Quellen:
This site would not have been possible without the awesomely helpful discord community. They did all the work creating all the setlists i make available for download here. Come and join them:
The comunity webpage:
Youtubers, mainly Wan_Pro and the others who provided the unboxing vidoes
my own photos and experiences with the cards
Please contact me if i forgot someone or if something else should/can be added! I am also open to suggestions. Contact me here if you have any questions or you want to participarte in a bulk order.
Mail: Discord Name:
Riseagainst
Why chinese trading cards?
Since the 18th century trading cards have been more or less desired colletibles in our society's. It started with cigarette pictures that came at random with the packages and were ment to drive the sales. Today the closest we have here in europe are stickers with football players that are meant to be collected. They are stickers that are collected in a corresponding sticker album.
There are also card brands like Magic TG, Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh aso. They are popular and get collected a lot. But they are more collected in a strategic. So its more about speciffic cards rather than getting a set complete. The dive to collect them, at all decreased heavily over tha past years since they play so much better in online than in real life. So usually people buy the card packs just for unlocking their cards online. (not all of course)
Now goddess story cards are pure collectibles. They are pure artworks that don't any instructions for a game on them. (One could invent a game to play with the cards but in my opinion they are too bad to do with that) I would say the cards are a part of the eastern "Idol" mentality. Kind of like our affection for super heroes. The difference is that these "Idols" are fare more in number than any Marvel/DC libery could ever offer. They also don't need superpowers. They are more focused on a specific character attribute. They are also heavy influenced with Anime/Manga. There are real life people but also many Anime characters that count as "Idol".Enough popularity = Idol
Goddess story uses only female Anime/ Waifu characters that are popular in the eastern culture. The cards are made with sophisticated printers and they are really an eye catcher with all their metal/holo and other effects. They come in random packs of around 5 cards with different rarities. So far goddes story released around 20 different sets.
The fun for me about card series like goddess story is the collecting part. I love collecting and cards don´t need much space. I like the Anime style and the hunt for rare cards. I also take the booster packs as rewards for little accoplished things. Its always nice to have a little highlight here and there. I did not know how much I missed the feeling of opening a pack. Every magic or pokemon card collector knows that. It is like that, just better, for me at least.
the 4 different categories of goddess story 1Y, 2Y, 5Y und 10Y
1 Yuan sets
The cheapest option or entry level. Generally you have 3-4 rarity levels. A box comes with up to 36 packs what equals at around 180 cards. To get a complete set, given a bit of luck, you only need 1 box.
2 Yuan sets
Here you can get up to 5 rarity levels. A box has also 30 to 36 packs at around 150 cards in total. To get a full set you can calculate 2 boxes and a small bit of exchange action.
5 Yuan sets
Real passion starts here. At least 6 ratity levels are offered here featuring beautiful artworks, puzzle cards and other surprises. You should expect at least 3 boxes an card exchange work to complete a set.
10 Yuan sets
The major league of goddess story. Here they pull out all the stops. Even more rarity levels, special cards, transparrent and others are waiting to be discovered here. But they come at a cost. A box is around gives you 60 - 90 premium cards. Its hard to tell how many boxes one would need for a full set. But its fair to say that card exchange is vital here.
All infos about the sets given here are averidge values. They can vary and can be higher depending on the set and its availability. An out of print set will always cost you more.
To get an official goddess story box look at the boxart from the the setlists page. You can also identify them by searching for the frog logo usually on the left side of the box.
On the right side there is a number before some chinese letters. That is the prize categoy of the set. It can only be 1, 2, 5 or 10 or it is not an official box of netcent (the frog company).
All the boxes are series of their own with unique sets of cards. All Prize categories are absolutely great quality wise. They all sparkle and shine like crazy.
Generally the cheaper sets are way easier to complete. Its just that the more expensive boxes have even more effects and special cards and rarity levels. They go from puzzle pieces over transparent to 3D to even metal cards. They are rare and very interresting for collectors.
Important things to know when you buy a box:
One important thing to look out for when buying a box is the PR-Card. There should be one with each box. If the box is without that card the prize should be 1€ to 2€ cheaper. The value of that card ranges from 2€-3€ or more. If you are unsure ask your seller about it. Each box comes with one such card factory wise.
NS-2M05
NS-2M04
NS-2M04-XXX
NS-2M04-XXX
! Most recent boxes always contain cards from a former series. Thats a cool way to get cards from other sets but might be annoying when you already own a big collection. But it is a way to still get cards from sets that are not available anymore.
