"Introduction" Carddass Special parts I, II, and III Limited cards

The Mechanko Project HK edition Carddass cards

From 1993 to 1994 Bandai Japan decided to print another set based on the Toriyama Akira Mechanko Project Carddass cards. Originally planned for Hong Kong and other non Japanese Asian markets, this set made use of the 6 illustrations that were chosen a few months earlier for the Visual Adventure Special part metallic cards (or laser cards as some call them).

These cards were given in pairs accompanying the sale and orders of white boxes (the retailer sealed containers that carried the cards) of re released Carddass parts to retailers. There were a total of three sets of pairs for this series, for a total of 6 prisms. The three pairs were cards number 1 & 2 in late 1993, then in 1994 cards number 3 & 4, and lastly cards number 5 & 6 later that same year.

For more detailed information on the cards and texts, please read about the Mechanko Project versions of these cards here.

Part 1 includes the "Son Goku" (written in gold) and the "Son Gohan" cards

Normally the cards in white boxes were intended to be sold in vending machines, but often times vendors would also put them in card albums to sell them individually. This practice was most common in smaller Japanese boutiques, as well as being a popular practice in anime and manga goods stores in various countries including France. A lot of children who grew up with Dragon Ball Carddass will remember hunting down such stores in order to be able to buy their favorite prisms (or even multiple copies of them) without having to use vending machines.

These Special Carddass cards despite not being distributed in Japan were still made in Japan (with all texts in Japanese). They were near identical to the Mechanko cards, with a few differences: the card numbers were changed putting them in a different order, and the scouter boxes no longer had the “Toriyama Akira Mechanko Project” puzzle letters, instead having a more classical "Special" in its place. 

Veteran collectors will notice two additional differences: the white level and saturation levels of the colors are somewhat different to the Mechanko Project cards (with white levels here reproduced closer to how the older Carddass parts were made).

Part 2 includes the "Son Gohan" (this time written in gold) and the "Z Fighters" cards

Despite being manufactured for distribution in non Japanese Asian countries, all three parts of the Carddass Special cards found their way into the French market in fairly large quantities. Presumably through anime and manga goods shop that had connections to Hong Kong. They also found their way (in smaller quantities) back to Japan. This may be partly responsible for the diminished frequency of the third part in the local Hong Kong markets (some collectors believe it received a smaller print, but this is unconfirmed). In Japan the second part appears to be the easiest to find. In France they all appear to be of equal rarity according to local collectors, while in Hong Kong the first set is more common, and the third set much rarer.

Part 3 includes the "Decisive Battle" and the "Family" cards

While these cards have always been popular in Hong Kong and in France, in recent years the discovery of these cards being official cards has sparked great interest in them in Japan. While in Hong Kong they were only known as "Special Carddass" cards, in France during the internet years they were nicknamed "HK Special Carddass" cards, and more recently in Japan they are referred to as "Mechanko Project Hong Kong" cards, or "Mechanko Project Hong Kong edition" cards.

They have become harder to come by over the years, but in comparison to the rarest limited cards such as the Limited 3000 cards or the Mechanko Project cards, the Special Carddass cards are still reasonably accessible to committed collectors. They are usually comparable to the Over 1 Billion Carddass Commemoration limited 6000 prisms in terms of their pricing. The number of cards circulated is unknown but some reasonable estimates put it at under 10 000. For all we know it could be as rare as the limited 6000 prisms, and the minor price difference could be explained to there being slightly less demand.

The selection Bandai made here is outstanding in my opinion. The set contains several of my favorite Mechanko Project cards (in particular the "Son Gohan" cards, the cell centered "Decisive battle" card, and the "Z fighters" card). The way the white reproduction comes through gives these cards a slightly vintage quality, setting them a little closer to the Limited 3000 cards in that respect. I think even fans who have the Mechanko Project cards should consider obtaining a set of these as well as they are a very beautiful and charming set.

