|
Western playing cards(JP) refer to playing cards that Nintendo produced that feature numerical, face, joker and ace cards of a typical playing card deck. Nintendo released hundreds, if not thousands of different designs of playing cards, and continues to do so with their Nintendo All-Plastic line.
Because certain card designs were not given names, they were instead identified by model numbers (such as No. 777). Sometimes, Nintendo would change the model number of a certain card design, and sometimes, a certain model number would have a subset of various available card back designs.
Nowadays, Nintendo continues to produce western playing cards usually as promotional items for its various video game IP's, such as Mario, Zelda, Kirby, Pokemon, etc.
History[]
Ace of spades used in Nintendo's first playing card deck.
Nintendo's first western playing cards[]
Nintendo first manufactured western playing cards in 1902, with the release of model No. 1. It was a poker-sized deck with round corners and a polished starch coating, giving them a smooth, slightly glossy finish despite the rough, papery appearance. It came in various back designs, including a butterfly back design that was a direct copy of one of the back designs for Boston playing cards by the National Playing Card Co. The Ace of spades from this deck was an edited version of the Perfection Playing Card Co. ace of spades, featuring the Marufuku logo. The joker was also copied from Perfection Playing Card Co.
The model No. 1 continued to be sold by Nintendo through the 1930's before they were discontinued. The ace of spades changed slightly in design throughout the years. The first one was a straight copy of the Perfection P.C.C. ace of spades but with a double Marufuku symbol, then they changed the spade into something resembling the United States Playing Card Company logo but with one Marufuku symbol inside the spade instead of a lady statue, then they replaced the Marufuku logo with an image of Napoleon, and finally they changed the company name to "Napoleon Card Co." instead of "Nintendo Card Co.". Decks exported outside Japan carried the name of the distributor on the ace of spades instead of Nintendo's own company name.
Nintendo's brand identity crisis[]
During the 1930's and 1940's, possibly as an attempt to either appeal to western audiences or to give a more "foreign" image towards the Japanese market, Nintendo attempted to hide the Japanese origins of their cards by changing the brand name of most of their western playing cards to "Napoleon", after the image of the former French Emperor used in their Daitouryou trademark, while using other names like "Glory" "Club" and "Oriental" on specific playing card models. They have also refered to themselves under various English company names, such as "The J.N. Playing Card Company" (clearly inspired by The U.S. Playing Card Company), "The Standard Playing Card Company", and "The Victor Playing Card Company".
In the 1950's, Nintendo reverted this strategy and used the name "Nintendo" again on their playing cards, refering to themselves as "Nintendo Playing Card Co.".
Nintendo's use of copied designs on western playing cards[]
Ace of spades with the letter N.
From 1902 to 1960, Nintendo used a lot of designs that were copied from various western playing card companies, including the U.S.P.C.C. and Dondorf, while also slowly introducing original designs as well. They even used a modified version of the ace of spades of the Russell Playing Card Co. as a registered trademark in 1935, however, only the right to use the letter 'N' in the ace of spades was registered. It consistently became Nintendo's ace of spades design during the 1950's.
2nd ace of spades with the letter N, which is still used to this day.
Then in 1960, Nintendo replaced their ace of spades with that featuring an original starburst design; this ace of spades also became a trademark logo for the company. At this point, Nintendo discontinued a great majority of playing card decks with copied designs and sold only those with original designs.
Nintendo's innovations on western playing cards[]
Even back in the 1930's, Nintendo already sold western playing cards of various sizes, trying to copy each standard card dimensions released in various western countries, such as poker size, bridge size, mini bridge size, mini poker size, etc. They even sold tiny sized playing card decks (which was itself copied from U.S.P.C.C.'s "Little Duke" Toy Cards).
Nintendo also offered cards with various finishes depending on the price of the cards, ranging from simply a polished starch-coated finish, to a whiter, smoother, and more durable "ivory finish", to even textured cards similar to Bicycle's "air cushion finish". However, by the late 1950's, almost all Nintendo paper playing cards would have a smooth "ivory finish".
Nintendo also offered gilding of the edges of the cards, but they cost extra and the process is made-to-order.
