Let's-a-go! CGC Trading Cards Now Grading Nintendo Cards

CGC Trading Cards® is thrilled to announce the expansion of its expert authentication, grading and encapsulation services to include Nintendo trading cards! CGC Trading Cards is set to grade all standard-sized official Nintendo cards from 1982 to present, including Nintendo Topps trading cards, e-Reader cards, amiibo cards and everything in between.

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Though Nintendo is now known for its video games, the company got its start as a manufacturer of playing cards. In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi started the firm that would evolve into Nintendo Playing Card Co., initially focusing entirely on producing Japanese playing cards.

In later years, Nintendo would rebrand itself as simply “Nintendo” and focus more on toys and entertainment, and eventually video games. Despite this, Nintendo still acknowledges its roots by continuing to produce Japanese playing cards and has worked with several trading card manufacturers around the world to release trading card sets based on their most beloved franchises.

One of the first sets of Nintendo-themed trading cards released in the United States was Topps’ 1982 Donkey Kong set. The set consisted of 32 sticker cards and four scratch-off cards. In 1989, Nintendo worked with Topps again to release the Nintendo Game Packs set, which included 60 scratch-off game cards and 33 sticker cards, with each card featuring characters from six of Nintendo’s most popular NES games: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Punch-Out!!, Double Dragon, The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

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Nintendo’s characters have been featured in several trading card sets produced by third-party trading card companies, including Enterplay and Panini. Examples include Enterplay’s 2016 The Legend of Zelda set and Panini’s 2022 Super Mario set.

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In addition to working with third-party trading card manufacturers, Nintendo began producing its own trading cards in the 2000s with the release of the e-Reader peripheral for the Game Boy Advance. These special cards had a barcode that could be swiped in the e-Reader like a credit card to unlock extra content and characters in games. Similarly, the more recently released amiibo cards work with the 3DS, Wii U and Nintendo Switch to unlock content in popular games such as Animal Crossing.

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Jump in and submit your Nintendo card collection to CGC Trading Cards today! The CGC Trading Cards experts are looking forward to serving Nintendo fans and collectors with the most reliable certification process in the industry, including assurances that all cards are genuine, accurately graded and well-preserved.

Is it your first time submitting to CGC Trading Cards? Don’t worry; it's as easy as pressing the A-button. Learn how to submit by clicking here.