4Kids Entertainment Launches Yu-Gi-Oh Card Design Contest

4Kids Entertainment and Yu-Gi-Oh card design company Konami are on the hunt for a new monster and they are calling on Yu-Gi-Oh fans to fulfill the mission.

The two are giving fans the chance to design their own Yu-Gi-Oh monster and name it in the first-ever Design Your Destiny Card Contest. Fans can download an entry form at the 4Kids Entertainment Web site and have until Nov. 3 to mail in their creations. Once the contest ends, 4 Kids will post some of the top submissions online for fans to vote on their favorite designs.

A panel of judges will review all entries on Dec. 4 and select winners from three age categories for kids three to 17. Each winner will get their card published in a Yu-Gi-Oh booster pack, slated to hit retail shelves in 2007 and a Komani Yu-Gi-Oh GX Tag Force video game.

"The Design Your Destiny promotion is our way of saying thanks to all those devoted fans," Alfred R. Kahn, chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, in a statement. "We think that giving the fans a chance to design a monster for an official Yu-Gi-Oh trading card is a dream come true."

The Yu-Gi-Oh franchise debuted as a comic strip in the late 1990s in Japan. A decade later, it has grown into a cultural phenomenon with a TV series, trading card game, video game and licensed merchandise.

The contest ends Nov. 3. To promote the contest, 4Kids is airing 15- to 30-second teaser spots during the 4Kids TV block on Saturday mornings. Online materials also support. 4Kids Entertainment handles in-house.

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