Examples include Mary Meyer's Print Pizzazz, Douglas CuddleToy's Fuzzles, and Fiesta's Pick Me.

Perhaps surprisingly, few artists with licensing programs have lent their names to such lines. It's true that plush makers can create royalty-free designs using their in-house staff, and they look similar to anything an art licensor could create. But it seems that the combination of a strong art brand and distinctive all-over printed patterns would boost sales.

Specialty plush maker Yottoy, which specializes in plush based on book characters, has created such a line with artist Kim Parker, who is known for her floral prints. The plush, based on her children's book, Counting in the Garden, has been on store shelves for several years.

It seems that this is an untapped opportunity for artists and surface designers, especially those with a signature pattern-based style and a recognizable brand name.

• AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com signed All Things Equal to create a board game and puzzle collection based on its comedy website, which attracts 20 million visitors per month.

• Zynga signed Hasbro to create toys and games based on its properties, which include CityVille, FarmVille, and Worlds with Friends.

• Miniclip.com, a web and mobile gaming site, retained Dimensional Branding Group as the licensing agent for its characters and titles. About 65 million unique users play its 650 games, such as Gravity Guy and iStunt 2.

These introductions join an ever-growing roster of digital properties. In addition to relatively established examples such as Angry Birds, Club Penguin, Annoying Orange, and Moshi Monsters, some of those jumping into the licensing arena recently include Fruit Ninja, Doodle Jump, Talking Friends, Cut the Rope, Where's My Water?, and Randall's Honey Badger, to name a few.

For example, Matthew Langille, who creates artwork for fashion houses, designed a line of eco-friendly cloth diapers for luxury diaper brand Charlie Banana, while fashion designer Cynthia Rowley developed a line of Pampers in pastel patterns for Target. Of course, characters long have been licensed for disposable diapers; recently Pampers began featuring Sesame Street characters on its Pampers Cruisers line.

In a related development, a diverse group of properties has been licensed for diaper pails in the last year to 18 months as well, including The Beatles' Yellow Submarine to Diaper Dude and Arm & Hammer to Munchkin.

• Actor Blair Underwood signing with K&G Fashion Superstore for the exclusive BU Collection.

• Mark Ecko pairing with Burton for a cut-and-sew collection in the UK-based licensee's stores and on its website.

• Lifestyle brand Robert Graham granting the HMX Group rights for two tailored suit collections. They include a higher-end line under The Robert Graham Collection name and a more moderately priced Robert Graham label.

• Macy's expanding its Donald J. Trump Signature Collection to include suits and other tailored clothing through licensee Peerless.

Richard James, a menswear designer on London's Savile Row, even signed a license for SpongeBob Squarepants, producing a bright yellow sports jacket with SpongeBob graphics, along with several brightly patterned shirts and ties.

Meanwhile, Haspel, the menswear brand known for creating the seersucker suit, has added to its licensing program, signing Components by John McCoy for men's sportswear. Haspel also has deals in place for jewelry, outerwear, dress shirts, and neckwear.

• So many pop-culture-focused e-commerce sites have come on the scene, allowing the aggregation of scattered audiences into a viable whole. Gold Label is just one of several such e-stores; it sells products tied to everything from Rambo to The Princess Bride.

• Marketers and retailers of traditional, bricks-and-mortar-distributed products are increasingly looking for something truly unique to set them apart. A license with a classic TV show or film is likely to be a 100% exclusive, while deals involving contemporary properties may grant only a thin slice of exclusivity. Pull & Bear has been the only source for Star Trek: The Animated Series t-shirts, through its 650 stores in 45 countries.

• Studio licensors are increasingly mining their archives for licensing potential. Again, this is something that happens periodically. But with new content-distribution opportunities, combined with the ongoing struggles of traditional entertainment licensing, this technique is likely here to stay this time. Sony has been signing licensees for its classic films, from Stand by Me to Joe Dirt, while CBS and NBC are among the property owners actively licensing classic TV shows.

• The multiplicity of traditional and digital outlets for entertainment, from YouTube to cable channels to Netflix, gives these properties a currency they didn't used to have. Rather than being positioned as nostalgic fun for the original audiences, they can be targeted toward fans of all ages who are intimately familiar with them. The 1983 film A Christmas Story is as fresh as ever today thanks to annual holiday marathons on the TBS cable network; in 2011, Walgreens featured exclusive product displays in 6,000 stores.

From Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure to the Brady Bunch, watch for more classic films and TV series to live on through merchandise.