Naruto cards are easier to follow by era than by set, and this is the first era. CardSpicy indexes 68 Naruto characters across every line we cover, and 38 of them enter the story in Part 1 — the original run, before the time skip.
It is also where the printed side of the franchise starts. The earliest Naruto card product that can still be dated is a Carddass release from December 2002, recorded in third-party release archives rather than on any manufacturer page, which puts the cards at roughly the age of the anime that made them famous.
This page covers who belongs to the era, what their cards are actually printed in, and the practical side of collecting them. It is also the era the newest Naruto anime is set in, which is why it is the page in this section we expect to move most over the coming year.
What counts as Part 1
Part 1 is the original Naruto story, up to the two-and-a-half-year time skip that opens Shippuden. In card terms it is not a set, a series or a product line — no manufacturer has ever shipped a box called “Part 1”, and nothing printed on a Naruto card carries that label. It is a stretch of story, and we group characters by it because it is the grouping the cards themselves respect.
Nothing about the era changes what protection a card needs. Every trading card we deal in, Naruto included, is printed at the standard 63 × 88 mm, so a Part 1 character and a character introduced twenty years later go into the same sleeve. What the era changes is who is on the card, and how many cards carry that name.
The 38 Part 1 characters
These are the Part 1 characters in our index, grouped by the affiliation we tag on each tile of the Naruto card index. A character can belong to more than one era, so this list overlaps the Shippuden one on purpose.
- Leaf — Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Kakashi Hatake, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, Might Guy, Tenten, Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi, Konohamaru Sarutobi, Iruka Umino, Shizune, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
- Sand — Gaara, Temari, Kankuro.
- Mist — Zabuza Momochi, Haku, Kisame Hoshigaki.
- Cloud — Killer B, Fourth Raikage A.
- Akatsuki — Itachi Uchiha, Deidara, Sasori.
- Sound — Orochimaru, Kabuto Yakushi, Kimimaro.
- Tailed beasts — Kurama, Shukaku.
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi and Hinata are among the names that carry across all three eras in our index, so they turn up again on the Boruto page and on the Shippuden page. The bulk of the list above sits in the first two eras only.
Where their cards actually are
Part 1 characters are spread across both of the products that have a published card list. Of the 38, 31 appear in the Naruto Mythos gallery we index, which is the only Naruto line to have opened a per-card database at all. The other seven have no record there yet, and we leave them on the list rather than quietly dropping them: the character exists whether or not a card has caught up with them.
Two things about those counts are worth stating plainly. First, the Mythos gallery is the source, and it currently covers two sets, Konoha Shidō and Shinobi Shiren. Second, a gallery record is one entry, and the gallery prints a separate entry for a card that carries more than one release date, so record counts run higher than the number of distinct cards. We quote the gallery’s own count and say which count it is, instead of converting it into a figure we cannot stand behind. The full breakdown is on the Naruto card list.
The new anime sits inside this era
The limited Naruto television series announced in September 2026 is set after the original anime and before the Shippuden time skip — that is, inside Part 1. The same stretch of story, and largely the same characters, as the list above. We have a separate piece on the announcement, the broadcast panel and its date, and what it does and does not change: the new Naruto anime of 2026.
What we will not do is put a number on what a new animation does to card prices. There is no reliable data connecting the two, and the honest version is narrower: an IP that is being actively made tends to bring attention back to its characters, and attention is not the same thing as demand at a particular price. This page stays on the side of the line it can source.
Size, sleeves and holders
Every Naruto card, whatever era the character comes from, is printed at 63 × 88 mm. That is the same size as Pokémon, One Piece, Gundam and Dragon Ball cards, which means one set of protection covers all of them and no Naruto-specific product is needed. A standard-size sleeve and a standard 3" × 4" rigid holder both fit. Handling matters more than fit on foil surfaces, which mark easily — the protection guide goes through that in detail.
Frequently asked questions
Which Naruto characters belong to Part 1?
Our index has 38, led by the Leaf Village cast: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Kakashi Hatake, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, Might Guy, Tenten, Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi, Konohamaru Sarutobi, Iruka Umino, Shizune, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Hiruzen Sarutobi, plus Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Zabuza Momochi, Haku, Kisame Hoshigaki, Killer B, Fourth Raikage A, Itachi Uchiha, Deidara, Sasori, Orochimaru, Kabuto Yakushi, Kimimaro, Kurama and Shukaku.
When did Naruto cards first come out?
The earliest Naruto card product that can still be dated is a Carddass release from December 2002, which third-party release archives record against the franchise. That is close to the launch of the original anime, and it places the cards at the start of the same wave of interest the show created.
Are Part 1 characters still printed in current Naruto sets?
Yes. Of the 38 Part 1 characters in our index, 31 have records in the Naruto Mythos gallery, which covers the two sets that have published a card list. The remaining seven have no record there yet, which we show rather than smooth over.
What size are Naruto cards?
Naruto cards are printed at the standard trading card size, 63 × 88 mm, the same as Pokémon, One Piece, Gundam and Dragon Ball cards. A standard-size sleeve and a standard 3" × 4" rigid holder fit them, and no Naruto-specific product is required.
Is the new 2026 Naruto anime set in Part 1?
Yes. The limited series announced in September 2026 is set after the original anime and before the Shippuden time skip, so it sits inside Part 1 and draws on the same characters this page covers. Its worldwide first look was scheduled for 10 October 2026.
Sources
Sources and further reading
- Manufacturer card galleries — for the per-card records, set names and printed stats used in the counting on this page.
- KAYOU — Naruto collectible card product listings, for set names and pack configuration.
- Bandai Card Games — Naruto Card Game reveal, for the confirmed card types and the 2027 worldwide release window.
- Third-party release archives — for the earliest dated Naruto card product and for the era in which a character first appears.
- Studio Pierrot and the official Naruto channels — for the 2026 limited anime announcement and its place in the story.
This page is a collector’s index, not a price guide, and it quotes no values. Character counts come from our own index and change as the index grows. Card names, characters and series are the property of their respective rights holders, and this page is independent of them.