Dart
Flipcards' closing stemmed from non-trading card product
Sept.
26, 2003
Damaged
collectible lunch box tins discovered after shipment from a Hong Kong
manufacturer led to Dart Flipcards' declaration of bankruptcy, said
company president Dino Frisella Wednesday.
The
firm's last day of operations had been Sept. 8. Seven office
members, including graphic artists and office support staff, were laid
off.
The
lunch boxes numbered in the "hundreds of thousands," according
to Frisella. The tins Dart commissioned for distribution resulted
from a licensing agreement between the Montreal-based group and the
National Hockey League Players Association. It had been slated as
the company's largest product release to date. Previously, Dart
employed the same overseas manufacturer for similar lunch box
merchandise geared toward school children.
'There
is a possibility the boxes were damaged in transit, but it appeared more
as a result of improper machining and tooling," Frisella
said. "There were flaws all over the place -- printing flaws,
scratches on the tins, tins that would not close properly. Our
inspection service could find little that would pass muster."
In
recent years, Dart diversified its product line to include stuffed plush
toys. In 2000, the firm developed and marketed a Sailor Moon
collectible card game that gained acclaim in the industry. Its
last standard trading card product had been Crocodile Hunter in
early 2002. Frisella also mentioned 1,000 chase card sets of Rudolph
the Red-Nosed Reindeer, based on the 1960s animated television
special, also appeared in the hobby. The base card product went
unreleased.