We’ve covered a lot of Nintendo’s history here at NL, and not just the video game side. At this point, it’s well known that before Nintendo jumped into the gaming space, it was famous for making handmade hanafuda playing cards. And if you’re a die-hard Nintendo collector, you’ll probably want to get your hands on these.
Erik Voskuil is someone who has mastered these two packs of playing cards. As the owner of Before Mario blog and author of book of the same name, he managed to get two 1950s packs depicting Nintendo’s Kyoto headquarters on the box, and they appear to be in pretty good condition. But unfortunately, Voskuil’s cards met a tragic fate. (Thank, Kotaku!)
Understandably, Voskuil shared his excitement at receiving the cards on Twitter, toying with the idea of opening them or leaving them sealed. Finally, he decided to open one of them to capture images of Kyoto.
As you can see in the photos, even though the boxes are over 70 years old, they don’t look bad at all! We are quite jealous. But when Voskuil opens the pack, he is not greeted by a deck of cards, but rather, a block of them.
Because the cards have remained tightly packed together over the years, the ink on them may have heated up and caused the cards to stick together. Plus, because the cards were made in the ’50s, they weren’t the plastic coated ones you get today, which means they’re fragile.
Voskuil documents the process and frustrations on his blog, but here’s an excerpt from his attempt:
“…when I carefully removed part of the wrapping paper, I quickly discovered that all the cards had completely fused together. They had been pressed together for a long time, yes. In hot and humid conditions, the ink on all the cards made them stick together completely. The stack of individual cards turned into a solid brick. The image printed on the card, which contains a relatively large amount of ink, has may also contribute to this.
It is also important to note that these tags predate the ‘all plastic’ tag date. They are made from paper, and are more fragile than plastic cards.
After applying some extra force to the package and attempting to bend it, it became apparent that there was a real risk of the paper layers inside the card giving way and tearing, rather than the cards coming loose. Other packages have the same problem. It is also a solid brick. “
Despite receiving advice on how to save the cards, Voskuil was sure the cards couldn’t help. It’s disappointing! But he at least hopes that he will find another pack to open in the future. He’s still open to suggestions on how to save these flimsy cards, so if you can think of a way, send them to him on Blog!
We can’t imagine the disappointment and disappointment, but at least the boxes look good! And the boxes come with a removable card, so that’s something.
Have you ever been disappointed by a collector’s purchase? Do you want a set of Nintendo hanafuda playing cards for yourself? Let us know!