In addition to various playing card sizes and features, Nintendo also sold decks with non-standard shapes. Oval-shaped playing cards were known to be sold in the 1930's. Parallelogram-shaped playing cards were known to be sold in the 1950's. Barrel-shaped and Circular shaped playing cards were known to be sold in the 1960's and 1970's. Certain decks used for magic were subtly trapezoidal in shape, to facilitate easy identification when the card is oriented upside-down inside the deck.
Nintendo also released many western playing cards with special gimmicks. In the 1930's, they sold Hana-Trump cards, which feature both western playing card and hanafuda designs on the faces of the cards, allowing players to play games for both kinds of cards. They also sold Magic Cards, which had specially marked back designs that can be memorized by the holder of the deck, allowing them to read the suit and rank of the card even when viewed on the back.
However, Nintendo's breakthrough in the playing card industry would come in the form of an all-plastic playing card deck called NAP (Nintendo All-Plastic) Card. Released in 1953, these cards were washable and more hygienic than paper playing cards. They were considered as a top-of-the-line product when it was first released, as there weren't any all-plastic playing cards in Japan back then. Nintendo still continues to manufacture All-Plastic playing cards to this day.
In addition, Nintendo would also feature various licensed intellectual properties on their cards. While the first known instance of this was their Takarazuka Trump in the 1950's, it was their Disney series of playing cards (1959) that was most well known and were the biggest sellers.
Even when Nintendo shifted focus toward the video game industry, they still continued to innovate on playing cards.
During the 1990's, Nintendo released two unique variants of their All-Plastic card decks. The first is the Clean-Through Trump, which was made of clear plastic. Some Nintendo franchises would be printed on Clean-Through Trump decks as well, such as Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, and Kirby. The second is the Clean-Guard Trump, an otherwise typical all-plastic card deck but was made with an antimicrobial plastic material to prevent bacterial growth on the cards. One of the germ characters from Dr. Mario was used as the mascot of the Clean-Guard Trump.
In 2006, Nintendo and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation cooperated to release an expensive playing card deck that was made of pure gold. The decks, which sold for 425,250 yen (around $3,600 USD at the time), were only sold at select retail stores.
Standard Playing Cards[]
The following list is listed in numerical order, rather than chronological order. Special Playing Cards listed with a plain model number are also included here.
| Model No. | Year | Size (or shape) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1
a.k.a Marufuku No. 1 |
1902 to 1930's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | First playing cards made by Nintendo. Comes in many back designs:
Designs were copied or used as reference:
|
| 2
(Ukiyo-E) |
1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Features a full-colored back design of a geisha girl with silver borders. Features Ukiyo-E illustrations on all court cards and a joker card.
Available as a single deck with a lenticular box, or as a two-deck set, one with a silver bordered back and one with a gold bordered back. Promotional versions by Sanyo and Kokurin Shoji are known to exist. |
| 10 | 1950's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | The box design features a prototype version of the modern Nintendo logo, but taller and written in italics. |
| 22 | 1950's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | |
| 25
a.k.a. Small Cards |
1930's to 1960's | Small Size (4.3cm x 3cm) | Smallest playing cards produced by Nintendo until the "No. 15 A - Trump Keyring" was released in the 1960's (2.4cm x 1.5cm).
Back design and Court card designs were copied from Little Duke Toy Cards No. 24 (U.S.P.C.C) |
| 30 | 1930's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 33 | 1950's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | |
| 40 | 1930's to 1950's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Multicolored back design.
Back design may have been inspired by Coronet No. 121 (Western P.C.C.) |
| 50 | 1930's to 1950's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | |
| 55 | 1950's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Back design resembles the Aristocrat Club Special (U.S.P.C.C.).
