Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 25, 1994                   TAG: 9407060023
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LONDON                                  LENGTH: Medium

MR. BLOBBY PLANS TO `BLOBBY' HIS WAY INTO CHILDREN'S HEARTS

Americans are getting a taste of the stuff Britons really watch: Mr. Blobby, a fat, clumsy, pink creature resembling a giant, polka-dotted jellyfish.

For the British Broadcasting Corp., he's been very, very profitable. Now he carries the corporation's hopes of beating Barney the purple dinosaur in the rich U.S. children's market.

``We're talking tens of billions of dollars here,'' Michael Gury, vice president for product marketing at BBC Lionheart Television, said Friday.

Or as Mr. Blobby would say: ``Blobby! Blobby! Blobby!''

A long way from Noel Coward, but it works. Lyrics crafted from Mr. Blobby's one-word vocabulary produced a No. 1 record - confirmed this week as Britain's best-selling single of 1993.

Not to mention the Blobby video, Blobby T-shirts, Blobby bubble bath, Blobby wallpaper, Blobby pink lemonade and a Blobby theme park. There are even Blobby pirates, out to cheat the BBC of Blobby earnings with Blobby fakes.

When Mr. Blobby visited the old seaside resort of Brighton recently, the BBC said he drew 19,000 fans.

``Only the British would travel hundreds of miles to pay homage to a lump of pink rubber,'' said Noel Edmonds, host of ``Noel's House Party,'' Mr. Blobby's Saturday prime time showcase.

Based on Mr. Blobby's appearance last week at the International Licensing and Merchandising Conference and Exhibition Show in New York, Gury thinks Americans may be as susceptible - and not just kids. ``The licensing offers we got - for boxer shorts for men, and ties and braces, you know - would suggest also that those folks see an appeal in a sort of a camp fad marketplace,'' Gury said in a telephone interview from the United States.

Lionheart, the BBC's marketing arm in the United States, is still working on a television showcase for Mr. Blobby.

Gury said he had been skeptical about Blobby in the U.S. market but has been encouraged by the response from test groups.

Some parents, he said, expressed a preference for Blobby over Barney.

``We didn't position ourselves as the anti-Barney. That just happened.''