"Introduction" Ultimate Exhibit 1995 Admission card

Ultimate Exhibit 1995 Admission card

After the success of the first Ultimate Exhibit in 1994, Bandai decided to do a second such event in October of 1995. This time called Jump Character Carddass Ultimate Exhibit 1995 (ジャンプキャラクターカードダス究極博 in Japanese). Unfortunately they still used the inaccurate English translation of the event in the subtitle: "Super Museum".

This time the event was carried out at only three locations: Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka. This decision must have been decided based on attendance levels at the locations of the Ultimate Exhibit of 1994.

Exact dates are not easily found online, but it lasted 5 days. Requests for invitations were probably made around July or August, after which lucky applicants who were selected to attend where sent this limited prism card. This would be shown at the admission counter when attending the event in October. Unlike the invitation card of 1994, there was no stamping of numbers at the back of the card this time. 

This time Dragon Ball Carddass parts were up to part 24, with 25 around the corner. Super Battle was at part 14 with 15 about to be released too. All parts were available for sale as full sets, and there were some rewards to be won such as a limited Jumbo card, and a limited Super Jumbo card. 

The ultimate rewards were a "Carddass part 1~24 Complete Set" and a "Super Battle part 1~14 Complete Set" prize rewards. Each one was given to one lucky recipient per day per event (total 15 per box for each). These came in standard black boxes with texts written in gold.

Ultimate Exhibit 1995 Admission card back

The card features Son Goku, Trunks, and Pan. This illustration by Toriyama sensei is one of the first Dragon Ball GT illustrations, and the colors used on Goku are different from what ended up being on the show. The lower box reads: "What are the Dragon Ball that are neither Shenron nor Porunga?!". The edge reads: "Goku and friends new adventure begins!!".

The back of the card features a special type of back, that was also used on the Movie Special Card 95. The text in the box reads: "A few years since the events of before. Goku, Trunks, and Pan's adventure begins. It's a new TV original Dragon Ball story!! From part 26 DB Carddass too will meet the new development by introducing a new design!!"

A very nice card that is full of promise of what Dragon Ball GT might bring! I love the colors, and enjoy the differences in the expressions of the three characters. The fact that Goku's colors are different from the final designs makes it even more interesting to me. What a delightful card!

Back to main index

"Introduction" Over 1 Billion Carddass Commemoration (Limited 6000)

 

Ultimate Exhibit Over 1 Billion Commemoration cards

In October of 1994 Bandai celebrated Dragon Ball Carddass with an epic exhibit called the Ultimate Exhibit (究極博 in Japanese). At this event which was carried in 5 towns across Japan for 5 days, one would find full sets of Carddass parts for sale, rewards to be won by earning participation coins, as well as a chance to earn the new special versions of the newly released novel part 20 reversible prisms!

For additional information on the exhibit please first read the introduction to the Ultimate Exhibit Invitation ticket card here.

 

The summarized depiction of the Ultimate Exhibit 1994 (scan from Adali.fr)

One of my favorite articles on the Exhibit is the one by Bob on a French website called Adali.fr. I highly recommend reading the article (machine translation in English here). The story of the young attendee called Shinji is described in the greatest detail! Any Dragon Ball fan would be moved by his adventure at the exhibit that day.

The spread above shows the hours of opening, the rewards to be found, explanations on events, and a visual representation of what would be found at the exhibit.

 

Picture found online of the tickets that came from participating

 

There were participation tickets given out which had the following instructions. "Please carry this ticket with you today without fail. At the reception desk you can exchange this for participation coin(s) and bingo card(s) that you can enjoy at the Carddass Battle Corner.".

The main source of earning coins was by playing the card game with staffers. The prizes coins could be used on included a Limited Jumbo card, a limited prism binder, and arguably the best prize: this set of 5 Limited 6000 cards. This was offered to celebrate having made over 1 billion Carddass cards (what an achievement!). 

I've been informed by fellow collector Barry Ho that these cards were also available as a prize at an Ultimate Exhibit event carried out in Hong Kong. I don't know how many were printed there but I assume a small quantity. How cool that the Ultimate Exhibit was present in Hong Kong as well!

Card number 1: Gathering! The Super Saiyajin Warriors

 

Card number 1 features a group illustration of all 5 Saiyajin characters, and an ominous Babidi in the background. The edge reads "Let's pulverize Babidi's ambitions!". Notice the card edges of this series continues the tradition of using light purple toned right edges from the Mechanko Project and the Invitation Card.

Card number 2: Son Gohan

Card number 2 is one of my favorites of the series. SS2 Son Gohan doing a Kamehameha right at the viewer. What great colors and another gorgeous illustration! All 5 illustrations featured on these cards were colored by Toriyama sensei himself by the way.

