Earlier today I had the opportunity to briefly speak to Kym Smith (Production)
and Carl Cliss (Marketing) from Winning Moves, the company that produce the Top
Trumps card games, regarding their upcoming Transformers themed Top Trumps pack.
Here's what they had to say:-Moon: Will the game feature just Transformers Movie characters, or does the license cover Transformers in general since you need 30 characters in a to trumps game?
Kym: This pack will be based on the Transformers and human characters from the Transformers Movie.. Moon: Will the human cards be groups such as Sector 7 or purely individual characters such as Sam Witwicky?
Kym:. You'll have to buy the final set to answer that question ;-)
Moon: With the cards being giant robots as well as Humans, did this pose a problem when working out the statistics for the game?
Kym: At first it looked like it may be a challenge but we've managed to get around that. Some people may have a problem with some of the stats if they try to analysis them too closely.
Moon: Yes, it must be hard to find a balance, it's a bit like comparing super-powers.
Moon: Did the decision to produce a Transformers "themed" game stem from the interest shown on your message board, or was it purely a commercial decision based upon the projected interest in the live action movie?
Carl: A bit of both.
Kym: Yes from the interest. We try to produce packs which people want to see and request. Of cause commercial interest does comes into any set, but the interest which was shown was the main thing.
Moon: Are there any plans to product future packs, or will this be determined by sales figures?
Kyn: I'm not sure about future packs, we'll see how this one does before deciding.
Moon: Will the game be released internationally or just to the domestic UK market?
Kym: We hope to launch it internationally, but the main focus will be on the UK market.
Carl: It will be available in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Belgium, Holland and Eire.
Moon: Did Hasbro provide much input into the game, for instance providing character information or were the statistics worked out internally by the Winning Moves team?
Kym: We always work closely with the licensor's. We have an existing agreement with Hasbro, so always work closely with them. The product needs to go through them for approval anyway.
Moon: Will the artwork that will be used on the cards be production stills from the movie or new content produced for the pack?
Kym: It'll be a mixture of of stills, sketches and other artwork.
Moon: Will the cards be available through a particular retailer or will they be "available at all good stockists".
Carl: All the usual retailers (WHSmith, Woolworths, Toys'R'Us, HMV, Tesco, Waterstones, Borders, and all good toy/game stores).
Moon: I understand that the game is scheduled for release in June
Kym: No, it will be out in July to tie in with the film.
* Note: No Transformers Movie related products can be released more than 30 days prior to the films release.
I'd like to thank both Kym and Carl for taking time out of their schedules to speak to me today to answer some questions. We hope to bring you more information on the Top Trumps Transformers card game, as well as other UK licenced Transformers products, in the coming weeks.
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