Possibly some of you guys have heard about Jun Minagishi / Crazy Clown tokens. They have the specificity that they use the old cardface of MTG, although these were not endorsed in any way by Wizards. A cease and desist letter put an end to this.
From the Magic Librarities:
Crazy Clowns used to be a Japanese website dedicated to different kinds of gaming. In winter of 1997, Arai Jin, webmaster of Crazy Clowns, decided to create token cards for Magic: The Gathering. The cards were printed by the Kansai Art Printing corporation and were sold primarily on Comic Market 66.
The first three series had a white backside, square corners, and thin cardstock. They featured artwork exclusively of Jun Minagishi, elder sister of Arai Jin. The cards were sold in packs. Packs of the first series contained 3x4 cards with a print run of
200 packs, packs of the second and third series contained 2x8 and 4x4 cards respectively with a print run of 400 packs.
The fourth and fifth series introduced foil and double-sided tokens, a colored backside depicting a star, new artists, and thicker cardstock. The fourth series is unique in that it was split up in two different packs, one containing 4x3 white-bordered cards with a red leaflet and 4x3 black-bordered cards with a green leaflet. Packs from the fifth series contained 4x3 double-sided cards and a blue leaflet. Additionally, in every tenth booster of the fourth and fifth edition packs, a special card was inserted. For the red and green pack, this was one of two double-sided tokens, for the blue pack, this was one of two foil token cards. Both series had a print run of 400 packs each, but there is evidence that the special cards were printed more often and leaked to the market in other ways.
The sixth series was the first to feature round corners. Packs contained 4x4 cards with a print run
of 200 packs. Some token cards from this series have their glossy layer accidentally printed on their backside. While the cards were designed earlier, the sixth series was released together with the seventh series token cards.
The seventh and eighth series introduced a new backside reading Collector's Edition and are unique in that they were not sold in packs, but as single cards. The total print run is unknown, but several runs seem to have been made. As a result, seventh series token cards differ in color, there are light and dark versions, and some have their glossy layer accidentally printed on their backside.
The Collector's Edition series represented the pinnacle of the Crazy Clowns token production both in numbers and popularity. It abruptly ended on the 1st of April 2001 when Arai Jin was accused of copyright infringement and the production of token cards was shut down.
After two years of inactivity, Arai Jin revised his token cards layout and appeared with a new set of token cards
at the Pro Tour Yokohama in 2003. This ninth series was distributed in packs of 1x4 cards with a print run of 100 packs and was given out there as a gift for the attending judges or traded, but not sold. One of the cards was meant to be a table marker to remind all players of the turn order in draft tournaments.
Another series was released in May 2004, covering to a large degree tokens from the Mirrodin cycle. The overall quality of these tokens was inferior to earlier series with thin cardstock, a white backside, and a lack of lamination. The series was distributed in packs of 1x10 cards with a print run of 100 packs. One card in each pack was signed and had been assigned a number between 1 and 100. The first ten signed cards additionally featured an artist sketch on their backside. The series was supposed to be sold by a friend of Arai Jin on Pro Tour San Diego, but Jim Bruso, former executive buyer of Troll & Toad, managed to buy the whole print run and resold the cards exclusively to members of
this website.
For the eleventh and twelfth series, Arai Jin joined forces with G-Kun and a troup of new artists and switched to a new website. The overall appearance of the token cards was changed again and now emphasized a professional layout to be on par with products from other companies. The eleventh series was sold in packs containing 1x12 cards with a print run of 400 packs. In 120 packs, one token card was signed by the appropriate artist. In addition, 12 packs included an extra artist sketch card. The eleventh series was again bought and resold by Jim Bruso to the members of this website. The twelfth series was sold in packs containing 2x5 cards with a print run of 400 packs.
Some time in 2001, a series of four token cards were commissioned by a former Magic store called Jose Magic with a print run of 100 sets. Further details are unknown yet.
Two special token cards, a foil Minion Token and a foil Squirrel Token, were produced in very small quantities and were handed to friends of Arai Jin
as a gift.
A Wurm Token, looking similar to Crazy Clowns token cards, appeared in 2003. Its real origin is currently unknown, but there is evidence that it has been produced in Italy.
