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237 lines
11 KiB
237 lines
11 KiB
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THE BABYLON 5 PHENOMENON
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* Babylon 5 ranks #6 in the delivery of Men 18-49 and Men 25-54 out of
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19 action hour programs*, and #1 in the delivery of Men 18-49 and
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Men 25-54 VPVHs among all action hour dramas**. (Sources: *NSS
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SEASON-TO-DATE 9/4/95-3/17/96; **NSS. 9/25/95-2/11/96)
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* In Viewers for Quality Television's (VQT) monthly surveys, Babylon 5
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has regularly ranked high -- indeed, finishing #8 recently in a
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four-way tie, well ahead of every other science fiction show except
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"The X-Files."
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* The 1995 3rd Annual Sci-Fi Fantasy TV's Internet survey of nine
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newsgroups ranked Babylon 5 #1 among favorite shows -- followed by
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"The X-Files" at #2 and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" at #3.
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* A zealous fan recently spent considerable time on the Net tracking
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the number of times that Babylon 5 references could be found on the
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Web's some 21 million pages. The result? 20,000 pages that
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included Babylon 5, compared to 90,000 pages for the entire "Star
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Trek" legacy, 10,000 pages for "Star Trek: Deep Space 9," and 10,000
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pages for "Hercules." Pretty good for a show that had to create its
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own tradition!
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Fans Of All Stripes:
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* A representative of Army Broadcasting told Babylon 5's producers that
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the episode, "Eyes," was reviewed in the Army Ops. Center at the
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Pentagon for insight into military procedure and internal affairs.
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She also said that the Secret Service ran abstract psychological
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profiles on the characters in this episode, just as they do for
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criminals and terrorists, to serve as a research model.
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* Producer John Copeland says he's been informed that the Defense
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Department refers to Babylon 5 as "Force Multiplier" for its
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morale-boosting effect on the troops -- particularly those units
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stationed in remote areas like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
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* Also according to information conveyed to the producers, the Naval
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Intelligence Department constructed a test model for how computer
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networks are susceptible to compromise, and named each computer in
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the study after a Babylon 5 character. "And guess which one got
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compromised first," Copeland reports with amusement. "Londo."
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* The crew of the remote McMurdo military outpost in Antarctica have
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friends tape the show back in the States and ship it up in their
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twice-yearly supplies drop. Babylon 5 has also been adopted by Army
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Apache and Cobra units stationed at Fort Bragg and the crews of
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several aircraft carriers, including the U.S.S. Independence. As
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well, the producers have heard from a convent of nuns, college
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students, senior citizens, House Sciences Committee members,
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religious leaders, and "lots of ordinary folk. It's an incredibly
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diverse audience," says creator and executive producer J. Michael
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Straczynski. "They all seem to respond to the same thing, which is
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to see an honest-to-God saga on television."
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A Global Following
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* Babylon 5 is carried by networks in over 20 countries, including the
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U.K., Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Italy, Israel, Jordan,
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Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Phillipines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, and
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such unlikely places as Trinidad, Tobago, and Malaysia.
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"Internationally, we are a big success story," says executive
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producer Douglas Netter, noting that the show is in the Top Ten
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programs in England, where it is aired by Channel 4.
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Fans Who Really Care
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* When a television station in Greece declared bankruptcy last year and
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shut down literally in the middle of airing a Babylon 5 episode,
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hundreds of protestors with placards marched in front of the station
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the next day -- demanding that it return to the airwaves just long
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enough to finish showing the aborted episode. While they were not
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successful, the publicity did result in their getting another
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station to pick up the series.
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* In Canada's British Columbia, "a small, but vocal core of fans banded
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together on the Internet (the Vancouver Babylon 5 UseNet group is
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one of the most active TV groups on the local net) and lobbied CHEK
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to pick the show up for the third season," reported Vancouver Sun
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television writer Alex Strachan in December 1995, adding that "the
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Victoria station saw the opportunity to kill two birds with one
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stone: Resurrect Babylon 5, mollify the show's UseNet junkies, and
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fill a hole on Thursday nights."
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* San Jose Mercury News television writer Mike Antonucci also reported
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in 1995 that the viewers in his area were not happy about the final
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episodes of season two airing in the U.K. months before the U.S.
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"Not only did information about the episodes start to percolate on
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the Internet, but U.S. addicts wanted tapes (and right away, thank
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you). One Bay Area die-hard tells me that fans have gathered for
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home showings of said tapes, creating little festivals at which
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cultists grumbled about their second-nation status."
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* Among the scores of fan clubs around the world that have sprouted up
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during the last four years has been the UK Fan Club, which has shown
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its appreciation for the series by mounting the first-ever Babylon 5
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convention in September 1995, with another even-larger event (Babcom
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'96) planned for June 1996, to be attended by most of the show's
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stars.
