Amada: A major manufacturer of trading cards in Japan. Has been
active since the 80s, producing various pull pack and foil pack cards for a
variety of anime titles. Also produces Disney-licensed foil pack cards in Japan, including
Hercules, Winnie the Pooh, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Their merchandise lines include PP cards, Hero Collection cards, Trading
Collection cards, Bromides, and DX Bromides.
Bandai: The toy manufacturer; also a major producer of trading cards in
Japan. Sells cards by vending machine and foil packs. Also has printed some CCGs in
recent
years. Card types manufactured by
Bandai include Carddass, Super Battle Carddass, Graffiti, Visual Adventure, Jumbo
Carddass, Carddass Masters, and Carddass Masters G.
Banpresto: A subsidiary of Bandai that produced prize items for game
machines. Banpresto cards could be oversized (Banpresto Jumbo), PP card size,
or miniature ("Character Twin" cards). Produced for Sailor Moon, Yu
Yu Hakusho, Dragon Ball Z, Slam Dunk and others. Jumbo Banpresto cards are sometimes considered a type of shitajiki
(though they are made of cardboard, while shitajiki are generally plastic).
Broccoli Hybrid: A manufacturer of anime cards, emerging around 1996.
Chase/SP cards are usually metallic or clear plastic cards. Broccoli also manufactured some all-plastic
card sets (Macross Special Edition, Magic Knight Rayearth Premium). Produced
cards for many series, including Slayers, Tenchi Muyo!, Daiundokai (Battle
Athletes), and Di Gi Charat.
Bromide: Usually, 3 by 4 inch trading cards produced by Amada between
ca. 1992 and 1995. Sold in pull packs, similar to PP cards; sets generally have 37 cards.
Regular cards have white borders, and chase cards are etched foils (gold and silver).
Most commonly seen for Sailor Moon, which had six Bromide sets produced for it.
The only exception is the Marmalade Boy bromide set, which had plastic regular
cards and double-sided chase cards (foil on one side, prism on the other). Early Sailor Moon Bromide sets are rarer than
equivalent Sailor Moon PP and Carddass sets.
Cardboard Prisms: A term
used by anime card collectors to refer to non-sticker prismatic cards, usually
Hero Collection prisms and PP prisms that were sold in packaging other than
34-card PP packs. Cardboard prisms can
also be called “hard” prisms.
Carddass: Vending machine cards, produced by Bandai. Cards are slightly
smaller than standard cards, and have rounded corners. Many sets double as card games,
and include power levels on the card front. Sets made after 1996 are less
likely to be card games. Made for a wide variety of series, notably Dragon Ball
Z, Sailor Moon, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Card Captor Sakura, and Pokemon. If an
anime series was popular enough, Bandai would release different types of
Carddass sets.
Carddass Masters: Foil pack standard size cards, produced by Bandai from
1996 onward. Chase cards are metallic foils, known as SP cards. A typical set
has 90-180 regular cards, and 4-9 special cards. Carddass Masters sets were released for anime series, video games,
and live action programs.
Carddass Masters G: Foil
pack CCG cards manufactured by Bandai.
Games produced under this banner include Scramble Gather, Gundam War,
and Evangelion.
Cospa: A manufacturer of
video game trading cards, including Princess Maker.
Crystal Card: Another
term for a clear plastic card.
Double Prism: Usually, a two-layer prism card; the top layer is a prismatic sticker, with another prism beneath. Common in Bandai vending card sets, and used as rarer chase cards in Hero Collection sets. Later Bandai vending double prisms (1996 onward) were two-sided prisms, instead of two-layer prisms; a false paper card back covered the prism on the card’s back.
DX:
Abbreviation for "Deluxe."
DX Bromide: DX ("Deluxe") Bromides were produced by Amada
between 1993 and 1995. Cards were sold out of pull packs, and measured 5 by 7
inches. Sets normally had 21 regular cards, and 12 prism cards. Amada printed
five sets for Sailor Moon, and one set for Yu Yu Hakusho.
E-Graphics: Oversized trading cards (5"x7") that contained a
punch-out postcard in the center. Sold out of vending machines from about 1998 onward. Produced
for Gundam, Card Captor Sakura, Final Fantasy VIII, Macross, Nadesico, and
other series.