The first three series had a white backside, square corners, and thin cardstock. They featured artwork exclusively of Jun Minagishi, elder sister of Arai Jin. The cards were sold in packs. Packs of the first series contained 3x4 cards with a print run of
200 packs, packs of the second and third series contained 2x8 and 4x4 cards respectively with a print run of 400 packs.
The fourth and fifth series introduced foil and double-sided tokens, a colored backside depicting a star, new artists, and thicker cardstock. The fourth series is unique in that it was split up in two different packs, one containing 4x3 white-bordered cards with a red leaflet and 4x3 black-bordered cards with a green leaflet. Packs from the fifth series contained 4x3 double-sided cards and a blue leaflet. Additionally, in every tenth booster of the fourth and fifth edition packs, a special card was inserted. For the red and green pack, this was one of two double-sided tokens, for the blue pack, this was one of two foil token cards. Both series had a print run of 400 packs each, but there is evidence that the special cards were printed more often and leaked to the market in other ways.
The sixth series was the first to feature round corners. Packs contained 4x4 cards with a print run
of 200 packs. Some token cards from this series have their glossy layer accidentally printed on their backside. While the cards were designed earlier, the sixth series was released together with the seventh series token cards.
The seventh and eighth series introduced a new backside reading Collector's Edition and are unique in that they were not sold in packs, but as single cards. The total print run is unknown, but several runs seem to have been made. As a result, seventh series token cards differ in color, there are light and dark versions, and some have their glossy layer accidentally printed on their backside.
The Collector's Edition series represented the pinnacle of the Crazy Clowns token production both in numbers and popularity. It abruptly ended on the 1st of April 2001 when Arai Jin was accused of copyright infringement and the production of token cards was shut down.
After two years of inactivity, Arai Jin revised his token cards layout and appeared with a new set of token cards
at the Pro Tour Yokohama in 2003. This ninth series was distributed in packs of 1x4 cards with a print run of 100 packs and was given out there as a gift for the attending judges or traded, but not sold. One of the cards was meant to be a table marker to remind all players of the turn order in draft tournaments.
Another series was released in May 2004, covering to a large degree tokens from the Mirrodin cycle. The overall quality of these tokens was inferior to earlier series with thin cardstock, a white backside, and a lack of lamination. The series was distributed in packs of 1x10 cards with a print run of 100 packs. One card in each pack was signed and had been assigned a number between 1 and 100. The first ten signed cards additionally featured an artist sketch on their backside. The series was supposed to be sold by a friend of Arai Jin on Pro Tour San Diego, but Jim Bruso, former executive buyer of Troll & Toad, managed to buy the whole print run and resold the cards exclusively to members of
this website.
For the eleventh and twelfth series, Arai Jin joined forces with G-Kun and a troup of new artists and switched to a new website. The overall appearance of the token cards was changed again and now emphasized a professional layout to be on par with products from other companies. The eleventh series was sold in packs containing 1x12 cards with a print run of 400 packs. In 120 packs, one token card was signed by the appropriate artist. In addition, 12 packs included an extra artist sketch card. The eleventh series was again bought and resold by Jim Bruso to the members of this website. The twelfth series was sold in packs containing 2x5 cards with a print run of 400 packs.
Some time in 2001, a series of four token cards were commissioned by a former Magic store called Jose Magic with a print run of 100 sets. Further details are unknown yet.
Two special token cards, a foil Minion Token and a foil Squirrel Token, were produced in very small quantities and were handed to friends of Arai Jin
as a gift.
A Wurm Token, looking similar to Crazy Clowns token cards, appeared in 2003. Its real origin is currently unknown, but there is evidence that it has been produced in Italy.
And now without further ado, I to present to you my near-complete 8th Edition series of those tokens:
Batch #1
[/spoiler:263dsruq]
Now the first question the scholars will ask me is "sooo, are these fake?"
Indeed, at some point these tokens with anime images and a "real" MTG cardface got so popular that they started being worth 10$ a pop back in 2004 (with unsurprisingly the angel being worth more). This meant that the collectors market started being flooded with counterfeits from Singapore, China, and even Italy. Prices crashed to around 2-3$ and have been wildly variable up to this day. But nowadays you don't even see this stuff for sale anymore, real or fakes alike. Seems that everything has been hoarded by collectors...
Again, several discussions have been carried from the experts on librarities, here are some of the relevant posts:
https://magiclibrarities.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=19978#19978
http://www.magiclibrarities.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=56375#56375Hi Richard.
