Ciara O'Briendiscovers a new generation of trading cards that let children play online and download ringtones

TRADING CARDS and sticker collections have evolved considerably from the traditional game where children (and some adults) collected the cards and stickers, and swapped them to build up their collection. With young consumers becoming increasingly tech savvy, industry veteran Panini has now taken the first steps into a new era - interactive trading cards.

The company, which has been involved in the sticker and collectibles market since the early 1960s, is hoping that its original, unlicensed collection, the Mutones, will capture the attention of Irish children. Panini has chosen Ireland as the testing ground for the new game.

The game centres on the Mutone armies, who are fighting for control of Mutopia. There are 50 characters in the set, ranging from an abandoned mobile phone to a fire-breathing dog, with some limited edition cards scattered throughout the packs.

The concept has been two years in the making. Not only can children collect and swap the cards and stickers, as they would have in the past, but they can also play the game online and use unique codes printed on each card to download ringtones and wallpapers for their mobile phones.

The cards can be registered online and added to a web-based album. Players can then choose to battle the computer or other players in the arena, exploring Mutopia to seek out extra Mutones.

"The concept is that you are collecting ringtones but not via the usual mechanism where you pay for the ringtone through your mobile phone tariff. You actually pay for the ringtone in the cost of buying the packet of trading cards," says Mark Warsop, marketing director of Panini UK.

These are uncharted waters for Panini, for a number of reasons, including the addition of interactive elements.

Trading cards are generally linked to trends - such as football leagues and movies or television series.

However, this time around, Panini is trying to start its own. The Mutones characters were created from scratch by the company, so there is no popular TV show to drive sales as happened with past collections such as Pokemon or Yu Gi Oh.

The company chose Ireland to trial its new game in part due to the high level of mobile usage among the Irish population.

The relatively young demographic was also a draw, with more than a fifth of the nation under 14, and 40 per cent under 25.

"We can do a very nice marketing campaign in Ireland and then mirror that for other territories. Ireland just fitted the bill perfectly to test," says Mr Warsop.

Available exclusively in Ireland for now, Panini says the game already has about 450 registered users playing online - a good number, the company says, given how new the game is.

Once the success of the launch in the Irish market has been gauged, Panini plans to launch in Britain and examine additional markets on which to unleash Mutones. "Ireland will probably have three or four months exclusively before we go anywhere else," says Mr Warsop.

Given recent cases about regulators cracking down on operators due to underage users signing up for subscription-based services, the new product may appeal to parents too, although for different reasons than Panini is hoping will win over Irish children.

The cost of the tone is built into the cost of the card, meaning no danger of accidentally agreeing to a weekly charge and therefore peace of mind for parents.

"What we have found is that, as more nine- to 13-year-olds have mobile phones, they are becoming more tech savvy, and they are looking for extensions to those pieces of tech that they've got. Kids are used to having lots of ringtones, we just wanted to find a way that they could get them through a mechanic that they're used to," says Mr Warsop.

The tones and wallpapers are linked to the character on the card, and once they are activated they can't be used again. However, Mr Warsop points out that some children may not play online, or download the ringtones, giving the card some trade value.

"The trading cards themselves are quite collectible in their own right."

More interactive collections could be in the pipeline, a move that may raise questions about the future of traditional trading cards, which may find it hard to compete with the new technology.

"We're always looking to find new ways to invigorate the product. We're looking at various different mechanics where trading cards can be more interactive, not necessarily just through the mobile phone, but maybe online, just to bring them into the modern era," he says.

"We looked at the sales of ringtones and tried to find a way that we could incorporate that into our regular product of stickers and trading cards."

However, the death of the regular trading card may be some way off yet.

Panini is confident that the core game - swapping cards and battling in the playground - will remain appealing to children.

The trading card market can be worth €15 million to €20 million in Ireland alone, although Mr Warsop says this depends on the strength of the collections in the given year.

The 2006 World Cup collection was a particularly lucrative one for the firm and the best performing World Cup collection they had to date.

"Stickers and trading cards are still hugely popular," says Mr Warsop. "They certainly haven't got bored of collecting paper cards and stickers. I think this is just an added dimension - certainly not a replacement."

http://www.mutones.co.uk