Pincerstag (Hasami Kuwagata) #118 — Dragon Quest Monsters Sticker by Enix, 1998 Japan
What This Sticker Is and Where It Comes From
This is an official paper sticker (known in Japan as a character seal, or kyarakuta shiru) produced by Enix in 1998 to coincide with the Game Boy Color release of Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland. The design features a circular blue frame on a pink-textured background, with the monster’s illustration at center. The upper-left corner shows a bug-type symbol (mushi-kei), the upper-right displays the Dragon Quest Monsters logo, and the lower-left identifies the monster by its number — #118 — alongside its Japanese name. A blue oval in the lower-right contains the number 43, most likely a series-sequence number indicating this piece is one card within a larger numbered sticker collection, though this cannot be confirmed with absolute certainty.
The monster depicted is Pincerstag (Japanese: Hasami Kuwagata — a compound of “hasami,” meaning pincers or scissors, and “kuwagata,” the Japanese word for stag beetle). It is a black, beetle-bodied monster with prominent orange mandibles, blue eyes, and blue boot-like legs — a classic insect-type creature. In Dragon Quest Monsters, monsters are divided into eight type categories; Pincerstag belongs to the bug type (mushi-kei). Its encyclopedia number is 118 out of a roster of more than 200 monsters, placing it in the mid-to-late portion of the game’s bestiary. All text on the sticker — the logo, type designation, and monster name — appears exclusively in Japanese, making this a Japan-original product distinct from the North American localization released in 2000 as Dragon Warrior Monsters.
The Series, the Era, and the Artist Behind the Design
Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland, released in September 1998, was the first entry in the Dragon Quest Monsters spin-off series — a monster-breeding RPG that let players capture and crossbreed creatures to create new ones. It launched during the same cultural moment as the early Pokemon boom, when monster-collecting games were rapidly reshaping the Japanese handheld market. The franchise has continued through multiple sequels, including modern smartphone and Nintendo Switch entries, making Terry’s Wonderland the foundation of a long-running series.
Every character design in the Dragon Quest series, including Pincerstag, was created by Akira Toriyama, the manga artist internationally recognized as the author of Dragon Ball. Toriyama passed away in March 2024, and his decades of work across the Dragon Quest franchise are now viewed as a significant part of his artistic legacy.
Why Collectors Around the World Take Notice
Stickers like this one represent a specific moment in Japanese collectible culture. In the late 1990s, character seals for major game and anime franchises were sold through stationery shops, convenience stores, and small candy vendors. Their numbered, encyclopedia-style design — type icon, monster number, character name — was built to encourage systematic collection. Paper goods from this period survive in good condition less often than plastic or metal items, simply because of how they were handled and stored by children at the time.
For collectors, this piece carries several distinct points of interest: it is an Enix-branded product from before the 2003 merger that created Square Enix, making it a document of the company’s independent era. It features original Toriyama character art on a format that was never produced for Western markets. And as merchandise tied specifically to Dragon Quest Monsters rather than the mainline Dragon Quest series, it appeals to fans of that particular spin-off lineage — now approaching three decades old.
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