Sunday, December 16, 2012

The Blog is not quite dead yet: Nintendo Hanafuda Cards Arrived in Mail

It has been about four months since my last post, how has everyone been doing?  Well I hope.

Unfortunately this is more like a visit than a resumption of regular content.  Work and family commitments have me so swamped that I no longer have time to play old video games, let alone write about (or, perhaps more importantly, shop for) them!

Still, I did snag one neat thing on Yahoo Auctions the other day (online shopping I can at least spare a few minutes for from time to time) and thought I`d resurrect the blog to make a little post about it. 

What I picked up was a box of old Nintendo Hanafuda cards.

As everyone with an interest in Nintendo knows, before it was a video game maker, or even a toy maker, it was a playing card maker.  I had been wanting to find an old set of Nintendo playing cards for a while and when I found these, complete with the lovely (if worn) little wooden box I couldn`t resist.

I see reprints and modern, Mario-themed Nintendo hanafuda cards all the time on Ebay and Yahoo Auctions, but the actual vintage ones are a bit harder to come by (though by no means impossible).

The little red imprint on the upper right of the box says Nintendo (任天堂) using the older style kanji that were in use before the war:


These seem to be post-war cards though, according to the seller they date from the early 1950s.  Open the box up and voila:


A very colorful bunch of cards.  It is a pity that I have no idea how to play:




Anyway, that is that.  I`ll try to make it less than four months before my next post!

18 comments:

  1. I've been looking off and on for an old box of these things forever. Musta just missed seeing it if you got them the other day!

    Dang!

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  2. Welcome back, Sean -- if only temporarily. Either way, you've been missed! I hope you and your wife and dog are well, if busy.

    Other than that, the cards look lovely! I taught myself how to play the game a few years ago after coming across an appealing-looking Super Famicom game, but I don't remember how it works now. Still, if I taught myself in a rather short amount of time, you should be able to as well -- assuming you have any interest in it, of course.

    Anyway, thanks again for the post. Take care, and come back whenever you can!

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  3. Brandon - yes, sorry about that :) I bought them about 10 days ago and they arrived a few days after that, so I might have just bought them before you had a look! If you keep checking on Yahoo Auction you can probably find some though, they pop up from time to time. This one had the box though, which they usually don`t.

    Bryan - thanks! We are all doing well, it is sometimes better to be incredibly busy than incredibly free (but only sometimes)! I hope you are doing well too, I do miss our regular exchanges of comments on each other`s blogs!

    That is interesting that you were able to teach yourself how to play, I`ll have to give it a try sometime when I am free again :)

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  4. Hi Sean. Just to let know that your regular posts are missed. Enjoy your new busy life and take care! P.S. Nice set of cards!

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  5. Welcome back, even if it is just for a visit. You have no idea how nice it was to check the page and not see "More Famicom Erasers" at the top.

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  6. Awesome cards and welcome back!! ^_^

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  7. Thanks Nathan, Luis and ABTC, it is nice for me to see something other than the erasers on the top of the page too :)

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  8. Good to see you back again!

    My friends taught me Koi Koi pretty quickly, the rules are pretty simple, it's a matter of remembering all the different sets you can make. (But you can keep a cheap sheet with you to remind you when you're first learning to play!)

    This site shows all the different sets quite clearly: http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/hanafuda/rule.html

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  9. Thanks Mike! That link is useful, I will have to give it a go sometime!

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  10. Holy crap, a new article? Man, it's great to see you're still alive! Have you settled into your new home? Doing well? Added some new games to your collection? Just keep doing what you do, take your time, and I'll be looking forward to new updates in the near/far future. Stay awesome!

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  11. Thanks Skyrunner! I`m pretty well settled into my new life, everything is going well. Well, except for the Famicom collection, I haven`t been able to add anything to the collection since the move, mainly because I`ve been too busy. Hopefully I will be able to get back into things though :)

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  12. Hello again Sean, no need to ask if you're still busy with stuff! Nice find though, I imagine it must be great as a Nintendo fan to have something of theirs this old. I'm not even sure what Hanafuda is (I know, I know - Wikipedia!) but the cards sure look nice :)

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  13. Hi, let me introduce, im Juan Manuel, i recently found this rare Famicom Music made with the Famitracker, a very rare collection of experimental NES jams so take a look. http://www.iimusic.net/catalog/2011/06/misfitchris-famicom-sessions

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  14. I have a set of these cards. The top card is numbered 3535. Open to selling.

    V

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  15. Sorry to post on such an old entry, but I just had to butt in and say how cool I think these are... they're really cool!

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  16. Thanks BRIK! Cool they are indeed :)

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