``This acquisition furthers our mission to bring the absolute best hobby experiences to our members and we see comics & action figures as an amazing expansion opportunity,'' said Brad Sobel, CEO/co-founder, eHobbies.com. ``NPO has become the preeminent brand on the Net for the entertainment hobbyist -- with the best features and products -- and it makes perfect sense for the two companies to join efforts and create an even more compelling experience.''

``eHobbies is the ideal partner for NPO -- we've been able to build the online comics and action figure business tremendously in the last 10 months and eHobbies will be able to bring NPO to the next level,'' said Milton Griepp, departing CEO, NPO. ``Our company's philosophies are extremely similar -- we've both taken the destination approach -- and it makes sense to bring the strengths of the two companies together to build a unique experience for hobbyists.''

The addition of NPO to the eHobbies family allows eHobbies to catapult into the $19 billion comics, action figure, and related products industry that attracts more than 40 million entertainment hobbyists. The acquisition comes on the heels of the online destination's addition of three new hobby categories -- astronomy, birding, and comics & action figures -- to round out its six other hobby categories. eHobbies plans to expand into multiple hobby categories throughout the year to live up to the promise of being the ultimate online destination for beginning and avid hobbyists. eHobbies.com, like NPO.com, features informative content -- articles, tips, reviews, how-to's -- and a robust community, in addition to auctions and more than 25,000 products in the store.

About eHobbies

Founded in March 1999 by two hobbyists -- Brad Sobel and Brent Cohen -- eHobbies is creating a new world for hobbyists at www.eHobbies.com, AOL Keyword: eHobbies. The company is dedicated to providing a unique experience for millions of hobbyists in a vertical destination with hobby-specific communities, compelling content, one-stop shopping including auctions, all while also introducing the joy of hobbies to a new generation. eHobbies features nine key categories: astronomy, birding, comics & action figures, diecast, models, radio control, rocketry, trains, and tools & supplies. The online destination launched Oct. 18, 1999 and was chosen as one of the top 100 Web sites in 1999 by PC Magazine. eHobbies.com was selected as one of the Feedback 50, a register of the best online companies for customer service in 1999, and was featured as one of the top 10 companies to work for by Inter@ctive Week (April 10, 2000). eHobbies' investors include eCompanies Venture Group, formed by Jake Winebaum and Sky Dayton; and TMCT Ventures, a private equity investment firm jointly owned by Chandler family interests and Times Mirror. eHobbies has headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif.

About NPO

NextPlanetOver (NPO) launched in August 1999 as the ultimate Web-based destination for the entertainment hobbyist, offering a comprehensive online store with thousands of items including comic books, graphic novels, film- and TV-related products, card and role-playing games, animated videos, Japanese anime, action figures and apparel. NPO offers its visitors unique content, messages and discussion boards designed to unite the comics & action figures community. A weekly editorial area, The Pulse, keeps visitors up-to-date on current releases and comic-book industry news.

NPO has exclusive partnerships with several key players in the comics and action figures industry, including Diamond Comic Distributors, which holds the world's largest inventory of in-print comic books. The company acts as the exclusive comic-book retailer for Stan Lee Media, which creates, produces and distributes globally branded Internet based super hero animation franchises created by pop-culture icon Stan Lee.

[Posted 5/26/2000]