I highly recommend this set to any serious Dragon Ball Carddass collector, assuming the price isn't an obstacle of course. A wonderful selection of special prisms that do great justice to a wonderful arc of Dragon Ball!

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The Complete Guide to Collecting the Carddass Limited 3000

Warning: This article is aimed at maniac level collectors.

Collecting the much sought after Limited 3000 cards can be pretty tough. Aside from the current prices which steadily go higher and higher every year, there is also very little information on the internet to help potential collectors. Shopping for these cards can be a confusing experience as one set can look completely different from another and there isn't an easy way to get informed about these differences. 

This guide is written to help understand the peculiarities of these cards.


1. Color

The first and most confusing difference can be seen in the color of the frames around the illustrations themselves. Even within certain full sets there can be strong variations in frame colors between the cards. The illustrations themselves are generally unchanged, which is why often times collectors are led to believe that whatever color frame they have most of must be the original color.

The Limited 3000 cards come in many different colored frames: maroon (or wine red), light purple (red leaning towards purple), purple (fully purple), dark brown (these have a noticeably darker tone), and possibly anything in between.

Sets that have mixed colored frame cards are very common. While the color makes no difference in the value of the cards, it's worth noting that the original color as they were printed is the maroon or wine red variety. This is documented in two sources: The Carddass Secret Technique Daizenshuu, and the Daizenshuu Carddass Perfect File volume 1.

 

The Carddass Secret Technique Daizenshuu (カードダス奥義大全集) released in 1991

Notice that even in the Secret Technique Daizenshuu above, the card number “alpha” (middle row-right of picture) has a leaning towards dark brown. I've never seen a proper explanation as to why the frame colors would change, but it's different from other Dragon Ball cards known to fade such as the Remake 91 and Super Battle part 1/2 1991 cards, as the main illustration remains unaltered.

The original color can appear very different depending on the light sources (natural sunlight, artificial light, specific LED lighting etc), depending on the angles, and even the camera used to photograph the cards. This makes it hard to understand what the colors are in auctions or sales where only pictures are being used.

Although released over 5 years after the release of these cards, the clearest document showing the original color of the frames is the popular Daizenshuu perfect file volume 1 book. They are found in the foldout found at the beginning of the book called the Premium Carddass Gallery Special 1.

The Daizenshuu Perfect File volume 1 (大全集ダスパーフェクトファイル) released in 1995

The frame color looks very similar to the the frame colors of the special prisms (B-1, B-2, B-7, and B-8) from the remake 90 and remake 91 parts.

A comparison with the remake 90 or 91 pages open with the foldout in the Daizenshuu Carddass book confirms this. They were likely inspired by the Limited 3000 card designs.

Here's what the actual cards look like next to each other:

They are not spot on identical, as there is a subtle difference in person that does not show in the camera (the Limited 3000's are a bit less saturated, maybe due to differences in manufacturing between 1989 and 1991). Keep in mind that some Remake 90/91 cards (especially the former) have a tendency to discolor too (towards light and dark brown usually).

Now here are some pictures from finished sales on places such as Yahoo Auctions Japan, with personal comments in the captions.

Before proceeding I would like to emphasize that all these cards can be considered beautiful, even when sets are of mixed colors. They are all still original in that the transformation likely occurred naturally, not due to sun fade or any other external reason. Some collectors even prefer them in colors such as dark brown and purple. The following is for documentation purposes only.

The frame in this first limited has a leaning towards purple

The first and third cards are leaning purple, the other 4 appear close to the original color

The first and second cards leaning slightly purple, the other 4 appear to be the original color

The fifth card is dark brown, the other 5 are the original color viewed under sunlight

Original color under light

The first has turned to an unusual brown, the second fully purple

All of these have turned to purple

These are the original colors. Note the break lines next to the arrows

2. Break lines

The next subject are the those somewhat thick horizontal lines that show up on some cards (as shown above). These are due to a limitation of the printing technology used on the first 5 or so Carddass parts and are very common in all sets of Limited 3000 cards. It’s the result of the printer reaching the end of the sheet and starting off a new one.