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* Numerous Babylon 5 fan clubs have mounted their own Internet Web
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pages and created e-mail newsletters to keep local members informed
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of show developments -- and to mount crusades for better time
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periods an/or renewals when necessary.
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A Major Presence on the Internet
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* Babylon 5 is one of the most celebrated television shows on the
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Internet today -- with 265 fan-mounted Web sites, its own official
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home page, and daily online discussions on CompuServe, GEnie, Bix,
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Fidonet, and USENET. The show has become so popular on BBSes, in
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fact, USENET's rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5 area recorded over 100,000
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messages in 1995 alone. "We went from 0 to becoming the 18th
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biggest group on the entire Internet within a period of a couple of
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months," says Straczynski.
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* A dedicated Internet navigator since 1984 (when he became the first
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television writer on CompuServe), Straczynski is in fact the only
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television executive who interacts regularly with fans, consistently
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putting in three to four hours a day -- seven days a week -- reading
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the some 500 Babylon 5-related daily postings put up by fans. Why?
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"Because on the nets, you get questions you never dreamed of, which
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helps me strengthen my characters and the world of the show," says
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Straczynski -- who has written a phenomenal 49 of the show's 66
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total episodes to date (including the entire third season). "It's
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been an interesting experiment in truly interactive TV. A viewer can
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watch our show and 10 minutes later be online with the person who
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wrote it, created it, and produced it. And do the same thing next
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week, and the week thereafter. I think it's helped to demystify TV,
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which was one of my goals."
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* "J. Michael Straczynski is changing not only the way people look at
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television, but far, far, far more importantly, the way TV looks at
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people. In fact, he seems to be boldly going where no producer has
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gone before -- to the fans, via the Internet," reported Brad Bailey
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in Dallas' Arts & Entertainment Weekly in March 1995. Bailey also
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related how he had "sent up a public post to the Netheads at large,
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timidly offering the fact that I was a writer friendly to the show
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who was looking into the Babylon 5 phenom as a topic for a possible
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article. "In fact, the sheer volume of viewer response from Netheads
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who are also Bab5heads was nothing less than amazing, in and of
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itself: some 250,000 bytes, roughly 50,000 words...of intelligent,
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articulate, well-thought-out praise for the show and its creator. "I
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had also told those folks that I would be willing to do them the
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hugely condescending favor of asking any questions that they might
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want to forward along to Big Writer Me, just on the off chance that,
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waving my press card and touting my Representative of the People
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status, I would be able to rat-terrier Straczynski's people into
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maybe getting to do at least a short interview. As regards this
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Once-in-a-Lifetime Offer, I got numerous responses, but none like I
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expected. "As David Bilek put it: 'First off, in regards to getting
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'some sort of access' to the executive producer, Joe Straczynski,
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you don't need to go to all that trouble. He reads and responds
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regularly to the Babylon 5 newsgroup, and the Babylon 5 category on
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GEnie, home of the Grid Epsilon Irregulars. So, if you have
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questions for the guy, just send them to him.'" Bailey did, and got
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back 15,000 bytes (or 3,000 words) from JMS in response to his
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questions.
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An Expanding Universe of B5 Merchandise
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Following are only a few of the exciting collectibles currently
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available. Internet users: The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5:
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Resources: Products maintains an updated list of current and upcoming
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items (http://www.hyperion.com/lurker.html).
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* The Babylon 5 Original Soundtrack
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Composer Christopher Franke, one of the pioneers of electronic music
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and a former member of Tangerine Dream, has reorchestrated his
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original, powerful scores and primary themes for B5 into four
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uninterrupted suites, merging the worlds of classical and electronic
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music. Audio clips available for downloading from Sonic Images
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Internet site: http://sonicimages.com.
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Available in compact disc from major retail outlets, Internet virtual
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stores, or directly from Sonic Images (213-650-4400).
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* The Babylon 5 Limited Edition CD-ROM Entertainment Utility
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Contains a hi-tech screen saver -- featuring actual video clips from
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the series -- and over 100 colorful images, 50 AudioClipsTM, 30
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Wallpaper Images, Q SoundTM enhanced. (For Windows 3.1 or later; a
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Macintosh version soon to be released.)
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Available from SoundSource Interactive (800-877-4778).
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* Babylon 5 Character Costumes and Masks
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Four costumes and two masks currently available from Uncomyn Gifts
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(800-875-6926 or 360-866-6674).
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* Babylon 5 Micro Machines
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Two new 3-pack collections -- featuring 6 new space vehicles -- coming
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April 1996, in addition to the four continuing collections.
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Available at all major toy retailers.
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* * *
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