Star Card Season 1 Guide and Review

Hi everyone!

Exciting news! 🙂 Thanks to Google cache, KC’s original Star Card Season 1 Guide and Review has been found! Although Soshi Dreams is no longer active, we would like to present to you his comprehensive guide. All credits go to KC! Please credit him if you intend to use this outside of SoShi Catalogue.

♦iced_tea @ soshicatalogue.wordpress.com

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Packaging: (click to enlarge)

The cards come in a plastic display with 15 booster packs. There are 5 booster pack designs, 3 packs of each. The cardboard piece inside can also be converted into a stand. ^^

♦CookyAjuuma @ soshicatalogue.wordpress.com

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Disclaimer: This tutorial required significant time, effort and resources to compile. Please credit if linked external to this blog, thank you! ^^

Hey fellow SONEs, anyong! For those of you that are new to this blog, welcome! To those that have been here before, welcome back! ^^

This entry will be fairly long so my sincere apologies beforehand. I have been asked by dozens of collectors to post my final thoughts on the SNSD Star Card collection as I was one of the first collectors to ‘complete’ my set. I will be posting a formal breakdown of the entire collection for others to reference and learn from. As well, I will finish off with some final thoughts on pricing, trading etc. Hopefully this serves as a helpful resource to all of you, cheers!!!

Introduction

To start off, a very very basic orientation. SNSD Star Cards are official SNSD goods distributed and copyrighted by SM Entertainment. They were released in Korea in late 2009 through Gmarket, Everysing and several other major distributors.

In Korea, you can buy a set for around ₩30,000 south korean won which is about $27US. A set is comprised of 15 packs of trading cards, with each pack containing 5 cards and 2 bingo cards. In total, a set should have 75 cards and 30 bingo cards. The set houses all 15 packs in a display standee as seen below:

Card Breakdown

Ok so the first thing people ask me is how many cards there are in total. What I have done below is taken group photos of every card categorized by series ie. 002, 003 etc. As well, I will post what rare card variations there are for each series and post a photo or two for an example. Let’s begin!

Card key

Series 001 – One signed card per member – 9 total
Series 002 : Regular, Foil variation – 18 total
Series 003 : Regular, Etching variation – 18 total
Series 004 – One signed card per member – 9 total
Series 005 : Regular, Foil variation – 18 total
Series 006 : Regular, Holo & Checkered holo variations – 27 total
Series 007 : Regular, Holo & Checkered holo variations – 27 total
Series 008 : Regular, Holo & Checkered holo variations – 27 total
Series 009 – Unknown
Series 010 : Regular, Foil variation – 18 total
GG : 001 to 019

Total: 190 variations

Series 001 – Signed card set #1

SNSD series 001 cards are one of three series of signed/autographed cards. Unfortunately I was not able to obtain any of these 001 cards but I will discuss them later in this entry. All 9 members have 1 card which makes nine 001 cards in total. In terms of print number, I believe there were only 3-4 of each 001 series card printed making them extremely rare. I have posted Yoona 001 and Sunny 001 below, as you can see, the front is a custom horizontal solo shot with signature and the back is a vertical full length portrait with a letter emblazoned in the background. ^^

Series 002 – Portraits

This series is the first of the regular set. Because 001, 004 and 009 series card are so so rare, you will find that many collectors will not even attempt to complete those three sets. Series 002 is a great series, you may notice that the members are in the same outfits they are in for the 001 series.

