Virtual worlds ad agency Millions of Us has announced the launch of a new company, Virtual Greats, to take advantage of the growing virtual goods market, according to a report by Hollywood trade magazine Variety.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Virtual Greats seeks to sell hair styles, catchphrases, dance moves, clothing lines and other merchandise associated with aspirational characters and entertainment franchises over multiple virtual world and social media platforms.

With its debut, Virtual Greats also has announced distribution rights for virtual goods associated with Justin Timberlake, Elvis Presley, Tila Tequila, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Raven Symone, and The Incredible Hulk, across multiple media platforms. The company has also entered its first major venture with virtual world Gaia Online. Virtual Greats hopes to connect Gaia’s 5+ million users with its virtual goods.

Virtual Greats' entrance follows recent estimates from Charles River Ventures analyst Susan Wu predicting a virtual goods market growing in worth to $1.5 billion, based on Gartner Inc.'s research showing that 80% of internet users will have avatars by 2012.

Said Millions of Us CEO Reuben Steiger: The inspiration for Virtual Greats came when I realized that this was a $1.5 billion market without any high-value copyrighted material. Defining the market and acquiring these rights and distribution has been enormously rewarding.”