and comparison are probably 10 times smaller to our competitors.  Not only are they limited, they have a ton of articulation, a ton of detail, and a collector card.  Outside of TLS, who’s doing anything remotely like this?  All the TLS faithfuls ,and new TLS fans should march out to Hot Topic, to Box Lunch, to Game Stop, to B&N, and go fill up your Holiday baskets with TLS My Hero Academia figures, undoubtedly the most fun, and in my opinion, the best range, and style that are in the market today, especially at the price. 

I see a ton of action in the group, folks are pretty excited about the line even if they have no idea what it is; queue Larry Engine Back, and some of the other TLS Army nicknames for the MHA characters.  Larry Engine Back, er, I mean, Tenya is pretty dang cool, the dude has drag racing exhaust pipes coming out of his legs, and ribs which makes him run a million miles a second.  That’s rad!  This set isn't accessory heavy, they're superheroes, their powers are in their “quirks” which are inside them, not in swords, shields, or other weapons BUT know the hands will fit the thousands of accessories from other TLS Action Vinyl lines, so make up your own stories!

We’re extremely proud of this line, took us nearly 11 months to build it to completion, a heck of a long time!  The figures have killer sculpt details, have killer paint details, and boast a great, fun character range comprised of your favorite characters!  It's a break out hit, introduce TLS to your friends (we’re working on a referral program right now, stay tuned), and continue to push TLS into the best toy box experience around!  Our great friends at Hot Topic, Box Lunch, and Game Stop have insane, high quality MHA exclusives, make sure you go check them out!  Available in ALL stores, unless a particular store has sold out.

Christmas is right around the corner.  I didn't forget about Thanksgiving, I love food too much to do that but Christmas is here, it’s always a chance to introduce TLS to a friend, or pile up stockings for your loved ones.  We are honored to be a part of your pop culture experience.

Check out the great My Hero Academia range from TLS, and check out the fantastic manga, and anime so you can get hip to one of the best, new superhero animations today!  It’s about time for new flavors in the superhero market!

Coming up in the next five days – Black Friday announcement, and more TLS updates.  Also, HUGE NEWS!  Our new website is set to launch on this coming Monday!  I know you guys will love the new format!

“Hey!  Look over there!”  “Where?”  “There!   What's that I see in Electronics?  I think I see The Loyal Subjects!  Right next to a pile of Funko, some McFarlane, and a little NECA!”  “Yeah man, finally!  We’ve hit the jackpot!”  Walmart’s locked and loaded!  A full statement of the heat seekers!  Go get ‘em!

I see it on the fan groups all the time, “TLS’ Distribution blows!”  How could this be true?  We have products in Walgreens, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Hot Topic, Box Lunch, Barnes & Noble, Rite Aid, Fred Meyer, FYE, Calendar Club, our own Amazon page (www.amazon.com/theloyalsubjects), Entertainment Earth, Diamond Comics, Big Bad Toy Store…and, we’re the little guy!  How can it blow if we’re in over 10k doors worldwide?  There are a ton of venues to choose from, more importantly, if we all get behind building our best toy box experience, clean those shelves dry, a new line of Horror will go in, Cowboy BeBop, Lord of the Rings, and a few surprises we have up our sleeves that we haven’t announced yet!  We have great exclusive packouts of My Hero Academia at your favorite retailers (Hot Topic, Box Lunch, and Game Stop)….we’re coming in RED HOT this Holiday Season!  Let’s take over the shelves where all that boring static stuff lives, take out all those lame, simple Action Figures…we have nearly 2,000 characters to choose your own adventure with, build your army with, and ransack Troy with!  The ONLY true collectible that you can, and want to play with, and it’s affordable!  And dang gone it, some of them sell for hundreds of dollars, even thousands of dollars, and there’s more of those on shelf right this minute, and they're only selling for $10-$14.00!  So, what are you waiting for?  Tell a friend, turn your bandmates on to TLS, your softball squad on to TLS, your racquetball Team on to TLS, your parent/teacher conference on to TLS, your favorite Fantasy Sports league on to TLS, your best pals onto TLS, your poker night on to TLS, your D&D meet up on to TLS, TELL EVERYONE!  It's time TLS takes over the game – we are the best damn 3”, playable, stylized Action Figure out in the market, at an affordable cost, period.  The best Holiday Gift this year!  Is it another Fingerling, some lame dust collecting statue, hell no, it’s TLS!  There, I said it, and I mean it.  If you see it, grab it, either for yourself, or do a friend a favor and plop one in their stocking this Holiday!

