With more than US$1 billion in retail sales under its wing, Activision’s Skylanders took home the award for overall best licensed program at yesterday’s Excellence Awards hosted by the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA). Hot Topic, meanwhile, was named best retailer for The Hunger Games program.

This year’s total 15 award recipients were chosen from a list of nominees via an industry-wide search and were determined by a vote of LIMA’s membership. The awards are designed to honor the best, most successful licensed properties, products and campaigns across five categories: Art or Design; Character or Toy Brand; Corporate Brand; Film, Television, Celebrity or Entertainment; and Sports.

The list of winners includes:

ART OR DESIGN

• Best Art or Design Program of the Year The Very Hungry Caterpillar/The World of Eric Carle (by Eric Carle Studio/The Joester Loria Group)

• Best Art or Design Licensee of the Year Kids Preferred for The Very Hungry Caterpillar/The World of Eric Carle)

CHARACTER OR TOY BRAND

• Best Character or Toy Brand Program of the Year Skylanders (by Activision Publishing, Inc.)

• Best Character or Toy Brand Licensee of the Year – Hard Goods  LEGO (for Marvel Super Heroes)

• Best Character or Toy Brand Licensee of the Year – Soft Goods Alfred Angelo (for Disney Fairy Tale Weddings)

FILM, TELEVISION, CELEBRITY, OR ENTERTAINMENT

• Best Film, Television, Celebrity, or Entertainment Program of the Year Marvel’s The Avengers (by The Walt Disney Company/Marvel Entertainment)

• Best Film, Television, Celebrity, or Entertainment Licensee of the Year – Hard Goods  CVS/Pharmacy (for NUANCE Salma Hayek)

• Best Film, Television, Celebrity, or Entertainment Licensee of the Year – Soft Goods Vans (for Yo Gabba Gabba!)

PROMOTION

• Best Licensed Promotion of the Year  50 Years the Art of Soup: Campbell Soup Company (for Andy Warhol at Target)

A full list of  winners can be found at www.licensing.org.