Hot on the heels of securing the exclusive industry distribution rights to 2009 Toy of the Year, Ben 10, Brent Electronic has signed-up a further three big names in the form of Noddy and the collectible ranges for girls, KeyTweens and Star Friends.

Whilst Noddy requires little introduction, the iconic brand celebrates its 60th birthday this year with a week-long celebration in November, a TV series and a new classic book which has been written by none other than Enid Blyton’s grand-daughter.

Bandai will be hoping for similar longevity from its new toy characters. Seen for the first time at the Toy Fair held earlier this year, KeyTweens was launched to consumers in June supported by a huge PR and television advertising campaign. The extensive range of collectible figures and play sets aimed at girls aged 4-plus has, according to trade paper Toys 'n' Playthings, 'had a great response from retailers'. To ensure that the range reaches its full potential Bandai has teamed up with a number of key media partners including CBeebies Art which will be featuring a postcard insertion allowing children to design and colour their own adventure postcards.

Star Friends is a more conventionally styled doll but with a unique, talk about feature. Aimed at girls aged 3-plus it comes with a virtual pet that helps calm the baby to sleep by singing lullabies. As well as interacting with the doll the 'pet' also features two built-in games.

Explaining the importance of having the right calibre of licensed toys, Steve Short of Brent Electronic said: "Anyone who has children or grandchildren will appreciate quite how brand savvy they are. Kids, even from a very young age recognise the brands that they see on television and are no longer satisfied with ordinary SWAG. All of the Bandai products, which in addition to Noddy, KeyTweens and Star Friends include Ben 10, Pokémon, Tamagotchi and Power Rangers, are high profile international brands which will enhance significantly the appeal and commercial success of any redemption area, and they are of course, exclusive to Brent Electronic."

It's not just on the prize front that Brent is meeting the needs of the redemption sector. In January the company secured an exclusive UK and Europe-wide distribution deal with Deltronic Labs for a product range which included the company's popular upright and table top ticket eaters as well as the extensively used DL-1275 ticket dispenser. The relationship has allowed Deltronic to reach new customers as the demand for ticket redemption products continues to grow and for Brent to cement its position within the sector. The response to the range has according to Steve Short been very encouraging, enhanced by the ability to customise and brand tickets with the logo of the operator. Reflecting on Brent's position in the sector, he said: "In what is a short period of time we have become a full service supplier to operators and the more we add to our portfolio the more our customers come back to us wanting ancillary supplies."