| Founded | 1989 |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United Arab Emirites |
| Headquarters location | Dubai |
| Publication types | Trading cards |
| Official website | http://www.futera.com/ |
Futera is a trading card publisher founded in 1989. It is a privately-owned company, its main markets being Asia, Europe, Australasia, USA and with headquarters in Dubai.
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Futera was the official trading card licensee in the '90s for Premier League clubs Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds, Aston Villa, West Ham and Scottish Premier League club Celtic. Futera was also the official trading card licensee for the Australian Cricket Board, Formula 1, Australian Basketball Association, Australian Rugby Union, Australian Baseball League and World Surfing Federation. Other Futera titles have included Tour de France, Handball, Boxing and Horseracing. Futera Sports Cards ran in Australia from 1991 to 1997.
Futera was the official licencee for non-sport titles Mattel's "Barbie", BBC Television Sci-fi Series "Red Dwarf" in association with Grant Naylor Film Productions, and the feature film "Chicken Run" with Universal Studios, Aardman Animations & Pathé.
Futera's collectibles include phonecards, playing cards, stickers, photo collections and novelties. In 2000, Futera created "Total Football" confectionery packs combining Futera's Football Cards from 10 Premier League and 2nd Division Football Clubs with "Chupa Chups" lollipops.
Futera is commonly associated with high-end Limited Edition Card Collections, and was the first Card Publisher to introduce individual numbering on cards and its Display Boxes enabling collectors to understand the limited release nature of a Collection. Futera created the world's first "1 of 1" card meaning that the card was unique, and that only one its type or design had been produced by the Publisher.
Futera cards feature player bios or interesting facts about the subject together with their statistics, and often show photographs of the subject on both front and back of their cards, sometimes several photographs on one card. Futera Collections include "Insert" or special cards, some featuring pieces of player jersey and celebrity autographs. In the creation of Futera's cricket "Heritage Collection", an autograph for every living Test Cricketer for Australia had to be obtained, and it took "several years" to complete. The Cricketing Legend "Don Bradman" acted as a figurehead in the project and helped put the collection together. Futera's "Grand Prix" collections have included Michael Schumacher’s race worn overalls and pieces of Ayrton Senna’s car tyre. Some Futera Insert cards have been crafted from 24ct gold, silver and platinum plate, Porcelain and have even included "diamonds". Futera branded cards are sought after by card collectors around the world with some cards trading regularly for hundreds and thousands of dollars - the Futera brand commands the highest value football cards worldwide.
In 2008 Futera took the traditional Football Card "online" and "interactive" with the launch of "Futera World Football Online" where players combine their management skills with the hobby of trading cards to play in live tournaments online with other players around the world. Futera wanted to make the game accessible to everyone and give a virtual card Starter Squad to anyone signing up. By 2011 over 6 million games had been played, with over 55,000 registered players from over 100 countries worldwide, and 10,000 "Facebook" followers.
In 2010 Futera created its own Football Team "Futera FC" where anyone can sign up and help manage a Football Team for real. Through an interactive platform broadcasting a video and game commentary, the "Virtual Managers" vote on tactics, formation, substitutions and other decisions, with their instructions being passed to the players themselves on the pitch. Futera FC is a real Football Team playing in a real League (London, UK).
In 2010 Futera launched their own TV platform. "Futera TV" features interviews with International Football stars, tips from professional Coaches, and sport-related entertainment and competitions. Interviews have included New Zealand International Rory Fallon (who scored the winning goal to take his country to the World Cup in 2010), MLS Cult Hero Darren Huckerby and Scottish International and Norwich City Legend Bryan Gunn. Futera TV is hosted by two English presenters, Adam Partington of Staffordshire and Summer Harl of Norwich.
Promotional partners 7-Eleven, Carrefour, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Pokka, Maxis, SuperIndo chose Futera trading cards and online game cards for their campaigns.