FUNimation
Productions Ltd. _ Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Brian Dobson
203-894-9240, DobsonPR@eci.com
DRAGON BALL Z Collectible Cards Series II From Artbox
To Have Hidden Treasures: Surprise Cards Signed By
Voice Actors Of Hit TV Show !! -Autographing Session
Set For March 15th At FUNimation- Ft. Worth, TX ?
Voice actor stars of Dragon Ball Z are set to make
their mark in card collecting history as they pen
there names on a series of Original Japanese Hero
Collection Dragon Ball Z trading cards that will be
hidden treasures in Artbox Entertainment's long awaited
Series II Dragon Ball Z collectible trading cards,
announced FUNimation Productions Ltd. and Artbox.
On
Thursday, March 15th, five voice actors from the top
rated Dragon Ball Z TV series on the Cartoon Network
will gather at the headquarters of FUNimation Productions
Ltd., producers and licensors of Dragon Ball Z based
in Forth Worth, Texas, for the big one-time signing
session. The actors will ink a limited number of Dragon
Ball Z cards which Artbox will randomly place in Dragon
Ball Z collectible card packs. For every 120 packs
of the cards, one signed card will be included for
lucky purchasers. Most cards should be discovered
during the next 60 to 90 days, but some may remain
in the market for a half-year or more. Gen Fukunaga,
President of FUNimation, said, "The collectors of
the Artbox Dragon Ball Z trading cards are a loyal
and wonderfully supportive group and all of us at
FUNimation want to bring them something special. We
hope they enjoy finding and saving the signed cards."
Chris Rose, Marketing Manager of Artbox, said, "We're
all excited about the Dragon Ball Z card signing promotion,
which could be one of the biggest events in the history
of non-sport trading cards. Among trading card collectors,
this is big!"
The
Artbox Dragon Ball Z cards are a card collectors dream.
Not only was Dragon Ball Z the top rated anime series
ever in Japan, it its breaking all records in the
United States as the #1 on the Cartoon Network's famed
Toonami Block, was just the #1 Best Selling Video
of The Hollywood Reporter's Top 10 List and is the
world's most popular internet subject, ranking #1
on Lycos Top 50. It doesn't get better than that among
card collectors!
Among
voice actors signing cards will be Sean Schemmel,
known as the voice of the legendary character Goku,
one of the most popular on Dragon Ball Z; Chris Sabat,
who brings Majin Vegeta's voice to his life; Kyle
Herbet who is the voice of Gohan; Laura Baily, whose
lucid tones are heard as Young Trunks, and Kara Edwards,
who speaks for Goten. Cindy Fukunaga, Vice President
of FUNimation, said, "In addition to Artbox, more
than 70 licensees market Dragon Ball Z products from
action figures to apparel. With more than $3 billion
at wholesale worldwide, Dragon Ball Z is among history's
premiere licensed properties. Dragon Ball Z Videos
set sales records. Dragon Ball Z DVDs, with duel soundtracks
in English and Japanese, sell out to fans of the TV
show specifically and anime generally. The Dragon
Ball Z action figures and other products are extremely
popular."
FUNimation
produces and licenses Dragon Ball Z in the U.S., Canada,
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. With a tremendous
following on the Internet, Dragon Ball Z is a global
success and the characters of the series are pop icons.
The www.dragonballz.com website averages more than
2.7 million hits a day as membership in Club Z surpassed
400,000 fans.
Artbox
Entertainment, a subsidiary of Amanda Printing MFG.
Co. LTD and Japan Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd., was established
in 1995 as a U.S. based company to manufacture and
market popular licensed products by specializing the
category of printed toys and collectibles. Artbox
Entertainment ensures nothing less than 100% consumer
satisfaction and all its items are among the highest
quality licensed products available in the market
today.
FUNimation
Productions Ltd., based in Fort Worth, Texas, was
founded in 1994 to introduce the Dragon Ball TV series
to America. A full service production, licensing,
Internet and home video distribution company, FUNimation
focuses on quality entertainment properties. In addition
to Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho and Blue Gender, FUNimation
represents other properties including Chuck E. Cheese.