Revived in the 1980's as the No. 6000 "Poker Size", which has the same back design but with added "air cushion finish". There is a version that was exported to Peru, but had the back design of No. 88. |
| 65 | 1930's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 70 | 1960's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Multicolored back design of a puppy. |
| 77 | 1930's to 1950's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Back design was copied from Picket No. 515 (U.S.P.C.C.) |
| 80 | 1930's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 80
(1950's) |
1950's | Mini Bridge Size (7.5cm x 4.5 cm) | |
| 87 | 1930's to 1960's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Faces of the cards feature hanafuda designs as well as western playing cards. |
| 88 | 1950's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Exported to Peru as the No. 55. |
| 90 | 1930's to 1950's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Full color back design. Comes in many back designs:
Also featured an "air cushion finish"; it was removed in the 1950's version. |
| 93 | 1930's | Mini Poker Size (7.5cm x 5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 95 | 1930's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 99 | 1930's to 1940's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Full color back design and "air cushion finish". Comes in many back designs:
|
| 100 | 1930's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 100
(1940's) a.k.a 333 (1930's) |
1940's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Full color back design and "air cushion finish". Same as No. 333, and also comes in many back designs. |
| 100 (1950's-1960's)
a.k.a 1100 (1960's) |
1950's to 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | 1960's decks come in paper or plastic boxes.
One of the paper box designs copied the style of the box of Bicycle Bridge No. 86 (U.S.P.C.C.) |
| 101 | 1930's | Mini Bridge Size (7.5cm x 4.5 cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 110 | 1930's | Mini Poker Size (7.5cm x 5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 111 | 1930's to 1950's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | 1930's version had full-color back designs. One back design is known to exist: Girl with a dog.
1950's version had a typical arabesque pattern printed in one color. |
| 120 | 1930's | Mini Poker Size (7.5cm x 5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 123 | 1930's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 140 | possibly 1950's to 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Same back design as NAP 4 (1950's) but on paper cards. |
| 160 | 1930's | Mini Poker Size (7.5cm x 5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 190 | 1930's | Mini Poker Size (7.5cm x 5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 200 | 1970's | ? | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 201 | 1970's | ? | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 202 | 1930's to 1950's | Mini Bridge Size (7.5cm x 4.5 cm) | The back design was copied from Columbia No. 133/134 (National P.C.C.).
Also, the 1930's box design was very obviously copied from Columbia No. 133/134 (National P.C.C.). Nintendo inexplicably changed the text "Indianapolis & New York" to "Indianapolis & Shanghai", despite not having any offices in those places. |
| 203 | 1970's | ? | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 250 | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | |
| 251 | 1960's to 1970's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | |
| 252 | 1970's | ? | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 253 | 1970's | ? | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 300 | 1960's | Mini Bridge Size (7.5cm x 4.5 cm) | |
| 301 | 1960's to 1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | |
| 302 | 1970's | ? | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 303 | 1930's to 1960's | Mini Bridge Size (7.5cm x 4.5 cm) | |
| 307 | 1970's | Mini Bridge Size (7.5cm x 4.5 cm) | Faces of the cards feature hanafuda designs as well as western playing cards.
Exact same model as No. 4007. |
| 330 | 1960's to 1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | |
| 333 | 1930's to 1940's, 1970's (probably different model) | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Full color back design and "air cushion finish". Comes in many back designs:
|
| 343 | 1940's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Full color back design and "air cushion finish". Comes in many back designs:
|
| 350 | 1930's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 353 | 1930's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 353
(1960's) |
1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Multicolored back design. |
| 354
(1960's to 1970's) |
1960's to 1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Multicolored back design. |
| 355 | 1970's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 400 | 1960's to 1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Same back design as No. 40.
Back design may have been inspired by Coronet No. 121 (Western P.C.C.) |
| 402 | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Multicolored back design of a Royal shield. |
| 403 | 1960's to 1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Multicolored back design of a Victorian era lady. |
| 404 | 1970's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 410 | 1950's to 1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Dual colored back design based on Greco-Roman art. Comes in many back designs:
|
| 444 | 1930's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 450 | 1930's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 535 | 1930's to 1940's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Back design is possibly copied from a western company. |
| 565 | 1950's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Multicolored back design of a Lady wearing a red robe. |
| 555 | 1930's to 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | |
| 585 | 1950's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Multicolored back design of a Ballerina dancer. |
| 600 | 1930's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 601 | 1970's | ? | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 606 | 1950's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Multicolored back design of a Doll. |
| 666 | 1930's, 1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 670 | 1930's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 680 | 1930's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 680
(1940's) |
1940's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Has a back design very similar to No. 77. |
| 685 | 1930's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 700 | 1930's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 777 | 1930's to 1940's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | The back design was copied from Columbia No. 133/134 (National P.C.C.), which was eventually used by the U.S.P.C.C. for its Bicycle Bridge-Size playing cards as the "Doily Back". |
| 800 | 1930's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 807 | 1950's to 1960's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Faces of the cards feature hanafuda designs as well as western playing cards.