There are two variations of 002 cards, the regular card and also a second ‘rare variation’ called a ‘foil card or foil name card.’ Foil name cards are not as rare as other rare cards but collecting 9 regular and 9 foil names may require you to buy more than one or two sets. I have posted one photo below, the regular cards are on the left and the foil name cards on the right. Because I bought 10 sets, I ended up with 600+ spare cards which allowed me to collect every card in triplicate:

Series 003 – Sporty

This series of cards is highly coveted because they are not as common as the other regular series AND they use images from a photoshoot not previously released. I call this series Sporty but, call it whatever you want hahaha, there is no official name. So, this series comes in two variations as well but a quick note. The rare variation of this card is called an “etching variation.” Some people thought there was two types of rare card, an ‘etching’ version and a ‘checkered’ version. After consulting with some other collectors, it looks like there is only one variation. I have posted a pic of the front and back of the 003 cards in regular form. Below the group photo, a few individual scans of the rare variation for Taeyeon, Yoona and Yuri. I currently have 5 etching cards but will not be going for all 9. The rare variation of 003 series can be considered similar to 001, 004 and 009 in that they are quite rare. Collecting all 9 is possible but would be very difficult.

Series 004 – Signed card set #2

The 004 series is the second set of autographed Star Cards. Just like 001 cards, 004 cards are very very rare. Each member has 1 card and only 3-4 copies were printed per member. The images used are from the 003 sporty photoshoot and follow the same layout convention as their 001 brethren. A horizontal portrait for the front and a vertical portrait for the back. Instead of a letter, each 004 card has the member’s name as a front centre overlay. Yoona and Sooyoung scans below as examples:

Series 005 – Gee

This 005 series bring us back to the normal cards. Fairly common, many of you will definitely find yourselves with doubles, triples etc. of these cards. What is important to note is that 005 cards come in two variations. A regular card and a foil name variation. Just like 002 cards, you will want to get all 9 regular and all 9 foil name cards to complete the 002 series. Not difficult at all, many of you will even find yourselves with multiples of the foil name variations. Group photo below, regular cards on left and all nine foil name variations on the right =)

Series 006 – Genie profiles

This series of cards brings us to our first set of cards with 3 variations. Known as the Genie profile cards, this series comes in regular, holo and checkered holo. Holo is simply short for hologram and denotes the subset of rare cards that seemingly refract rainbows or shimmer upon different angled exposure to light. The holo’s for this series are slightly more difficult to track down than foil name cards, especially the checkered holo’s. I recommend all collectors try to at least get all 9 regular cards and all 9 regular holo’s if possible. The checkered holo’s are just a bonus, I ended up with all 9 regular holo’s and 5 checkered holo’s, but saw no need to complete the checkered holo set. Posted three photos below: group photo, regular holo’s and then a Taeyeon checkered just to let you see the difference =)

Series 007 – First Album doll version

This series is just like 006 in that there are three variations: regular, holo and checkered holo. Taken from the First Album Doll shoot, the regular cards are very easy to find, especially the sunny ones hahaha, the Sunny 007 broke a record at our office with a whopping 31 spares lol. I have posted a group photo of the 9 regulars front and back. Below that, a photo of all 9 regular holo’s and lastly, a Yuri 007 checkered holo so you can see the difference.

Series 008 – Army

I just call this set army lol, don’t worry, it’s not officially called that. Series 008 is the last series with 3 different variations. Regular, holo and checkered holo. Getting the regulars should be easy for most of you, but getting all 9 regular holo’s may not be that easy. I had to buy 6 sets before I got 8 of 9, then traded for the 9th. The checkered holo’s are hit and miss. Some of you may randomly get a Sica checkered then never see another checkered holo again. Some of you may get more, it’s all the luck of the draw. Below, group shot followed by regular holo’s and finishing up with a solo scan of Taeyeon and Sica checkered holo’s:

Series 009 – Signed card set #3

Oddly enough, nobody has seen a single 009 card as of late Feb 2010. The rumor is SM is going to be releasing a second wave of star cards which will contain 009 series cards. I have heard no official word on these from SM or Gmarket so we will just have to wait to find out more. I will post again if I hear anything, bookmark this blog if you’d like, it can come in pretty useful at times. =)

Series 010 – Baby Baby

The tenth and final series of SNSD Star Card Collection release 1. Two variations, regular and foil name. Nothing special here, pretty easy to get all 9 regulars and all 9 foil names.

