Upper Deck Secures Rights to Hello Kitty^® Brand!

 

Multi-Year Arrangement Includes Rights to Produce Collectible Miniatures & Stickers Trading Card Game Starting in Spring 2010

 

Carlsbad, CA (October 15, 2009) – The Upper Deck Company is pleased to announce that it has entered into a new licensing agreement with Sanrio Global Consumer Products to produce a Hello Kitty collectible miniatures & stickers trading card game (TCG) starting next spring. The multi-year arrangement provides Upper Deck with the rights to produce the TCG based on the iconic brand which will be celebrating her 35^th anniversary in November. The first release is scheduled to hit the market in March 2010.

 

“We are so excited to be adding such a global icon to our product portfolio,” said Margeaux Sullivan, Upper Deck’s Hello Kitty brand manager. “Hello Kitty has been charming girls of all ages around the world for more than three decades and we look forward to helping her celebrate her 35th anniversary."

 

Targeted to young girls and tweens, the fun-to-play TCG will include collectible figures, stickers and trading cards that will appeal to Hello Kitty fans. Upper Deck is planning to issue three concurrent releases next year.

 

“We are pleased to partner with an established brand such as Upper Deck,“ says Janet Hsu, President of Sanrio Global Consumer Products. “As we celebrate Hello Kitty’s 35th Anniversary this year, we are excited to bring forth a new category that aligns perfectly with Sanrio’s mission of offering fans a variety of fun collectible products to trade and share with friends.“

 

The Hello Kitty collectible miniatures & stickers trading card game (TCG) is one of many special releases honoring 35 years of Hello Kitty.  SANRIO is celebrating Hello Kitty’s 35^th Anniversary with an exclusive offering of commemorative products, special brand collaborations and ‘Three Apples’, a three week, multi-dimensional event that includes a product retrospective & exhibition at Royal/T in Culver City, CA.  Contemporary artists Gary Baseman, Ron English, Buff Monster, Camilla d'Errico, Luke Chueh, Deph, Yosuke Ueno, FriendsWithYou, and Simone Legno are just a few of the 40+ artists that will interpret their vision of Hello Kitty in one-of-a-kind pieces of art that will be for sale and on display throughout the duration of the ‘Three Apples’ event. For more information on Hello Kitty’s 35^th Anniversary and the celebratory events, please visit www.sanrio.com/threeapples.