FAQ

AnimeCards.Org is the largest collection of anime trading card information in English. The site has gone through a lot of changes but we have been collecting card information for more than 20 years.

Many people collaborated and donated information in ACO but primarily one person has run it: Anisa!

It's an arbitrary line but there is definitely a priority in what we will include in ACO and what we will not bother to work to include. Ultimately, the question is do collectors want this information?

Anime only

• We focus on Japanese anime. There are many wonderful animated stories around the world, but the site is centered squarely on anime of Japanese origin.

• We do not collect tokusatsu (such as the Kamen Rider series.)

• We do not collect live action versions of anime, such as musicals, stage plays, tv shows, or movies. No Detective Pikachu.

• We do not generally collect things that are merely a character, like Sanrio characters, though sometimes it's hard to determine just looking at the set.

Trading It is sometimes very difficult to distinguish, but we try to focus on trading cards. Trading cards are usually collected in sets, in blind packaging (ie, you don't know the content of the pack before you open it.) Lami cards and telephone cards, for example, are not included in this site.

Cards There are many arguments about what consists of a card, and this is the most arbitrary line we have to draw. Generally the items should be flat. We do not collect actively collect information on the following: clear files, can badges, pins.

Trading card games We don't generally collect trading card games or card games in general, as they are pretty difficult to organize, but it would be nice if that information could be preserved in some way.

In the past we did have a forum and ways for the community to interact. I hope to have those features in the future, but right now I am not able to keep up on the level of security we would need for those features. I hope to change from the wiki to a proper database, but I haven't settled on the right format yet.

I am translating 復刻 as a reproduction. This applies to, for example, the anniversary reproductions of Sailor Moon sets that were produced recently. My thinking is “reprints” should be reserved for 2版 (where the first printing sold out and they issued a 2nd printing) type things, like for the Evangelion Carddass Masters. Just one of many lines in the sand to draw, I am open to changing.

Bandai has in the past few years (2020~) come out with various Meigen (名言) sets. These are famous lines by the character in the anime. For now I am using “Meigen (Famous Quotes)” which is the Japanese pronunciation + the meaning. Normally, I would prefer to stick to one or the other, but these are so new, I don't know what the community has decided to call these cards. So to make it easier for you to search, I have offered both. Maybe in the future when there is a standard way to describe it, we can change it.

In Japanese, stickers are often called “seals,” but this does not make sense in English, so I often changed シール to “sticker.” I have recently seen a lot of sets where “sticker” is used instead of “seal,” so I have changed my thinking on this issue. I think we should use the word closest to the Japanese, and perhaps add a note about the meaning.

In Japanese, regular cards are most often referred to as “normal” cards, but on ACO, normal is consistently translated as Regular. Some collectors may still use Normal, it means the same thing.

A: Box Front	B: Box Back
C: Box Left side	D: Box Right side
E: Box top	F: Box bottom (often blank so not scanned)

How to scan cards?

I'm sure there are many ways but here is mine!

I use an Epson flat-bed scanner (but any will do, probably. Inexpensive model should be just fine!)

I scan in full color, at 300 DPI (some may feel that 300 is excessive.)

The scanning software is really key. I use Scan Speeder. The free version has great features.

I trim and rotate images in Paint.net, and save as JPG with these quality settings.

I use Bulk Rename Utility to help batch rename files. It looks clunky but it is capable of sophisticated things! Before this, I used Lupas Rename, which is still a good, functioning software.

Card types

にふぉるめーしょん　Niformation

According to Bandai: コレクションシールの新ブランド名「にふぉるめーしょん」とは にとうしん（2頭身）のディフォルメイラストで作品の魅力を表現するシールコレクション！！