Group Cards – 19 total

Aww man I am really starting to get tired hahah, please forgive the brief summary for series 010. So, separate from the 10 series above are the group cards. There are 19 total of these group cards and typically, you can expect to get 2 per set of 15 packs. My first three sets I got 6 group cards and this has been backed up by several other collectors. It will definitely take a lot of trading to get all 19 but it is possible. If desperate, turn to Ebay as all 19 cards are on there for purchase. Just don’t break the bank hahaha, at $15-$20 a pop, you can end up spending hundreds just on group cards. 😉

Final Thoughts

It took me almost 2 months of collecting, trading and ebaying to complete my entire collection. Was it fun? Definitely. Would I do it again? Hopefully not for another few months hahaha. Many ask me how much money I spent in total. I am guessing between buying the sets from Gmarket, bidding for group cards and rare cards etc, I spent close to $600US. Keep in mind I didn’t bid on any 001 or 004 cards so I think $600 is pretty reasonable for the collection I have now. Although I did not technically finish the entire collection as I am missing random checkered holo’s here and there, I got pretty darn close and am content.

A big issue people have been coming to me about is the flood of Star Cards on Ebay. A month or so ago, there was nothing on EBay but nowadays, there are literally hundreds of cards up for auction which is kinda cool to see. There are even some sellers offering entire series like 002 foil x9 etc. for the lazy collectors hahaha. I am pretty sure if I was starting from nothing right now, I could get an entire collection in 2 days or less and spend maybe 1/2 of what I did previously which is pretty insane.

In closing, I am no formal authority on SNSD Star Cards. All I am is a normal SNSD fan that really enjoys collecting stuff. Many SONE’s have been coming to me to set precedent on the prices of rare cards, set regulations on what should be traded for what etc, but quite honestly, I don’t think I am qualified. I will always give you my honest opinion of what a card is worth but at the end of the day, only you can do what feels right to you. Do I think a Yoona 003 etching card is worth $200US? Absolutely not as I got 1 by trading 2 group cards worth maybe $30US. Do I think a signed Taeyeon 001 card is worth $2000US? Absolutely not but you know what? If a collector is willing to pay that much, good for him as long as he is being fiscally responsible and staying within his means.

Anyway, I am so tired so I will end this. I sincerely hope this was helpful to at least a few of you as it took a long time to write up hahaha. Leave your comments or questions below. To the 50-60 collectors that have emailed/PM’ed/twittered me about my spare cards, please be a little patient. I will decide a fair system and tweet about it next month so stay tuned! Happy trading everyone, hope you all get the cards you want! ^^

p.s. Big thanks to tyler_joshua for his help with fact checking and pics, cheers buddy! ^^

Card Breakdown

Ok so the first thing people ask me is how many cards there are in total. What I have done below is taken group photos of every card categorized by series ie. 002, 003 etc. As well, I will post what rare card variations there are for each series and post a photo or two for an example. Let’s begin!

Card key

Series 001 – One signed card per member – 9 total
Series 002 : Regular, Foil variation – 18 total
Series 003 : Regular, Etching variation – 18 total
Series 004 – One signed card per member – 9 total
Series 005 : Regular, Foil variation – 18 total
Series 006 : Regular, Holo & Checkered holo variations – 27 total
Series 007 : Regular, Holo & Checkered holo variations – 27 total
Series 008 : Regular, Holo & Checkered holo variations – 27 total
Series 009 – Unknown
Series 010 : Regular, Foil variation – 18 total
GG : 001 to 019 

Total: 190 variations

Series 001 – Signed card set #1

SNSD series 001 cards are one of three series of signed/autographed cards. Unfortunately I was not able to obtain any of these 001 cards but I will discuss them later in this entry. All 9 members have 1 card which makes nine 001 cards in total. In terms of print number, I believe there were only 3-4 of each 001 series card printed making them extremely rare. I have posted Yoona 001 and Sunny 001 below, as you can see, the front is a custom horizontal solo shot with signature and the back is a vertical full length portrait with a letter emblazoned in the background. ^^