TOKYO -- Toy and game maker Bandai has taken a 33.4 percent stake in Tsuburaya Production, the creator of the iconic Ultraman series, Bandai announced on Monday.

Bandai is purchasing the shares from TV production house TYO, which owns Tsuburaya as a 100 percent subsid, for 900 million yen ($8.5 million), while acquiring exclusive merchandising rights for Ultraman toys and other character goods. Bandai will also dispatch an auditor to Tsuburaya and co-operate with the company in visual contents production.

Bandai is already marketing Ultraman goods on an annual contract basis. By acquiring exclusive marketing rights in perpetuity the company hopes to strengthen its long-term marketing strategy, while boosting sales of Ultraman goods from the current $56.6 million annually to $94.3 million.

Founded by special effect wizard Eiji Tsuburaya in 1963, Tsuburaya Productions created many classic tokusatsu (live-action special effects) shows for television, including "Ultraman" and its many spin-off about alien warrior Ultramen and his extended family, who protect the earth from the incursion of space monsters. The company, however, could not save its falling bottom line and found shelter under the TYO corporate umbrella in October 2007.

Despite the Bandai stake, Tsuburaya will continue to be a TYO affiliate.

(Bandai has been producing Ultraman toys for decades -- and also deciding on the multi-form characters since TIGA -- so there's nothing to freak out about. In fact, we should be happy, which means that Bandai is risking their money to invest in the new merger. But, how this will effect other companies being allowed to make Ultraman merchandize, remains to be seen.)

LINK: http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/5348/1/