Same as No. 87 but with a different back design. |
| 808 | 1960's | Mini Bridge Size (7.5cm x 4.5 cm) | Same back design as No. 40.
Back design may have been inspired by Coronet No. 121 (Western P.C.C.) |
| 830 | 1930's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 838 | 1930's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 868
a.k.a. Club |
1940's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Has two known back designs. |
| 888 | 1930's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Only mentioned in the catalogue; not much is known about its appearance. |
| 919 | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | |
| 999 | 1930's to 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | |
| 1000
(Magic Cards) |
1930's to 1950's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Has a specially marked back design that allows the user to read a card from the back by memorizing the patterns on the back designs.
Sun and Moon back design. |
| 1001
a.k.a Elliptical |
1930's | Oval Shape | Has 6 indices on each card. |
| 1100 | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Same as No. 100 (1950's-1960's) |
| 2000
(Magic Cards) |
1930's to 1950's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Has a specially marked back design that allows the user to read a card from the back by memorizing the patterns on the back designs.
Dots back design. |
| 3000
(Magic Cards) |
1960's to 2010's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Back design may have been inspired by Enardoe Playing Cards (Arrco P.C.C.).
Rereleased under the Tenyo Brand in the 2010's as "Magic+Entertainment No. 2" |
| 4002 | 1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | |
| 4005 | 1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Full bridge sized version of the No. 303. |
| 4007 | 1980's to 1990's | Mini Bridge Size (7.5cm x 4.5 cm) | Faces of the cards feature hanafuda designs as well as western playing cards.
The image of Napoleon has been removed from the Jokers. |
| 4033 | 1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | |
| 5000 | 1940's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Has a typo "Naponeon" on the box. |
| 6000
a.k.a Poker Size |
1980's to 1990's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Same back design as No. 55, but with added "air cushion finish".
Back of the box mentions "Extra selected for Club Special", a phrase copied from Bee Playing Cards (U.S.P.C.C) |
| 8007 | 1960's | Mini Bridge Size (7.5cm x 4.5 cm) | Faces of the cards feature hanafuda designs as well as western playing cards. |
Special Playing Cards[]
| Name | Year | Size (or shape) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elliptical Cards
(No. 1001) |
1930's | Oval-shape | Oval-shaped playing cards with 6 indices. |
| Small Cards
(No. 25) |
1930's to 1960's | Small Size (4.3cm x 3cm) | Smallest playing cards produced by Nintendo until the "No. 15 A - Trump Keyring" was released in the 1960's (2.4cm x 1.5cm).
Back design and Court card designs were copied from Little Duke Toy Cards No. 24 (U.S.P.C.C) |
| Magic Cards | 1930's to 2010's | Poker or Bridge size | Has a specially marked back design that allows the user to read a card from the back by memorizing the patterns on the back designs. |
| Hana-Trump | 1930's to 1990's | Semi-small or Mini Bridge size | Faces of the cards feature hanafuda designs as well as western playing cards, and can be played as either a western card deck or a hanafuda deck. |
| NAP (Nintendo All-Plastic) Cards | 1953 to present | Usually Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Playing cards made entirely of plastic.
