Modern Japanese Wrestling Cards

Joshi City · 07-10-2025, 06:25 PM

I don't think Japanese wrestling cards necessarily need a new thread for every set as I don't think the interest is there for that (there used to be a rolling BBM True Heart thread but it died a few years ago), but I thought it would be fun to just do an ongoing thread as new sets are released. Not only because there are some cool sets that come out in Japan but its my main area of interest and hopefully I'm not the only one.

Marigold Card Collection (2025)

The promotion Marigold (the last promotion that Giulia wrestled in before joining WWE) put out a set last month with 207 cards, including 25 autograph cards. The packs had five cards per pack with a chance at autographs. They were only sold at live events and no packs have shown up online, just singles. But lots of singles. I've managed to get all 25 autograph cards (all on-card):

The bigger autographs are Seri Yamaoka (sells for $200 to $250), Kouki Amarei ($75 to $100), Mayu Iwatani, and Utami Hayashishita ($65 to $90). It has several wrestlers "first" autograph which could be popular with collectors down the road if they join WWE or AEW. Giulia also had cards in the set, but of course not an autograph. I know some collectors feel a certain type of way about promotion-released sets but the Stardom sets from 2013 to 2019 sell for good money these days so there is a fanbase for them. Here is a picture of a couple of the cards featuring Giulia:

The main downside of the set is they just released last weekend the "final" print of the cards but we have no idea how many were made. Most of the sellers online in Japan are the same two or three people so I don't know if there are thousands more in personal collections or if the people selling online purchased all the stock. 207 cards is a massive set for a "at live events only" sale and not something I've seen before, but with the autograph cards I do like the set.

Dacubs2 · 07-10-2025, 07:53 PM

That's pretty cool...thanks for the write up.
I regretted not being able to find any japanese card stores, other than buying pokemon cards when I was in Tokyo last year. We did a lot of sightseeing with the family, so it was hard to get away to look (unless it was on the way to a donki somewhere

ghooper33 · 07-11-2025, 05:34 PM

This is awesome stuff - I have zero knowledge of these. Thanks for posting.

Unrelated - I assume this exists, but what are the important Asuka Japanese cards?

Joshi City · 07-11-2025, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghooper33

This is awesome stuff - I have zero knowledge of these. Thanks for posting.

Unrelated - I assume this exists, but what are the important Asuka Japanese cards?

I happen to collect Asuka cards so I'm the right person to ask haha her rookie card is from 2004 BBM but she only had a base card, no packed autographs that year. She had autograph cards in BBM True Heart from 2005 to 2015, as well as a kiss card in BBM True Heart 2006. The important cards are probably the 2004 BBM Rookie, 2005 BBM True Heart Autograph (first signed card), and the 2006 Kiss Card (if you are into that type of thing).

RazorbladeKiss8 · 07-15-2025, 06:35 AM

I've seen some of the 90s BBM sets and they're really cool. Are there any current sets with guys from like Big Japan or any of the indies? Would love to see a cool Jun Kasai card.

Joshi City · 07-15-2025, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RazorbladeKiss8

I've seen some of the 90s BBM sets and they're really cool. Are there any current sets with guys from like Big Japan or any of the indies? Would love to see a cool Jun Kasai card.

No current big sets with any male wrestlers, one hasn't released in probably 20 years. BBM does a yearly release with athletes from a variety of sports including wrestling, so we do get four or five (don't know exact numbers each year) of autograph cards from current wrestlers each year. But they are always bigger stars or legends, not indie wrestlers.

kdog4187 · 07-15-2025, 09:06 PM

Quick question... I notice in the autographs some of the women are writing a number. Is there any significance to it?

ThatGuyPal · 07-16-2025, 08:15 AM

Do you think there is a reason behind no packs? I just find it impossible to believe there is a need to be filled and of all the fans who probably bought packs none are trying to flip for probably more than they paid given scarcity?

Also who is the male? Promotion owner?

Cool thread, I’m not really into a ton of Japanese wrestling (male or female) until they cross to NA promotions but beyond AEW/WWE it feels Japanese women’s wrestling is just continuing to cultivate a growing and large fanbase so sets like these are a good pickup. Mariah May actually gave me a glimpse of how big it is because when she was rumoured/signed with AEW I just heard everyone talking about how good she was in Stardom, felt like I was the only one who hadn’t seen her previously lol and obv Stardom is Japan. Was pretty shocking how many people already knew her from there

Joshi City · 07-16-2025, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kdog4187

Quick question... I notice in the autographs some of the women are writing a number. Is there any significance to it?

