General Buying/Selling/Trading
1. How safe is it to trade online?
2. What happens if cards/payments are lost in the mail?
3. What can I do if a trade goes horribily wrong?
4. If sending cash is so dangerous, how can I make it less likely to be stolen?
Specific Buying/Selling Trading
1. Do you buy/sell/trade internationally?
2. Do you accept international currency?
3. Do you accept Paypal/Bidpay/Billpoint/etc.?
4. What are your trading guidelines?
About the Cards
1. Are your cards fakes?
2. How do I tell if my cards are fake?
3. What condition are your cards in?
4. Do you have multiples of one card?
5. How do you know so much about cards? (Or, why should I trust your information?)
Tell Me About the Collectible Card Game
1. Do you have the Rulebook? I want to play, but don't know how.
2. Who thought up this crazy game?
3. What are the starter deck breakdowns?
4. I need more help with the gameplay. Help?
5. I've got a question about a specific card...
6. I've got a question about how a card combination works...
7. How do I set up a tournament?
Other Services I (Might) Provide
1. Can you help me identify cards? And where are the numbers?
2. Do you do finding/buying/selling services?
3. Are you a dealer/vendor/affiliated with another website?
4. Will you buy my collection?
5. Can I buy your collection?
Et Cetera
1. Why didn't you reply to my email?
2. Can I use your scans?
3. I don't need any of your Sailor Moon extras/I don't have any extra cards but I really want to trade! What can I do?
4. How many cards can I get in return for a My Little Pony?
1. How safe is it to trade online?
2. What happens if cards/payments are lost in the mail?
3. What can I do if a trade goes horribly wrong?
4. If sending cash is so dangerous, how can I make it less likely to be lost or stolen?
1. Do you buy/sell/trade internationally?
2. Do you accept international currency?
3. Do you accept Paypal/Bidpay/Billpoint/etc.?
4. What are your trading guidelines?
1. Are your cards fakes?
2. How can I tell if my cards are fake?
3. What condition are your cards in?
4. Do you have multiples of one card?
5. How do you know so much about cards? (Or, why should I trust your information?)
1. Do you have the Rulebook? I want to play, but don't know how.
2. Who thought up this crazy game?
3. What are the starter deck breakdowns?
4. I need more help with the gameplay. Help?
5. I've got a question about a specific card...
6. I've got a question about how a card combination works...
7. How do I set up a tournament?
1. Can you help me identifiy cards? I have these things and don't know what series they're from or what number they are.
Dart Awesome (First Series) versus Dart Archivals - Awesome cards are predominantly pink on the backs, the inset picture is Sailor Moon's transformation pose from R, and the date is 1997. Archival cards are predominantly yellow on the backs, the inset picture is all five senshi against a blue background, and the date is 2000. The banners are the most obvious clue: They say "Awesome" and "Archival" respectively. Any combination of the two and you either have a variant or a fake.
Graffiti versus Carddass versus Amada - Graffitis have a round medallion in the upper left corner, the image enclosed in a box and framed by a colored border, and the character name (or sometimes other words) written in all captial letters along the bottom. Carddass cards usually have very elaborate front borders, with lots of intricate scrollwork, banners, backgrounds, etc. Early Carddass (through R) are less elaborate and have medallions simliar to the Graffitis' in the bottom right corner. Later Carddass have silhouettes of Sailor Moon with the planetary sigil embossed in gold foil. Amada cards are all over the place - some have borders and some don't, some have full color backs and some have single color backs, but the defining feature is that no Amadas have any sort of embossed or foil medallions or glyphs on them anywhere. They all also have "Tsukino hikariwa AI no Message" (or a variant in the earlier parts) and "Moon Power X000" written on the fronts.
Where are the numbers? - JPP/Amada (and most Japanese series) have the number on the front in a small circle with Japanese text beside it. The JPP/Amada double stickers are not numbered. Second Series Stickers have the numbers nestled beside a crescent moon in a corner. CCGs have the number in the bottom right corner, with the Unlimited and Past and Future cards having the rarity right beside it. The Dart series have the number on the back. Action Flipz have the number on the front and different colored backs to match the subsets.
2. Do you do finding/buying/selling services?
3. Are you a dealer/vendor/affiliated with another website?
4. Will you buy my collection? I don't want it anymore.
5. Can I buy your collections? I want a complete set/foil cards/mail away cards.
1. Why didn't you reply to my email?
2. Can I use your scans?
3. I don't need any of your Sailor Moon extras/I don't have any extra cards, but I really want to trade something! What can I do?