These are so common that they are found on roughly a third of the cards in any given set. On average I have found that a set of 6 generally will have around two cards with them, sometimes more, sometimes just one.

The effect can be worse on some cards than others. Here's a completely subjective personal ranking on worst to best cards to have break lines on:

- The α card (n1) is the worst to have the lines on in my opinion, as it really stands out with the light background.

- The ε & ζ cards (last two cards) are the next worse to have them on as they also stand out in the colorful sky backgrounds.

- The β and γ (Son Goku and Vegeta cards) are the cards on which the lines are least noticeable due to how the illustrations are. The flip side is that these are also fan favorites. The Son Goku in particular is a center card in the set. So this is up to personal preference.

- The δ card (fourth card) in my opinion is another acceptable one to have with the break lines. The lines are more visible than on the Son Goku and Vegeta cards, but not as bad as on the other three.

You can see the Vegeta break lines in my own set (look above his right hand), and below is a picture of the break lines in the Son Goku card. As you can see depending on the angle it's barely noticeable.

Card from DB人生's collection

2. White reproduction

Up next is the matter of the reproduction of whites. Most Limited 3000 cards do not have pure whites (in fact pure white are almost non existent). Like most prisms from Carddass part 1, part 2, and part 3 (1988 and 1989 editions), whites are instead generally both off-white and cream colored.

It's not completely unusual for a set of the 6 prisms from the limited n2 set to have one or more cards with a noticeably different white level from the rest. This is not a concern and should have no impact on the value of the cards.


3. Identifying authentic cards

Avoiding fake reproduction cards is obviously an essential point to look out for.

Fakes often use "card type" prism patterns (or hard prism, or deluxe prism, depending on your preferred way of calling them). The originals are of course "seal type" prisms (soft prisms), like the rest of the Carddass cards from 1988 and 1989. Please refer to RetroballZ's excellent photographic comparison if you are unfamiliar with the different prism types. However there are also reproductions that use seal type prisms so this will not be a guarantee of authenticity.

The off white edges and text boxes of real cards will have the prism pattern lightly visible in them. The fakes tend to have inconsistent sizes for the fonts, numbers and finer details, so look closely at real cards when in doubt. The colors tend to be completely wrong as well. Fakes will not have break lines indicating the end of the sheet roll and the beginning of the next (although I hear this might become possible eventually). The frame colors in real cards sometimes have minute differences in shades, even when they are all in the same color, fakes won't have such variations.

The surest way of verifying if the card is real is by checking the back. Fakes are unable to recreate the intricacies of the original Carddass cards. The back of real limited n1 will have traces of gold particles, and the back of the limited n2 cards use the same material as the back of the Carddass part 3 prism cards.

4. Condition

As with most cards, condition is also an essential aspect to look out for. Regardless of condition these cards will be very valuable, but in the long terms having them in beautiful condition is of course preferable. So something to consider if you collect with the intention of potentially exchanging or selling them someday.

5. Conclusion

Hopefully this article was able to shed some light on these enigmatic Limited 3000 cards. Owning a set of any kind is something any Dragon Ball Carddass fan can be proud of, and you should enjoy it to the fullest. There is no right or wrong as all of them are part of Dragon Ball history. For those hunting for a set based on your personal preferences, good luck in your search!

Sets previously sold at Mandarake

"Introduction" First and Second Limited Carddass cards (Limited 3000) - DEPRECATED

The Limited 3000 card introductions have been redone and have been moved here:

First Limited 3000 card (Part 2 Release Commemoration)

Part 3 Release Commemoration Limited 3000 cards (6 prisms)

 

I am leaving this page here with only the photos for those who wish to see them. I use a new camera and wanted all the card pictures to have consistency with one another by being taken by a single camera. Thank you for you interest in the blog!

