Stardom Collection Card 2019 Details and Review

This review is a little bit too late to be as useful as I would have liked it to be, as it comes after the set is sold out. However, starting this year I want to be more diligent for providing a look into all Joshi card sets that are released, and I didn’t want to skip what may turn out to be one of the best card offerings of the year.

The cards were sold directly by Stardom, here are the basics:

Card Set: Stardom Collection Card 2019
Cards per Pack: 10
Number of Cards in Set: 234
Cost per Pack:  Sold at $50 for five packs, plus shipping
Where to Purchase: Out of Stock

To make my life easier this year in case Stardom releases more card sets (as hopefully they will), here are some staples that are true of all Stardom releases:

• On card autographs. As an autograph card collector, its important to me that the autographs aren’t on stickers. Sometimes stickers are necessary but the cards look so much nicer without them so it is worth noting. Since Stardom makes their cards in-house, the wrestlers are always available so no sticker autographs are used, not even for multi-signed cards.
• Card pictures and variety. Stardom never disappoints when it comes to card variety. Wrestlers will have multiple cards, however the cards will vary from in-ring action shots, casual shots, promo shots, sexy shots, and whatever else they can think of. They also include cards for the titles (generally showcasing the champions at the time the set was made).
• Can only purchase in bundles. The cheapest way to buy Stardom cards internationally is in a bundle of five packs for $50, so if you want to check out the cards the lowest amount you will pay is $65 with shipping (and possibly higher depending on your country’s shipping and customs fees).

Here is what was different or special about this release:

• Obscene autograph ratio per pack. I opened 50 packs and in those packs I got over 160 autograph cards. Usually with Stardom releases the average number of autographs per pack is one (although not guaranteed), so having a ratio over 3:1 is much higher than we’ve seen before and was not expected. From talking to others that received packs this appeared to be the average across the board, however it should be noted there was still no method to the madness as some packs may have ten autographs while others could have none. Still, for the price of the packs it is one hell of a value, even if I am sure the wrestlers had sore wrists from signing their name so many times.
• Great variety of cards with multiple autographs. Again, Stardom outdid themselves with this set with the multi-signed cards. There were a total of eight multi-signature cards with one card signed by five wrestlers, three triple autograph cards, and four dual autograph cards. This covered all the major factions in Stardom so no one was left out.
• “The Sexy” cards. This is both a pro and a con. As a shop owner, I can confirm that the cards labeled “The Sexy” sold very well and were popular, as Stardom understands their fan base. The cards feature the wrestlers in an attire similar to what they wear in Stardom photo books, usually a bikini or some type of lingerie. While on the surface there is nothing wrong with that, the “con” is that they also had “The Sexy” cards for the underage wrestlers, including AZM, Starlight Kid, and Hanan. Its a bit awkward pulling a card of a 14 year old wearing a bikini with “The Sexy” on the back. I have no issue with the concept with wrestlers 18+, but it would have been better to just exclude the children from that particular card variety for a number of obvious reasons.
• Notable Gaijin offering. Stardom always tries to get the latest Gaijin (foreign) wrestlers on tour to participate in their latest card offerings, and this set was no different. Wrestlers such as Jamie Hayter and Session Moth Martina had their first autographs included in this set, along with returning wrestlers Bea Priestley and others. For the base cards, they cheated a bit and have wrestlers that had not toured recently with the company such as Toni Storm and Kay Lee Ray included as well. All told, a pretty decent variety of new Gaijins.
• Utami Hayashishita debut. Utami is setting the Joshi world on fire, and this set is the first time she has been featured in a card set. She had over ten cards total, including three autograph cards (a single, a mask fiesta autograph, and a dual autograph with Momo Watanabe). Any hardcore Utami fan would be very pleased with her representation in her first set.

Below I have scanned examples of what the cards look like. The first picture shows the base cards, the second picture the standard autographs, the third picture the Mask Fiesta autographs, and the final picture an example of some of the multi-signed cards.

 

Finally, I have translated the card list for those looking to complete their collections or see which wrestlers are available in this set:

Red = Regular Autograph
Blue = Mask Fiesta Autograph
Green = Glitter Card
Orange = Dropkick on My Devil Glitter Card

1. Mayu Iwatani 2. Mayu Iwatani 3. Mayu Iwatani 4. Mayu Iwatani 5. Mayu Iwatani 6. Mayu Iwatani 7. Arisa Hoshiki 8. Arisa Hoshiki 9. Arisa Hoshiki 10. Arisa Hoshiki 11. Arisa Hoshiki 12. Saki Kashima 13. Saki Kashima 14. Saki Kashima 15. Saki Kashima 16. Saki Kashima 17. Saki Kashima 18. Tam Nakano 19. Tam Nakano 20. Tam Nakano 21. Tam Nakano 22. Tam Nakano 23. Tam Nakano 24. Starlight Kid 25. Starlight Kid 26. Starlight Kid 27. Starlight Kid 28. Starlight Kid 29. Starlight Kid 30. Shiki Shibusawa 31. Shiki Shibusawa 32. Shiki Shibusawa 33. Shiki Shibusawa 34. Shiki Shibusawa 35. Shiki Shibusawa 36. Hanan 37. Hanan 38. Hanan 39. Hanan 40. Hanan 41. Natsumi 42. Natsumi 43. Natsumi 44. Natsumi 45. Natsumi 46. Momo Watanabe 47. Momo Watanabe 48. Momo Watanabe 49. Momo Watanabe 50. Momo Watanabe 51. Momo Watanabe 52. Konami 53. Konami 54. Konami 55. Konami 56. Konami 57. Konami 58. AZM 59. AZM 60. AZM 61. AZM 62. AZM 63. AZM 64. Jungle Kyona 65. Jungle Kyona 66. Jungle Kyona 67. Jungle Kyona 68. Jungle Kyona 69. Jungle Kyona

