Tyndale House Publishers, which distributes the "Odyssey" products, turned part of its booth into a mini replica of the famed ice cream parlor that is central to the series with a checkered floor, diner-style tables and a giant-sized wall menu featuring Odyssey's signature wodfamchosod, "World famous chocolate soda."

Visitors to the booth were given free anniversary T-shirts, cream soda-style water bottles and flashing lapel pins, while life-sized Whit and Eugene characters from the show toured the exhibit floor.

Featured at the booth was the recently introduced spinner rack that displays all the 50-plus products available in the "Odyssey" line, drawn from 600 radio episodes. A new Platinum Collection CD set comprising 36 classic episodes in 12 disks, retailing for $39.97, releases this month.

Josh Shepherd, associate manager of product marketing for Focus on the Family, said that the Odyssey celebration had attracted a lot of interest. Stores that had introduced the new display rack had doubled or even tripled Odyssey sales in some cases, he added.

Odyssey was also being promoted at Digital Praise's booth, where the computer game company was introducing Answer That! Adventures in Odyssey game. Due to arrive at retail in October, the DVD-based board game offers multilevel play with questions based on the Odyssey radio, DVD, and book stories and general interest.

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