Who made Nintendo Menkos? Latest Update at the bottom!

One of the most difficult endeavors when it comes to video game related Menkos is finding out who manufactured these cards and how many were produced. It appears, according to several sources, that there was not good record keeping when it comes to Menko card specifics and production. This is why finding out this information has been a very difficult task.

I have emailed about every card grading service to see if they will grade Menko Cards of the video game type. Every single one responded back they will not grade Menkos. PSA card grading service told me their research team cannot find any reference or original source information and for this reason they cannot grade Menkos. Without this kind of information, they cannot say a card is authentic without good source information, nor will they grade a card on condition alone. It was daunting to find this information out because I believe these cards are an important part of Nintendo history. 

Nintendo Menkos for example is clearly marked Nintendo Co. Ltd, so I know they are legitimately licensed cards from Nintendo. So, now the task at hand is to somehow find out who the company was that Nintendo licensed to produce these Menkos. Usually, you can find anything on the internet. In this case, I have come up empty. I have noticed a few terms used with Menkos. You will notice the terms “Showa” or “Amada” used sometimes in the description of Menkos for sale in Japan. I’m certain that Amada is the company that produced Menkos for Nintendo, but I haven’t been able to find specific information for Amada online. Until I finally had a good idea. 

I have a few friends in Japan that search out specific Menkos for me. So, I emailed my good friend Shinnosuke in Japan to see if he knew or could find out anything for me. Believe it or not, even in Japan this information is almost non-existent. Until recently, I finally got a good lead. Shinnosuke found out that the company called Amada is now currently called Ensky Plus. So, I immediately researched Ensky Plus online. Thanks to Shinnosuke's help, I finally found some promising information.  

Ensky Plus Co. LTD. Is a company that started out manufacturing and selling Menko as far back as 1938. On their website they have a fascinating company history. It is as follows: 

-1938  Established Amata Toy Mfg. Co. Ltd. Started manufacturing & selling Menko 

-1938 (Showa 13) Established Amata Toy Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Started manufacturing and selling Menko 

-1956 (Showa 31) Established Amada Toy Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 

-1959 (Showa 34) Introduced a printing machine and started production cooperation for supplements for boys' magazines. 

-1962 (Showa 37) Changed company name to Amata Printing & Processing Co., Ltd.
Commenced commercialization of TV characters 

-1966 (Showa 41) Soka factory completed, head office relocated from Adachi-ku to Soka-shi 

-1975 (Showa 50) Distribution warehouse completed 

-1983 (Showa 58) Started production and sales of calendars. 

-1985 (Showa 60) Started production and sales of jigsaw puzzles 

-1989 (first year of Heisei) Established Amada Co., Ltd. 

-1991 (Heisei 3) Otone (currently Kazo) factory completed 

-1994 (Heisei 6) Established Hong Kong Tenta (now Ensky Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. 

-2005 (Heisei 17) Company split by holding company, Ensky Co., Ltd. Established 

-2013 (Heisei 25) Established Japan Card Products Co., Ltd. as a joint venture between Amada Co., Ltd. and Carte Mundi Co., Ltd. 

-2016 (Heisei 28) Capital tie-up with Gadget Co., Ltd. 

-2019 (first year of Reiwa) Amada Co., Ltd. merged with Gadget Co., Ltd., and the company name was changed to Ensky PLUS Co., Ltd. 

According to Ensky’s Company history, under the name Amata (later Amada) did in fact produce Menko. They make children's toys, puzzles, and other paper products. They also commenced commercialization of TV characters, so it makes sense they likely did the same thing for video games. It’s believed Nintendo licensed them in the early 1980’s to produce and sell Menkos for them. Of course, this is not yet confirmed. I recently emailed Ensky Plus. I explained to them what I am trying to find out with the hope they can shed some light on the matter. According to their company history....it looks promising. Hopefully the proper reference and source information can be revealed so card grading companies like PSA can finally grade these pieces of Nintendo history. 

I have not heard from Ensky yet. As new information becomes available, I will post what I learn on this page. If anyone has any reference or original source information of video game related Menkos please email me at mariomenkocards@gmail.com                  Date: 3-20-23

I heard back from a representative at Ensky Plus today. This gentleman did confirm that Amada is one of their parent companies. He said he was going to try and help me and forward my information and questions to Amada. This is great news because the journey to figure this out has been a roller coaster ride. I'm operating over 6,000 miles away here in the U.S.A. (a 13 hr. difference from Japan) and the fact this information is non-existent on the internet has made things beyond difficult. I hope to hear back from Amada soon. As I learn more, I will post it hear.                                      Date: 3-22-23

I previously mentioned the possibility of Amada producing these Nintendo Menkos all in one year. We now know this simply isn't  true. The date on the Nintendo Menkos reflect the year they were produced. We now have proof of this. For instance. The Menko of Donkey Kong, Jumpman & Pauline dated 1981 was actually made in 1981. Attached below is a pic of the same scene on a card produced by Amada in 1985. Amada would not have made two different Menko cards in 1985 of the same scene. That wouldn't make any sense. What does make sense is the date on Nintendo Menkos is the actual date that Amada produced them. This is the only scenario that would explain why we see Nintendo Menkos with the same scene but with different dates. There are actually many examples of pre-1985 menkos printed again by Amada on a different style menko dated 1985. 

So, it looks like the one year scenario is out. The date on a Nintendo Menko is simply the date Amada manufactured it.  Another piece of the puzzle solved!

                                                                                                                Date: 8-10-23