Cards number 3 and 4: Son Gokuu & Son Gohan, Trunks & Son Goten

Although they don’t function as a pair, cards number 3 and 4 follow a pattern and they look very nice together. Really love the colors used on number 3. Card number 3's edge reads "Earth's strongest warriors will be decided by us!" Card number 4's edge reads "We will master the ultimate technique of fusion!!"

Card number 5: Gotenks

 

Card number 5 features Gotenks in the center and Buu in various poses around him. One of the highlights of this wonderful set, and one of my favorite limited cards! The edge reads : "Fusion accomplished!!"

The entirety of this set is absolutely extraordinary. Arguably one of the nicest sets of all the limited cards in my opinion!

Although they were limited to 6000 copies it's quite likely most attendees of the event were able to acquire a set, which must have been a magical moment. They are quite rare and expensive now a days, but for fans of Carddass, these are trophy cards that if possible should be in every collection!

 

Ultimate Exhibit Over 1 Billion Commemoration cards back

Back to main index

"Introduction" Part 20 Ultimate Exhibit Limited reversible prisms

 

Ultimate Exhibit exclusive versions of the Part 20 reversible prisms

In October of 1994 Bandai released the extremely hyped Carddass part 20. They were featured prominently at the Ultimate Exhibit event. Part 20 was a major moment in Carddass history as it introduced the first two reversible prism cards (the back of the card was made of peeleable paper which would reveal another prism on the back).

These special Part 20 reversible prisms were found in special vending machines for part 20 that were exclusive to the event. They were also available as part of full part collections that were offered for sale (also only at the event). 

 

The back of unpeeled versions of the cards

 

For the very lucky these were also obtainable as part of a special gold Ingot case (pictured in the Daizenshuu perfect file volume 1) which collected all first 20 parts of Carddass. This was rewarded through a questionnaire. Only 1 was awarded per event per day, so with 5 locations going on for 5 days, only 25 were given. I believe they were again obtainable the following year at the Ultimate Exhibit of 1995 as part of a 24 part Carddass black box. As these two exclusive cards were also obtainable as a reward presented to lucky winners at the event, they can also be considered gift cards.

Reverse side of the two exclusive prisms once peeled

What made these Ultimate Exhibit versions of these two cards different was that they were made of a “card type” prism pattern (or hard prism, please read Retroballz's excellent page on this subject). The standard versions featured “seal type” prism patterns (soft prisms). Bandai later introduced reversible prism cards as a standard from part 23 onwards, and they would use the “card type” found in the versions shown here.

Top: Ultimate Exhibit version. Bottom: Standard versions

The first card features Son Goku in SS3 for the first time in the Carddass series. The second card features Son Gohan wielding the Z sword. The design and illustrations used are great.

Of course this version is much rarer and harder to find than the standard version. Although it is not known how many were made, under 10 000 sounds like a reasonable estimate.

These two cards were highlights of the Part 20 of Carddass, and these special versions featured at the exhibit remains very popular with collectors to this day!

Reverse side comparison between the Ultimate Exhibit (top) and standard version (bottom)

Back to main index

"Introduction" Ultimate Exhibit 1994 Invitation ticket card

 

The Ultimate Exhibit '94 Invitation card

At the release of Carddass part 19, Bandai accepted invitation requests to attend a new event called the "Jump Character Carddass Ultimate Exhibit", abbreviated to Ultimate Exhibit (究極博 in Japanese). The English subtitle read: "Super Museum", which in my opinion is not an accurate translation and does not do justice to the original Japanese title. Those selected (7500 individuals) were sent an invitation card (pictured above). 

This was to be used as a ticket to access the upcoming event later that year in 1994. The event was carried out in 5 locations across Japan: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Sapporo. The event lasted 5 days, starting from the 9th of October, which was a Sunday, lasting till Friday.

The event had much to offer, attendees would be able to acquire the new part 20 reversible prisms with a unique prism pattern exclusive to the event. Play card games to earn points that would allow one to pick rewards, of which the mighty Over 1 Billion Carddass Commemoration prisms was a part of. It was also possible to buy full sets of all Carddass up till part 20, as well as Super Battle up till part 10, among other wonderful items.

Back an unstamped Ultimate Exhibit '94 Invitation card

The back featured a special backing stating the rules: 

- 1 card allows one person to attend 1 single time. 

- Please be sure to bring this card with you.

- For inquiries (followed by phone number)

When this ticket was brought to the admission counter of the Ultimate Exhibit event, it was stamped with a visitor number (such as "0108" for example). Since there were 5 locations across Japan, most earlier numbers would exist on up to 5 cards around the country. 