I’m proud of what this little Team of ours has done, what our community has rallied behind.  Everyone at TLS believes whole-heartedly that we're creating fun, dynamic, imaginative, and worthwhile experiences at a very low cost of entry.  I hope you guys do too.  Our mission is to build the ultimate toy box experience.  Get in the time machine to that 8 year old self…could you imagine if you saw shelves with nearly 2k characters from nearly 70 different licenses, and they all were about the same size, you could create any story you wanted with any character or groupings of characters, the figures are all articulated, came with a ton of interchangeable weapons, and also had exclusive trading cards?!  Man, you’d about die right on the spot.  That’s what we’re bringing!  And we’re bringing it to you now!  It's not all about the rare/chase finds…sure, that’s fun, and exciting but at the core TLS builds wonderfully, creative, and playable toys made up of a thousand heroes, and a thousand villains.  Doesn't get much better than that!

We’re not about manufactured hype, we’re about building quality products, having our figures stand on their own merits – great sculpts, great paint details, an expansive character range, killer accessories, trading cards, killer packaging design, super fun articulation…the imaginerium of our 8 year old selves in real time.  This is about quality, no gimmicks, no frills, just the real deal.

Shop TLS this Holiday, show the world that you’re aligned with a fun, imaginative, and quality provider for the coolest 3” Action Figures around!  Share your passions with your friends, turn TLS collecting into a game, “Hey! My 3 Jackalman take your 4 Triclops!”  Have fun, tell story, build that toy box, build those armies, and turn the lights on Action Figure collecting with the best choice this Holiday, TLS all the way!

Last Comment on the above – It’s no easy task launching 15 lines in 1 year, nor is it an easy task going up against the big wigs at retail but we’re doing it, and it’s all because of you guys!

Tomorrow, full details on TLS’ Mammoth Black Friday Sale.  Killer deals on killer products, you can’t lose!

FIND TLS NOW at these fine retailers:  Hot Topic, Box Lunch, FYE, Game Stop, Walmart, Target, Barnes & Noble, Calendar Club, Walgreens, Rite Aid, EB Games, Big W, Toys R Us (Canada), Liverpool (Mexico), Amazon.com/TheLoyalSubjects, Entertainment Earth, Diamond Comics, Tate’s Comics, Big Bad Toy Store, Newbury Comics, and your favorite toy, and comic book shop!

BLACK FRIDAY! BLACK FRIDAY! BLACK FRIDAY!  This coming WEDNESDAY! WEDNESDAY!  WEDNESDAY!  Read this with the monster truck “dude” guttural voice while Travis Pastrana flips a triple lindy over your head wearing skis, and Grave Digger smashes burnt out cop cars to AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’.  “Heck  Yeah!”, “Oh, Yeah!!!”, “Snap into a Slim Jim!” – all these mantras should play on repeat for each new sentence read in this blog post, or at the very least a looping “gif” of the images conjured by these iconic catch phrases.  TLS wants to be a part of your Super Bowl Halftime Show, and for Toy Collectors that Halftime Show is called “BLACK FRIDAY!”  Let's make this the biggest, baddest one yet!

We’ve (TLS) been working pretty hard the last 7 years, trying to perfect the craft of what we consider to be the most badass 3” Action Figure around.  At least that’s the high aim.  We pour a tremendous amount of love, passion, and effort into our products hoping they meet your standards, even more so, hoping they surpass.  Walking back through the lines in our showroom, picking up Turtles, Power Rangers, Thundercats, Attack on Titan, How To Train Your Dragon, Street Fighter, Mega Man, and Master of the Universe it’s hard not to pause, and think “Damn, these figures are absolutely badass.”  I did it yesterday!  Just walking our showroom, I’m reminded the helmets come off the Power Rangers figures in a mechanically sophisticated way, and in Wave 2 we have mini Power Rangers with removable helmets, and brilliant deco details on a surface the size of a pea!  We made Blindbox Zords!  That’s nuts!  I’m reminded the insane sculpt details on Mumm-Ra the Ancient, and Mumm-Ra the Ever Living!  The killer eye deco and animatic like expressions on Mega Man!  The great weapons, and accessories included in the MOTU line, the beautiful and artistic details represented in How To train Your Dragon, and the sophisticated construction displayed by the Dragons.  It’s hard for me not to immediately fall in love with every single figure once again!  I love TLS!  Sounds corny, biased, polyanna but it’s true, I absolutely love our products, and I love what we do!

