Upper Deck is planning a major promotional effort to launch its World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, which should hit retailers' shelves on October 25th.  Upper Deck is coordinating around 1500 World of Warcraft TCG events worldwide on October 28th and 29th (retailers can choose the day they want) with more than 800 events in Europe, 50 in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia and 600-700 in North America. 

Upper Deck is gearing its promotions to attract new gamers and lapsed gamers among the six million players (worldwide) that play the World of Warcraft online game, and the Upper Deck WoW TCG contains loot cards with special scratch off codes that allow players of the online game to upgrade their characters (see 'World of Warcraft is Upper Deck's Major Initiative').

Andy Fletcher, Upper Deck's Retail Organized Play Manager, talked to ICv2 about the ways in which both Upper Deck direct accounts and non-direct hobby retailers can obtain the Heroes of Azeroth Release Celebration Kits.  The WOW Release Celebration is a hobby only event, and only retailers are eligible to obtain the Release Celebration Kits.  Retailers who have a direct account with Upper Deck can order up to two kits at a cost of $25 per kit.  Non-direct hobby retailers will also be able to order the kits, but they will be limited to one.  Retailers who order the kit can be listed on the Release Celebration store locator.

The Heroes of Azeroth Release Celebration Kits will include 25 special (and powerful) Extended Art cards, 13 exclusive game accessories (such as dice bags), a variety of POP materials, and posters for the WoW's competing factions.  Each kit supports 25 players with participation awards and prizes, and the kit's contents are designed to maximize impact with WoW MMO players (of which there are 2 million in North America alone).  The kits also contain 'Player Quest Logs,' which are designed as event walkthroughs for beginning players, and since the Release Celebration Event features sealed deck tournament events, customers will have to buy product to participate fully in the event.

Retailers can start signing up today (September 29th), but they just have until October 13th to sign up in time to receive the kits, which will ship from Upper Deck on October 16th to arrive in stores by October 23rd to 25th.

Retailers will also be able to download PDF versions of event flyers as well as event operating instructions and as well as instructions for the game itself.

Upper Deck plans on policing orders for the release kits carefully to make sure that only retailers are able to obtain them.