Epoch:
A Japanese trading card manufacturer. Epoch's sets include the Rumiko
Takahashi, Tales of Phantasia, and Asuka Collection sets.
Etching: A term used by Japanese card companies to describe foil cards with a fully etched or partly etched design. Amada included etching cards in their Hero Collection, Sailor Moon Bromide, and a few PP sets between 1993-1995. Amada also created all-etching Card Captor Sakura card sets in 2000 and 2001 (also known as Trading Collection), and included Card Captor Sakura etched gold foil cards in penny sleeve packs and the Card Captor Sakura PP3 binder. Etching cards were also used as specials in Amada's Corrector Yui and Sakura Wars 3 sets.
EX
Cards: Non-SP chase cards included in some Carddass Masters
sets. Examples include the pearl-finish cards from Angelique Carddass
Masters 2 and the rice-paper finish cards from Harukanaru Tokino Nakade Carddass
Masters.
Film Collection: A line of cards produced by Amada between 1994 and
1995. Cards have a cardboard border, with a clear mini cell in the center. The only Japanese
sets known are for Sailor Moon (two sets) and Dragon Ball Z (one set). Similar to these are Film Cards, produced for
the North American market by Artbox (an affiliate of Amada). However, Film Cards only have cardboard on
the card front, instead of both sides.
Gold Cards: Commemorative, limited edition gold foil trading cards. A 22k gold
card was produced as a redemption item in the Sailor Moon Trading Collection set, and
others were created for Fushigi Yugi and Yu Yu Hakusho by Studio Pierrot (to celebrate
the studio’s anniversary). Three-card gold/silver foil sets were produced as redemption items for Sailor
Moon PP 13 and Dragon Ball Z PP 28, and are often referred to as "gold
cards." Extremely rare and usually expensive.
Graffiti Cards: Vending
sets produced by Bandai that usually have captions in English. Also used for regular cards (especially in
Carddass Masters sets) that have character portraits (instead of screen shots).
Hard Prism: Another term for
cardboard prism.
Hero Collection: A line of foil pack trading cards produced by Amada
between 1993 and 1995. Cards were packaged 10 cards to a pack, 20 packs to a box. Chase
cards included cardboard prisms, etched mirror board foils, and gold-colored
double prisms. Produced for several anime series, including Sailor Moon,
Dragonball Z, Slam Dunk, Yu Yu Hakusho, Marmalade Boy, and Magic Knight
Rayearth. Artbox (Amada's US affiliate) also reprinted Japanese
Dragon Ball Z Hero Collection sets.
High Grade: A term used for
card sets in which regular cards are made of plastic or have a chromium/holochrome
finish.
Hyper Sticker: Small
trading stickers manufactured by Amada, mainly for Pokemon.
Imadio: A 1990s manufacturer of trading cards, mainly for video games.
LC (Lazer Card): A cardboard prism found in some later Hero Collection
sets. LCs only exist in sets whose regular cards were used in PP sets.
Lami (Rami): Laminated, trading-card sized pictures. Licensed lami have
a half-tone design on the back, the manufacturer, and the number (ie., Movic 0995E).
Metal Cards: Produced for a few sets in the late 1990s. Usually
oversized, and
with an etched or bas-relief design.
Metallic Card: A non-mirror
board chase card with a metallic finish.
Most frequently seen in Carddass Masters card sets, though Amada also made
them for Card Captor Sakura PP and the Sakura Taisen Trading Collection 2 sets.
Marusho (Narusyo): A manufacturer of trading cards, especially mini
cards. Cards released in the early and mid-90’s were sold in pull packs, while
recent cards (Digimon and One Piece Super Bromaido cards) have been sold in
foil packs. Produced mini cards and embossed mini stickers for Sailor Moon and Dragon
Ball Z, and oversized cards for Marmalade Boy.
Movic: A manufacturer of trading cards, frequently called Perfect
Collection sets. Movic also creates idol cards (lami), pencil boards (shitajiki), and clear
files.
Normal Cards: The
Japanese term (“normaru”) for regular trading cards.
