I regularly encounter people who are surprised to hear that Nintendo is still in the playing cards business today, although mainly in its home market of Japan. They know that the company started by making cards long ago, but assume this stopped after Nintendo joined the video game boom.
The Nintendo product catalogue from August 2001 shown here, which is fully dedicated to playing cards, illustrates how the company’s involvement in this area continued into the 21st century.
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| Nintendo Playing Cards brochure (2001) back and front |
The booklet is called the Nintendo Trump Collection, where “trump” refers to the Japanese term for Western-style playing cards.
Inside the catalogue are ten pages, roughly A4 in size, printed in full colour on heavy paper stock.
The introduction text acknowledges that the cards are a “traditional” product:
As we move from the analog to the digital age, in a time when many good old things are being lost, playing cards continue to be loved by people even today.
Their appeal lies in the fact that, with a bit of ingenuity, they allow for countless different games, and every time you play, they offer new discoveries and fresh surprises.
[...] Playing cards are an eternal tool for communication, loved across generations.
The catalogue presents the full Nintendo range of card designs available at the time.