4. How many cards can I get in return for a My Little Pony?
I've never been scammed in almost 5 years of selling, buying,and trading, and I can count the number of unpleasant transactions on one hand. The best thing to do if you're unsure of a trader is to check references (both on auction sites and with other traders) or do the transaction in several parts to minimize the potential loss.
Even though a trader may be legitimate, things happen in the mail that we can't anticipate. Single cards are likely to arrive with crumpled corners, bends, and the zipcode imprinted on Sailor Moon's face.
On the flip side, not every late package is an instance of dire peril. I remember one transaction I did with signature confirmation on the packages, mailing them at the same time. The package arrived at my house on time, but the other trader pitched a fit to me that her cards hadn't shown up yet. It turns out the package was waiting for a week at her local post office. It couldn't be left at her house since she wasn't home to sign for it. The moral of all this is to use common sense (and check with your local post office before implying someone is trying to scam you.)
Depending on you payment method and any insurance, you may have recourse. But many time it depends on how nice your seller is. I try to work something out, but really callous dealers may just tell you it's tough luck.
Money orders and checks - if seriously delayed in the mail - can have stop payments ordered so that shady postal worker can't cash it. Most money orders can also be refunded within a certain time. Cash is up to the seller, frankly. For a large order, don't count on your seller kindly sending your cards out for you on faith that you paid - most will ask for a second payment.
If the cards arrive but aren't as described/like the scans, you can ask to call off the trade and return them. If all else fails, you may be able to make a case for mail fraud (thankfully I've never had to do this.)
First, don't send twenty dollars in pennies. I don't want to count that, and you don't want to pay the postage on that. ^_^
Second, wrap your bills in sheets of paper, like you would with a check or money order. Tape down any coins in the inside sheet - add cardboard if you'd like. I usually mail bills and coins in penny sleeves wrapped in paper.
Third, tape the envelope closed. Not just the back flap, but all the seams. This is especially important if your envelope has a lot of coins in it and is heavy and bulky. Don't worry about me having a hard time opening your envelope - I like complicated tests of dexterity more than telling you your payment never arrived.
Sure! I'm located in the USA, and I frequently make sales and trades with Canada. I've also done a few transactions to England and Australia.
If you can't get any kind of international money orders, I'll happily accept foreign coins and bills (though coins are my preference.) Also, foreign My Little Ponies will get you a substantial amount of cards and are actually my first preference for an international trade.
I do have Paypal now. I can't accept credit card payments, though; I am not a business and only have a personal account. Also, I will add delivery confirmation to orders made with Paypal at no additional cost.
See Trading Guidelines for some answers. If something still isn't clear, just ask.
The only things you may call a "fake" are the Hong Kong (marked with an HK) reprints of Graffiti and Carddass cards. These aren't, strictly speaking, fake, but many collectors will be highly upset if you sell them HK cards and not cards marked "Made in Japan" on the backs. Compare the front and back of Graffiti #259 and the front and back of Carddass #370 for the differences between HK and Japanese releases.
I have a few poster prisms and some real fakes lingering, but on the whole, my stock has been pulled straight from the box and pack by me.
Fakes are generally a lower print and color quality, with mismatched backs. One of the most common sets I see as fakes is the wedding set. Compare the front of these wedding cards. The fake lacks the die cut corners and pop out hearts of this set, and is a prismatic sticker with some additional text slapped on the front for good measure.
The foils for Japanese cards generally have a small, boxy prism pattern, not swirls or stars or circles or lines (though some of the more recent series have broken this tradition.) When I came into this hobby online five years ago, there was much angst over hard versus soft prisms - hard prisms being those foils that are not stickers, and the soft prisms being the stickers. Don't be surprised, then, if you find a legitimate looking Japanese foil to be a sticker - it's authentic.
There are some high quality fakes from Taiwan, the "poster prism" series, which is almost too nice to be lumped with the fakes. There is also a similar set that uses images from the manga. Both are not licensed series, however pretty they are, but they go for a decent price and many people collect them.
There are also a few oddball fakes I've come across over the years. One is plastic and see through, like a peeled Carddass W, but the plastic is textured. The other is glow in the dark (I bought it just because it's the only such card I'd ever seen before.)