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Where to shop for Dragon Ball Carddass cards

There are many places to buy Dragon Ball Carddass cards so I will make a list of some of the better places, and my opinions on them. In Japan there is a distinction made between the two very different type of sellers: buyers 買取 (kaitori) and resellers 転売屋 (tenbaiya). The first, buyers, are professionals, they invite customers to present cards they wish to sell to them by bringing them to their store, after which they evaluate the cards based on ongoing price listings and make a price offer to the customer before buying the product. The second type, resellers, are individuals who shop around for good deals wherever they can, with the intent of selling them higher once acquired. Professional shops are always more reputable and preferable vendors to buy from than resellers.

Mandarake in Japan

Mandarake is the best known manga and anime related merchandise second hand chain in the world. It was first started in 1987. They sell many Carddass cards and lots of Dragon Ball. You need to be in Japan and sometimes prices are on the high side compared to some of the other places, but they are professionals and the condition of the cards are properly described. They are a very reliable place to acquire Dragon Ball cards from.

Mandarake store list and locations

There are many stores in Japan and availability of cards probably changes a lot from one store to the next.

Below are direct links searching for Dragon Ball cards on the online part of Mandarake's shop, both in English and Japanese. Their online inventory is pretty small, and unfortunately they don't write the dates on these so one can't tell when the sold items sold.

Mandarake online shop DB cards in English
Mandarake online shop for DB cards in Japanese

Sometimes they also do sales of Dragon Ball cards through their special auction system.

Below you can view the list of ongoing or upcoming auctions for Dragon Ball cards. The ended auctions are useful to see what some cards sold for (but check the dates).  Sometimes it's worth searching on the Japanese site as well as there can be some differences in listings.
 
Mandarake DB cards on auction in English
Mandarake DB cards on auction in Japanese

VintCollect

VintCollect is an online only shop fully specialized in Carddass cards, mainly Dragon Ball cards. This online store has become the leading shop specialized in dealing with Dragon Ball Carddass. The owner is highly professional, and all items are likely to be appraised and evaluated with the highest standards. Like Mandarake this site only buys cards from individuals who bring their cards to them. There is no physical store location so everything is done online. I highly recommend this store to all Carddass fans.

VintCollect main site

Unfortunately the site is only in Japanese, however they do ship internationally but one has to navigate the Japanese site first. There is a little helpful guide with pictures showing how to get around the site available too which might help.

VintCollect's English guide for navigating the site

Inventory is updated daily during week days and things move very fast. Fortunately the store allows one to delay shipping a certain number of times, which means one can buy when stock comes up and pay shipping only once after enough items are bought.

The sold item pages are also useful to see what items may have sold for, but like Mandarake's online shop, sadly there are no dates so one can't tell when the cards were sold at those prices.

VintCollect also has a Yahoo Auctions Japan account under *tmmjrjb so one can find more of their products there too, but more on YJ! below.   

*Update 2022: his Yahoo account seems to have changed to something else.

Yahoo Auctions Japan!

Yahoo Auctions Japan also known as ヤフオク is a great place to shop for Dragon Ball cards as there are new listings daily and lots to chose from. Prices are something collectors complain about in recent years but usually other stores and sellers follow Yahoo so once items reach new prices there it will be reflected in places like Mandarake, VintCollect and other places as well.

Yahoo Auctions Japan! main site

One can shop at Yahoo auctions by using proxy shopping services that will purchase the items for you for a minimal fee, store it and later ship it to you once you request to have a shipment. I won't be going over proxy services because I don't know them well enough, but it's worth spending some time to do some research as the ones that are generally most promoted are not necessarily the best.

Yahoo Auctions with search for Dragon Ball Carddass (sorted by newest)
Yahoo Auctions with search for Dragon Ball Carddass (sorted by recommended) 

Japanese understanding is needed to navigate around, so above is a basic search for Dragon Ball Carddass to get you started. Some proxy services can do the translations as special features which is useful to see what the descriptions are like.