There also exists unstamped versions of the card such as the one pictured here. According to various sites out of the 7500 invitations sent, only 5207 people attended across all 5 locations. This resulted in 2293 cards being unused. As a result the unstamped cards are a bit rarer than the stamped variety.

I've been informed that there was also a similar Ultimate Exhibit carried out in Hong Kong, and that this card also given out to participants there. I don't know the exact date of the event or how many were printed for it is. I assume the card is otherwise identical. Thank you to Barry Ho for that supplemental information!

This is a card full of history. Not only for being associated with the historic first Ultimate Exhibit, but also because it is only one of two non reversible non double prism Carddass cards to have been made featuring this card type prism (or hard prism). This style was typically much more commonly used by rival Amada.

The card is one of the rare Carddass prism cards showing Son Goku using the Nyoibou. Such a colorful illustration, and with Shenron in the background! What a splendid card!

 

Back to main index

"Introduction" Multi World 1993 Certification card

Multi World 1993 Certification card

 

From July 28 to August 15 of 1993 Shonen Jump organized a big event called the Jump Multi World in Tokyo at the Tokyo Dome. This event celebrated the 25th anniversary of the legendary publishing company. 

For additional information on the event please read the introduction to the 25th Anniversary Jump Multi World cards here.  

The event had an area called the "Jump Game World", where attendees could gather information on the latest games, demo plays, the chance to experience the latest games before anyone else, and the chance to participate in a tournament competition!

 

The Jump Game World area of The Jump Multi World event

 

The latest game at the time was the Famicom card battle RPG game called Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku which was coming out during the course of the event (August 6), so that game must have been heavily promoted.

This card introduced here was the reward for participating in a knockout game tournament. All participants received this card (whether they won or lost). My understanding is that the tournament was either the newly released "Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku" in the tournament mode (up to 6 players), or the Super Famicom "Super Butouden" (released 4 months earlier) fighting game style tournament 1 vs 1 at a time.

Multi World 1993 Certification card back

The back of the card reads:

"We certify that you have participated in the special project "Jump Multi World" for the 25th year since founding, and participated in the Bandai Event Stage."

Similarly to the Tenkaichi Shikenkai Gold Certification card released earlier that year, this too is not technically a Carddass card. Although both are by Bandai, neither is mentioned in the Daizenshuu Carddass Perfect File books. However respected sources such as KaitoriCollect, and Mandarake, among others, classify these two cards as Carddass cards, and so many collectors have come to collect them and consider them as Carddass cards anyway.

 

Multi World 1993 Certification card

The front of the card features Super Saiyajin Son Gohan with a crystal type prism pattern (or broken glass prism pattern) dashing towards the viewer. The illustration is colored by Toriyama sensei. There is mention of "OFFICIAL CARD" written all in caps in the upper left, as well as a Bandai logo in the lower right, two design traits it shares with the Tenkaichi Shikenkai Gold Certification card. Both cards also are in the same format and dimensions (slightly horizontally narrower).

I absolutely love this card. The prism effect is stunning and the history behind it is pretty cool too! Unfortunately it's incredibly rare. I've seen some French sites list it as being limited to 500 copies, I think there are likely more than that, maybe twice that number, but no one knows for sure. Still it's very rare, and highly sought after!

 

Back to main index

"Introduction" 25th Anniversary Jump Multi World

 

The two 25th Anniversary Jump Multi World prism cards

In the summer of 1993 celebrating their 25th anniversary Shonen Jump organized an event called the Jump Multi World. The event was held from July 28 to August 15 at the Tokyo Dome Prism Hall.

All the major manga works published in Shonen Jump were part of the event including some that had ended publication such as City Hunter, and Orange Road among others. The event had lots of games to participate in, lots of merchandise available for sale, and plenty more.

A picture of the information booklet and uchiwa found online

Attendees received an information booklet, the two prism cards introduced in this article, and an uchiwa (a Japanese style fan). The back of the uchiwa had a map giving a rough representation of what the layout was like.

My preferred map is the one included in the booklet which has a nice hand drawn representation with captions indicating what was to be found at the event.

A drawn layout of the Jump Multi World event of 1993, from omochalaheadchala.com

For more pictures of the booklet please read the excellent article written about it at omochalaheadchala.

On the upper right section attendees would find the "Jump Museum NOW" displaying important moments in Jump's history, including a special section dedicated to Akira Toriyama.

The upper middle section had a "DBZ robo game", which featured a new Bandai arcade fighting game of Dragon Ball Z inspired by Super Butouden. The design of these special cabinets was designed by Toriyama sensei himself. For more information on the arcade cabinet here's an article at Kanzenshuu about it.

To the right of that was the "DB VR Battle game", where attendees could reenact the special moves from the series.

Below the VR game room was the "Multimedia Computer Land", a section where attendees could view digital files on a few computers on display (must have been very cool in 1993!).

