Naruto: Way of the Ninja

Heyo everybody, Lonestarr here, proud to be contributing to this epic project and great blog. The thought of busting at least one pack of everything ever is right up my alley, having lots of random randomness in my own collection. I began seriously collecting sports cards in the summer of '96 and have been off & on ever since. I also write a sporadically updated and barely read blog over at WordPress, BTHE, in case anyone cares.

Now then, with the introductions out of the way, onto my first pack. And for my first trick, I'm calling on my inner anime geek for some... Naruto!
I found these in the 99¢ bin at Target, and they are actually pretty cool looking. They are made by Panini, and come 9 cards to a pack. The base set is comprised of 108 cards (72 foil stamped, and 36 foil and etched) according to the back of the pack. And the inserts:

18 CHARACTER CARDS (chrome-look cards, approx.1:7 packs)
9 ATTITUDE CARDS (holographic foil cards, approx. 1:11 packs)
3 NINJA GLOW CARDS (glow-in-the-dark cards, approx. 1:11 packs)

Now let's see the cards!


92 The Curse of Orochimaru- Featuring everybody's favorite emo ninja, Sasuke.


4 Very Irreverent Joke- Orange tracksuit-wearing ninja? Believe it~!


18 Kakashi vs. Zabuza- Zabuza, and his with ridiculously effiminate partner Haku, were the first bad guys Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and the leader Kakashi took on as a team.


36 The Wrath of Naruto- A little superpowered evil side action, with the nine-tailed fox demon sealed within Naruto.


50 The Chunin Selection Exam- A ridiculously dangerous exam for the kids to rise in rank.


78 Sakura Fights Back- Sakura's important haircut moment, and the first indication of her being more useful than just being really smart and having encyclopedic knowledge of exposition.


3 The Seal (Foil and Etched)- What keeps the power of the nine-tailed fox contained within Naruto. This is a foil and etched one. Hard to explain the way it looks, and the scan doesn't give you a very good idea either. The seal pops in something resembling a 3D effect.


29 A Providential Lie-In (Foil and Etched)- I completely don't recognize these two. Here's the what all the backs look like. As you can see, this is where I'm getting the titles from.


81 An Accursed Power (Foil and Etched)- More fun with Sasuke's curse. This card gives a nice 3D effect too, and the purpleness in the background is pretty. I'd almost say the foiled etchedness reminds me of a rudimentary dufex effect.

I like these cards way too much. They remind of Pacific for some reason. I'm half-tempted to go for the set, and maybe catch up with the series itself.

That's it for my first post. Thanks for reading. Next time I'll bring you anime card game action from an exotic land (that isn't it's place of origin).

(Edit: Added year and Company to label. My bad.)

Holla~!