All my cards are mint/near mint unless otherwise noted. Be aware, though, that Dart corners crumple easily and the Prismatics can crack. The stickers will curl up in humid weather almost the second I remove them from the holders. I try to note these things, but small scuffs and damage on the backs might not be noticed. Anything less than near mint gets a description and/or a scan, and scans are always available on request (up to 400 dpi, in case you want to make a poster.) If the damage is really bad, I'll ask you to examine the card in person. It won't hurt my feelings if you tell me it's too damaged for you. Just send it back after you look at it, for pity's sake! ^_^
I'm able to keep the more recent North American Cards in stock, for the most part. Also, about once or twice a year PJ and I get together and swap extra extras to try to even out our supplies, so you'll want to check her website for more cards, too.
I've been collecting Sailor Moon cards since 1997, when the local Toys R Us got a card vending machine. Anything I do, I do obsessively; cards are no exception. While I bought other SM merchandise, I concentrated on the cards because they best fit my OCD tendencies and cost only pocket change.
I'm not an expert on the Japanese series, but I've seen, opened, smelled, angsted, hunted, and cursed packs of North American Sailor Moon cards since my chance discovery via PJ in 1997. I've read product reviews, other sites, tracked down boxes, and even edit the Sailor Moon Merchandise cat at dmoz because the cards fascinated me. If I don't know it, it's not worth knowing. (Hah!)
I rescued the official PDF rulebook from the Premiere Edition. You may view and/or download it here. Note that this does not have information on the function of Location cards, which are only found in the Past and Future expansion.The CCG Workshop has a text version of the P&F rulebook, as transcribed by Txedo Rainbow. The text version does state Sailor Pluto is limited to one per deck.
Dart Flipcards produced the cards. Gameplay was designed by Guardians of Order.
They really explain it better than I can.
These are some general scenarios from the game.
Section Four of the CCG FAQ has tricky Monster, Villain, Person, Item, Event, and Scout/Knight card effects explained.
Section Five of the CCG FAQ goes through some tricky card combo scenarios.
You crazy person you... Section Six goes through some really bare bones tournament ideas. Basically they want ALL foil cards proxied, minimum deck size is 60, and a max of four each of the non-power cards. I do not know how this applies to the mixed power cards released in the P&F set. Sailor Pluto is officially limited to one per deck, but I am unsure if any other cards were later restricted as well.
Yep, I sure can. Most cards that will give you trouble are actually fakes, but I might be able to help you if you send a scan. Some licensed series can be a little tricky to distinguish, so here's a quick guide:
I don't have a lot of time now to do this seriously, but I'm pretty good at remembering what cards any given person is looking for, and more than once I've offered traders "first dibs" on cards before I put them up for grabs on the website.
Nope. When you buy from me, you're not funding some get-rich-quick scheme with Amazon, nor are you dealing with a representitive of any card company. It's just me and my piles of extra cards looking for a home. As far as being "affiliated" with another website, I can't say that I am. The fact that I've probably looked at all the Sailor Moon card trading sites I can find on Google does not count. ^_^
Maybe. I can't buy a huge collection (like a complete set of Amada PPs 1-15) and I usually pass on foils unless they're $3 or less. I'm also reluctant to buy full sets of cards I already have a lot of extras of (like the Premiere CCG.) But if the price is great (like less than ten cents average per card) and shipping hasn't been jacked up to compensate (I can tell, honestly) I have a hard time refusing.
No. I'm greedy and materialistic.
See Contact Info for a possible solution.
See Scan Usage Policy for some answers.
Check out Passing Fancies for some of that really random stuff that collects about my house. Don't forget that I'll trade between series (American for Japanese, or Sailor Moon for Yu-Gi-Oh!, etc.) and I now collect My Little Ponies (the worse condition the better.) ^_~
I prefer getting fixer-upper ponies which have serious flaws, so I don't expect or want you to clean it before you send it. The best thing to do is to scan both sides of the pony and note anything that may not be clear from the scan. I will never offer you anything less than $1, even for a legless, hairless pony, but several factors can raise the price:
1. Is the pony in good condition? (Has soft, silky, uncut hair, unblemished plastic, crisp symbols? Has any matching accessories?)
2. Is the pony rare/one I want badly? (This is why a scan is very important to me; if you have the wrong name or no clue what pony it is, I'll be able to tell you with a scan and give you a fair price.)
3. Does the pony have any funky smells? (This is a personal pet peeve; so far I haven't had any luck getting out moldy/cigarette smells, and I like to smell the ponies.)
Information: Reflections - Scans * Dead Waters - FAQ * Tributaries - Links
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