Bella Sara | |
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Created by | Jesper Myrfors [1] |
Owner | Gitte Brændgaard and the Bella Sara Company, Previously Hidden City Games and Concept Card |
Official website | |
Official website |
Bella Sara was a children's trading card and online game that combined a world of magical horses with game play. Published in the United States by Seattle-based game company Hidden City Entertainment in 2007, [1] Bella Sara began as a trading card game that expanded into an international product line. Having three set releases each year, all trading cards had images of illustrated horses, characters and magical friends with positive, inspirational messages on them. The vision of the company and cards, as created by Gitte Odder was to bring positive messages to empower young girls on the fundamental Philosophy of Life: "We’re all creating our life by our thoughts, attracting the kind of energy we represent." [2]
Each card pack included secret codes that could be redeemed on the website to care for and nurture magical horses online. [1] Select Bella Sara products included these secret codes to expand the magical world. Players could upload cards to redeem tokens that were used to buy merchandise from the online Bazaar. [1]
It was reported June 16, 2013 that the Bella Sara Company would be ceasing all operations and moved from its office in the United States to the creator's home in Denmark. [3]
The company was quiet with no new updates or products until 2020. As of April 2020, the creators have rebooted the website removing all games and replacing them with new content focused around a card collection app. [4] The creator cited that the old functions of the website were not functional by 2020 standards. However, no update or information has been given on the future direction of the company.
Bella Sara was started in Denmark by Gitte Odder Brændgaard, who intended to create an alternative to other popular trading card games, such as Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering , that would be more suited to girls and lack the element of competition present in the other games. This card game pulled from Gitte Odder's history as a social worker who was caring for mentally disabled young people in Denmark. [5] After the game proved successful in Scandinavia, the cards were released on a trial run to United States consumers in Seattle and San Diego at the end of 2006. Sales during that trial run were high enough to convince retailers to take the cards national in March 2007. [6] The cards continued to grow in popularity with children until the company ceased operations.
Cards could be purchased in booster packs, value boxes, and tins, each of which contained a random assortment of cards. Card packs could be purchased online or at a number of retailers worldwide. [7] All cards were published for a limited time in sets. There are eighteen sets of cards, as well as other collectible merchandise. These include:
Bella Sara cards were available in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, Australia, Mexico, Poland and South Africa.
Bella Sara received numerous awards from child development and parenting authorities, including the “National Parenting Center Seal of Approval” for 2009, the National Parenting Publications "Honors Award" for 2009, the "Toy of the Year" and the “Seal of Excellence” from Creative Child Magazine for 2008 and 2009, the “Excellent Product” and “Outstanding Product” designations from iParenting Media, and the “Best Products” award from Dr. Toy.
Other Bella Sara licensed products include: Bees and Jam sleepwear and intimate apparel, Jakks Pacific toy varieties, Codemasters DS & PC game, Paradise Kids Pose-able Horses, Simply Fun Treasure Trot, HarperCollins Stories and Activity Books, MasterPieces Activities, Trends International Posters, Ultra Pro portfolios, and other international product lines.
Mars Attacks is a science fiction-themed trading card series released in 1962 by Topps. The cards feature artwork by science fiction artists Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. The cards form a story arc, which tells of the invasion of Earth by cruel, hideous Martians under the command of a corrupt Martian government who conceal the fact from the Martian populace that Mars is doomed to explode and, therefore, proposes colonization of Earth to turn it into their new homeworld. The cards depict futuristic battle scenes and bizarre methods of Martian attack, torture and slaughter of humans, as well as various Earth nations being attacked. The story concludes with an expeditionary force of humans volunteering to embark on a counterattack on Mars, in which the Earth force attacks the Martians in their manner. This necessitates the Martians that are still on Mars to defend their homeworld. The Earth attack forces, after destroying the Martian cities and killing the Martians, depart just before Mars is destroyed in the predicted cataclysm, thus ensuring the peace and safety of Earth as the Martian race is seemingly doomed to extinction.
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The long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who has since its beginnings in 1963 generated many hundreds of products related to the show, from toys and games to picture cards and postage stamps. This article is not an exhaustive list of merchandise but attempts to present a flavour of the type of material that has been produced. This entry mainly concentrates on "official" spin-offs, that is to say, material sanctioned by the British Broadcasting Corporation, which produces the series.
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The Harry Potter Trading Card Game is an out-of-print collectible card game based in the world of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels. Created by Wizards of the Coast in August 2001, the game was designed to compete with the Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering card games. Its release was timed to coincide with the theatrical premiere of the first film in the series. The game was praised for the way it immersed children in the Harry Potter universe. At one point the game was the second best selling toy in the United States; however, it is now out of print.
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