Each released box is always connected to a certain theme. The mood of the artworks is connected to the theme, like marriage, love, depression, musik, games, aso.
Or the box focusses on a specific Anime-Series.
NS-5M04 A very popular box that focusses on girls of the popular FATE Anime-Series.
collecting the right way
To keep the overviev ring binders are essential. I suggest to take ones with 4 rings because collections can get heavy over time. And 4 rings seccure better than only 2.
To save your very nice little treasures there is no way around of pocket page sheets. They usually fit 9 cards on one side. 18 if you use the backside too. There are many brands out there. Some even have 12 pockets but that would need a different non standard ring binder. The GS cards have the same size as magic TG or other similar TCGs. I use the ARKERO-G. They are proven, cheap and very clear. A 100 big pack can hold up to 900/1800 cards.
Thats a lot of cards....
How and what one collects is really a matter of personal taste. There should not be any rules at all how one goes about it. Besides the people who hunt for complete sets there are defenitely a lot who only care about certain characters and try to get all of them across the all "boxes". Or some focus on the rarest of rare.
Than one could just collect ans many different ones as possible also across all sets.
I also tend to not open everything i get asap. I rather try to stretch it as far as possible. This keeps it interresting and I can reward myself every now and than.
I recommend getting some familie members into collecting too. Its fun, connects and you can immediately exchange your doubles.
The different set has its own rules when it comes to rarities. Generally will you pull more cards of lower rarity. But there are rules that garanie higher pulls depending on the rules of that set. Sets have on averidge about 3-5 rarity levels. However more expensive sets can contain 7 or more of them. High end cards are seen to be traded for multiple hundreds of €.
All cards of a certain rarity build a set (R-set, SSR-set). All sets of a box together are a full set the ultimate goal of a collector. How hard that is really depends on the box you want to complete. There will be a need for trade or exchange to complete higher end sets. So this hobby does have a certain social component too.
Rarities R - SR - SSR - UR ...
card exchange
Unfortunally goddess story is almost completely unknown in our regions what makes exchanging cards with someone difficult. I hope this page helps a bit to change that.
I would be happy to exchange some cards in the future. But right now i will get an overview of what else is out there and evolve this page with hopefully useful informations.
Use the link at the beginning to join the discord server. They already have a working trading platform.
You can also encourage other familie members or friends to join you collecting. Especially if you all use different boxes.
If you use the setlist print outs you can collect many sets at once and know in secounds what cards are missing and what you have twice.
What card belongs to what set?
Did you ever buy cards in bulk because they looked nice, maybe in bulk on ebay? And now you don't know to what set they belong? No problem.
Let's have a look at the backside of a goddess story card.
The first number NS-2M01 is the Box/Set Nummer.
The 2nd number 151 is the number of the card of this set. So it is the 151st card of the 2Yuan set NS-2M01.
You can find all box numbers with additional information in the setlists area.
Lost in translation? Not with a translation app!
![Screenshot_20221013-110242_Google[1]_edi](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5d6f87_660271d132264ae18cf586a8584c6e37~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_265,h_329,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Screenshot_20221013-110242_Google%5B1%5D_edi.jpg)
![Screenshot_20221013-110220_Google[1]_edi](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5d6f87_d40dd69279604f4a95da50f54e96da12~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_274,h_412,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Screenshot_20221013-110220_Google%5B1%5D_edi.jpg)
![Screenshot_20221013-105953_Google[1]_edi](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5d6f87_a2b46c198d074a7b87939516c2f77572~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_284,h_339,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Screenshot_20221013-105953_Google%5B1%5D_edi.jpg)
![Screenshot_20221013-110048_Google[1]_edi](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5d6f87_68bfaeae6ccc4c86be4e51532ee4f161~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_282,h_380,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Screenshot_20221013-110048_Google%5B1%5D_edi.jpg)
Wouldn't it be nice to understand at least a bit what is written on your cards? Fortunally we are already in the future and translation apps are really powerful today. At least to a certain degree. But its fun non the less to explore the texts on the cards. Some useful information pop up for sure every now and than. These apps work in realtime and have many funktions. They overlay the original text with the translation. For longer tanslations you can make a photo where you have more control over the translation. Have fun!
