Nintendo is the most famous Japanese playing card manufacturer. The most standard deck of Nintendo playing cards is the NAP series. (I have been checking amazon in various countries and have not been able to find NAP outside of Japan, which leads me to believe that maybe they don’t export them.)
https://www.nintendo.com/jp/others/playing_cards/lineup/standard/index.html (Japanese page)
There are three levels of NAP here: 600, 800, and 1000, and the price goes up as the numbers, 600 yen, 800 yen, and 1000 yen.
According to one person who contacted Nintendo on a Japanese QA site, the quality of the playing cards themselves is the same, but as the grade increases, the number of colors increases and the fineness of the printing changes.
Let’s look at each of them.
About NAP600 (Photo: NAP622)
This model has been adopted as the default playing card in “Clubhouse Games™: 51 Worldwide Classics“.
The gold areas are coated with a color that reflects in the light, giving them a more luxurious appearance than they appear in the video game.
About NAP800 (Photo: NAP818)
This model is used for playing cards (green) for furniture in “Animal Crossing™: New Horizons“. The pattern on the back looks more luxurious, but the number of colors is not so different…?
There appears to be no difference in the spade joker on the front or the number card of the suit. The gold areas are shiny as well.
About NAP1000 (Photo: NAP1051)
This model is used for playing cards (blue) for furniture in “Animal Crossing™: New Horizons“.
A difference of 200 yen makes a much more respectable case. How about the printing? As for the high quality of the pattern, NAP807 seems to be better.
Side-by-side comparison.
From left to right: 600, 800, 1000.
The familiar ace of spades with “Nintendo” written on it. Poseidon blowing his flute? and a clown holding a star? is the Joker. These are the ones you see when you think of Nintendo playing cards. I am very familiar with this pattern as it has been the same since I was in elementary school about 25 years ago. I heard that Poseidon used to be blacker.
When it comes to the surface, they are almost the same. I can’t tell the difference as much as I think the printing machine is the same. I can’t tell the difference as much as I think the printing machine is the same.
To be honest, I don’t know about the number of colors and complexity of the pattern, and the 800 series looks somewhat more luxurious.
The biggest difference is the case. As expected, the higher the grade, the stiffer the case. However, the 600 series cases are not cheap at all. They are made of a soft plastic that is hard to crack and is strong enough to withstand the rigors of use.
The quality of the cards seems to be the same. I heard that they used to be thicker, but now I can’t tell the difference between the ones I bought at the same time by touching them with my hands.
Conclusion.
The contents are almost the same. The price is probably for the case. All of them are satisfactory playing cards, as the cards are well-stiffened and slippery.
It is not likely to be available outside of Japan…?
I have searched overseas amazon.com, fr,gb, etc. for this playing card, but could not find it. I contacted nintendo myself to see if I could sell them on ebay, but they said they do not license them to individuals, so it seemed difficult for me to sell them.
If you live outside of Japan, you may want to use the following overseas shipping service from amazon.co.jp (I have not been able to verify the purchase through an overseas IP, but it may be worth a try. (I have not been able to access Japanese amazon through an overseas IP and have not been able to verify the purchase, but it may be worth a try.)
Affiliate link to Amazon.co.jp
If you are interested, the blog would be grateful if you would purchase from the following link… ☺.
Nintendo Playing Cards NAP 622 (Red)
Nintendo Playing Cards NAP 818 Green
Nintendo Playing Cards NAP 1051 (Indigo)
Postscript:
[!] The images on this page are protected from right-clicking based on the Japanese copyright law and are less than 90,000 pixels in size.