I went deeper into the
examination.None of them are Real,these are Extremely Good Fakes Made in Singapore
90% of the collectors will take them for Real.I do have also a Fake Minagishi 7th Series and 8Th Series and they
match perfectely.This my Hit Parade for the Quality of Fakes:
1-Singapore.
2-China.
3.Italy.Second Generation of Fakes with Brown Border.
How do you see the Difference with Real ones?
The Police on the Front and Textbox is Different.
The Color is Much brighter.
The Cut is sometimes bad done.EX Squirrel Token.
The Cardboard quality is Different.
But the Biggest clue is the back,Real Minagishi Tokens have a Pale Blue color in "Collector's Edition",while the Fakes have a Purple one.Also the back of the Fakes are much Darker than the Real ones.Well,I hope,you did not spend too much on those,most of the Fakes are 2/3$ now while the Same Real Minagishi was sold 10/20$ at the very beginning.Also so far 99% of the Fakes are from the 4Th,6th,7th,and 8Th Series Only.
I will send you back the
Tokens.I do remember that Promo from that Singapore Seller,that was offering Minagishi by hundreds whenever you will bought Booster Box,etc...Wish I knew you at that time,I will have let you know immediately
Take Care.Alexis.
I have spent a great deal of time analyzing Minagishi tokens, as I have one of the largest collections in the world, with over 300 that I know are real, and close to 100 that I know are fake. I haven't purchased any recently (my last purchase was obtaining Ralph Herold's collection), but purchased from all sorts of sources, including those on eBay, when I was more active. The results below apply to all the "abnormal" tokens I uncovered from the 6th through 8th series tokens.
All of the fake tokens that I have seen appear to be
from the 7th, and 8th series. I have one 6th series token that is abnormal, but I can't definitely say it is a fake. I have heard rumors that there are also fakes from the 4th and 5th series, but I haven't encountered any of these personally. I haven't seen, or heard of, any fakes from the earliest series, or from anything newer.
Of the fakes I have encountered there are two distinct groups. One group is the reddish-brown (RB) bordered cards. These have normally been attributed to Italian sources, and include my copies of the infamous imitation "Wurm" token. The other apparent fakes I have discovered, however, are black-bordered, just like the real tokens.
Both groups appear to have utilized the same printing process as the original tokens. The RB color is an obvious indication of one set of fakes. What seems to differentiate both fake reprints from the originals are the paper stock they are printed on.
I checked the weights of the individual cards on a scale that was
accurate to better than 0.001 grams, then purchased a high-end thickness gauge to confirm any thickness difference. I'm trying to find my research results (The file is mislabeled on a backup drive), but I do remember that the paper used was off by a small amount in both weight (~0.1 grams) and thickness (~0.005"). The difference wasn't huge (it represents about 6% of weight and thickness), but was extremely consistent, across the 6th, 7th and 8th series tokens.
From my results, my best guess is that someone got their hands on the original artwork or print plates for the reprints, and had access to the same type of press (perhaps even the exact press that was used for the originals).
The RB bordered tokens are likely either a horrendous color-match, or more likely an attempt to use composite color inks in place of black. There may also be an aspect of fading from utilizing inferior quality print inks.
The black border fakes are exactly the same as
the RB bordered cards in terms of weight, and my guess is that they were a different attempt at reproducing Minagishi tokens. They are much rarer (at least in my experience) than the RB borders.
Just found my research spreadsheet:
For cards that have double sided printing:
Fakes average ~2.12 grams (+/- 0.02 grams one standard deviation, maximum +/- 0.05 grams), and no fake weighs less than 2.07 grams.
Real tokens average ~1.97 grams (+/- 0.02 grams one standard deviation, maximum +/- 0.05 grams), and no real token weighs more than 2.02 grams.
The weight differential is associated with a thickness difference. The fakes are approximately 1.0 gauge (0.001") thicker than the real tokens. Depending upon the thickness gauge you use (based upon the size of the "foot" measuring the thickness) the actual thickness will vary. But the differential will be consistent between real and fake tokens.
The weight of the real tokens is the same (
within the listed range) for Jose Magic, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th series tokens.
The weight for the fakes is the same (within the listed range) for the imitation Wurm, 7th, and 8th series tokens.
I only have one token from 6th series that appears to be off, and it needs additional evaluation before I can make any blanket statements regarding it.