(Disney versions were also available) |
| Takarazuka Trump | 1950's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Playing cards featuring members of the Takarazuka Revue on court cards and a joker card. |
| Kyoto Souvenir Playing Cards | 1950's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Playing cards featuring photos of various things and places related to Kyoto on every card. |
| Nude Cards | 1950's to 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A deck marketed towards adult males, which feature scantilly-clad and sometimes nude female models on the faces of the cards. (It's relatively tame when compared to Pin-Up cards (1971) where every female model on the cards are nude) |
| Hana Cards | 1950's to 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | This isn't a western playing card deck; it's actually a hanafuda deck printed on western playing card stock. Indices indicate the point value of the card, as well as the suit name and month name in English and Japanese Romaji. A Hawaiian version with different point values was also exported to Hawaii in the 1960's. |
| Diamond Cards | 1950's | Parallelogram-shape | Parallelogram-shaped playing cards. |
| Disney Cards | 1959 to 1980's | Bridge Size or Mini Bridge Size. NAP sets also included | Nintendo's most popular series of playing cards featuring another company's IP. |
| P.G. (Playing Guide) Set | 1960's | Bridge Size or Mini Bridge Size | A deck of cards featuring the IP of a cartoon, comic, manga, anime, etc. with a playing guide booklet included. Models include:
PG-S (Bridge Size) PG-M (Mini Bridge Size) (Disney versions were also available) |
| Lenticular Set | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A deck of cards with a plastic box featuring a lenticular image of the back design. Some sets also include a Playing Guide booklet.
(Disney versions were also available) |
| Circle Case | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A deck of cards with a plastic box featuring a circular lenticular image of the back design, as well as a thin hole at the bottom of the box. Also includes a glued stack of cards meant to block the hole. Meant for performing box-based magic tricks.
(Disney versions were also available) |
| P.G. Magic Case | 1960's | Mini Bridge Size (7.5cm x 4.5 cm) | A mini deck of cards with a double-layered box. You can make the deck disappear inside the box.
(Disney versions were also available) |
| Ehon Trump (Picture-book playing cards) | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | The box each set came in resembled a television set, and each card contained an illustrated scene featuring a popular cartoon, comic, manga, anime, etc. The back designs are clearly marked with a different letter of the alphabet, and cannot be used as a serious playing card deck, allowing Nintendo to evade having the product taxed by the Japanese government.
(Disney versions were also available) |
| Initial Miler | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Not much is known about this deck although the back design suggests that the back design featured a different letter of the alphabet at the back. It's purpose is not known. |
| Katame no Jack (One-eyed Jack) | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A NAP card deck that includes a handkerchief and a pouch, meant for performing magic tricks. |
| Black Bat | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A NAP card deck with a special box, meant for performing magic tricks. |
| Change Card | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A NAP card deck with a special box, meant for performing magic tricks. |
| Rising Trump | 1960's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | A poker-sized card deck with a special box and a trick card with a string attached, meant for performing magic tricks. |
| Uranai Trump (Fortune-telling playing cards) | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Playing cards with texts for fortune-telling on the faces of the cards. It was meant to help predict the player's future regarding romantic relationships. |
| Chiisana Koibito (Little Lover) | 1960's | Semi-small Size (6cm x 4cm) | Mini version of Uranai Trump. |
| Young Men | 1960's | Long Size (10cm x 5.5cm) | Long playing cards with stylish designs, pips and courts, targeted towards gentlemen. Many card back designs exist. |
| Sports Kitte (Sports Stamps) | 1960's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Playing cards featuring sports stamps. The plastic box also has a "bowling game" with small metal balls. |
| Mexican Barrel-shape | 1960's | Barrel shape | A barrel-shaped NAP card deck with Mexican-inspired back designs. |
| Mexican Circular-shape | 1960's | Circular shape | A circular-shaped NAP card deck with Mexican-inspired back designs. |
| Classic Car Trump | 1960's | Large Size with large rounded corners | An unusually large playing card deck featuring color illustrations of classic car models from the 1910's to the 1930's. |
| Ukiyo-E (No. 2) | 1960's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | Features a full-colored back design of a geisha girl with silver borders. Features Ukiyo-E illustrations on all court cards and a joker card.