On the top right was the "Jump Game World", where one could gather information on the new video games, learn tips and techniques, as well as see demo plays. There were also daily video game competitions, during which participants were able to earn the Super Saiyajin Son Gohan Multi World 1993 Certification card.

The bottom areas were the "Multi World Bazaar", the area where lots of merchandise was available to buy such as posters, postcards, artworks, telephone cards etc.

25th Anniversary Jump Multi World prism cards back

These two Special Carddass cards offered to attendees featured many characters from the ongoing manga series of the time. These two cards are not featured in the Daizenshuu Perfect File Premium Gallery 2 probably because it was not a Dragon Ball exclusive item. 

Son Goku and Son Gohan are however front and center on both cards (in Super Saiyajin form) so most Dragon Ball card collectors do collect these Carddass cards. The frame design used is unique, and looks like a digital matrix type of design. I really like the frames, and I also like the cards as a whole.

1993 was really an incredible year for Dragon Ball events. First the Toriyama Akira Mechanko Project and the subsequent contests, followed by the Jump Multi World event in which Dragon Ball was very heavily featured, and at the end year the opening of the Akira Toriyama World Exhibition!

Back to main index

"Introduction" Tenkaichi Shikenkai Gold Certification card

 

Tenkaichi Shikenkai Gold Certification card

 

The Tenkaichi Shikenkai Gold Certification card was originally revealed as a reward during the Jump Toriyama Akira Mechanko Project Shijou Battle (this item would have been distributed to 200 winners). The promotional sheet in the pages of Jump had it referred to as the "Z Fighters Certificate" card. The reward was revised and used for the follow up round of the Mechanko Project known as the Teknaichi Shikenkai, which took place in May of 1993. This time limited to 500 cards.

The Tenkaichi Shikenkai (天下一試験会) event was the follow up round of the Shijou Battle, and was partly organized around the release of the Super Famicom title "Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden", which had just been released a month earlier. 

 

Prototype of the Tenkaichi Shikenkai card

Unlike the first round (the Shijou Battle) which was a questionnaire form to be mailed in, this event consisted of a written test to be filled out in person! 7000 selected participants attended over two days, depending on their location the dates of the test were:

- May 7: Nagoya, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Sapporo, and Sendai.

- May 14: Tokyo, and Osaka.

There's a wonderful blog written by a person who participated (called Rien), and I highly recommend reading it if interested.

According to Rien the Tokyo event was like a regular examination test with desks and chairs, but some of the other locations were in places like gymnasiums.

 

The Shitajiki and VHS rewards, along with the questions sheets (from Rien's blog)

 

There were many rewards given out, the first of which was a large Shitajiki and a VHS with promotional footage of "Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden".

The top rewards included:

- A signed artwork by Toriyama sensei himself [Rewarded to the 10 participants with the highest scores].

- A full set of all 10 released Dragon Ball Z movies on VHS [Rewarded to the top 30 highest score earners].

- A gold certification card [Rewarded to the 500 highest score earners].

The exam questions and the scoring results were later returned to the applicants (as shown in the photo above).

Tenkaichi Shikenkai Gold Certification card back

The Tenkaichi Shikenkai Gold Certification card is made of metal but is still of relatively normal thickness (slightly thicker than a normal card). 

The back of the Tenkaichi Shikenkai Gold Certification card reads: 

"We certify that you have achieved outstanding results at the 1993 Tenkaichi Shikenkai."

The white section underneath was for recipients to write in their name. Fortunately for collectors most do not appear to have written in their name (fortunate for sellers too as this card is one of the most valuable Dragon Ball cards). Regrettably however most of the cards that were either stored among other cards or stored in the card holder have had sections of the white part come off. In some extreme cases the back of the card may have no white name section left at all.

Tenkaichi Shikenkai Gold Certification card holder

 

This is not technically a "Carddass" card, and it's not listed in the Daizenshuu Carddass Perfect File books. However because it was released by Bandai in an age where they mainly released Carddass cards some fans still mistakenly consider it part of the Carddass series.

There is mention of "OFFICIAL CARD" written all in caps in the upper left, as well as a Bandai logo in the lower right, two design traits shared with the Multi World 1993 Certification card released later that year. Both cards also are in the same format and dimensions (slightly horizontally narrower).

Tenkaichi Shikenkai Gold Certification card

The Tenkaichi Shikenkai Gold Certification card must have been an incredible reward to receive. An appropriate prize for those top 500 highest scoring winners of the test! It’s a unique and incredibly sleek card.

SS Son Goku’s portrait comes through very nicely on the metal surface. Despite being thin, the weight of the card makes it feel imposing. A very exclusive and mystical card!

Back to main index