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Topps acquires WizKids

By Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 6/24/2003 12:00:00 AM

SEATTLE — Trading card maker The Topps Co. is purchasing of-the-moment collectible miniatures game maker WizKids LLC for an undisclosed sum.

Headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., WizKids is the privately held maker of Mage Knight, the genre-defining game that merged traditional Dungeons & Dragons-style role play with hobby market miniature figures into a new kind of tabletop strategy game. Since 2000, the company has sold more than 100 million figures worldwide for Mage Knight and its more recent titles, such as its HeroClix games featuring favorite DC and Marvel comic book characters.

Topps sees the purchase as a way to grow the entertainment segment of its business "as it provides efficient entry to the growing collectible games market," said Arthur T. Shorin, Topps chairman and CEO.

Once the acquisition is completed, Jordan Weisman, WizKids co-founder and CEO, will continue to manage WizKids' day-to-day operations and its 95 employees. He will report to Scott Silverstein, executive vice president of Topps' entertainment division.

"We are delighted to join with Topps and look forward to enhancing the company's product offerings with the addition of collectible strategy games," said Weisman.

WizKids is on the verge of releasing two new games that tweak its collectible miniatures game formula: Shadowrun Duels, which uses full-sized action figures instead of miniatures; and Creepy Freaks the Gross-Out 3-D Trading Game, which combines a card game with a miniatures game's tabletop strategy element and has been designed for a younger audience.

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