History

Bandai's answer to Pokémon

In 1999, Bandai launches its own trading card game in Japan to compete with the internationally booming Pokémon TCG — the Starter Set and Booster Series 1 and 2 initially appear largely consistent. But things are inconsistent from the very start: soon after, the cards begin to differ from country to country, on top of numerous miscuts, rough cut edges, and even varying shades of blue on the card backs within the same set. There is one flaw that only became visible over the years: the holo foil develops blotches when a sealed booster has been exposed to heat — dull, cloudy patches that cannot be wiped away, because they sit inside the foil itself. Even the numbering is unreliable: the same card from the French starter set circulates with a Jd- number and with an St- number, with nothing else about the print differing.

Cereal boxes, CDs and a comic book

Away from the booster sets, distribution ran through anything a card could be tucked into. Britain got its own run with the cereal promos (Cp-), available only in cereal boxes, styled after Booster Series 1 and showing the DigiDestined in English — much like the German CD insert promos (Fx-) and the American Fx promo, which most likely came with a CD as well. All three show the DigiDestined and are still much sought after. The German Fx cards came with the CD "Digimon Gold".

How closely card and record belonged together is clear from the soundtrack to the RTL II series: the cover advertises a "limited Digimon collector's card" in so many words, and that card was MetalGreymon DW-01 with ordinary square corners. The same artwork with rounded corners, by contrast, came only with issue 4 of the comic — two cards, one number, a different cut. A third version is now known from the USA: the same DW-01 in holo and in English, but carrying a serial number in the bottom right, as an insert for "Digimon World". At digi-battle.com/Article/DW01 its keeper John runs a genuinely fine archive of that card's serial numbers. A fourth and extremely rare version is known as well: a holo without any serial number, from the United Kingdom. It is said to have been handed out there through comic shops; the origin is not confirmed.

Germany stops, the US restarts in 3D, France carries on

After just two booster sets, the German edition is discontinued. In the US, the line continues, but with a completely new — and unpopular with collectors from the start — 3D model design (Booster Series 3 to 6). France initially stays true to the original design and releases one or two more booster sets plus a Mega Pack, but from 2001 it too switches to 3D with the Street Starter series (Jd-125 onward). Even Sweden gets a taste of the old design: the McDonald's Happy Meal promo includes, as St- cards, an English-translated selection from French Booster Series 3. The French 2D originals are among the most expensive and rarest cards in the whole line today — and, being in English, make the Swedish cards sought-after rarities too.

Eight movie cards from four sources

For the first Digimon feature film Bandai issued twelve promo designs in the USA, Mo-01 to Mo-12. Germany got only eight of them — and not as a closed set, but through four separate channels.

Five cards were handed out in cinemas from 8 March 2001: Terriermon (Bo-115), Gargomon (Bo-116), Rapidmon (Bo-117), Magnadramon (Bo-119) and Infermon (Bo-120). Magnamon (Bo-118) was not available there at all, but from 16 March exclusively through the magazine TV Spielfilm. Lopmon (Mo-02) came with the second soundtrack CD to the RTL II series, Diaboromon (Mo-12) with the film's DVD.

The numbering is striking: six of the eight cards simply continue the German Booster Series 2 count (Bo-115 to Bo-120), even though the line had long since been discontinued in shops; only Lopmon and Diaboromon keep the international Mo numbering. The presentation is inconsistent too — a different typeface here (Lopmon), a light blue back there, the usual dark blue elsewhere.

From shelf-warmer to rarity

Ironically it is precisely the once-unloved US 3D boosters whose collector value is exploding today — an effect familiar from the Pokémon side with sets like Skyridge or Aquapolis. Only recently three sealed boosters of US series 3, 4 and 5 changed hands for $2,400 together. Absolute rarities besides these are the Goldramon promo from the "Digimon Weekend" at Universal Studios (Un-01), the American and German Fx versions of the DigiDestined, and the unnumbered English DW-01.