At times the collector culture misses all the hard worked details and it immediately gets sidelined for “rarity”, and “fomo”, looking for after market gold.  I love the rare stuff too, it’s all important to the Brand but it’s good to stop, smell the roses, and really check out these unique figures, a whole universal platform which we’ve branded Action Vinyls.  It's unique, it’s detailed, it’s artistic, it’s imaginative, and it’s undeniably a barrel of fun!  There’s an opportunity to connect to previous lines, see if you have them in your collection, if not grab them at the Black Friday price or gift them to friends, and take your chance at turning friends, and fam onto TLS this Holiday Season, and sharing your passions!

The deal is simple (Have that monster truck voice looping through your head?)

1. All Legacy Lines (before 2019 are 60% OFF.  We don't have much left, just bits and pieces that were pushed into corners at the warehouse.  First come first serve.  They are brilliant, and undeniably worth a seat in your collection.  Some great exclusives, some great legacy products, all well crafted, and illumining with detail. 
2. All 2019 products are 40% OFF. We had a hell of a Comic Con this year, not much left but if you want to give a friend a very cool gift, here’s your chance!  Or, if you just want to keep one in the package for later, BOOM, backup loaded.
3. Orders over $100.00 (domestic) will receive FREE SHIPPING.
4. Orders over $250.00 (International) will receive $25.00 Shipping.
5. Orders $1,000.00 or more – we’ll email you about the shipping.
6. Sale starts Wednesday, Nov 27^th @ NOON PST, and Ends Cyber Monday at Midnight PST.
7. ONLY at www.theloyalsubjects.com
8. Orders will start prepping After Cyber Monday, and first ships will be that same week's Friday.

TLS might seem like a mass market Brand but we certainly don't behave like one.  Everything you see are Edition sizes born of the lowest numbers from some of the most expensive tooling blocks of the highest order.  A tremendous amount of work goes into every detail; concept, design, sculpt, tool development, product development, pre-production, production, packaging, packout, approvals – it’s a rubicon of biblical proportions.  Everything is RARE!  Better yet, RARE and AFFORDABLE! 

"You’re Killing Me Larry!"  Here’s our elevator pitch, copy and paste, and share with friends! 

"We've been cleaning house!  After organizing our warehouse we found all sorts of TLS GOLD!  ALL Legacy lines are 60% OFF!  What's a legacy line one might ask?  Everything produced before 2019!  Great deals on 8" figures, on 2 packs, and Convention exclusives!"

"All 2019 Items, including TLS 10 Year are 40% OFF!  Sales stars Wed, November 27th, at Noon PST, and ends Cyber Monday at Midnight!  Cash in on TLS Gold!

Let's make this a TLS Holiday!

“I ain’t afraid of no ghost!”  Something I never said, but Ray Parker Jr surely tatoo’ed this emphatic catch phrase into the ribs of pop culture.  In fact, I would deathly be afraid of wondering spirits, vapors, apparitions, creatures, entities, or energy wondering formless with ability to manipulate the physical world.  I clearly remember being a kid, my mother would buy the cardboard cut out Halloween decorations, the ones with the articulated arms and legs, and she would tape them to the atrium/doorway of our home.  One was Dracula, the other Frankenstein, and these cutouts scared the sh*t out of me.  These were cardboard cutouts!  My sister loved them, I hated them, I guess my inability to close within 50 feet of our front door prompted their removal.  My mother’s position, either the cutouts have to go, or we’ll never get our kid back inside.  The floating head at the Haunted Mansion was too much to set eyes on.  I clearly remember my mother, and sister getting in line for the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, I couldn't have been more than 5 years old, and as the story goes I tugged on my Dad’s shirt sleeve, looked up, and promptly asked “Why would mom go in there if she was going to die?”  I hadn’t quite matured the nuances and fun of it all.

