Wednesday, 17 December 2008
LONDON
4Kids Entertainment International has appointed Upper Deck International as distributor of toys for "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s," the newest series in the successful kids’ franchise. The agreement, which calls for Upper Deck to distribute product from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s master toy licensee Playmates Toys, covers territories in Europe and South Africa, including the UK & Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Benelux, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Greece, Israel, Turkey and South Africa. First products will be available in these territories beginning Fall 2009.
The toy line for Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s directly relates to the new TV show’s D-Wheels, Trading Cards, and Battling Monster Figures, as well as reflecting the show’s totally new look, exciting new storyline and emphasis on speed. New toys include figures, vehicles and a Wrist Dealer that holds and deals trading cards. The new figures are equipped with a special ‘resistor’ which retains information about the figures’ powers. They are compatible with the Yu-Gi-Oh! Reader, which keeps track of the dueler’s figure collection. Other new products include figures with a removable left fore-arm card dealer; Yusei’s duel disk that holds and flips cards and a line figure reader that reads the attack and defense points of other figures.
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s is the latest chapter in the successful Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise that started in 2001. Over 18 billion Upper Deck Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards have been sold worldwide, translated into seven languages and sold in 51 countries. Approximately six million 6-8 year olds collect and play the trading card game across the globe. The new series features new duelists, vehicles, speed, competition and challenges sparked by the recent technological advancements in Domino City, transformed into a futuristic metropolis where duelists battle it out in hi-octane contests called Turbo Duels. In this environment, the winners and losers are no longer separated by skill and strength but by speed.
"We’re thrilled that Upper Deck, already a key partner for Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards, will be distributing the new toys from Playmates in these key territories," said Sandra Vauthier Cellier, Managing Director, 4Kids Entertainment International.
"We are very excited to be representing the Yu-Gi-Oh! brand in both tcg and toys. This will allow us to synergize and bring the brand to the next level with this absolutely stunning new toyline", said Nico Blauw, CEO of Upper Deck International BV. "We look forward presenting the line to trade starting in Hong Kong early January".
With U.S. headquarters in New York City, regional offices for its trading card business in San Diego, California and international offices in London, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE) is a global organization devoted to the creation, development, production, broadcasting, distribution, licensing and manufacturing of children’s entertainment products.
Through its subsidiaries, 4Kids produces animated television series and films, distributes 4Kids’ produced or licensed animated television series for the domestic and international television and home video markets, licenses merchandising rights worldwide to 4Kids’ owned or represented properties, operates Web sites to support 4Kids’ owned or represented properties, and produces and markets collectible trading card games. Additionally, the Company programs and sells the national advertising time in TheCW4Kids five-hour Saturday morning block on The CW Television Network.
Additional information is available on the www.4KidsEntertainment.com corporate web site and at the www.4Kids.tv game station site.
UPPER DECK INTERNATIONAL B.V. is a premier entertainment publishing company and the industry leader in trading card games, delivering a portfolio of innovative and multi-dimensional product experiences to collectors, and sports and entertainment enthusiasts. Upper Deck International BV also develops, produces and distributes toys, puzzles, trading cards, stickers, family card games, board games, miniature board games, figurines, coins and various other collectible products.
For more information on Upper Deck, please contact press@upperdeck.com.
The information contained in this press release, other than historical information, consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. These statements may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Important factors beyond the Company's control, including general economic conditions, consumer spending levels, competition from toy companies, motion picture studios and other licensing companies, the uncertainty of public response to the Company's properties and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations
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