Many thanks to Kym Taborn for the following article

Copyright 1998 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd,   
The Toronto Star
April 14, 1998, Tuesday, Edition 1

: 692 words  
: XENA: MARKETING PRINCESS COMES IN S, M, L, AND XL  

BY: Rajiv Surendra  


    There are Xena posters, CDs, trading cards, figures, weapons and
 jewelry
 
 She and her leather-clad, copper-armoured bustier are well known
 on television in 80 countries.
 But Xena: Warrior Princess (Wednesdays at 9 p.m. in Channel 3, 
 Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. in Channel 6 and 41 and throughout the 
 week on superchannels) isn't just a television show starring 
 29-year-old Lucy Lawless as a retired'' warrior who puts her 
 civil ways behind her.
 She's a marketing dream.
 After the third episode in 1995, with millions tuning in each 
 week, toy manufacturer Toy Biz added two different Xena action 
 figures to their Hercules action figures.
 These five-inch Xena action figures were selling for $9.95 in 
 1996, but the price has doubled since then because of limited 
 production.  

  Originally, Toy Biz worried the Xena dolls wouldn't sell because 
 the character was female. They planned to send stores one Xena 
 toy for every 13 Hercules they ordered. But stores found people 
 were phoning in orders for the dolls, creating waiting lists.
 After Toy Biz received complaints about the limited amount of 
 dolls, they produced another small batch of Xena dolls.
 The action figure had removable clothing and when that clothing 
 was removed, the figure revealed a painted-on black lingerie.
 A few months later, the artists at Creation Entertainment created 
 three photorealistic Xena T-shirts. They sold well, but not as 
 well as the action figures. Somewhere along the line, Creation 
 Entertainment also released Xena Glassware, ranging from beer 
 mugs to shot glasses. Prices are in the vicinity of $15 each.
 Xena wall posters, selling for about $12 each, featured a 
 blown-up portrait of Lucy Lawless and Xena on a sepia background. 
 Xena's sidekick, Gabrielle, was not as popular as the warrior 
 princess, but she, too, had a T-shirt and poster made in her 
 honour.
 Then came Xena: Warrior Princess jacket made of wool with leather 
 sleeves, available for kids and adults in medium, large and extra 
 large. The jackets carried the Xena logo on the front and an 
 embroidered slogan, Battle on, Xena'' on the back. The idea of 
 Xena toothbrushes was brought up, but never went anywhere.
 Last December, Creation Entertainment released six more Xena 
 T-shirts that are available at most specialty comic stores 
 including Silver Snail Comics (367 Queen St. W., 2374 Yonge St.) 
 in Toronto.
 Xena postcards offered two poses, one vigorous, the other a more 
 gentle side. Xena full-color 8-by-10 pictures using chromium 
 graphics showed Gabrielle, Callisto, Xena's arch-enemy and, of 
 course, the warrior princess herself. The Xena trading card set 
 was released in March.
 The exotic background music on the show has been released on 
 compact disc, in two volumes. The first included such songs as 
 Glede ma Glede, which was sung without music by a group of 
 Bulgarian singers and music Xena bellydanced to in one episode. 
 Volume 2 featured music from the show's second season, including 
 the Emmy-nominated episode Destiny.
 In the past year, Universal Studios, the producers of Xena, had 
 been under pressure to release the licence for companies to 
 produce Xena's discus-like throwing weapon, the chakram. It's 
 gone to Icons Authentic Replicas Inc., which includes a 
 certificate of authenticity.
 A chakram pin, pair of earrings, key chain or necklace are 
 available from Creation Entertainment, or at Silver Snail Comic 
 shops. Chakrams were used by Sikh warriors about 300 B.C. 
 Boulevard Press has published the Xena library, novels written by 
 Ru Emerson. And coming this month, Toy Biz is releasing Xena 
 six-inch figures.
 How did this entire industry come about? Some fans were attracted 
 to the breathtaking New Zealand scenery. Some were attracted to 
 hints Xena and Gabrielle may be lesbians. But many remain 
 attracted to the storylines: faith, hope, death, feuding and the 
 stuff of everyday life.
 Rajiv Surendra is a 13-year-old Xena fan who lives in 
 Scarborough.
 
 
  GRAPHIC: UNIVERSAL APPEAL: 
 Xena is on TV in 80 countries and in stores everywhere.