Nintendo Playing Cards catalogue from 2001

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.

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.

Most are pairs of similar designs that together form a two-deck set.

Prices range from ¥500 to ¥600, ¥800, ¥1.000 up to ¥1.200.

Although the majority of the designs are abstract, geometric shapes, some licensed designs are also included, all featuring Snoopy and the Peanuts characters.

From the late 1950s to the 1960s, playing cards featuring licensed characters made up the majority of Nintendo’s playing card product line. You could say that it was a craze to collect decks featuring famous cartoon and TV characters. This began to change in the 1970s, when children became less interested in playing cards, and based on this catalogue it is clear that by the 2000s the majority of the audience was adult.

The cards are advertised as “antibacterial” (抗菌).

What this means is explained on the back of the brochure:

These playing cards are made by adding an inorganic silver-based antibacterial agent to the coating applied to both the front and back of each card. Thanks to its antibacterial properties, it helps prevent the growth of bacteria and viruses, allowing you to enjoy playing in a clean and hygienic condition at all times. The inorganic silver-based antibacterial agent is completely safe and harmless to the human body.

The brochure concludes with an overview of the Japanese playing cards Nintendo offered at the time: three different pairs of Hanafuda (花札) decks and a Kabufuda (株札) deck.

For an overview of Nintendo playing cards through the ages, see the following posts featuring a Nintendo catalogue from the 1930s, a Nintendo catalogue from the 1950s, a playing cards catalogue from the 1970s, and a playing cards catalogue from the 1980s.