Idols♥ very much like beauty while timeless go through fashion trends and the like being a sign of the times and with each issue presented here each Friday I’ll be selecting a few articles to scan or sharing old clips to give a visual and text so you’ll be able to see the ever changing evolution of idols♥ in a chronological timeline of sorts. Check in each Friday for more from this ongoing series =).
Happy Friday~♥!…okay as promised last week I’ll continue here with more of this binders contents as now we’ll take a look at BOMB magazine’s original trading card series~.
A year earlier than UTB’s series, BOMB’s trading cards began appearing in issues back in 1997 and if you take a look at them adjacent to one another you’ll notice quite a difference in the idols whom appeared in each of these rival publications, of course though there are idols too whom have graced both publications regularly over the years but for the most part a lot of them were exclusive to each magazine which made having subscriptions to both back then very much worthwhile in adding to your collection. The BOMB trading cards too are quite different from UTB’s in that they would regularly feature each girl’s vital stats including birthplace, birthdate, 3~sizes, blood type, height and yes~! even their individual hobbies =D. In addition they would also feature special retro~cover cards going through the years of their history and cosplay cards..and if go through them you’ll even see an appearance of “La Femme Nikita” cosplay as well as Natalie Portman’s young character in “Leon” aka “The Professional” (“Leon’s” better, uncut) being cosplayed as well. Of course there’s also the naughty sexy nurse, neko~girl and lots of seifuku♥, etc.. too!
Just as with UTB’s original series, BOMB’s cards began as sequential inclusions with every issue where you would receive a complete set every month but as time went on that also changed where you’d need to literally purchase multiple copies in hopes of having the complete numbered sequence of cards or trade with friends in order to collect those you are missing. Two of the coolest~* unique features though are the cards which feature engraved printed autographs and I especially love those in kanji and they just appear cooler and the other are some of the cards forming larger images when placed adjacent to one another in sequenced order. In fact some set of nine cards would create one complete collage type image when placed together and this would be true for both fronts and backs of the trading cards at times. Once again some very prominent names in idols♥ appear in this collection…enjoy the cuteness!
Such a fantastic post, MorningBerryz! Love the Misaki Ito trading cards (a signed one too). Are these cards from your collection?
LikeLike
Hiya!…I was subscribing to both UTB and Bomb magazines during their original trading card extra days back then. I’ve kept these cards in storage all this time, was really nostalgic looking through them and then I thought hey these could be perfect for this ‘unzipped’ series. A~h you’re a fan of Ito Misaki!!…she’s such a cutie!! Thank you so much <3…I'm sorry we lost touch for awhile, I was taking a break from blogging for much of the second half of last year…you have more than one author at Diverse Japan? You cover such a wide spectrum of topics and culture there!
LikeLike
I’m sure they will be worth a small fortune! It’s always great reading your post about idols (gravure) – always so informative and well written. I have quite a few contributors now to Diverse Japan. I’m still waiting for you to decide if you want to contribute 🙂 You know I love what you do!
LikeLike
You guys do an amazing job there! I mean you cover so many interesting topics and I’m always impressed by how many special cultural events you get to attend and cover in the U.K. Very awesome to see so much going on there. Back then I thought the cards would continue on and on but sadly the Bomb one’s ended awhile ago but UTB has started up again so it’s always nice to see trading cards as an extra…just makes the magazines feel that much more collectible. You’re waaaaay too kind!!! Maybe we could collaborate in the future? You’ve always been way too good to me….lots’ of love from Hawaii~ (*´∀`) ー♥!
LikeLike
Btw, you and your readers may be interested to read an interview i recently conducted with actress and idol Nao Nagasawa – it was via webcam and in English. She was/is so lovely! You may know her best as Hurrican Blue in Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger.
http://diversejapan.com/2012/02/05/exclusive-interview-nao-nagasawa-actress-singer-and-idol-super-sentai-and-kamen-rider-heroine/
LikeLike
Wow you got to interview her via webcam…I’ll definitely be checking out your interview. The superhero genre is well and alive with different series making waves…years ago we even had a series broadcast here but it was with an entirely English speaking cast, still it was pretty awesome and was part of my afternoons then. Thank you for sharing~* the link =D.
LikeLike
Do you mean Power Rangers? We had those in the UK too – don’t really compare to the tokusatsu shows in Japan but a good way to be introduced to them – have to watch them through fan-subbed downloads for now though.
Gravure idol/actress Saaya [Irie] is also signed to the same managemebnt as Nao. She’s really cute too! http://diversejapan.com/2012/01/05/dvd-review-gravure-idol-saaya-irie-17-sexy-17-pure/
The biggest J-pop culture event in the UK is the three-day event Hyper Japan, the fourth one is going to be held in November 2012 (come on over 🙂 ) – they always have special guests like J-pop singers and/or film directors like Miki Satoshi (Adrift in Tokyo, Instant Swamp). http://diversejapan.com/2012/03/07/interview-miki-satoshi-inventive-director-of-adrift-in-tokyo-instant-swamp/
Diverse Japan’s doors are always open to you – any time you want to write something, just drop me an email. 🙂
LikeLike