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| The first limited Dragon Ball card |
To commemorate the release of Carddass part 2 in July of 1989 Jump decided to
give a free prize prism card to 3000 lucky winners of a lottery contest organized in
Weekly Shonen Jump.
The lucky winners were awarded the card known in Japan as the "Part 2
release commemoration limited card n1" (2弾発売記念限定第1 in Japanese). More
commonly referred to as the first limited (限定1号). It is sometimes called
the Infinity card due to the symbol in the numbering circle, but it is
actually the Greek alphabet letter "omega" (last letter in the Greek
alphabet).
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| Shonen Jump issue promoting the Limited 3000 present card (found on twitter "tiyu12sai") |
This prism card is considered the rarest Dragon Ball Carddass card from Bandai, literally the alpha and the omega. Being that there were only two parts of Carddass at the time, there were a lot less collectors, and the way most children viewed and preserved these cards was likely different from a few years later when Carddass cards became more established. Different collectors have different estimates of how many may still be circulating, but it’s almost certainly less than were made.
The card was originally shipped in a plain envelope, which contained the card in a slightly oversized transparent plastic bag taped closed by a piece of tape. It is very rare to still find it in this condition, but due to the method of shipment not offering much protection, the card could still sometimes arrive damaged, which is why quite a few of these were possibly slightly bruised prior to even being received (usually dents in the front or back of some cards).
For a video of a collector opening up a brand new still sealed card please enjoy this Youtube video from collector サンマルコ (San Marko?). A real treat!
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| The first limited Dragon Ball card back |
The back side of the first limited 3000 originally had the same gold particles found on the original print of the first two parts, and just like on most of those, the gold particles have generally come off, but often times there is still remnants of it in areas of the back.
Aside from being the first limited card this card was a pioneer in more than one way: It was the first Carddass card to have a border design (in this case maroon colored), the border design later became a staple of Carddass parts starting with part 3. This card is also the first prism card to feature the Dragon Ball Z era, and the very first prism card featuring Son Gohan.
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| Part 2 Release Commemoration Limited 3000 card |
The illustration is a classic piece of artwork featuring Son Goku and Son Gohan as a little child, riding a dragon. The text on the top reads "We need to hurry in order to not be late!". Son Gohan is likely late to school (this is indicated by the fact he is wearing a traditional little child's school outfit and backpack). The Dragon seems to be sweating as he pushes through, with Goku looking perfectly relaxed.
This illustration is one of the rare pieces
depicting Gohan's life before Raditz' arrival on Earth. It was colored by Toriyama sensei himself.
The Limited 3000 first and second set limited cards are most special, and are beloved Dragon Ball Carddass cards for their great style and their significance in Carddass history.
For anyone looking for the pictures used some years ago, they can be found here.