Check your app store for the Google translator. Its free and works well and supports all languages.
setlists
I converted the setlists from the discord server to 1 page prints. You can download them in the Setlist section. The .PDF is the one page print. The .ODF file is there in case you want to customize it for yourself. The setlist gives you all relevant information about your collection. Like Names, Rarities or a cross out section where you can track your collection progress of each set. You can also track your doubles there. The setlist can also act as an seperation sheet between the different sets in one folder.
official box setnumber
official box setnumber
character name
picture nr. in this set
boxart
Here the series, movie or game is mentiones that made the character famous.
Rarity level
here you can cross out what you already collected
here you can track doubles and tripples
Beware of BOOTLEGS!!!
Other brands are legit. (Some are equally appreciated like goddess story.) Bootlegs are a different case. They not only mimic the card design of goddess story. They even copy some cards from goddess story. The only difference is than the different foiling and the number on the back of the card. Some people don't have a problem with that because they could theoretically fill in gaps in their goddess story collection. Or they collect them as a normal series even if they share artworks with other sets. But when it comes to exchanging cards, esp. over the internet where you can´t examine the card first hand and have to rely on photos the Case is different. Everyone has to decide on their own how to handle them. Please be fair with one another but also be cautious.
Bootleg 3yuan
VS.
Original 1 yuan
Original 5 yuan
Original 2 yuan
Original 10 yuan
- The frog must be visible on the box. But that is not enough.
- Goddess story boxes only exist in 1y ,2y, 5y and 10y versions.
- Always check the set numbers and the Boxart
- You can find both in the setlist section. Thats all goddess story boxes released so far.
Seht euch bei der Gelegenheit gleich ein paar unboxing Videos an die ich mit verlinkt habe.
Online vs. Offline Version?
The last 5yuan boxes of goddess story came in 2 versions. They cost about the same but there are important differences. The usual Offline version has more cards in it with a normal pull ratio. The Online version has less cards but almost all cards have a higher rarity level and a better pull ratio.
Offline Version
more cards per box
VS.
Online Version
less cards but majority has high rarity level
the quality of goddess story trading cards
Goddess story trading cards set quite a high standard comared to other TCG. I tried to seperate the different aspects into different groups. They are the GS standard. Every non GS set from the "beyond goddess story" site will be compared to this standard.
1. Card quality
GS cards are relatively thin but don´t appear cheap. The different foiling layers give the card stability. Even lower ranked cards feel valuble. No warping. This is a thing for some other brands who use too much foiling on one side what leads to warping. Similar to a bi- metal-plate where one side shriks or expands more than the other. The cut of the cards is equal with round edges. They have the perfect size for small 9 pocket sleeve pages.
2. nuanced rarity levels
Cards with a higher rarity level should, next to the fact that they are harder to find, also have some applications that increases their worth. GS offers a clear structure here.
"R" (rare) cards have a clear foiling on both sides. Depending on the set sometimes also some slight holo sparkles
"SR" (super rare)cards get some additional strong holo background effects. On top of that they have also a super fine texture on the backside of the card that creates a very image.
"SSR" (super special rare)cards get all the above and an additional gold Print with rainbow effect. neat.
3. Pull fairness
Each box always offers a set number of lucky draws of higher rarities. Meaning they grant for each pack/box some card slots that are have to be a certain rarity level. GS is very fair here. Since there are so many different boxes with different price levels (1y, 2y ,5y, and 10y) one can choose the difficulty he or she prefers. There is something for the casual collector as well as for the waifu crack. This is certainly something to consider when branching out of goddess story.
4. Foiling quality
Foilings are very fine layers that are printed on or behing the actual artwork of the card with the goal to enhance it. There is gold, rainbow, holo or just clear to name some of them. GS manages to use the different foilings to enhance the artwork and to set some accents but they also try not to overload the card. Let`s say they use the foilings in a responsible way. Too much or the wrong foiling or placement of such can ruin a card imo. However this is very subjective.
5. backside
6. Artwork quality
50% of the card is its backside. It should get some love too. GS gives here informations about the character like age, size, weight, origin aso. Some trivia lines are also always present. (funny to use a translator app for that). Also the super fine texture is appreciated here.
GS offers a high level of detail and the pictures are sharp. They have good contrast and colors pop. I haven´t seen any print errors in the goddess series so far. Most artworks are fantastic and beautiful to look at. They even break appart rarity levels into even smaller mini series that visually fit together.
These 6 criteria bulid the foundation of my reviews of other series from the "beyond goddess story" section that don´t belong to GS. The bar is high and i am curious if i will find another series that can reach or even surpass it.