I have no idea. Was it for sale? Seems somehow related to a set of poker cards? Or something given to shops to promote the game? But there's no hole for hanger thread. I've seen a similar item for Konami's Japanese Track and Field (Famicom), so it's not only for first party items, and that one's definitely not related to poker cards...

Thick cardboard, 5.5in / 14cm diameter.

The number up top looks like it could be a phone number. Hey google what area code is 310?

10 digits can be a phone number yes
3 is tokyo area

I forgot what these were called but they are actually on eBay. I think there are 4-5 of them, and they all have that old school, OG Mario vibe before marketing nailed down the specifics of what he looked like.

These discs embody the look of Mario I want to collect for hanging in my game room, however, I was a little off put but the fact that they were circular and, to be honest, I couldn't figure out what I'd do with them.

Regardless, I love these. IIRC, they are often listed for $10 and I think I saw a complete set for maybe $45-50. Also, the sets that are are more common, were in English but were not from America. Regardless, they seemed common from where they originated. I really think they are cool, but I have no clue what I'd do with one or a set.

Regarding what they were, maybe Arcades in Japan had traditional, circular shaped frames, or something, that were used to advertise the games in an arcade. I don't know, but if this form was commonly used, I assume it had to be fore something like this. Maybe this was the early Japanese version of a Vidpro card.

thanks for the info
can't find any ebay sale though!
if they are for arcade use, it doesn't explain why there are lots of anime related cards of the exact same type, with phone number too. i think they were something else

mabe they were sold in packs and you got random/different cards inside, i really don't know... google doesn't find me any info




alos, there's a hand sign (sometimes a winning sign, sometimes an open palm), a character and a card always printed on the artwork. how mysterious, why does it all have to be so hermetic lol

I've only seen the (correcting myself a bit) original SMB ones and, again, I searched on eBay and I saw about 5 variations and a few "sets" and probably a total of 20 sale postings. I had no clue these were a "thing".

Certainly someone around here knows what these were. The trading card and and other symbols makes it feel like it had a purpose or, maybe, it was simply a piece of swag packed in with other purchases. You know how some paper cups also have a card stamped on the bottom? Maybe it's something like that, and these things were tossed in something akin to a cereal box, or are/were handed out to kids at restaurants as dinner matts. I have no clue, but now I really want to know.

Aha, I think I've found it!  Looks like these might be for a really old game called "menko".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menko

Looks like the game might be rather old, and likely has variations.  There are some old menko cards, and it also sounds like the game is semi-similar to POGs but played a little differently since these cards are so thin... well, I've found something else to collect.  Crap.

EDIT

Here's a good example on eBay within our wheelhouse.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Japan-Super-Mario-Brothers-...

dinner mats makes sense...! given how large they are, i dont think they were in food packagings but who knows

let's see if someone else knows...

btw the japanese character on that anime card is "fox" ( 狐 )...

yeah i saw those square/round cards, those are really small, like pogs and small trading cards
for sure related but much smaller

seems like maybe board game related, judging by the markings at the back of the square cards, something like action cards for monopoly or game of the goose or something similar

Here's another post on eBay, showing a new set that has various sized menko cards.  The jumbo one is obviously what we are seeing from the original example.

Regrading value and getting back to the original question, it looks like these don't have much value.  Japanese tend to not collect like we westerners do, so for this to have value, likely western collectors need to catch wind of these things and want them.  So far that's not happened.  So, this might be worth $5.

 

ohh u the man

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Six-NEW-...

this game is impossible though.............. really

Surprisingly, I couldn't find much in the way of actual gameplay by Japanese people who actually know how to play.

After using Google, rather than YouTube search, I did find this:

Yes, looks like Menko cards to me.