Nuremberg, Germany - The Japanese trading-card game Bakugan Battle Brawlers and the matching television series ramped up a push into western Europe at the Nuremberg Toy Fair Thursday.

The television series, which went on air in Japan in 2007, started several weeks ago in German on Cartoon Network Deutschland, a pay-TV channel. Rights holder CTM said Thursday it expected free-to-air broadcasting of Bakugan on the Tele 5 channel to begin next month.

Demonstrators are showing the board game, in which players roll plastic balls over metal cards which make magnetic spring-loaded miniature figures jump out, to European toy retailers at the six-day fair.

The game, which was begun by Sega Toys of Japan, is to go on sale in Germany after the fair with other countries following.

Bakugan is aimed at boys aged 6-11 and is similar to an earlier playground craze, Yu-Gi-Oh, in which children swap cards, play a strategic game with them and watch a TV series. The manufacturers earn money from selling the cards, boards and merchandise.

The Toy Fair, which opened Thursday, is the world's biggest toy expo. (dpa)