Dream Express hopes to win rights to Ultraman characters in Thailand

The move opens up a new chapter for the Japanese superhero in this country follow¬ing a marathon licensing dispute between Japan's Tsuburaya Productions and Thailand's Tsuburaya Chaiyo.

Ultraman creator Tsuburaya Productions recently signed a deal with Media Network Retail, a leading local retail operator of VCD and DVD shops, which intended to apply for all rights to the new Ultraman Mebius char¬acter in Thailand.

Media Network Retail later withdrew from the franchise agreement.

"We are going to announce a new fran¬chisee deal with our Japanese partner for a new Ultraman superhero character in the next two weeks," said Dream Express gen¬eral manager Vichien Vangveravongsa.

"We believe in strong recognition and perception of Japanese superhero charac¬ters among consumers in Thailand," said Vichien. "And we are quite interested in the Ultraman characters as well."

Vichien said Dream Express had launched the "Masked Rider Kabuto" TV series on True Visions in February. The 49episode series has also been aired on Channel 9 since July 12, on weekends between 7.30am and 8am.

The "Masked Rider Kabuto" TV series debuted on Japanese TV in 2006.

"This will be kickoff time for the compa¬ny to market 'Masked Rider Kabuto' seri¬ously in Thailand, including the providing of licences to local merchandising producers to use the logo and picture of the Masked Rider Kabuto character on their products," said Vichien.

Vichien said Dream Express would con¬duct roadshows to schools and major department stores to build awareness of "Masked Rider Kabuto" among young con¬sumers.

"With the new superhero licences, includ¬ing 'Masked Rider Kabuto', we want to increase local licence revenues from those superhero characters by between 15 and 20 per cent this year," he said.

Vichien added that Dream Express would continue its negotiations with Japanbased Toei, producer of the Masked Rider charac¬ters, on the possibility of hosting an exhibi¬tion in Bangkok.