Some of the most reputable sellers for DB cards on Yahoo include the very respected KaitoriCollector (their main account goes by the name kaitoricollector_first but they have a few alternate accounts for different auctions). They are another online kaitori seller that just happens to often have Dragon Ball cards (often times of the rarest kind including the rarest limited cards).

One thing to keep in mind on Yahoo is that bidding high and losing often sets a new price for the future, which means you may end up paying more next time because sellers will have taken note of the highest bids of previously ended auctions.

 

Mercari

Mercari is a Japanese site for individuals to sell their items on but there are lots of Dragon Ball cards that get listed there daily. They will sell internationally only through the proxy shipping service Buyee. 

Mercari main site

I think Mercari is a good alternative to Yahoo Auctions Japan, but less accessible from overseas since customers need to use Buyee.

Mercari search for Dragon Ball Carddass

Here's a direct link searching for Carddass. Since it's not auction based, items sometimes sell very fast.

Rakuten Market (Fril)

Fril now called Rakuten Market is an alternative site to Mercari. This site has less inventory but still has daily new Dragon Ball cards that people put up for sale.

Rakuten Market main site
Rakutem Market search for Dragon Ball Carddass

Prices vary a lot, and like Mercari as they are not auctions good deals tend to sell fast.

Ebay

Most people use ebay already so I don't think I need to explain. They have a lot of Dragon Ball Carddass listings.

Ebay main site

I don't recommend ebay for Dragon Ball cards. In the late 2000's there were a lot of out of box full part sales, but things have changed. Availability is down, and prices have gone up. The prices on ebay for Dragon Ball cards will generally be the worst of anywhere on the internet.

 

JD World Tokyo

JD World is a newer shop created by a French collector living in Tokyo. This seller is a reseller unfortunately. Inventory is updated regularly enough but prices tend to be higher than average, and are listed in euros. Condition descriptions are a little vague and items as of this date generally do not show the back of the cards. They also sell new Carddass releases.

JD World Tokyo main site 


Despite the negatives the site seems to get good feedback from people in the French community who have bought there which is why I am listing it. However I'm still not a fan of resellers so I would not recommend it over better alternatives. It is a good site to buy brand new Carddass releases however.

*Update 2022: The store URL and info was updated.

Facebook

Lastly there are facebook groups for Dragon Ball Carddass collectors. These communities allow fans to meet each other online and trade or sell/buy cards with each other.

The biggest English speaking one I know of is called "Japanese Dragonball and DBZ Cards".

Most of these groups are private and require joining. I think it's a great concept but sadly the English speaking groups I have seen appear to have very low activity and participation.

There are some nice French and Hong Kong groups out there though. People are nice and seem to often speak English there but they sell in euros or hkd so prices are generally a bit above what one would expect when shopping in Japan.

What are the Limited Carddass cards? + The purpose of this blog

Limited Carddass cards displayed at Mandarake in 2018

The purpose of this blog will be to cover the limited cards from the "classic" era of Dragon Ball Carddass cards. 

I love the main series of Carddass, Super Battle, Visual Adventure, PP and such just as much as the limited cards. However as mentioned in the introduction page there are already great sites covering main series Dragon Ball cards, but the Limited gift cards that Bandai offered are generally only given brief mentions.

Among enthusiasts and collectors there is a lot of fascination for the rare and limited Carddass cards, but to my surprise most collectors do not know or understand the history of these cards all that well. This is why I decided to make this blog.

I'm American of Japanese descent and a nearly life long Dragon Ball fan as I grew up watching the original Dragon Ball series starting in the late 80's during the Japanese broadcasting when I was still a little child. I collected Japanese Dragon Ball cards throughout most of the 90's and resumed again in the 2000's.

