Full House

Move over, Yu-Gi-Oh! If retailers think their primary trading card game customers are males, they may have to rethink their customer base.

The category has found a following with tween girls and manufacturers are responding with games that appeal to girls' sense of style, adventure and interest in collecting.

In fact, it was this very hobby that prompted Renton, Wash.-based Wizards of the Coast to take a closer look at the girl tween market. Teeuwynn Woodruff, game inventor at Wizards, explains: "We had been looking for a collectible item for girls for the past four years." After conducting research, the company found just what it was they were interested in collecting.

The result is: Star Sisterz Collectable Charm Game, a trading card game for girls ages 8 and up that poses a variety of challenges and rewards players with collectible charms. "The charms are the goal," Woodruff points out.

The Star Sisterz game itself features three different kinds of trading cards: challenges, dares and big ideas.

In designing the game, Woodruff says the fashion component of the Star Sisterz game played an important part. "The charms needed to be attractive so that they feel valuable enough to do the crazy activities that the cards suggest," she tells PLAYTHINGS.

She is quick to point out, though, that fashion wasn't the sole influence. "The girls we talked to said they wanted the cards to reflect the variety of their interests. Some of them said they were insulted by the fact that everything they saw in the toy aisles was pink." Instead, the Star Sisterz charms were inlaid with different gems whose color signifies some aspect of their lives, like blue for boys and their friends and orange for the future.

"We also felt the Star Sisterz game should fit into their lives as opposed to making the girls fit the game into their lives," she adds, citing Star Sisterz's open-ended play pattern.

Reyne Rice, trend specialist for the Toy Industry Association, concurs: "The cards incorporate the fun of win/win, which is more in tune with girls' developmental stages of social play at the tween stage," she says. "It also offers the overlay of empowerment for the girls, as they progress through teamwork."

Wizards of the Coast's non-traditional marketing strategy for Star Sisterz also extends over to the product's retail launch: The company opted to introduce the game at Limited Too instead of at toy retail.

Limited Too saw the product as "a natural fit," says Bob Atkinson, spokesperson for the tween apparel chain that had recently opened a Fun Zone boutique within its stores. "Our customers are always looking for something fresh and new; we thought the Star Sisterz game made a nice addition," he says.

"Girls have tremendous buying power and are super savvy consumers," says Laura Waniuk, product manager, Upper Deck Entertainment. With this observation in mind, the Carlsbad, Calif.-based company is producing a collectible card game highlighting the Bratz, a brand from North Hills, Calif.-based MGA Entertainment that's already proven its success.

Upper Deck leveraged its expertise, while providing itself with the challenge of appealing to a new market. "The Bratz Fashion Party Fever game is unlike any of our others; it's not competitive it's cooperative," says Waniuk.

Upper Deck's game centers on fun and fashion, hallmarks of the Bratz brand. Players must work together to dress the Bratz in stylish clothes, getting them onto the dance floor before time runs out.

To ensure a strong reception from devoted fans of the dolls, the company worked closely with MGA to mirror the Bratz's distinct fashions. According to Waniuk, Upper Deck constructed fabric insert cards by using real Bratz clothing, creating a seamless connection.

Such attention to detail in the game has earned MGA's stamp of approval. The company's CEO Isaac Larian cites "a synergy with all of our licensees, including Upper Deck."

The product will launch exclusively at Target in July, and Upper Deck is also exploring other retail opportunities at specialty and mid-tier outlets.