We here at JustSaiyan.com hear a lot of CCG related rumors and speculation, usually someone seeking out our authority to debunk legends of missing Judge cards, allegations of cheating at prominent events or even verifying the authenticity of cards. We come across some rumors and questions so often, we decided to make a new column out of it to point to whenever we get those questions. Like Hercule, looking to expose all the “stupid tricks” of the Z Warriors, we bring you TrickBusters!
This is a common question and assertion we get a lot. We have literally received dozens of emails and messages from all kinds of well meaning people stating that they have X amount of money and would like to use it to buy the DBZ license so we could manufacture the game again (oh, and also giving themselves various amounts of creative and monetary control over the project).
Surprisingly, there actually is a little bit of precedence when it comes to gamers trying to take over the games/licenses in a legal manner. In 2008, WizKids announced the end of the popular HeroClix miniature game. In response, some fans and former employees of WizKids came together to create Pinata Games in an effort to buy the game and the comic licenses along with it. It was a serious attempt, but it ultimately fell through and the license went to NECA (though still under the WizKids name).
More successfully, Jasco Games (mostly just a local games store up to this point) was able to obtain the Universal Fighting System CCG game and brand license (though not the licenses of the properties used up until that point, making them have to acquire new licenses and use original properties for their new cards).
Now back to the original trick: “Could a group of fans with enough money acquire the Dragon Ball Z license to continue or create their own Dragon Ball CCG?” The simple answer is an immediate no, a fan or group of fans could not obtain the license by simply amassing some cash. The difference between a group of fans and Pinata Games/Jasco Games is that those companies are both legal entities that can or could not only assume financial liability but also has the means to bring the game to market.
The question, and indeed most people who ask it, assume that a license is just a one-time, up front fee that’s paid off and then you have carte blanche to make your game. In some cases that may be true, but highly unlikely and definitely not with the Dragon Ball Z license. In reality you are looking at any number of the following stipulations to go along with the license (some or all, plus more may or may not apply to the Dragon Ball license and the following should be taken as things that pop up in general for licensing):
- Production Guarantees – You will have to print a certain amount.
- Sales Guarantees – You will have to sell a certain amount of product. You will be responsible for paying the difference if you don’t reach this number.
- Distribution – This could include limitations to where you can sell your product, as well as guarantees to sell your product in certain stores (usually mass retailers like Wal*Mart and Target).
- Royalties – Regardless of how much you sell, you pay a certain amount for each unit sold. This could be in addition to the sales guarantee.
- Licencor Approvals – To maintain the integrity of the brand, all items printed must go through an approval process by the licencor. This is where you end up with odd changes like “Battlegrounds” and “Locations” being distinctively separate card types.
Unless you are your own self-sufficient company with a line of credit, a lock on production and a method for distribution, most licencors won’t even entertain a meeting with you. On any given day, you can check out the front page of Anime News Network and see all the different anime and streaming companies vying for different properties out of Japan. Even the biggest and most capable fish in the anime market, FUNimation, has to compete with a growing number of competitors for new licenses. And I’m going to guess that unless you’re a real otaku, you haven’t heard of half of those licenses on ANN before. Now imagine trying to get the license for what is arguably the most popular/successful anime in America. It’s going to take a lot more than a few thousand dollars to get that, no matter how old and dated you think the license may be at this point.
Bottom Line: It takes more than cash alone to acquire a popular license. If you can’t bring it to mass market, you won’t even be considered.
Trick: Busted!
BUSTED!
+1.
Chippy
As sad as this news probably is for folks, this is a great article, and I really would like to see more Trickbusters in the future. Great insight on some key business aspects as well.
In the future I plan to do one on The Almighty Light Cage, The 2003 GKI, The Mysterious J2 and a few other mysteries/controversies from the DBZ CCG era.
Not sure if you will see this as it’s been a few months, but I was curious to know when you were planning to do these articles. We get so many people asking why we believe the cards are fake or who don’t think we have enough evidence. People got con’ed out of a lot of money for some of these cards so I know some will want to continue believing their cards are real no matter what evidence we present them with, but after all the topics discussing this were evidence has been given, it would be great to have 1 article explaining everything that we can refer members to.
With a fake ALC back up on eBay again it seems like a good time to do it 😉
I’ve been working on two other ones, but the problem with these articles is that they take a bit more research and I try to interview relevant people to get more insight.
Let me know if there’s anything I can help with to get you the information you need to write it. It’s been 2 years now and I would love to put an end to the debate by having all the facts presented by a reputable source that cannot be argued.
Aswesome Joshman, don’t forget the UC, maybe even the mass quantities of S17 KI and FD’s floating around. Just a thought
It would be part of the Almighty Light Cage discussion, since the majority of those cards are of questionable authenticity.
Looking forward to GKI 2003 article. I’m not even sure how Gabe Abner qualified let alone won. I played him I think first round of standard and I’ll just keep the rest of my opinions of his play to myself.
Since I can’t edit, I wanted to clarify that I know how he “won” . . . lol but I think you get my point.
this is one of those sad things that is clearly true. I would have loved to see an official release for all of Dragonball. Is the Dragonball manga property a seperate entity from the anime? How does that work?
So how much was the license?
Cabbageman . . . . . it’s about treefiddy.