There are so many collectible Starbucks cards that it is time for a blog entry about them. I only wish I had been a little more aware of them before March of 2008. At the 2008 annual Starbucks meeting of Shareholders, Howard Schultz announced registered card benefits, and it was only then that I began to pay close attention to the myriad of Starbucks cards available in the stores. On twitter and in pestering a few partners, I asked for help digging up Starbucks cards for this blog post. One partner in Canada sent me the Canadian card which I’ve featured for the icon for this blog post, which I hear was intended to celebrate the Olympics in Vancouver.
Other highly collectible cards that I’ve heard about, but do not have images for include the Paul McCartney, the Ichiro baseball, and the Ray Charles cards. Here at StarbucksMelody.com, I’ve talked about many cards and here is list of blog posts just featuring information on certain promotional or interesting cards:
List of previous StarbucksMelody.com blog posts on Starbucks cards:
- The First and Battery Card – Currently available at most Starbucks stores (also called the Twilight card).
- The Conservation International Card – Currently available as a promotional card – Starbucks donates five cents to Conservation International with every purchase made with this card.
- 2010 Cherry Blossom Design card from Japan with matching tumbler
- Starbucks offers customized cards – Melody gets a StarbucksMelody.com customized Starbucks card
- Annual Meeting of Shareholders – Includes images of the 2004, 2005, and 2006 Shareholders cards
And now for a few images (and if you look carefully, you can find Howard Schultz’s autograph three times below, though on two of them it has nearly worn off. In this blog entry, Howard Schultz’s autograph appears four times in total: Three below, and the one beautifully framed Pike Place Card at the bottom of the blog post.):
Last but not least, this card displayed below is the “Pike Place store” card that one can only find at the store at 1912 Pike Place. Below is one of several that Howard Schultz has signed for me, and I had it framed because it’s a beautiful rare card, and a nice legible signature, signed by Mr. Schultz on July 24, 2009, while he was visiting 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea. Currently this framed card is hanging in my office. The framing was provided by Seattle Custom Framing – They do absolutely beautiful work, so if you’re in Seattle and need something framed, I recommend that you visit Seattle Custom Framing:
So what’s your favorite Starbucks Card?
One more quick thing: Previously I wrote a blog post about Starbucks registered card benefits and four common pitfalls. It is still a good read as a basic introduction to four areas of continual confusion about the registered card rewards. I recommend it highly:
The Starbucks Card now has its own twitter profile. If you use twitter, please follow @StarbucksCard.
Thank you to numerous friends on twitter who helped me gather a number of the cards shown above. I had too much help to list every person. And thanks again to Molly at Seattle Custom Framing – She helped with the photography (and the framed card) on this blog post.
One of the cards above came from an SSC partner (upon my specific request for help in obtaining a particular card), so to be on the safe-side in terms of “disclosure” I am adding to this blog article the disclosure “Starbucks has provided coffee or other promotional consideration” to this blog content. I hardly count one gift card from Starbucks as “promotional consideration” but it did come pre-loaded with $5 on it, and it did add to the blog post, so I am “disclosing” it. If Starbucks wants to do more for me, they certainly can. 
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Yea! I love seeing all the pretty cards out there, i do tend to adopt a card for year and use only that one (currently the conservation card from you
)
turns out, my partner’s parenty people have a TON of starbucks cards, including many of the ones you show above (and others!). it was cool to go through them all last weekend and see a lot i had never seen before!
Yay! I have been waiting for your post on this! I do the same thing where I tend to only want to use my favorite cards even if they are seasonal ones. My favorite one is the Fall 2008 card…reminds me of back east. I love the leaves and the coffee cup on it. I switch between that one and the Pike Place store card you sent to me. Love that one!!
Which is my favorite Starbucks card? The one that still has some money left on it, of course! Easy question.
Oh wow! You have so many cards! I think it’s great how the UW has their own starbucks card. But my favorite is the Hawai’i card with the hula girls, very cute
Great post Melody! I love collecting the new cards when they come out. And the card with the latte and birthday candles is a new favorite of mine.
faves: the felted cherry blossoms and the (red) tree card
i must remember to pick up the uw card for sir’s stepmum. she wanted that one for her collection!
I’m just happy that the Starbucks Card has a twitter profile.
I actually had to get a barista to “consolidate” all my various Starbucks cards last night. I had five different cards from various times/dates/gifts/places. I was carrying around $27 and I never knew it.
I don’t have any valuable cards though – although I will continue to use my black Starbucks Gold card even when my benefit expires in August – just because it is the easiest thing to identify in my wallet.
Cheers – and thank you for finding all the super card images.
My favorite is your framed Starbucks card! And thanks to you, I’ve got the same design in my wallet! I’ve never seen the Australian Starbucks Card before. That’s a pretty cool one, too.