My goal will be to cover the limited cards of Dragon Ball Carddass. Starting with the First Limited 3000 card from 1989, all the way to the Tokubetsudan B-course Limited card from 1998. Many people spend hundreds (sometimes even thousands) on these cards without really knowing much about them. Hopefully this blog can serve the purpose of spreading information on these cards.

So what are the limited cards? Mostly they were presents (or gifts) from Weekly Shonen Jump & Bandai to the fans either through raffle rewards, rewards for participating at events, or rewards for high scores at tests. 

Here's a brief introduction to these cards.

Premium Carddass Gallery Special 1

The 1995 Daizenshuu Carddass Perfect File volume 1 showcases almost all of the limited gift cards (of those released prior to publication) in several special page spreads across the pages of the book.

The first spread at the start of the book called the "Premium Carddass Gallery Special 1" covers the most iconic 3 Limited sets: The first Limited card, the second set of 6 Limited 3000 cards, and the set of 10 Toriyama Akira Mechanko Project limited cards.

This spread is a foldout type, and includes a checklist for readers to mark off the ones they have. This is also done on the other "Gallery" pages as well.

Premium Carddass Gallery 2

The second Premium Carddass Gallery Special 2 continues the list of limited Carddass cards, starting with the Ultimate Exhibit 1994 invitation card (number 1), the Over 1 Billion Carddass Commemoration set of 5 prisms (numbers 2 through 6), the Ultimate Exhibit 1995 admission card (number 7), and the Jump Museum '92 Son Goku card (number 8). The last three pictured (numbers 9, 10, 11) are limited Jumbo and Super Jumbo cards.

Please note that limited cards released after the release of the book are of course not included. These cards are: The GT card n0 "Son Goku and friends", The "Movie Special 1995" prism card, the "n1000 release celebration Limited 3D" gift card (a 3D holo card), and the two "Tokubetsudan" limited gift cards.

A couple other gift cards not mentioned in the book but that had been released at the time of publication are the set of two 25th anniversary Jump Multi World 1993 prism cards. As they featured characters from many manga they were not exclusively Dragon Ball cards (probably why they were not included), but since Dragon Ball is featured most prominently (with Goku center stage on one card, and Gohan center stage on the other), they are generally viewed as Dragon Ball Carddass limited gift cards as well.

Premium Goods Gallery

The "Premium Goods Gallery" are items related to Carddass that are other than cards. At the moment in this blog I don't intend to cover the limited Jumbo cards or the Carddass Goods.

Despite not being cards these premium items are mostly very limited gifts. They include The Commemorative Card (100 made). This is one of the most prestigious Carddass goods items. It is shaped like a card, but is actually a gold colored metal plaque. It is both much thicker and heavier than Carddass cards. It comes in a special see-through protective display case.

Other items include the Carddass clock (30 made), the Carddass tapestry (300 made), the Limited Gold Keyholder (800 made?), and the extremely limited Carddass 20 part set Ingot case (the book mistakenly states 24 parts). The Ingot case contained the Ultimate Exhibit version of part 20 which includes the two deluxe versions of the 2 reversible prisms of part 20, which were limited to this event (only 25 made). 

Not pictured but there also exists a Super Battle 14 part Complete Box, and a Carddass 24 part Complete Box presents also given out in extremely limited quantities at the Ultimate Exhibit 1995. 

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What is Carddass? An introduction to the series

Bandai's legendary Carddass vending machines that would present the customer with a card upon the insertion of a 20 yen coin (and later 5 cards for 100) was first introduced in July of 1988 (the first of these cards would be for the iconic series "Saint Seiya"). The Dragon Ball Carddass series started in November of 1988. They were the first of their kind. The Dragon Ball Carddass cards grew to become some of the most popular and beloved collectible cards in Japan for an entire generation. They were also very popular internationally in many parts of the world.

