Spin Master today announced the relaunch of Bakugan in time for the property’s 10th anniversary. A new animated show, Bakugan Battle Planet, will be broadcast by Cartoon Network in the United States, Europe, and most of the globe, and by Teletoon in Canada.

The animated series follows the adventures of Dan and his best friends, the first kids on Earth to bond with the mysterious alien creatures known as the Bakugan.

Of course, integrated with the show will be a new toy line featuring the head-to-head battling game with collectible marble-like balls that pop open and transform in to various creatures when rolled over a magnetic card. Spin Master promises “exciting new features that bring revolutionary card and app play,” including graduated play levels, multiplayer games, and alternative strategy options.

Bakugan was a huge hit for Spin Master in the 2008-2011 time frame and drove major growth for the company, whose brands now also include Gund, Meccano/Erector, PAW Patrol, Etch A Sketch, Hatchimals, and Air Hogs.

Bakugan Battle Planet, the animated series, premiers in North America this December. Bakugan toys will be available in the first quarter of 2019.

Partnering with Spin Master on the return of Bakugan are animation companies TMS Entertainment and Nelvana. TakaraTomy will handle Bakugan toys in Japan.

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For its third-quarter financial results just reported, Spin Master Corp. earned revenue of US$386.8 million, an increase of 31.7 percent over the same quarter of 2014. Product lines that were major contributors include Paw Patrol (which the company expects will represent 20 percent of total sales by the end of the year) and Star Wars. Product launches for Meccanoid, Bunchems, Chubby Puppies, and Little Charmers also helped fuel growth, while the company experienced declines in the Zoomer, Digi Bird, Flutterbye Fairy, and How to Train Your Dragon lines.

Spin Master’s “activities, games & puzzles, and fun furniture” segment grew 25.4 percent, with year-to-date sales totaling $131.2 million. Bunchems, Text Cool, Knit Cool, and Marshmallow furniture were the top performers in this category.

Also factoring in to the company’s strong third quarter was a schedule of earlier deliveries. Due to specific efforts to move product earlier this year, as well as the impact of the port strike last year, Spin Master is shipping about 3 weeks ahead. As a result, the company expects fourth-quarter revenue to be slightly lower, though the overall second-half should still be up.

Reflecting expenses from its recent IPO, the company’s net income in Q3 was down 7.3 percent to $51.1 million (52¢ per share).

Spin Master continues to pursue acquisitions and recently closed on the purchase of Cardinal Industries. That pushed the company in to the number 2 position for U.S. market share in games.

One of the company’s hottest products this season, the Air Hogs Millenium Falcon, is tracking to sell out in early December.

Regarding future products, Spin Master has started work toward a relaunch of Bakugan.

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