What is all this flood of Japanese girl groups that seem to have inundated the Bay recently? What does SNDN stand for and what is it? Who is issuing these cards? Are they considered main stream collectables? Does anyone on this forum collect them??
So many questions! Anyone?

After a little looking, I see that it is SNSD, not SNDN (correct name would come in handy).

Unless you are from Korea or Thiland, these do not seem to be "main stream" at all. As to who is issuing the cards, your best bet is likely to ask one of the folks selling the cards on ebay.

They are a Korean pop group also known as Girls Generation. They are pretty popular at the moment, in part because most of the members are gorgeous. They are set up like the other popular group from Japan, AKB48, where members 'graduate' and are changed out on a regular basis.

The only Japanese cards I collect are the two Aya Hirano sets that are out, but when the new cds from SNSD or AKB48 come out, they often have trading cards or other bonuses included in the first pressings and specific cards can sell for a lot of money.

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Originally posted by btlfannz:
What is all this flood of Japanese girl groups that seem to have inundated the Bay recently? What does SNDN stand for and what is it? Who is issuing these cards? Are they considered main stream collectables? Does anyone on this forum collect them??
So many questions! Anyone?

They may well be main stream collectables in the market of whatever country or region they come from, but these groups are not international, so that would be a NO then.

There are many popular, talented and successful entertainers that are practically worshipped in India, Japan, China and Korea to name just a few places. Yet they are barely known outside of their countries or apart from their own citizens. Even with the internet, there are still language and cultural barriers that keep them from wide acceptance in crossover markets.

I wouldn't collect any of these pop group cards because I have no knowledge of who they are, but in Japan or Korea they might be going crazy over them.

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.... but in Japan or Korea they might be going crazy over them.

So is Ebay!!

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Originally posted by btlfannz:

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.... but in Japan or Korea they might be going crazy over them.

So is Ebay!!

Sure, but take a look at those big money auctions and you will see that the items are located in Korea and Japan. The bidders are almost assured to be from those countries.

Your question was are these cards main stream? I never heard of them. They look to be cheaply made close up pictures of what I assume are the members of Girls Generation, which I also never heard of. Foreign countries, and Asia and the Far East in particular, have very different attitudes regarding licenses and copyrights. Who knows what these cards are or how many there are?

Just because they are selling well in their country or region of origin means there is a market for them there. It does not mean that they are collectibles anywhere else or worth a dime anywhere else.