I've always suspected that companies still make and sell trading cards -- ones for baseball players and Pokemon characters -- although I've never actually seen any recently.
That is until the other day when while trying to locate a specific flavored gummi for my son I came across this:
It's a Super-Scary Story Trading Card.
Japanese people love scary stories. And this is further proof. For one hundred yen you can buy a Super Scary Story Trading Card, open it to find this scary story.
This one is about a haunted street crossing. The "card" is folded and sealed. So you read most of the story like this but to get to the dynamic, super-scary ending you have to tear this open to reveal...
Gya~~!!
I think I might collect a few more.
I think I might collect a few more.
Also, you can't have a true trading card unless you have the perfectly unchewable...gum!
17 comments:
Ahh.. shades of childhood. For me it was Beatles' cards. And insult cards. And of course the various sports cards. The gum was either pale pink or pasty white, dusted in a powdery substance and would crack and shatter rather than bend and fold.. at least more often than not. I can still smell it. Fun, nostalgic post, Terrie. :)
WOW... okay... I seriously used to collect Grease and KISS cards...
Hilary, I can honestly say I never ate that gum. I remember that though, how it'd get all crumbly. This gum was much smaller and actually wrapped in plastic. Sanitary!
April Marie, I have a friend who is a certified KISS nut. I bet he'd pay good money for those cards. ^ ^
Terrie, previously, you posted about Colonel Sanders and the curse on the Hanshin Tiger baseball team. Well, I was amazed yesteday to find the story and picture of the recovered Colonel on the front page of our local newspaper. The story told about the 10-year losing record of the Tigers and won some kind of award. Ha! Anonymous in NW Arkansas
Oh. My. Gosh. The news made it there. It is a cute story. And I heard that if you look (I couldn't find any when I went) you can buy little key chains that are replicas of the beat up-looking Colonel.
If your finger tips weren't showing in the photo for scale, I would've guessed that was a slice of pasturized processed cheese food - not gum. The two are probably similarly unhealthy...although we're not supposed to swallow the gum!
Hang on -- the gum isn't chewable? I'd want my money back!
Bet they sell those things like hotcakes in the summer time. Who wants to be chilled in the winter, though?
(I collected Crackerjacks favors. Kind of pitiful, isn't it?)
Thanks for the clips from Kaso Taisho. I'd almost forgotten that. Great show. I've been busy with the spring term starting, and I haven't had as much time for entertainment as I've wanted, but I finally got back to your blog.
Thanks,
imomomo
My love was Garbage Pail Kids and Marvel superhero cards. Yup, major geek over here ;)
Pat, true, it does look like cheese. I should have tried it. I chucked it remembering that stale stuff they used to put in cards when I was a kid. I might have to buy another just to see if it's chewable.
Mary, yep, you got your fingers on the pulse of Japan. All the scary stuff it supposed to be in the summer. These are total jiki hazure.
And I loved Crackerjacks as well. The prize and the peanuts. Mmm sugar-coated.
Imomo, so good to hear from you. I hope you guys are doing well. Lots of playing with the pups.
Gabu! you totally dated yourself...young! I remember Garbage Pail kids but I was, um, too old to fully enjoy them.
Please, please tell me the gum is miso-flavoured!
I collected baseball and football cards as a kid, but only casually - trading wasn't worth the effort. And the term "collector's item" raises my hackles for a start, since they're only "collectable" when the manufacturer says they are. Otherwise, who would want them?
Wacky Packages, though were more my forte. Bought the new series when they came out - a boxload, I hoped, would get me all of them. Somewhere, I have a shoebox full of stickers of parody-brand products.
The Scary Story series looks cool, though - enjoy!
I collected hockey and baseball cards in the 50s, 60s and into the 70s. My brother still does.
The gum was good - soft and flavourful - IF you got fresh packs of cards. Otherwise, as Hilary recalls, it was brittle and required some serious jaw work.
What staggers me now is the fact the packs of cards I once spent from 5 - 25 cents for, now cost $5.00 or more! (And I bet the gum is terrible.)
Poet, Frank, I remember an old boyfriend who collected baseball cards and got the one with that one baseball player (I'm so specific) who wrote in marker a bad word on the end of his baseball bat. It actually got printed and went out before anyone noticed. All I remember is the bad word. I heard that one is worth a lot.
looks cool, terrie! :)
That's awesome!!!! I want some! Except I can't read Japanese. boo! But I love Japanese gum! Especially the melon and grape flavors!
Wolf and Ello, hey there! The story wasn't so scary. But then again it's just written on a small piece of paper.
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