Card Collectors
PRIDE カードコレクション
Redemption Lottery Event
"Secret" On Card Shikishi Boards
For nearly 20 years mma fans have searched and dreamed to find the once though unreleased Pride Card Collection GP on card autos. None ever surfaced, leaving many to come to their own conclusions on what happened the them. Rumors spread throughout the hobby from Yakuza involvement to The Pride executives keeping them all. These cards when announced were a HUGE deal. This set would mark the 1st ever licensed mma card set. Prior there were mma fighters scattered within random wrestling, or magazine but no true full mma sets by a real organization. These would be the 1st true numbered on card autos ever released as well. So these cards would be important. The lack of them surfacing makes sense, as these would be highly valuable and important to collectors, even in 2006. Fast forward to today and we can revisit how the original autos(signed on Japanese Shikishi Boards were given away via this program was and how it worked. Let's dive in to the Pride card mystery.
In 2006 Pride FC announced their partnership with the card manufacturer Broccoli. Broccoli planned a set of cards based on three Pride FC events. The famous "Otoko Matsuri" events for 2003, 2004 and 2005. These New Years Eve events would provide all the imagery for the GP card series. Broccoli announced their checklist and a redemption program through their website(only in Japanese). The lottery winners would win the original Shikishi Board that was used as the master for 1 of 9 different fighter on card autos. These autos would be the same cards as the Inlaid versions (127-134). In order to be part of this program, you had to pull a redemption card (shown below in blue), and the box purchase proof, which was cut from the back of the box. You could choose which fighter card you wanted most but it is uncertain how they decided the order in which fighter cards were given. This would be mailed in to Broccoli, due by June and the drawling would take place in August. These would all be shown prior to the event, on the Broccoli/Pride website.
Redemption Card pulled from packs
Redemption Card translation
Back of card box
Translation
The above arrow points to the proof of purchase required to mail in with the redemption card. These would put you in a lottery to win one of the Pride Card Collection on card auto Master Shikishi Boards from the following.
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PRIDE CARD COLLECTION GP Edition
Autographed card (ex. Secret autographed card)
127 ex. Fedor Emelianenko
128 ex. Kevin Randleman
129 ex Tsuyoshi Kosaka
130 ex. Josh Barnett
131 ex. Nobuhiko Takada
132 ex. Dan Henderson
133 ex. Kazuhiro Nakamura
134 ex. Mark Coleman
135 ex. Hidehiko Yoshida
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Stateside everyone hunted the autos and the motion cards, but as the years went by none would surface. It's unclear if some may have been bought by collectors in Japan and then hoarded away, as the language barrier may have played a role in the lack of communication between cultures. All we do know is that no one thought to have the box and Checklist card #CK-5 translated. This card would show the "Secret Autos" as "ex" versions of 127-134.
10 years would pass before one would surface. To date two are in private collections. 1 Dan Henderson and 1 Fedor Emelianenko. The more time that passes, the less hope there is to find on, as sealed boxes of Pride cards only come up for sale once every few years on average. Below is the only PSA graded 2006 Pride Card Collection on card auto from that redemption program. Fedor Emelianenko 08/10 stamped in gold on the back, and signed in gold pen on the front. The holy grail of early mma cards.