When I was 10 my parents went to a viewing party for the midnight unveil for Michael Jackson’s new video epic, directed by John Landis, some Night of the Living Dead saga for a song called “Thriller”.  It was at the Chorak’s place, somewhere in Tustin Hills.  The Chorak’s were a fun, lively bunch, threw great parties, and had a son just a year or two younger then me.  I loved going over there, they had a joie de vie, and we're sort of reckless, the mother (Mrs. Chorak) eventually shot her other husband (another man not named Chorak) in the ass with a gun in a fit of passion/rage, and the two made up in jail, the man still with a hole in his a$$, and not the one you’re thinking of!  Dropping charges, embracing, all-the-while balancing on one butt cheek.  The same night no less.  Side tracking, back to Michael Jackson; everyone waited up to midnight, to watch this epic video production.  Michael Jackson was huge.  Different times, no Game of Thrones, no Breaking Bad… a video release, and the “making of” could bring folks together by the tens of millions to lay witness to synchronized jazz dancing, and werewolf special effects, played to an up-tempo R&B song with the squeal of a church organ, “It's Thriller! Squeeeal!”  People loved it.  The lead up was all hyped too, an hour of interviews, public interviews, interviews with John Landis, and eventually, the debut – “Thriller” in curdling blood spilt font dripping down the screen, then enter Michael Jackson, and his date.  All sorts of scary ensued, the werewolf transformation, cut to the dancing zombies, even the twist at the end.  I thought, man, it would suck to be buried, decay, and be set to rest in crappy grave clothes.  I had a full blown existential moment at age 10, “Thriller”, a Michael Jackson pop song, and good-humored video set me off into Sartre land, knowing I was going to die one day, and decay into the earth.  That was heavy for a 10 year old.

All things said, “Heck yeah, I’m afraid of a ghost.”

I remember seeing Ghostbusters in the movie theater.  A rollercoaster ride of playful terror, suspense, and the final exhale as the Ghostbusters freed Gotham, exalted from the evil clutches of Gozer, the Gozerian, a gender neutral demon dimension hopper, and destroyer of worlds.  The scenes were peppered with sexual innuendo, harassment, ghostly foreplay, and madcap nonsense, under the backdrop of Armageddon.  Quite a flick!  I still put my hands over my eyes for the first ghostly encounter in the basement of the New York City Public Library.  I remember being in the theater, with my dad, sitting to my left, and him jumping, banging his knee into the arm rest, then laughing in relief as the three idiots scramble through the front doors, out on to the steps, and back in to daylight, “Get her Ray!”  I was a fan, even though parts of the movie linked back to those Michael Jackson existential moments; that, I too, will one day decay, dirty, earthen, and passing into the unknown.  What a trip.

Until then, and being still alive in the here and now, TLS has done our best to bring the best characterizations of your favorites; Winston, Venkman, Spengler, Stantz, Dana, Janine, Slimer, Gozer, Zuul, and, of course, the character, and subsequent moment that saw my father jumping from his chair, the “Angry Librarian Ghost”.   Separately, we have a 5” Stay Puft Marhmellow Man, the “Destructor”.  The articulation is better, better range of motion, better construction, tons of great sculpt details, ghost traps, EKG readers, Walkies, Proton packs, a collection of accessories, great collector character cards, rare chase figures, Club 28, and a Gold Slimer! 

The Ghostbuster items are available now at Entertainment Earth, and Amazon, and quickly working their way to Walmart, and Target! 

So, when someone asks you, “Are you afraid of no ghost?”  You can reply, “I know a guy who is!”

Happy Hunting, and Happy Holidays!

PS I have a couple more blog posts to go til the year is up, I’ve been off the Blog for the past three weeks, partially because we are slammed with tradeshow season looming, CNY just about to break, and sharing our insane 2020 calendar with our Distributors, and reps. Sneak peeks ahead, including info on the Fox Animation pack (looks like this one is going to be a hit), a recap of Singapore, and of course my end of year recap, and lookout to 2020!  It’s been a wild ride this year!  Looking back, I’ve written a modest novella via the Blog this year, nearly 90 pages, not bad!  I hope the reads have been fun, I’ll keep it up, and hopefully it’s worth a continued read.  Just now, as I put the last period in the previous sentence, looking down at my desk to rest my eyes, to the left, none other than a Zuul prototype with his head cocked to the side looking up at me.  Strange, indeed.