Publisher adds Wild Isles, Hornby and Airfix brands to its card collections
Nostalgia and nature licences have combined to give Abacus Cards a hat trick of fresh greeting card collections that will have a wide appeal.
“We have successfully secured two brand-new licences,” studio manager Liz Ellis told PG Buzz, “the first being the hugely-popular BBC tv series Wild Isles and for the second we’ve partnered with Hornby Hobbies, this includes both the Airfix and Hornby model brands.”
Wild Isles is a ground-breaking, prime-time BBC series presented by Sir David Attenborough, where the documentary conveys a story of hope in a time of crisis for UK nature as the show and book celebrate the country’s majestic mountains, freshwaters, grasslands, forest, coastal and marine habitats.
Reaching audiences of over five million viewers overnight, Silverback Films worked alongside WWF, RSPB and the National Trust to record amazing film footage, which Abacus has used to create the new photographic range showcasing dramatic and beautiful landscapes and wildlife shots.
Liz added: “This captivating photographic range helps to highlight the brilliance of our natural world, as well as remind us to keep our wild isles safe for future generations.”
Wild Isles is the latest in the long-running partnership between Abacus and the broadcaster, with its BBC Springwatch collection a finalist in the 2023 Licensing Awards, BBC Countryfile was one of this year’s Henries Awards finalists, and it also has a successful BBC Gardeners’ World range.
Keeping with the nature theme, the 160x160mm blank cards will be available either packaged with a fully-recyclable paper branded Kard Klasp label or wrapped with Nativia clear film bags that are compostable, biodegradable and recyclable.
Both Airfix and Hornby lend themselves to nostalgic male-oriented birthday ranges aimed at modelling enthusiasts and collectors of the famous brands.
Airfix is a renowned British brand and former manufacturing company which produced injection-moulded plastic scale-model kits legendary for the detail. Its collection encompasses a wide range of kits ranging from WWI, WWII, the Cold War to modern crafts as well as supercars.
The vintage-inspired collection of aviation-themed greeting cards encompasses classic aircraft through to modern jets, and the imagery featured depicts popular aviation designs from Airfix-branded models, all created by renowned artist Adam Tooby.
The 5x7in designs each feature the Airfix logo along with copy relating to the featured aircraft and the reverse has detailed information relevant to the model.
Hornby is the world of model railways, an iconic brand spanning more than a century which started with the gift of a train set becoming synonymous with Christmas. These days the interest in model engines is huge – famous enthusiasts include Sir Rod Stewart, Pete Waterman, Jools Holland and Susan Calman.
With the Hornby logo on the front and details of the feature set or locomotive on the reverse of the 5x7in cards, Liz said: “Many enthusiasts have reignited their interest, the wonderful thing about model railways is that it has many facets that appeal to a wide range of aficionados. Whether their passion lies with steam locomotives or high-speed engines we’ve got it covered.”
All three ranges are available to pre-order, and will be dispatched to customers in early January.
