What is the origin of Frank Thomas NNOF?

[West]

From 1982:


"Space creature helps unemployment
Aug. 27, 1982

DURYEA, Pa. -- Topps Chewing Gum Inc., riding the success of the year's most popular space alien, says it will delay seasonal layoffs and recall other workers to meet the demand for 'E.T.' bubblegum cards.

Topps Chairman Arthur Shorin said Thursday the firm also plans to market other products related to the successful Steven Spielberg film later this year.

'We knew the movie had every chance to be a hit, but we didn't know how big of a hit,' Shorin said. 'We're delighted to see how it turned out.'

Topps spokesman Norman Liss reported 'excellent sales' of 'E.T.' cards, which it markets in 30-cent packets of 10 that also include a slice of gum and a sticker.

Liss said 25 employees who had been furloughed by the firm's Duryea plant will return to work Monday and the company will delay its usual seasonal layoffs to keep up with the demand.

The plant, which employs 675 people, makes the bubblegum sold with the 'E.T.' cards and the firm's more famous baseball and football cards.

Liss said the 'E.T' cards are printed 'in different places, which we don't say for security reasons.'

Shorin said Topps will introduce an 'E.T.' sticker album in the fall and plans to market plastic figures filled with candy by Christmas. Other products, which Shorin declined to describe, are on the drawing board.

'We have a good ability to maximize on a property such as this,' he said. 'At this point, we think good combinations are possible.'

Neither Shorin nor Liss would comment on how much revenue the company expects to realize from its 'E.T.' product line.

Shorin said the company obtained the bubblegum card rights to 'E.T.' long before the motion picture's release, 'but we had a great deal of faith in Steven Spielberg and his organomething America needs. It's a refreshing character.'
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