W1C continues our breakdown of Ghost In The Shell across trading card sets, focusing here on a small set of Topps Promo cards, as well as the enjoyable Amada Chromium cards. Collectors can find Part One of our breakdown, featuring the Carddass Masters GITS set here. For over three decades now, Masamune Shirow’s Ghost In The Shell has continued to demonstrate its staying power, both in pop-culture and across a variety of mediums. Interestingly enough, there aren’t very many resources highlighting the variety of Ghost In The Shell trading card sets that have come to market over the years, so hopefully the Wave 1 Collectibles breakdown of the famed anime as it appears in .0254 millimeters of cardboard will be helpful for fans and collectors alike. PART 2 TOPPS & AMADA Each card featured a compelling image from the movie against a faded title header and binary sidebar along the rightof the card. Cardbacks feature the movie’s logo, another character shot and brief information about various aspects of the movie. Discerning collectors will notice that these cards are actually numbered, although at a glance they appear not to be. Each card features a different binary code centered at the top yielding set numbers for the five cards as follows: 00001 – People love machines in 2029 A.D.
5 Card Standard Set | Cellopack GHOST
IN THE SHELL CHROMIUM | 1997 [JPP/AMADA] This set was capitalizing on the-then-craze of Chromium on collectibles replete on 90’s products. Amada did a very nice job with the chromium application on these cards, but as we’ve seen over the last 25 years, full chromium collectibles tend to turn a unique shade of green over time with acid-release or UV exposure. Still, non-acidified sets can still be found and collectors will want to be sure to store this set in acid-free, UV resistant pages or frames. Although the base set only comes in at 45 cards, Amada did include 3 chase sets making box breaks more exciting. Each pack contained one of 15 “Reflector” cards numbered S01 – S15. It’s hard to see what was accomplished with this subset as the first 9 cards are simply more images from the film although the last 6 feature borderless promotional art with a puzzle assembly on the cardbacks. “Clearchrome” cards were inserted 1 for every 12 packs, and are quite a bit harder to find on the aftermarket today. These cards featured chromium highlights amidst translucent stock and are relatively attractive, if not gimmick-free. There are 9 “Clearchrome” Ghost In The Shell cards numbered C-01 through C-09. Lastly, the set features two individual cards – an unnumbered “Coming Soon!” promo featuring the movie poster image of Kusanagi in her Optic-Camouflage suit, and a Special Reflector Card (#SP01) extremely limited, pulling at only 1:96 packs. Sealed boxes for this set featured the now-common image of Kusanagi in Optic-Camouflage against a backdrop of bubbles, presumably meant to call back to the shot of the Major underwater (you can even see her hair floating around the profile). Boxes were of your standard horizontal-pack design for the time, containing 24 packs per box. Each pack was attractively wrapped in a foil wrapper with the “Wired Up” promotional image of Kusanagi against a white backdrop and attractive font telescoping a level of sophistication from the cards underneath. Collectors will want an empty wrapper with their sets as they present nicely. “Ghost In The Shell Chromium” by JPP/Amada is a small but nice card set for its time. The chromium gimmick really screams “1990’s”, yet in many ways serves an intellectual property like "Ghost In The Shell" through a metallic appearance and enriched colors from reflectivity. The set is relatively easy to find, although sealed boxes of this now 25-year-old card set can run upwards of $75 to $100 per box, collectors might be interested in simply buying sets rather than chasing breaks for themselves at this point. AMADA’S GHOST IN THE SHELL CHROMIUM BREAKDOWN 45 Card Standard Set Collector’s Note Check back soon for Part 3 of the W1C Collector's Guide to Ghost In The Shell trading card sets! Wave 1 Collectibles currently has “Ghost In The Shell” inventory available here. Subscribe to our emailsSubscribe to our mailing list for insider news, product launches, and more. |