Available as a single deck with a lenticular box, or as a two-deck set, one with a silver bordered back and one with a gold bordered back. Promotional versions by Sanyo and Kokurin Shoji are known to exist. |
| Pastel Trump / Pastel Cards | possibly late 1960's or early 1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A set of cards with nothing printed on the faces. The owner is encouraged to draw their own designs on the blank faces using the 6 included Nintendo-branded color marker pens. |
| Koh Production
(Golf Playing Cards) |
1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Playing cards featuring sexy illustrations from Koh Kojima, as well as various Golf rules and etiquette. Supervised by the Professional Golfers Association of Japan and licensed by Koh Production. |
| Aslan Girls Playing Cards | 1970's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A promotional deck for Suntory, marketed towards adult males, which feature illustrations of nude women by French painter Alain Aslan on almost all of the cards. |
| Pin-Up Trump | 1971 to 1980's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | A deck marketed towards adult males, which feature photos of nude female models on all of the cards. The back design also features an illustration of a nude woman. |
| Miracle Trump | 1971 to 1975 (?) | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A deck with specially marked back designs that can be read by the holder of the deck using the included blue-tinted glasses. |
| Miracle Box | 1972 to ? | Trapezoidal Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A slightly trapezoidal deck encased in a special plastic box with flaps at the top. When the flaps are opened, the upside-down card rises from the box. |
| Marry Origin no Card Uranai (Marry Origin's Card Fortune-telling) | 1973 to 1975 (or later) | Circular shape | A circular shaped card deck with the Eight Stars Oracle logo as the back design. Includes a booklet on how to perform fortune-telling with the cards. Endorsed by Japanese astrologist Marry Origin. |
| Charmant Trump | 1975 to ? | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Playing cards with back designs selected specifically with card-fanning in mind. Includes a booklet on how to do various card fans. |
| Steam Locomotives of the World | 1975 to ? | Large Size with large rounded corners | An unusually large playing card deck featuring color photos of steam locomotives from around the world. |
| Mahou no Trump / Magic Cards | 1975 to ? | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A re-released version of Miracle Trump. |
| Poker Size Playing Cards (No. 6000) | 1980's to 1990's | Poker Size (8.5cm x 6cm) | A playing card deck with the same diamond back design as No. 55, but with added "air cushion finish". Back of the box mentions "Extra selected for Club Special", a phrase copied from Bee Playing Cards (U.S.P.C.C).
It is not known whether Nintendo was trying to enter the casino equipment manufacturing business at this time. No Nintendo decks that were cancelled by a casino were known to exist. |
| Clean-Through Trump | 1990 to 1993 (or later) | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A variant of NAP deck using clear plastic. Some Nintendo franchises would be printed as well, such as Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, and Kirby's Adventure. |
| Clean Guard Trump | 1990's | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A variant of NAP deck using antimicrobial plastic. The germs from Dr. Mario are featured in the cellophane wrap. |
| Master of Illusion Cards | 2006 | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | Has a specially marked back design that allows the user to read a card from the back by memorizing the patterns on the back designs. Included in each copy of Master of Illusion for the Nintendo DS. |
| Premium Mario Trump / Platinum Playing Cards | 2012 | Bridge Size (8.5cm x 5.5cm) | A variant of the clean-through trump with chromed gold and silver prints on the cards, featuring characters from the Mario franchise. Released as a prize item that can be purchased with points under the Club Nintendo Program. |
Other Nintendo Western Playing Cards[]
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Ainu playing cards | Playing cards featuring illustrations of the indigenous Ainu people of Hokkaido. |
| Animal series | Basic playing cards with animals on the back of the cards. Some of the animals included bunnies, ducks, kittens, and birds. |
| Bag-shaped cards | Nintendo, in an attempt to be innovative, produced bag-shaped card sets. These decks included unique designs on the cover, ranging from the British flag to panda bears. |
| Salmon Playing Cards | Playing cards with images of salmon |
| Square cards | Similar to the circular cards, Nintendo also produced square cards (or, in other words, cards that weren't triangular but rather perfectly square). |
| Travel series | Basic playing cards with travel scenes including the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Sphinx in Egypt, and more. |
| Yasai Cards (vegetable cards) | Playing cards with flowers of various vegetables. The suits are different colored bamboo shoots. The jokers are insects. |
Licensed Cards Produced by Nintendo[]
Decks featuring the IP of various companies, usually cartoons, comics, manga, anime, or pop designs.
