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The Total n1000 Commemoration 3D Carddass card
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In December of 1995 Bandai released Carddass part 25, the last part centered around Toriyama's Dragon Ball manga (The Dragon Ball GT anime was already in production and Carddass cards would return as GT cards from part 26).
To celebrate the release of the 1000th Carddass card (the last card of part 25, a wonderful reversible prism), Bandai launched a lottery contest to award 3000 lucky winners with a unique 3D hologram card featuring SS3 Son Goku!
This card would be the first and only Carddass card to feature a 3D hologram effect. Bandai's competitor Amada produced 4 hologram cards as part of the "Trading Collection" 1-part series earlier that same year. That collection was very popular for those incredibly cool cards. So imagine the surprise seeing this classic piece of Toriyama artwork converted to a 3D card!
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Total n1000 Commemoration 3D announcement sheet found on auction
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The lottery announcement sheet was intended for display on the right side Carddass vending machines, and presumably most commonly attached to machines containing Carddass part 25 (but perhaps also some Super Battle part 15 machines).
The instructions read: "Write your address, name, age, gender, and the name of the anime or manga you want Carddass cards on on a postcard and send it to the address below.". The deadline for applications was January 31st of 1996.
There's also a promotion for the upcoming Dragon Ball Carddass Perfect File 1, and the following mention: "For those who unfortunately missed the lottery deadline, 1000 will receive a refill pocket for the part 24 & 25 linked special cards."
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French announcement flyer and reward letter, found on the "DBZ Museum Collection" group
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The card was also distributed to 2000 lucky people in France. The card was officially referred to as the "Hologramme 3D serie speciale". Instead of doing a lottery, the card was distributed to the first 2000 people who sent in 5 empty pouches (empty card packs) of "Carddass series number 4". This would be the French release of Super Battle part 14.
The deadline for participating was October 31 of 1996. The winners were to receive the card 4 weeks later. As far as I know the 2000 cards distributed in France are indistinguishable from the 3000 distributed in Japan. Therefor although known in Japan as a Limited 3000 card, it is actually limited to 5000.
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| The Total n1000 Commemoration 3D Carddass card |
The 3D effect of the card is hard to capture in pictures. Essentially the card has an effect of popping out. The effect is most noticeable when tilting the card from left to right. For example Goku's hand feels like it's reaching out of the card, but also the point of view on the entirety of Goku's body moves relative to the background!
When tilting the card SS3 Goku's aura shines in and out depending on the angle it is viewed at. The bottom box reads: "Super record thanks to everyone! Thank you for your continued support!!!". The edge of the card reads: "Dragon Ball Carddass Total No 1,000 has been reached!".
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| The Total n1000 Commemoration 3D Carddass card (from Carddas Nation's collection) |
The card is originally green or yellowish green, despite the original flyer showing it more as brown. Although harmless to the hologram effect (or value of the card), in some rare situations some cards may have turned brown, but this was a more common occurrence with Amada's 3D hologram cards.
Above is a photo provided to me by
Carddass Nation from his personal collection. It's a very nice example of a brown Limited 3D Carddass card. As one can see the card's illustration and 3D effect remain strong and the color and vibrancy very clear.
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| Aura pulsing that appears from the sides on the Total n1000 Commemoration 3D card |
In some very rare and unfortunate instances the card may have a bluish
hue. The cause is unknown but the result is that those blue cards may
suffer from a reduction in how well the 3D hologram effect can be seen.
The card is infamous for being extremely sensitive to natural damage. In most cases this presents itself as black dots or black streaks across the card. It's so common that it's practically impossible to find a card free or these imperfections.
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The Total n1000 Commemoration 3D Carddass card back
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The back of the card reveals that it is made in the USA. Perhaps the USA had the optimal plants for producing hologram cards? The back also reads "Not for sale".
This is easily one of my absolute favorite limited Carddass cards. Everything about it is outstanding, from the illustration itself, the design, the rendering, the presentation, every aspect is phenomenal!
This would be the last Buu era limited card, and the last Dragon Ball Z era limited card, but what an unforgettable way to celebrate 25 parts of fantastic Carddass cards!
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