Starbucks always has good looking cards
I always like to see a collection of Starbucks cards. pretty cool.
My favorite is my customized card.
I think I missed out! I have the Hawaii one, and want the UW one!
I like the cherry blossom one from Japan, very pretty! Hawaii, too!
There’s one card that shows the big red comfy chair that I think represents Starbucks quite well. I think the sepia-toned one is the best (the one you had autographed) – very cool.
And the ‘twilight’ one as well!
My favorite Starbucks card by far was the limited edition one designed by Project Runways “Christian Siriano” that was available Christmas 2009. It was a small key chain size card that came in a unique handcrafted paper sleeve. It was the first time I believe Starbucks had a collaboration with a fashion designer. Definitely my favorite by far!
@Amarie you bring up a great point – who here has custom cards? care to share pictures? i keep not getting a custom card because i can’t get exactly what i want
Hi Mel, great that more designs are coming out for Sbux cards. My faves are the ones w/ scenes.
I have to wonder if everyone figured out exactly which four cards in this blog post are autographed by Howard Schultz?
1. the framed card
2. the partner card
3. the Pike Place Mobile
4. your old gold card!
@CamSpi – You’re good!!!
I’ve seen most of these in person! (even the Australian one
) I love love looking at all the cards that come in, in particular the personalized ones, because they just have so much character and say so much about the one holding it. They tend to lead to stories about who gave it to them and why 
.
My personal favorite is my card from you Melody! (others are so jealous lol)
Speaking of is this an appropriate place to ask what happens to all the cards after new ones are added? I know there are a few core cards. But do the stores send back designs that they sell out of? Or do they just hang on to them until they’re all sold…or do they put them away somewhere for when that time of year rolls around again?
opps! I meant: Do the stores send back designs that they DON’T sell out of?
I love this! I have a bunch of those cards, some thanks to you! And I’m pretty sure I have that Paul McCartney card around here somewhere! I think I picked it up when they were selling the CD in Starbucks—I picked up the CD as well!
I think there’s one for San Francisco, and New York, too. I really wish I had those. I’m trying to talk my friend who lives in NY to look around for me, but so far no luck.
@Hayley – I’ve wondered that too. (I noticed the Christian Siriano design was in stores around here for a short while, then disappeared for a few months, now they’ve recently reappeared).
Also checking in on eBay – noticed some were selling cards in lots of 10 (or more) that have “never been swiped” – do people just simply take the cards?
Check out http://www.buckscards.com for a very good website for all cards.
I’ve been collecting for just over a year now and slowly building up my collection.
I’d like to see Starbucks having some sort of program whereby collectors can subscribe and receive new cards posted to them as they are issued (from all the countries they are issued) as eBay + sellers are making a fortune on being able to grab handfuls of cards whether as customers or partners and then selling them on eBay at a huge profit. Yes, I know it’s supply and demand but could Starbucks not help out collectors and make some profit themselves and cutting out the huge amounts of money that some people are making.
It is so great to see that variety of cards which are available…I also got a couple of cards that I picked up on my Starbucks Trips in the U.S. and other countries over the years.
But my favorite one is definetely the one with Howard’s signature that you gave me, Melody. I am looking at it every day cuz I framed it and hung it above of my desk. Just beautiful and a rarity!
I also like those small Starbucks cards that can be fasten on lanyards.
@latterose-most likely. There is a lot of stolen starbucks merch on there. White mocha sauce that JUST came out anyone?
Melody,
Your office seems to a Starbucks branch. You have to put Starbucks logo to the door.
Have you already used gold card? Or still black version gold card. I received this e-mail from Starbucks two weeks ago.
http://twitpic.com/1wdk8g
It excited me, but I cannot use it in Japan, it’s sad.
I like “Starbucks RED card” and “Conservation International Card” because they have an important social activity of Starbucks. Talking of RED, I think that the Starbucks coffee Japan should do the support. I thank you because I was able to have Kris Engskov(Starbucks Regional VP) and conversation about the topic. Thank you Melody!
Melody: GREAT thread. I really love this one. My favorite card..which I have somewhere, is one of the first ones around, of the cup of coffee…..pre-the Starbucks one with the red chair. ? will send you a couple pics.
I’ve had so many I wish I had kept…. now I keep them all.
What a great thread! It is so funny because this morning at my local SB I was staring at the cards and just thought how there are not any new ones (at least at this SB) and certainly none that would jump out at me to purchase. How do they decide which cards are only regional and which ones go national? Certainly, I have not seen many of the cards you posted.