70. Natsuko Tora 71. Natsuko Tora 72. Natsuko Tora 73. Natsuko Tora 74. Natsuko Tora 75. Natsuko Tora 76. Ruaka 77. Ruaka 78. Ruaka 79. Ruaka 80. Leo Onozaki 81. Leo Onozaki 82. Leo Onozaki 83. Leo Onozaki 84. Kagetsu 85. Kagetsu 86. Kagetsu 87. Kagetsu 88. Kagetsu 89. Hazuki 90. Hazuki 91. Hazuki 92. Hazuki 93. Hazuki 94. Hazuki 95. Nao Yamaguchi 96. Nao Yamaguchi 97. Nao Yamaguchi 98. Nao Yamaguchi 99. Utami Hayashishita 100. Utami Hayashishita 101. Utami Hayashishita 102. Utami Hayashishita 103. Utami Hayashishita 104. Utami Hayashishita 105. Janken Tournament 106. Janken Tournament 107. Janken Tournament 108. Janken Tournament 109. Janken Tournament 110. Rina 111. Rina 112. Rina 113. Hina 114. Hina 115. Hina 116. Natsu Sumire 117. Natsu Sumire 118. Natsu Sumire 119. Natsu Sumire 120. Hana Kimura 121. Hana Kimura 122. Hana Kimura 123. Hana Kimura 124. Yurie Kozakai 125. Yurie Kozakai 126. Yurie Kozakai 127. Yurie Kozakai 128. Viper 129. Viper 130. Viper 131. Viper 132. Bea Priestley 133. Bea Priestley 134. Bea Priestley 135. Bea Priestley 136. Toni Storm 137. Toni Storm 138. Toni Storm

139. Toni Storm 140. Mary Apache 141. Mary Apache 142. Mary Apache 143. Mary Apache 144. Faby Apache 145. Faby Apache 146. Xia Brookside 147. Xia Brookside 148. Xia Brookside 149. Rachael Ellering 150. Rachael Ellering 151. Rachael Ellering 152. Nicole Savoy 153. Nicole Savoy 154. Nicole Savoy 155. Kay Lee Ray 156. Kay Lee Ray 157. Kay Lee Ray 158. Chardonnay 159. Chardonnay 160. Chardonnay 161. Chardonnay 162. Session Moth Martina 163. Session Moth Martina 164. Session Moth Martina 165. Jamie Hayter 166. Jamie Hayter 167. Jamie Hayter 168. Kelly Klein 169. Kelly Klein 170. Zoe Lucas 171. Candy Floss 172. Brandi Rhodes 173. Kimber Lee 174. Cinderella Tournament (Momo) 175. 5 STAR GP (Mayu) 176. Tag League (Momo and Utami) 177. STARS 178. STARS (Triple) 179. Queen’s Quest 180. Queen’s Quest (Triple) 181. Oedo Tai 182. Oedo Tai (Triple) 183. JAN 184. JAN (x5) 185. AMA (Mayu and Arisa) 186. Momo and Utami 187. Natsuko and Jungle 188. Kagetsu and Hazuki 189. Famalia de Apache 190. Mayu Iwatani 191. Saki Kashima 192. Starlight Kid 193. Shiki Shibusawa 194. Konami 195. AZM 196. Natsuko Tora 197. MAYUCHIKA (Mayu) 198. La Gatita (Saki Kashima) 199. Dom Do Panko (Tam Nakano) 200. Starlight Kid 201. Shiki Melody (Shiki) 202. Nyanki (Hanan) 203. Cielo de Verano (Natsumi) 204. Black Fuzzy Peach (Momo) 205. Masked Wanchan (Konami) 206. Mini IOTICA (AZM) 207. Back Fairy Jungle (Kyona)

208. Night Bear (Natsuko) 209. Bear Dog (Ruaka) 210. Gao (Onozaki) 211. Yukari Ishino (Kagetsu) 212. Reo Hazuki (Hazuki) 213. Cuty Yamaguchi (Nao) 214. Red Snake (Utami) 215. Hanita (Hana) 216. La Maestra (Mary Apache) 217. Natsuki Urabe (Sumire) 218. Reeya (Rina) 219. Heeya (Hina) 220. Colorful Dropkick (Kozakai) 221. World of Stardom 222. Wonder of Stardom 223. Goddesses of Stardom 224. Artists of Stardom 225. Future of Stardom 226. High Speed 227. Goddesses Tag League 228. Goddesses Tag League 229. Stardom Idols 230. Stardom Idols 231. Rossy Ogawa 232. Rossy Ogawa 233. Referee Card 234. 2019 Stardom Calendar