Front of a Series 1 store display box
The Hamtaro Official Trading Cards, known in Japan as Hamutarot Cards (はむたろっとカード), is a series of collectible Hamtaro cards. They were first released in July 2001 in Japan, and were released in North America in 2003. Five different series waves were released (though only the first two came overseas), with over 150 unique cards produced in total.
Overview[]
The Hamtaro trading cards were sold in individual packs, featuring 5 cards each. The American packs also included one sticker, which Japanese packs seemingly did not have. The cards were produced and distributed by Amada Printing (天田印刷加工) in Japan, and were distributed in North America by Artbox Entertainment (a subsidiary of Amada Printing).
The standard cards in the first three waves feature artwork on the front. They are detailed scenes of grassy plains and cozy buildings, with the Ham-Hams scattered throughout. The backs of the cards form a giant scene of a "Ham-Ham town", which lines up if put inside of a card binder. The fourth and fifth waves evolve the concept of the cards' backs, now being the main focus; lined-up cards form twelve scenes of houses filled with Ham-Hams, one for each month of the year. The card artwork was illustrated by Ritsuko Kawai, the original creator of Hamtaro.
Card Classes Guide[]
There are several different classes of cards, including:
- Standard ([xxx] ID): The main and most common type of cards. They feature detailed artwork of the Ham-Hams in various locations. There are 30 per series.
- Rare (R[xxx] ID): Holographic cards featuring close-ups of one specific Ham-Ham. The backs of the cards list the character's horoscope, height, and date of birth, alongside a short story detailing their "Ham-Fortune". While the Japanese cards had the sky in the images holographic, the American cards only had holographic frames around the card's edges.
- Super Rare (SR[xxx] ID): In Japan, this ID was only used for a holographic "Hamutaro with his friends" card and a modified Series 5 August center card. In America, the ID was given to cards that were actually marked as Rare in Japan, but retained the holographic sky that the American Rare cards removed.
- Ultra Rare (No ID): A card featuring Hamtaro and Bijou in a sunflower patch, with the signature of Ritsuko Kawai, the creator of Hamtaro, written in pink at the top. The back says "Special Card", and features pictures of 86 Ham-Hams. This card seems to have only been released in America.
- Super Special (SS[xxx] ID): More scenic cards like the Standard ones, which were released in Japan as promos in Shogakukan Learning Magazines. The first six Super Special cards were also bundled with a Hamtaro-themed card binder, in both America and Japan.
- MR (MR[xxx] ID): Only used for a holographic Japanese Minihamuzu card.
- V and M (V[xxx] and [M[xxx] IDs): The V is a modified Series 5 August bottom-middle card, replacing Boss with Haibi, and features Mo Hams on the back. The M is a modified center usable on all monthly pictures, featuring the Minihamuzu.
Smucker's promotion[]
In 2003, a Hamtaro promotion was held with The J.M. Smucker Company in North America. Little about the promotion is known, and it did not seem to gain much popularity. However, several Hamtaro trading cards were produced with Smucker's logos on their back side, mixed in with the town scene. The front of the cards are the same as various regular ones, though some are notably from the otherwise-Japan-only Series 3. It is alleged that the cards could only be ordered by mail, although in a reportedly convoluted manner. As such, these cards are very rare today.
Additionally, several online (presumably Flash-based) games were created for the promotion. These include "Hamtaro Trading Card Scramble" and "Smucker's Snackers Search"; both titles use the same artwork as the back of the Smucker's cards.
Games[]
Like many other trading cards from this time period, the Hamtaro cards can also be used to play games. Various "games" could be played with them, which were detailed in separately-sold Japanese guidebooks. For the American release, the instructions are included with every pack in a small, blue-colored booklet (purple for series 2). There is evidence that at least one of the Japanese guidebooks was slated to release in North America (and, strangely, was listed as "Available Now" on the Hamtaro: Wake Up Snoozer! disc case), but it was seemingly cancelled.
Regional Differences[]
Comparison between a Japanese and American card; note the many subtle differences between them.
Almost every single American trading card differs from its Japanese counterpart in some way, shape or form. These changes are rather subtle; the background and general concept remains the same, but the hamsters are redrawn, and their positions are sometimes changed around. In some cases, the hamsters appear to be redrawn entirely, while others only give them minor tweaks from their original Japanese card. This may have been done to make them look slightly more on-model with their anime counterparts, as the Japanese ones had them somewhat shorter and chubbier, but no official reasoning behind it is known.
Additionally, American cards featuring Spat had his devil horn cap completely removed, exposing his hair underneath, and his pitchfork was replaced with a brown wand. Likewise, Harmony's cards removed her halo. Despite this, the removed elements remained intact in other English Hamtaro products (such as Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak). Ironically, the trading card page on the official English Hamtaro website shows the Japanese Spat card, unaltered.
Trivia[]
Unknown hamster from the Ultra Rare card
- The Japanese name of the series, Hamutarot Cards, is a pun on tarot, a type of playing card dating back to the 15th century.
- On the Ultra Rare card, there is an unknown character who has not been found elsewhere. It is a hamster with curly, blonde hair holding a music note. While it is theorized that she may be a seventh Teacher Ham, upon close inspection, it appears she is actually a heavily altered version of Sister (a nun character), presumably changed for the same reasons as Harmony and Spat were.
- Artwork originating from the trading cards is frequently used on the Japanese Hamtaro website. The full Series 4 and 5 pictures were repurposed for 2020 calendars, and individual character renders were used for various online quiz challenges.
- For unknown reasons, Japanese Series 1 cards are numbered 31-60, with Series 2 numbered 1-30. This was reversed for the American release.
- While the second series of cards was released in North America, it appears to have had extremely limited distribution. Only a few cards and packages have surfaced, the majority of which began popping up in the 2010s on shopping sites. There have been no reports of the Series 2 cards being common, or even being available at the time of their release.
- On the slip cover that the Hamtaro Smucker's cards came in, it is written on the back that Series 3 of the cards would be coming to North America as well. Seeing as Series 2 is very rare in itself, the third series likely never made it to store shelves despite this announcement.
Gallery[]
Packaging[]
Cards[]
External links[]
- Scans of all Japanese cards (eeveefruit.weebly.com)
- Official Japanese website (archive.org)
- Official English website (archive.org)