Series: Dragonball / Dragonball Z
Company: Bandai
Year: 2024
Main distribution: Japan / UK (Gashapon machines)
These are gashapon miniatures of the Carddass (カードダス, Kādodasu) trading cards from Dragonball and Dragonball Z, made by Bandai. This series is a miniature version of the vintage Carddass cards, that you could get out of a vending machine in Japan. A little machine is included too. Several miniature sets have been made.
Carddass is a name given to Bandai’s card vending machines and, thus, a generic term given to the cards sold by these machines. The name was inspired by AMeDAS (Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System), a system in Japan used for gathering weather data; the idea was that Carddass would be an information source for kids. Carddass is a registered trademark of Bandai.
Dragonball / Dragonball Z Mini Mini Carddass
There’s 3 sets to collect;
Martial Arts Showdown!
Great Battle!! Namek
Super power! Super Saiyan
Each set comes with 1 holo card and 5 normal cards, as well a miniature vending machine.
I got 0/3 sets.
Dragonball Z Mini Mini Carddass
There’s 3 sets to collect;
Fierce Battle!! Saiyans
Battle!! Frieza’s Super Transformation
Horror!! Android Activation
Each set comes with 2 holo cards and 10 normal cards, as well a miniature vending machine.
Each set comes in its respective colour, so it’s easy to know which one you have without having to open the capsule.
I have 2/3 sets.
Fierce Battle!! Saiyans
Fierce Battle!! Saiyans comes in a red capsule. The cards picture the Saiyan Saga from Dragonball Z. The machine is fully functioning (have to sticker it yourself) and you can load the cards in over and over.
It comes with 12 mini carddass cards; 2 holo and 10 normal. They are printed front and back, and look exactly like the vintage cards.
Battle!! Frieza’s Super Transformation
Battle!! Frieza’s Super Transformation comes in a green capsule. The cards picture the Frieza Saga from Dragonball Z. The machine is fully functioning (have to sticker it yourself) and you can load the cards in over and over.
It comes with 12 mini carddass cards; 2 holo and 10 normal. They are printed front and back, and look exactly like the vintage cards.
Dragonball / Dragonball Z Mini Mini Carddass Deluxe DX set
The DX set is a Premium Gashapon set.
There’s 2 sets to collect;
Tenkachi Budokai
Ginyu Special Forces
Each card set comes with 1 holo card and 5 normal cards, as well a miniature vending machine.
There’s a 3rd Gashapon which consists out of 2 mini albums and a frame to stack the mini vending machines. The albums can be filled with the cards.
I got 0/3 sets.
The Carddass were some of my favourite Dragonball Z cards series as a kid. I loved how Japanese they were! Despite never having these vending machines, I managed to trade for quite a few back then!
I think they came in Europe through France (which had a lot of Japanese import back then), and then through Belgium to the Netherlands. I had found a French website back then to catalogue them all, and I traded a lot with someone from Belgium.
I was annoyed I couldn’t find these to buy myself though. I was also annoyed how many series there were of these! I could not keep up. (Bandai had sold 2 billion Dragonball carddass cards by 1998!) And of course, geographically, they were hard to get where I was. So I never completed these series. Still, they are very nostalgic to me.
So when I saw these mini mini ones, I loved them. It’s Dragonball, carddass, miniature, meta. Everything I love. So I tried to get the full set. Luckily the colours of the capsules match the innards, and I could peak into the machine to tell which one would drop next. I got the red one, and then the green. Green would be next again, and then blue! I went for dinner and shopping but when I came back no one else had used the machine. I will have to try again next time.
I do hope the other sets will also come over so I can get them too!
If you like Dragonball, Carddass or miniatures, you’ll love these.
If you don’t like cards, you’ll give these a miss.
Got any more details / information you think I should add? Or did I get something wrong? Do you own any of these mini cards? Or do you have the full set? Do you agree or disagree with my findings? Let me know in the comments below!