Thursday, February 9, 2012

Bushiroad buys NJPW, counterfeit cards turn up on the market

In a surprise move, nine days ago Bushiroad bought 100% of New Japan Pro Wrestling's stock, fully acquiring the company. While the reasoning behind this move is unknown, NJPW is the largest domestic wrestling promotion in Japan, and one of the bigger names in the global market, much as Dentsu is the largest domestic advertising firm. As such, this only demonstrates the Bushiroad's growing power. Considering NJPW's impressive roster of wrestlers, perhaps we're looking at some new themed cards for the Nova Grapplers?
ヽ(´▽`)ノ

In other news, counterfeit Vanguard cards have recently emerged on the Southeast Asian market, and spread to the rest of the world. Be cautious, as these cards have different weights from the real product and are not legal in tournament play. There are a number of easy ways to spot these fakes;
  • Poor translation. For example, "Blaster" is translated as "Bluster," while "Resolve" is translated as "Being ready." "Stealth Millipede" becomes "Stelus Milipede." "Paladin" is translated as "Palatine."
  • The box art for the BT04 counterfeit shows Justice Cobalt, and the slogan "Come here right now! Believers of the hollow strength!" This is a mistranslation of "Followers of the empty power, now gather here..."
  • The fakes do not have proper rarity patterns. A genuine RRR or SP will have special holographic patterns on its stock.

The following pictures are attributed to the Facebook group, Vangods.