PC (Platina): A mirror board foil card from a Hero Collection set.
Pearl Cards: Cards
with a pearlescent finish, but not printed on prismatic/holofoil stock. A few Dragonball Z PP sets have parallel
pearl or glitter finish regular cards that were inserted four per 34-card PP
pack. Angelique Carddass Masters 2 also
included pearl-finish chase cards (as well as the usual metallic SP cards).
Perfect Collection: A common name for Movic-produced foil pack trading
cards; examples include Macross, Slayers Next, Fushigi Yugi, and Yu Yu Hakusho.
Petite Frame: 21-card Carddass sets, produced by Bandai. Cards have
heart-shaped corners. Sets were made for Sailor Moon and Cutey Honey F.
PP Bookmarks: A term
used to describe bookmark-sized stickers (“seals”) manufactured by Amada. A typical set usually had 27 regular
bookmarks and at least 6 prism bookmarks.
Series that had PP bookmark sets include Sailor Moon (5 sets), Dragonball
Z (2 sets), Slam Dunk, Yu Yu Hakusho, St. Tail, and Magic Knight Rayearth.
PP Cards: A line of trading cards produced by Amada, with each card
packaged individually in a printed envelope, bound together with a cord and
cardboard cover. Produced since at least 1989. Chase cards can be prisms,
mirror board foils, clear plastic cards, or metallic cards.
PP Special Set: All-prism card sets produced for Sailor Moon S and
Dragon Ball Z by
Amada in 1994.
Prism Sticker: A term
normally used by collectors to describe unlicensed/bootleg sticker card sets
(since they are normally all-prism), whether they are copies of licensed cards
or an original set. “Sticker card” is also
used to describe bootleg prism sticker sets. They often can be identified by the irregular prism patterns in
the sticker stock, the lack of copyright information on the sticker (in any
language), or copyright information in English on the card front (on legit
cards, the information would be on the bottom of the card back in small font, in
either Japanese or English).
Promide: Oversized trading
cards produced by Yamakatsu for Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z. Most Promide sets had either cardstock or
plastic regular cards, and glittery or geometric prism cards. DX Promides are all-prism oversized card
sets.
Pull Pack: A booklet of individually wrapped trading cards or stickers,
bound by a cord (that acts as a pack hanger). Also known as a PP pack. Envelopes from these sets are usually
printed with artwork from the series they are for, and are often saved by anime
card collectors.
Seal: The Japanese term for stickers. May be sold out of pull packs or
foil
packs, and can be found in a variety of shapes. Manufactures include Amada
(bookmark stickers), Yamakatsu, and Bandai.
SP (Special): A chase card from a foil pack card set, generally a card
type only found 2-4 per box. A few sets
have SSP (Super Special) cards that are inserted in ratios less than one per
box (1:2 boxes, for example).
Soft Prism: A term used to
describe sticker-type prism cards (licensed cards only).
Super Battle: Vending
cards produced by Bandai for some shounen card series; can also be used as a
card game. Series that had Super Battle
sets produced for them include Dragonball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Rurouni
Kenshin.
TI: Another manufacturer of trading cards,
including Legend of Basara.
Trading Collection: A line of cards produced by Amada, starting in
1995/1996. Unlike Hero Collection, Trading Collection cards are standard size, with squared
corners. Chase cards can be prisms, glittery prisms, holofoils, clear plastic
cards, etched foils, metallic cards, or holographic cards.
Visual Adventure: Vending
cards produced by Bandai for some shounen manga card series (Dragonball Z, One
Piece).
WGL:
Gold-colored double prisms (prismatic stickers on top of a second prism)
included as chase cards in Amada Hero Collection sets. Most sets had three
WGLs, and a WGL subset could usually be completed by buying an unopened box.
Yamakatsu: A manufacturer of trading cards and stickers. Have been in
existence
since at least the late 1970s, when they printed Gundam and Star Wars cards.
Yamakatsu cards are unnumbered, and are sold out of pull packs. Their card sets
from the 1990s tend to have oversized cards, but stickers are usually smaller
than standard cards. Their cards often went under the names
"Promide," "Jumbo Promide," "Prism Pro," or
"DX Prism Pro."
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