| Featured IP | Description |
|---|---|
| Ado Mizumori | Playing cards with artwork from Ado Mizumori. |
| Captain Ultra | Playing cards featuring characters from the anime Captain Ultra |
| Disney | Perhaps the most successful cards Nintendo ever produced, the Disney-themed cards featured such characters and properties as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his nephews, Jiminy Cricket, Bambi, Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmatians, and more. |
| Kamen no Ninja Akagage (Masked Ninja Akagage) | Playing cards featuring characters from the live action TV-show Kamen no Ninja Akagage. |
| Koh Production
(Golf Playing Cards) |
Playing cards featuring artwork from Koh Kojima, as well as various Golf rules and etiquette. Supervised by the Professional Golfers Association of Japan and licensed by Koh Production. |
| Mighty Mouse | Playing cards featuring characters from the Terrytoon Mighty Mouse. |
| Obake no Q-taro (Little Ghost Q-taro) | Playing cards featuring characters from the anime Obake no Q-taro |
| Popeye | Playing cards featuring characters from the Popeye comics. |
| Sinbad Jr. | Playing cards featuring characters from the cartoon Sinbad Jr. |
| Snoopy | Playing cards featuring characters from the Peanuts comics. |
| Takarazuka | Playing cards featuring members of the Takarazuka Revue on court cards and a joker card. |
| Uchuu Ace (Space Ace) | Playing cards featuring characters from the anime Uchuu Ace. |
| Uchuu Shonen Soran (Space Boy Soran) | Playing cards featuring characters from the anime Space Boy Soran. |
| Ultraman | Playing cards featuring characters from the TV show Ultraman. |
| Yuusei Kamen (Planetary Mask) | Playing cards featuring characters from the anime Yuusei Kamen. |
| Other licensed cards | Other licensed cards include such characters and properties as Bugs Bunny, Zorro, Stop! Nii Chan, Naruheso Kun, and Ultra Seven. |
Promotional Cards Produced by Nintendo[]
Decks released for promotional purposes.
| Company | Description |
|---|---|
| AIDA | Playing cards for the AIDA company. |
| Ace Men Wear | Playing cards for the Ace Men Wear company. |
| Coca-Cola | Playing cards for the Coca-Cola company. |
| JAL B-747 Jet Courier Playing Cards | Playing cards with B-747s on the back of each card. |
| Kyoto Tourist Bus Calendar | In 1951, Nintendo manufactured playing cards with a 1951-1952 calendar that promoted the Kyoto Tourist Bus company. |
| MLB Cincinnati Reds | Playing cards with the Cincinnati Reds on the back of each card. |
| Reikan Yamakan Dairokkan (Clairvoyance Yamakan SIxth Sense) | Playing cards featuring the TV game show Reikan Yamakan Dairokkan. The cards are all-black. |
| Suntory | Among the most common commissioner of Nintendo promotional playing cards. Suntory playing cards were known to be made since the 1950's. Many versions were known to exist, including a Suntory-branded version of Pin-Up Trump (which feature photos of nude women), and Aslan Girls playing cards, which feature illustrations of nude women by French painter Alain Aslan. |
Decks promoting various Nintendo IP, including Club Nintendo exclusives.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Animal Crossing Playing Cards | Available only through Club Nintendo, these are playing cards with characters from the Animal Crossing series. |
| Broadcasting playing cards | Black-colored playing cards created for promotional purposes. |
| The Legend of Zelda Playing Cards | Playing cards released to promote The Legend of Zelda in Japan. |
| Mario Party Playing Cards | Available only through Club Nintendo, featuring artwork from Mario Party 8. |
| Mario Trump Playing Cards | Playing cards with Mario-series characters (note: not Hanafuda). |
| Nintendo 64 Playing Cards | Playing cards meant to promote the Nintendo 64 and its games, such as Super Mario 64. |
| Nintendo Entertainment System Playing Cards | Cards with several Nintendo characters such as Mario and Link, meant to promote Nintendo Entertainment System games. |
| Super Mario World Playing Cards | Cards meant to promote the release of Super Mario World in Japan. This card set had artwork from the games on the back of each card, and featured characters such as Mario and the then-newly introduced Yoshi. |
| Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Playing Cards | Cards meant to promote the release of the Super Famicom game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Featured images of Yoshi and Baby Mario. |
| Virtual Boy Playing Cards | Cards meant to promote the release of the Virtual Boy in Japan. |
See also[]
- Nintendo playing cards - All playing cards manufactured by Nintendo.
- Nintendo Karuta cards - Japanese-type cards including Hanafuda, Hyakunin Isshu and more.
- Original Cards
- Austin Reed playing cards
- Astro Boy playing cards