In 2018 Bandai celebrated the 30th anniversary of Carddass

By late 1997 Bandai stopped the original series of Carddass, just about a decade after they first launched. A few years ago Bandai resumed production of the series starting with the revival of Dragon Ball that started with the 2013 movie "Dragon Ball Z Battle of the Gods" (ドラゴンボールZ 神と神), although now sold in boxes instead of via machines.

Although it is often believed that the name (カードダス) was originally given because of how these function: a card coming out of the vending machine (or カード出す), turns out this isn't the case.

The term Carddass borrows the "dasu" (ダス) from "Amedasu" (アメダス) which is the "Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System". The reason being that Bandai was hoping children would gather around, discuss, and spread information about these cards.

There were also other ways of obtaining Carddass cards. Some small individual retailers or shops would sometimes sell complete sets of a series, as well as individual sales of cards (usually displayed in binders), a wonderful way for completing collections (or acquiring the prism cards directly!).

The four classic Carddass card series are:

- Carddass (also known as the main series) (30 parts +2 Remake parts, 6 prism cards per part, 10 per "Remake" part)

- Super Battle (20 parts +1 (Tokubetsudan*), 2 hidden prism cards, 2 double prism cards**, and 2 prism cards per part)

- Visual Adventure (8 parts, 6 prism cards per part)

- Super Barcode Wars & Characters Collection (6 parts, 6 prism cards per part)

*Tokubetsudan is both Super Battle part 21 and Carddass part 31, and has 9 prisms

**with the exception of part 1 and 2 which had 4 prism cards and no double prism cards

 

There were also various lines of Jumbo Carddass cards, which were extra large cards. The prism variety were sold individually in sealed sleeves, and retained the style and designs of the Carddass and Super Battle series.

Bandai did continue using the Carddass name on other series later on, but the "classic", or "golden age" Carddass refers to the series mentioned above.

There already exists incredible sites documenting Carddass cards. One such site is DBZ Collection a wonderful French site that collects an enormous database displaying full series of cards numbered and all.

For prism fans my recommendation is RetroballZ, they have great displays of all the prism cards in each collection. They even have pages in English as well!

 

Example of an Amada PP (pull pack)

The biggest rival Dragon Ball card producing company was Amada (although other companies, such as Banpresto tried as well). Instead of Carddass, Amada had PP's, or Pull Packs. Their distribution system differed from Bandai as they sold them in card packs (as pictured above). One would pull a paper sleeve and get the card for 20 yen, or one could buy the entire pack guaranteeing prisms.

There were many types of Amada Pull Packs, but the mainline was by far the biggest "PP" series (32 parts), the "Hero Collection" (4 parts) was their second most popular collection. Aside from those they did many single part collections such as the glorious "Trading Collect - Memorial Collection", best known for having 4 amazing 3D holo cards.

Collectors often refered to these as Carddass as well. Officially of course Carddass cards were only the ones by Bandai. Whatever one may call them, Amada's cards are equally beloved and for a while were more or less equally prominent and remain extremely popular among Dragon Ball card collectors.

Very quickly Amada also started selling their cards in many other ways, including some with additional products such as storage cases or accessories. The most notable alternative releases were the clear bags with a set number of prisms displayed openly, allowing buyers to know what they were getting. 

They also pioneered so called Deluxe versions of their prisms, usually offering their cards in very nice special prism patterns (or "card type" prisms), most prominently the fixed angular diamond prism type often referred to as "hard prisms".

No one had as many variants and prism styles as Amada, and they were always very cool. The PP collection also had the most design changes of any collection, giving the different parts a lot of personality.

Banpresto's Terebi Denwa part 3 was another nice series of cards

Dragon Ball cards were so popular in the 90's that it was rare to find boys who didn't at least know of them. It was very common to see card exchanges going on during school breaks and lots of discussions around them. Everyone had their favorite series, their favorite cards, and they would regularly show off their beloved cards to their friends and family with great joy. That was the magic of Dragon Ball cards!

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