Its kinda silly, Marigold "assigned" numbers to the wrestlers as if they were sports athletes. So they have shirts with their name and number on them. It means nothing really.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThatGuyPal

Do you think there is a reason behind no packs? I just find it impossible to believe there is a need to be filled and of all the fans who probably bought packs none are trying to flip for probably more than they paid given scarcity?

Also who is the male? Promotion owner?

The big mystery is why they only sold the five card packs at live events and not online anywhere. I'd have loved to have purchased some. Yea that is the legendary Rossy Ogawa, former promoter of Stardom and current promoter/owner of Marigold.

ThatGuyPal · 07-17-2025, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshi City

Its kinda silly, Marigold "assigned" numbers to the wrestlers as if they were sports athletes. So they have shirts with their name and number on them. It means nothing really.

The big mystery is why they only sold the five card packs at live events and not online anywhere. I'd have loved to have purchased some. Yea that is the legendary Rossy Ogawa, former promoter of Stardom and current promoter/owner of Marigold.

Oh ok, heard the name didn’t know the face. I dunno I see only selling live events it’s just like minor league teams selling sets at games etc and not online, or even abit similar to the Cactus Jack Mania boxes. The difference is those products still always end up online, so it’s still questionable to me how you’ve see no sealed packs unless there is a reason. One pack per person so all ripped? I dunno but if the demand was there from one person there should be packs for sale unless possibly there are and your location is filtering it out because maybe shipping wise it’s not worth it for a few packs

Joshi City · 11-01-2025, 10:04 AM

I mentioned above that BBM sometimes does a release with a mixture of sports that includes wrestling, one came out this past week - BBM INFINITY 2025.

As far as I can tell only two wrestlers are in this set, with a full release of base/insert cards as well as autograph cards. They are Stardom wrestlers Starlight Kid and Saya Kamitani, two of the more popular current wrestlers in the promotion. This is what the autograph cards look like:

And a sample of the base/inserts:

The autograph cards are serial numbered (vertical more rare than horizontal). I pulled these images off auction sites, I don't own any and likely won't get their autograph cards as prices for these two probably will stay on the higher side for me ($150+) due to the lower serial and both not having many cards released. These are Saya Kamitani's first officially released cards (non-TCG) as she debuted after Stardom stopped making sets, Starlight Kid has cards from the last couple years of Stardom's set.

danhardyufc · 11-05-2025, 03:44 PM

Those are AMAZING! I definitely need all of the Saya stuff. I was hoping you would be getting some for a future Joshi City store restock

Joshi City · 02-06-2026, 07:09 PM

BBM is releasing a set called "Farewell" in late February which includes cards for sports figures that retired over the last year. A full checklist isn't out yet but two pro wrestlers are confirmed: Risa Sera and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Since New Japan hasn't had a lot of sets with signed cards of their wrestlers recently, this is a pretty neat card and probably will do well with fans:

I personally can't justify buying a box with most of the cards being non-wrestlers but will be good for singles hunters.

Joshi City · 02-06-2026, 07:14 PM

Marigold released a set celebrating Mayu Iwatani's 15th Anniversary last month:

It has 108 base cards, two kira cards, and three autograph cards. Like their last set, it was only sold at live events, in packs. What is interesting about this set is Marigold used photos from her years in Stardom without permission, leading to Stardom posting on social media that they did not authorize it and weren't happy about it. Here are some of the cards:

07-10-2025, 06:25 PM	#1
Joshi City Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,258 evilcujo	Modern Japanese Wrestling Cards I don't think Japanese wrestling cards necessarily need a new thread for every set as I don't think the interest is there for that (there used to be a rolling BBM True Heart thread but it died a few years ago), but I thought it would be fun to just do an ongoing thread as new sets are released. Not only because there are some cool sets that come out in Japan but its my main area of interest and hopefully I'm not the only one. Marigold Card Collection (2025) The promotion Marigold (the last promotion that Giulia wrestled in before joining WWE) put out a set last month with 207 cards, including 25 autograph cards. The packs had five cards per pack with a chance at autographs. They were only sold at live events and no packs have shown up online, just singles. But lots of singles. I've managed to get all 25 autograph cards (all on-card): The bigger autographs are Seri Yamaoka (sells for $200 to $250), Kouki Amarei ($75 to $100), Mayu Iwatani, and Utami Hayashishita ($65 to $90). It has several wrestlers "first" autograph which could be popular with collectors down the road if they join WWE or AEW. Giulia also had cards in the set, but of course not an autograph. I know some collectors feel a certain type of way about promotion-released sets but the Stardom sets from 2013 to 2019 sell for good money these days so there is a fanbase for them. Here is a picture of a couple of the cards featuring Giulia: The main downside of the set is they just released last weekend the "final" print of the cards but we have no idea how many were made. Most of the sellers online in Japan are the same two or three people so I don't know if there are thousands more in personal collections or if the people selling online purchased all the stock. 207 cards is a massive set for a "at live events only" sale and not something I've seen before, but with the autograph cards I do like the set.

