2002-2004 Radio Shack Zip Zaps Trading Cards

I've been working on this nearly impossible Radio Shack Zip Zaps trading card set for sometime now.  Back between 2002-2005, Radio Shack sold the Zip Zaps RC car starter kits for $19.99 that included one chassis, one rear axle, stock gears, stock motor, 4 custom hubcaps, stock tires, a body top, the remote, a small screwdriver and one collectible trading card.  There were close to a 100 different cars that were sold during this time in these starter kits and additional body kit packages and consequently there are close to 100 trading cards to collect(exact checklist is unknown, but this is what I have been able to checklist so far on TCDB).  Just recently I was able to add six new cards to my collection as well as the tough-to-find card binder that was sold separately to store these trading cards.  These cards rarely show up and if they do, they are frequently bundled with the starter kits which are still quite expensive on the secondary market for close to $50 these days.

Did anyone else play with these 15-17 years ago?

2002 Japanese 7-11 Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones Cards

The new trailer for Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker released this past week and it has a lot of people in a buzz about what the meaning of each and every scene in the trailer means.  For sure, I am excited and can't wait to see the movie later this year.  17 years ago in 2002, Episode II released in the U.S. to much fanfare as well and two months later it released in Japan.

The Japanese convenience store 7-11 had a huge promotional campaign where if you spent 700 yen (~$7) in the store you would get a pack of two cards. 

One card was a lottery card and the other card was one of 16 randomly inserted cards for their collectors set.

If you had a winner lottery card, you could redeem it for one of the prizes given away during the promotion.  According to the promotional flyer below, over 25 million snacks were given away as part of the promotion, 93,000 Star Wars movie tickets were given away, 50,000 gift cards worth 1000 yen (~$10) were given away and the grand prizes given away were 1,000 of the R2-D2 heated refrigerators.

 

 

I did a set review and pack opening on my YouTube channel as well if you'd like to check it out.

2002 BBM Menko Set

This is a great set that mixes vintage and modern designs and is actually very difficult to find. Back in 2002 for 1500円 + tax you could get this set which comes in a cardboard sleeve package.  The most notable name in this set is then Sekiwake Asashoryu who, until he started getting in trouble with the Sumo Association and eventually retiring early, was on his way to breaking the all time tournament win record.  That has since been eclipsed by Yokozuna Hakuho, but Asashoryu was truly a great rikishi to watch in the ring and he definitely had a presence about him.  The other big name in the set is American Henry Miller who managed to break into the top division for just a few tournaments one of which coincided with the release of this set.

There are 40 menko in this set and all measure approximately 1.25" x 2.75".  They are secured on a solid cardboard backing and once popped out, the backing reveals the rank of the rikishi.

  The front of the menko shows the rikishi in their kesho mawashi as well as shikona.  The color of the menko indicates which side of the banzuke the rikishi is ranked (January 2002 tournament in this case).  Red indicates East and Green West.  The back of the menko is filled with statistical information about the rikishi such as total wins, birthplace, height, weight, highest rank, etc...  Each is numbered from 1-40 in the upper right corner.  I have only seen one set of these in the past 3 years when I first found out about the set and of course I had to buy it since I figured it would be a while before I found another one.

 Pick this set up if you can!