I couldn’t wait 😀. After reviewing the incredible 2nd boxed set for LeCard’s Duel Gundam series, I just had to open a pack. Yes, just 1 pack, I am committed to opening only one pack from each of these boxes until I’ve opened… enough. This way I don’t repeat content or burn myself on a specific set of boring cards, looking at you Identity V. This also means I have to leave 11 of these amazing packs unopened for a long time, which is a shame as they belong in a museum. These are the new trading card royalty in my binder.
On Rarity Distribution
First, I want to remind you all of the absurd rarity levels in this set, it’s even worse then the first set. Whereas in that set you might approach some measure of “complete” with 10-20 boxes, which would be 300$ – 600$ lol. Well, I have bad news, this set it’s likely impossible as there are multiple top-tier rarities with single or single-digit printings – per SET! Not per case, or per box, but in the entire print run. This would be like if Wizards printed only 10 copies of a given mythic in entire run, imagine the after market cost of such a card, please don’t give them ideas.
So you can forget about ever completing this set unless you intend to to buy out every single box ever printed, which… uh… how much would you pay for mine? Ok so those aside, your still looking at a subset called ND with only 500 printed cards per set, that’s 5 separate cards limited to 500. Beyond even that you’ve got an extensive host of rarities and subsets all the way down to 24 UR and 48 SSR, that being the equivalent of a common.
I’d guess you would be looking at 100+ boxes to get close completing just the non-limited to print run cars in this set. That would cost you 3000-ish dollars, and you would be a completely insane individual but also I’d love you to meet you some day you are my hero.
Gundam Barbatos
Let’s get this boring old SSR out of the way first, wait what – even this card is one of the most eye popping things I’ve ever seen? This is the mighty Gundam Barbatos striking a fighting pose in front of a 3d-looking magenta space ring, yeah. The designation is ASW-G-08. While the artwork is flat, the outline is embossed in metallic gold foil. The card is printed on that same thick card stock as set 1. The backing of this SSR is a green Unicorn Gundam. The card number is etched into the back. Such a great looking card, and remember this is the equivalent of a trash common for this set.
Gundam F90
This was a surprise, but a welcome one. I thought these packs would have two SSR slots by default and then one lottery slot that started at UR. The pack I opened had only one SSR in it, this might mean there are two lottery slots – or maybe even all the slots are upgradeable? Anyway, my second card is a rather artistic rendition of F90 Gundam. This is what I meant by these belonging in a museam.
This F90 is posing stoically against a city scape backdrop. Behind and in front of the Gundam are multi-colored, transparent, foiled paint strokes. Combined with the metallic silver emboss on the outline, this makes the card really look 3d. On the back is an angrier looking red Unicorn Gundam, with the card number UR-002 printed on it. It’s hard to describe how much better this UR looks than the SSR but it is noticeable. I can’t wait to see what even higher level cards look like!
AGE-3 Gundam
And I did not have to wait long. I knew when I opened this pack that there was something special in here, not one of those 10-per-print-run metal cards, but one of the cards was even thicker then the other two. These are already thick cards, but this one is 1/4 as much even thicker! And when you hold you can see why. This is EQ-003, Gundam AGE-3, the SD variant. It’s difficult to describe how this looks but I’ll try, really I need to start recording videos of these – maybe I’ll try:
That’s right, this card was so amazing I went and made a whole YouTube channel just so I could show you. Well, I’ll probably use that for more videos in the future too, but this card was the inception point.
The card has this etched green foil line pattern in the background, with this almost ethereal artwork floating in front of it. See in the video it looks a little blurry? It isn’t quite lenticular but there is some kind of 3d-ish effect going on here. EQ cards are a subset rarity that I guess sit in the same general level as UR, or maybe right above it. This subset focuses on the Chibi variants of the Gundams, so this is an SD mobile suit.
The back of the card features another beautiful line drawing of the Unicorn Gundam, this time the Banshee Norn!
I hope I’ve sold you on these cards by now, if you have any interest in Gundam or even just trading cards in general, these are the ones to get. Either of the LeCard sets, or why not get both like I did?