07-10-2025, 07:53 PM	#2
Dacubs2 Member Join Date: Nov 2023 Posts: 1,136 pharmkid97 pharmkid97	That's pretty cool...thanks for the write up. I regretted not being able to find any japanese card stores, other than buying pokemon cards when I was in Tokyo last year. We did a lot of sightseeing with the family, so it was hard to get away to look (unless it was on the way to a donki somewhere

07-11-2025, 05:34 PM	#3
ghooper33 Member Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 146 ghooper33	This is awesome stuff - I have zero knowledge of these. Thanks for posting. Unrelated - I assume this exists, but what are the important Asuka Japanese cards?

07-15-2025, 06:35 AM	#5
RazorbladeKiss8 Member Join Date: Jan 2025 Posts: 8	I've seen some of the 90s BBM sets and they're really cool. Are there any current sets with guys from like Big Japan or any of the indies? Would love to see a cool Jun Kasai card.

07-15-2025, 09:06 PM	#7
kdog4187 Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 349 kdog41874dev	Quick question... I notice in the autographs some of the women are writing a number. Is there any significance to it?

07-16-2025, 08:15 AM	#8
ThatGuyPal Member Join Date: Jan 2021 Posts: 4,555	Do you think there is a reason behind no packs? I just find it impossible to believe there is a need to be filled and of all the fans who probably bought packs none are trying to flip for probably more than they paid given scarcity? Also who is the male? Promotion owner? Cool thread, I’m not really into a ton of Japanese wrestling (male or female) until they cross to NA promotions but beyond AEW/WWE it feels Japanese women’s wrestling is just continuing to cultivate a growing and large fanbase so sets like these are a good pickup. Mariah May actually gave me a glimpse of how big it is because when she was rumoured/signed with AEW I just heard everyone talking about how good she was in Stardom, felt like I was the only one who hadn’t seen her previously lol and obv Stardom is Japan. Was pretty shocking how many people already knew her from there

11-01-2025, 10:04 AM	#11
Joshi City Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,258 evilcujo	I mentioned above that BBM sometimes does a release with a mixture of sports that includes wrestling, one came out this past week - BBM INFINITY 2025. As far as I can tell only two wrestlers are in this set, with a full release of base/insert cards as well as autograph cards. They are Stardom wrestlers Starlight Kid and Saya Kamitani, two of the more popular current wrestlers in the promotion. This is what the autograph cards look like: And a sample of the base/inserts: The autograph cards are serial numbered (vertical more rare than horizontal). I pulled these images off auction sites, I don't own any and likely won't get their autograph cards as prices for these two probably will stay on the higher side for me ($150+) due to the lower serial and both not having many cards released. These are Saya Kamitani's first officially released cards (non-TCG) as she debuted after Stardom stopped making sets, Starlight Kid has cards from the last couple years of Stardom's set.

11-05-2025, 03:44 PM	#12
danhardyufc Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 148	Those are AMAZING! I definitely need all of the Saya stuff. I was hoping you would be getting some for a future Joshi City store restock

02-06-2026, 07:09 PM	#13
Joshi City Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,258 evilcujo	BBM is releasing a set called "Farewell" in late February which includes cards for sports figures that retired over the last year. A full checklist isn't out yet but two pro wrestlers are confirmed: Risa Sera and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Since New Japan hasn't had a lot of sets with signed cards of their wrestlers recently, this is a pretty neat card and probably will do well with fans: I personally can't justify buying a box with most of the cards being non-wrestlers but will be good for singles hunters.

02-06-2026, 07:14 PM	#14
Joshi City Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,258 evilcujo	Marigold released a set celebrating Mayu Iwatani's 15th Anniversary last month: It has 108 base cards, two kira cards, and three autograph cards. Like their last set, it was only sold at live events, in packs. What is interesting about this set is Marigold used photos from her years in Stardom without permission, leading to Stardom posting on social media that they did not authorize it and weren't happy about it. Here are some of the cards: