Marvel Entertainment, Inc., a global character-based entertainment licensing company celebrating the 70th anniversary of its founding in 1939, has partnered with Orange County Choppers (OCC), one of the world's premier builders of custom motorcycles, to launch an exclusive collection of co-branded motorcycles and merchandise featuring some of the most renowned Super Heroes in the Marvel Universe. The partnership with OCC - which was founded by Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr., who cemented their status as pop culture sensations with the hit reality series American Chopper on TLC - enables Marvel to leverage the power of both brands, expanding into previously untapped, non-traditional channels of retail distribution while extending the reach of its popular Super Hero franchise to new audiences.
Created in partnership between Orange County Choppers and Marvel, and available exclusively through the Orange County Chopper dealer network, the co-branded program includes production-line choppers and custom motorcycles as well as apparel, toys and collectibles. Incorporating the rough-and-tumble essence of Orange County Choppers, the deal includes premier Marvel character franchises and sub-brands including Classic Spider-Man, Classic Hulk, Classic Iron Man, Classic Wolverine, Marvel Heroes, Marvel Comics/Retro, Marvel Extreme, Marvel Universe and Marvel Studios' upcoming Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America and Avengers feature films.
"Orange County Choppers is synonymous with performance and innovation, recognized and respected around the world for their distinctive custom motorcycles," said Paul Gitter, President of Consumer Products for North America, Marvel Entertainment. "This partnership underpins our overall strategy to build exclusive co-branded partnership programs that open up new channels of distribution for Marvel, tapping into OCC's tremendous customer base and enabling us to further maximize the exposure for our brands."
Marvel and Orange County Choppers will celebrate the launch of this initiative and debut the co-branded apparel during OCC's annual fall event taking place at their headquarters in Newburgh, New York the weekend of October 17-18. Details for the event can be found at their website: HYPERLINK "http://orangecountychoppers.com" http://orangecountychoppers.com.
About Orange County Choppers
Paul Teutul, Sr., metalworker by trade and founder of Orange County Choppers, Inc., first began his business of building custom choppers out of the basement of his home in Montgomery, NY. With the creative help and following of his oldest son, Paul Jr., the two were soon on their way to the top with the success of Paul Sr.'s first bike, "True Blue" at Daytona Biketoberfest in 1999. From that point on, Paul Sr. knew he had something and established Orange County Choppers, Inc. that same year.
The Teutuls were quickly becoming recognized by chopper enthusiasts everywhere. They were not only making a name for themselves in the custom choppers world, but were picked up by the Discovery Channel in 2002 as the basis of what is now the hit television series, American Chopper, which currently airs on TLC. Their popularity has led them to build custom theme bikes for some of the biggest names in corporate America such as Microsoft, Lincoln and Coca-Cola. Today, Orange County Choppers is regarded as one of the world's premier builders of custom motorcycles.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 5,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in licensing, entertainment (via Marvel Studios and Marvel Animation) and publishing (via Marvel Comics). Marvel's strategy is to leverage its franchises in a growing array of opportunities around the world, including feature films, consumer products, toys, video games, animated television, direct-to-DVD and online. For more information visit HYPERLINK "http://www.marvel.com/" \o "http://www.marvel.com/" www.marvel.com.