@Nob thanks for that link i love looking at all the designs
@denise r. i know what you mean – i got all the starbucks stockholder cards through the years and trashed them as i used them
@amazonv – I remember you telling me this great story once of buying stock at the IPO when you were a kid! I wish I had been that smart! My best friend bought stock at the Starbucks IPO, and she’s the person from whom I got all the shareholders’ card that have been featured in this blog, as well as the early shareholder reports.
http://www.starbucksmelody.com/category/financials/
Hi Noboru! LOL – Yep my office looks like I must work at Starbucks! That day you were here and we toured a couple of Starbucks was really great. I’m sure that Kris E. loved talking with you about (Red). You know you really brought a ton of sunshine to a lot of people with all those amazing presents you brought with you! All you need now is a pic of you with Howard! (And I would be so jealous because I still don’t have such a pic!!)
I don’t know why they don’t bring the (Red) card to Japan but it sure sounds like a good idea to me.
Melody
This is one of my favorite posts you have made Melody! I had heard of people collecting the cards, but have never met someone who has more then just a few, and most of those are ones that they have used themselves over the years. The partner card is a very cool one to see. I have the one with the two shots on it, but here in ohio you can still get those in stores.
Thanks for the cool content Melody
@Christopher – I didn’t have all that many cards, and I asked for help on twitter. There are amazing people who helped. It’s funny you wrote, “I had heard of people collecting the cards, but have never met someone who has more then just a few” and I was expecting to see you write, “I had heard of people collecting the cards, but have never met someone who collects Howard’s autograph on them!” LOL! Glad you like this one.
You ask what’s my favorite Starbucks card? Well,I guess I’m just old fashioned but I gotta say the gold gold card mainly because it is gold and has my name on it and looks like I’m special and the people I show it to seem impressed.
@Melody, don’t quote me, but I believe Starbucks partnership with Red ends next year.
hmmm…sorry random thought. I wonder if that is why they renamed the (RED) coffee East african blend…
@ Cabarista I talked with a barista last friday about the renaming and they said their manager told them they renamed it because the red program is getting to be dated. Aside from starbucks I’m not sure what major brands still carry red products. seems a little fishy to me though.
This is a great thread. One of my favorite cards is one that Starbucks recently sent me with my Duetto balance. The card (CAR-469 (C) 2006) says “Give, Grow, Aspire, Share, Connect” and is yellow and green. I like the words and the images.
I think I still have some of the old $3 certificates that Starbucks used before they even had a Starbucks Card. You could buy them in 5 packs and they gave you change if your drink was less than $3.
@@37000feet,
I have the card, too. On the card, Christian Siriano’s signature is beautiful.
http://twitpic.com/20ln7h
@AmazonV,
Thank you.
I will still get Starbucks card even if not usable in Japan. lol
@Melody,
Exactly, I hope to the 3 realization.
1. Support to RED, by Starbucks coffee Japan.
2. I want to take a pic with you. I took the photo of the woman who forgot a mobile phone at the 15th, but I forgot to take a photo with the woman.:D Please give me that if you took my photo at the 15th.
3. I have to more visit to Seattle to take a pic with the Starbucks CEO. Or would you send CEO to me by DHL or EMS? I send CEO back to SSC after having taken a photo with him.
@Nob – wow, you photographed that card beautifully!
Yes, people take cards from the registers and not buy them. I have seen people do it. I have also seen stores that had cards from years ago…where they put out stuff for the holidays and stuck the old cards in a drawer or somewhere….then found them again months/years later.
Yay. Glad I could help with the Hawaii cards. They all look great. Kudos to your blog photographer. Rumor is we’re getting a new card by the end of the year! Guesses abound, but I’m thinking it’ll be a surf theme or perhaps a new Hawaiian Christmas design?
re: Sbux ending its association with (red)…yes, they are, at the end of this year…Dec.2010. I’ve been told that by quite a few people…corporate on the phone, store manager (altho I already knew)….several places…..last year.
My vote for favorite Starbucks card is the cherry blossom. I wish I could get my hands on a matching tumbler!
re: CD’s post about the Sbux $$$ booklets. I had remembered them (in an msi discussion) but not clearly. Then, like in a dream (I really think it was in a dream…) I remembered clearly..Christmas of ’98 and buying one of those coupon booklets for a new friend.
sounds like too much Sbux when its in my dreams! (I can only imagine in your head Melody!;)
Love love love this post, Melody! I LOVE your framed Howard autographed card. Random trivia: the Australia card you have is actually pretty rare: there was a copyright infringement with the surf life savers of Australia, so not many of that card was made. Nowadays, the Australia card has the sydney harbor bridge on it.
My personal favorite is my original red card, knowing that 5c of every (very frequent) purchase of mine is going to a good cause means a lot. And my Japanese Halloween card: the first card I ever loaded as a partner!
I am slowly making my way through your archived posts…
I was reading about the Canadian “unofficial Olympic” card. Howard visited Vancouver right before the games, and one of our staff got him to sign a few for us – and I am the proud owner of one. I think I might do as you did and frame it….
…It would go nicely on my desk.
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