Macross standard playing cards

[optimator88]

I was cleaning my attic last week, and I found a standard poker deck of Macross playing cards. Does anyone else have these or know what they are. They must have been in storage for over 10 years, and I have no idea where I got them.

All the cards have different pictures, most of them from macross 7, but some of them from DYRL and Macross II (not toally sure because I've never seen Macross II).

I can post some pics later, if no one knows what I'm talking about. But I have a feeling someone does.

[Totoro242]

I was cleaning my attic last week, and I found a standard poker deck of Macross playing cards. Does anyone else have these or know what they are. They must have been in storage for over 10 years, and I have no idea where I got them.

All the cards have different pictures, most of them from macross 7, but some of them from DYRL and Macross II (not toally sure because I've never seen Macross II).

I can post some pics later, if no one knows what I'm talking about. But I have a feeling someone does.

I have hat deck, but onfortunately I believe them to be bootleged. There is no copyright and there is no BW sticker on them. Mine even came in a non-descrept plastic case. There was also a Macross II deck released at the same time. The confusing thing about them is how nicely produced they are.

The only legitimate 52 card playing decks I know of are two or three decks put out by company called Amada of mini playing cards and a furoku deck put out by Animage magazine of full sized playing cards featuring Macross TV illustrations by HAL.

There was also a goofy pyramid card set for Macross 7.

I can post some pics of all eventually when I come across them

[optimator88]

Thanks for the reply. I was wondering if they might have been bootlegs. I couldn't find any company markings anywhere on the card. They look nice though for being bootlegs. If you find your deck sometime please post some pics.

[TheLoneWolf]

Here's a pic of my deck (not all cards shown). In the upper-left corner is the clear plastic jewel case it came in, and next to it is what the backs of all the cards look like. In the lower-right corner is a standard poker card for comparisons sake. Note that the standard poker card is only a few centimeters larger than the Macross cards.

Like Totoro242 said, there's no Big West sticker or copyright anywhere on any of the cards, so they might be bootlegs. But these cards are still superbly made! There's no pixelation or artifacts on any of the cards artwork, the cards feel like they're made from quality paper stock, and the cards all have a nice waxy coating with very slight texturing. If these are indeed bootlegs, then they're excellent boots, well worth the $10 I paid back in the day. My only complaint is that most of the cards feature Macross 7 artwork. I would've preferred it if the cards represented all of the Macross series equally, but since this deck was released when M7 was still popular in Japan, I guess it's not much of a shock.

[veffidas]

From the picture you provided, they are without a doubt bootlegs - in my mind at least. Too much of the artwork featured is unnaturally cropped in comparison to the original sources.

Also, the Animage magazine insert deck was not standard dimensioned; it was slightly smaller and the paper stock was not one that you'd necessarily want to regularly play with. The bootleg of that deck was, however, standard sized and made of the usual waxy playing card stock. (You can tell which one is the bootleg when you have both; the decrease in image quality is noticeable when comparing the two. I actually received the bootleg deck through a transaction with a member here whom I presume didn't know it was a bootleg.)

Edited May 11, 2009 by veffidas

[bigkid24]

Yeah I have this deck too, it's probably one of my favorite decks since it has a wide variety of art....well even if most of it is from M7. So far I think I only have 3 Macross decks of cards. I have this deck, a deck featuring Mikimoto watercolors of the characters (my set is a bootleg I'm pretty sure but I'm assuming there's a licensed deck) and a mini deck with 4 different card backs...unfortunately they match to the suit of the card which makes them impossible to play with....assuming a person was going to try.

[TheLoneWolf]

veffidas, I have to agree that the deck is most likely a bootleg.

Anyways, since this is a Collectors forum, I decided to take a picture of the official Animage deck (not all shown). Unlike the previous deck, these are copyrighted. The good thing about the Animage deck is that it has glorious Mikimoto pencils. Unfortunately it's made from low quality paper stock, has no waxy coating, no texturing, and is considerably smaller than your standard poker cards. With a few rough shuffles, this deck will be ruined. Then again, I believe this deck was given away for free with Animage back in '83, so you get what you pay for.

For those that are curious, I've also posted a size comparison shot between the two Macross cards and a standard poker card.

[Gabe Q]

I have a set of the Animage deck with Mikimoto artwork on them. Those images are absolutely beautiful. I wish I could find another set.

[xrossfire]

Hi @TheLoneWolf, any idea what's the worth of this official Animage deck? Thanks!

[TheLoneWolf]

10 hours ago, xrossfire said:

Hi @TheLoneWolf, any idea what's the worth of this official Animage deck? Thanks!

An opened official set recently sold for $80 on eBay and an unopened set is still sitting on eBay for $64, so it's kinda hard to say.

Personally, I wouldn't pay more than $40 for an opened set and $50 for a sealed one. Like I wrote before, it's a cheaply made set. Even the picture quality on them is meh.

[jvmacross]

10 hours ago, xrossfire said:

Hi @TheLoneWolf, any idea what's the worth of this official Animage deck? Thanks!

Oddly enough, this particular set was re-released as part of the merch that was sold during the Healthy Wings Macross concert held a few years ago...

Sent you a link for a cheap set...good luck!

[TheLoneWolf]

19 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

Oddly enough, this particular set was re-released as part of the merch that was sold during the Healthy Wings Macross concert held a few years ago...

Do you know if the card quality was improved on that set?

[jvmacross]

3 minutes ago, TheLoneWolf said:

Do you know if the card quality was improved on that set?

I'd have to dig them out, but to be honest, I may have never actually opened them up...I think it's been 5 years or so since I bought them when made available for PO