RC2 Corporation Acquires JJ Cole® Collections; Expands RC2’s Presence into Mother, Infant and Toddler Stylized Travel, Storage, Convenience and Comfort Products

RC2 Corporation (NASDAQ: RCRC), a leading designer, producer and marketer of a broad range of innovative, high-quality products for mothers, infants, and toddlers, as well as toys and collectible products sold to preschoolers, youths and adults, today announced it has completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of JJ Cole Collections (www.jjcolecollections.com), a privately-held, developer and marketer of mother, infant and toddler stylized travel, storage, comfort and convenience products.

JJ Cole Collections’ premium branded products generated net sales of approximately $15.5 million in 2009. RC2 funded the acquisition with approximately $40 million from its existing cash. JJ Cole Collections’ senior management will retain approximately 9% carry-over ownership. Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed. This transaction is expected to increase RC2’s second half 2010 diluted earnings per share by approximately $.05, excluding the impact of transaction costs. Accretion expected in 2011 ranges from $.20 to $.25 per diluted share depending on the timing of realizing sales and integration synergies.

JJ Cole Collections is best known for its bundleme® brand of soft, comfortable travel products. JJ Cole Collections has recently developed a line of highly stylized diaper bags, blankets and soft goods as well as decorative and convenient nursery storage products. Key management, including JJ Cole Collections’ CEO and founder Jeremy White, will remain with the company and will continue to expand JJ Cole Collections as a premium brand.

Curt Stoelting, CEO of RC2, said, "We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of JJ Cole Collections. Their existing and recently developed innovative mother, infant and toddler products are a great fit with our existing The First Years® and Lamaze® brands and, there is very little product overlap. We plan to aggressively expand JJ Cole Collections into new product areas consistent with the brand’s premium positioning. The acquired brands and products and the new additions to our management team allow us to rapidly expand our presence in stylized and fashion-driven mother, infant and toddler products.”

Conference Call Information

A conference call has been scheduled to be held at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Thursday, August 5, 2010. The dial-in number is 800-843-7966 and refer to conference ID# 92762286. Additionally, presentation materials will be webcast during the call and can be accessed at RC2’s website at www.rc2.com/webcast, where a link will be established to access the webcast materials. Please log on at least fifteen minutes early to register, download and install any necessary software. For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, replays will be available shortly after the call on RC2’s website at www.rc2.com/webcast through September 3, 2010.

Company Description

RC2 Corporation (www.rc2.com) is a leading designer, producer and marketer of a broad range of innovative, high-quality products for mothers, infants, and toddlers, as well as toys and collectible products sold to preschoolers, youths and adults. RC2’s mother, infant, toddler and preschool products are primarily marketed under its Learning Curve^® (www.learningcurve.com) family of brands which includes The First Years^®, Lamaze^® and JJ Cole® Collections brands, as well as popular and classic licensed properties such as Thomas & Friends, Bob the Builder, Super WHY!, Chuggington, Dinosaur Train, John Deere, Disney’s Winnie the Pooh, Princesses, Cars, Fairies and Toy Story, and other well-known properties. RC2 markets its youth and adult products primarily under the Johnny Lightning^® (www.johnnylightning.com) and Ertl^® (www.ertl.com) brands. RC2 reaches its target consumers through multiple channels of distribution supporting more than 25,000 retail outlets throughout North America, Europe, Australia, Asia Pacific and South America.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this release are considered "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as "anticipate,'' "estimate,'' "believe,'' "confidence,'' "could,'' "expect,'' "intend,'' "may,'' "planned,'' "potential,'' "should,'' "will,'' "would'' or the negative of those terms or other words of similar meaning. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results and future developments could differ materially from the results or developments expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: the Company is dependent upon continuing licensing arrangements with owners of popular and classic licensed properties such as Thomas & Friends, Chuggington, Dinosaur Train, Bob the Builder, certain Disney properties and John Deere, vehicle manufacturers, agricultural equipment manufacturers and other licensors; the effect on the Company’s business of the termination of the license of the Take Along Thomas & Friends die-cast product line at the end of 2009; risks related to product recalls or product liability claims, compliance with product safety standards and the effect of recalls on the Company’s relationship with licensors, including the effect on renewal and retention of licenses; our business depends on our ability to conceive, design and market new products that appeal to consumers and on continuing market acceptance of our product offerings; uncertainty and potential adverse changes in the general economic conditions in the Company's markets, including fluctuating oil prices, declining consumer confidence, unemployment, fluctuations in stock markets, contraction of credit availability, bankruptcy or liquidity problems with our customers or other factors affecting economic conditions generally; currency exchange rate fluctuations, including in the Chinese renminbi, the Hong Kong dollar, the British pound sterling, the Australian dollar, the Euro or the Canadian dollar, could increase the Company’s expenses or reduce the U.S. dollar value of the Company’s assets denominated in foreign currencies, including funds the Company needs to transfer to the U.S.; increases in the cost of raw materials, labor and other costs to manufacture the Company’s products could increase the Company’s cost of sales and reduce the Company’s gross margins; the Company’s ability to comply with covenants in its credit facility; competition in the markets for the Company's products may increase significantly; the Company is dependent upon the continuing willingness of leading retailers to purchase and provide shelf space for the Company's products; the Company may not be able to collect outstanding accounts receivable from its major retail customers; the Company relies upon a limited number of independently owned factories located in China to manufacture a significant portion of its products; the Company may not be able to manufacture, source and ship new and continuing products on a timely basis; the Company is dependent upon timely shipping of product and unloading of product through West Coast ports as well as timely rail/truck delivery to the Company’s warehouse and/or customers’ warehouses; customers and consumers may not accept the Company’s products at prices sufficient for the Company to profitably recover development, manufacturing, marketing, royalty and other costs; the inventory policies of retailers, together with increased reliance by retailers on quick response inventory management techniques, may increase the risk of underproduction of popular items, overproduction of less popular items and failure to achieve tight shipping schedules; the risk of future write-downs of intangible assets; and the Company may experience unanticipated negative results of litigation. Such uncertainties and other operational matters are discussed further in the Company's quarterly and annual filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to make any revisions to the forward-looking statements contained in this release or to update them to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release.