Sunrights has appointed licensing agency Ink ALC to represent the latest incarnation of  hit Beyblade spinning-top franchise, Beyblade Burst.

The deal will see Ink expand the Tomy-originated brand across media, consumer products, promotions and publishing in Central Eastern Europe, the Nordics, Russia and CIS.

Japanese toymaker Tomy, alongside Asatsu- and Mitsubishi-owned prodco d-rights, launched the third generation of Beyblade battle toys in Japan in July 2015. The new Burst range of spinning toys physically explode in battle and feature a digital component for tracking points, victories and defeats.

In February, Hasbro came on board as master toy licensee for the relaunched IP and will distribute Beyblade Burst tops, stadiums and accessories in North America later this year, and in most major international markets in 2017.

In terms of TV, the new Beyblade Burst animated series from producer OLM debuted in Japan last month.

Sunrights handles all broadcast, non-toy merchandising and promotional rights for Beyblade Burst outside of Asia.

Since the first two generations of Beyblade toys launched in 1999 and 2008, respectively, combined sales have reached over US$3.65 billion in more than 80 countries. Content based on the franchise currently encompasses seven series, two movies and three Nelvana/d-rights-produced spin-off series.