Item

Item is a generic term for a concept that is implemented to different extents in many games of the Asphalt series. It describes a virtual entity that usually fulfils all or most of the following conditions:
* It has a graphic representation (mostly an icon) with a reference to a real-world object.
* It can be
** bought with in-game currency or real money,
** earned by in-game actions, for example winning races, or
** won from random experiments like random containers ("loot boxes") or watching ads.
* It can be stored at some place in the game, mostly the inventory.
* Players can own multiple instances of it.
* It can be sold for in-game currency.
This definition distinguishes items from
* currencies which are a means of payment to buy items,
* random containers which pretend to be items but actually are sets of lottery-like random experiments that grant items.
== History overview ==
Items were first implemented as cards that have a double function in most of the Asphalt games. Introduced as Pro Kits in the Winter Update of Asphalt 8: Airborne, they were promoted as an alternative way to upgrade vehicles, but actually were nothing but an additional currency disguised as items. A good comparison would be that of a banknote: Although cards show depictions of items like engines or vehicle parts, they are not items themselves but grant the right to acquire such an item.
As there were many different cards, the balance could not simply be displayed as a number in the top bar like other currencies, which led to the introduction of the inventory where players could browse through the cards they owned.
Blueprints, first introduced in Asphalt Street Storm Racing, are also cards and work in a similar way, except that they are needed to buy and not to upgrade a vehicle.
Over time, cards were given more properties that made them similar to items. While Asphalt 8 Pro Kits initially could only be exchanged for a subsidiary currency ( which could only be used to buy Pro Kit Boxes that granted other cards), the 2019 Holiday Update introduced which evolved into a universal currency and made cards freely tradable like other items. Cards in Asphalt 9: Legends went a similar way and became tradable for , allowing players to buy other cards. Blueprints in Asphalt Street Storm Racing can be sold for the general currency . 
As the item concept evolved, it was extended to other gameplay elements. Kit Boxes in Asphalt Nitro can not only grant cards but also boosters, although the latter do not appear in the player's inventory. Finally, Asphalt Street Storm Racing established the most comprehensive item system: Almost everything in the game can be stored, sold and owned in multiple instances, including customization objects like paints or decals, and even vehicles—which makes Asphalt Streetstorm the only Asphalt game that allows players to own more than one vehicle of a kind.
The Showdown Update of Asphalt 8 later took over elements from the Streetstorm approach and turned boosters and free upgrades into full items that were now stored in the inventory and had a sale value.
== Asphalt 9: Legends ==
: Overview: Item availability matrix (Asphalt 9)
In Asphalt 9: Legends, only cards (comprising of Blueprints and Import Parts), Body Parts and Keys are items. All items can be sold for but only cards are stored in the inventory.
== Asphalt Street Storm Racing ==
: Overview: Item availability matrix (Asphalt Streetstorm)
Asphalt Street Storm Racing treats almost every in-game object as an item, including vehicles. Most of the storable items can be accessed via the inventory, except for
* owned vehicles which can be viewed in a separated Collection with manufacturer and class filters
* Boosts which are accessed via the balance display in the top bar.
Although Wheels have their own tab in the inventory, they can only be bought and applied directly. The existence of the tab may hint at a previously planned but never realized feature.
The following table gives an overview of how items are stored, obtained and sold. Note the double function of Blueprints as a currency to buy vehicles and as items that take inventory space and can be sold. 
Item 	Type 	Storage 	Gift Boxes	Buy with	Sell for
Vehicles 	 	Collection 	 	 	
Blueprints	 	Inventory 	 	- 	
Paints 	Specific 	- 	 	 	-
Paints 	Generic– matte– metallic– non metallic 	- 	 	 	-
Paints 	Generic– polarized– chrome– polarized-matte	Inventory 	 	- 	
Decals 	Specific 	Inventory 	 	- 	
Decals 	Generic 	- 	 	 	-
Wheels 	 	- 	 	 	-
Underglows	Blue 	- 	 	 	-
Underglows	Other colors 	Inventory 	 	- 	
 	 	Boosts section	 	 	-
== Asphalt Xtreme ==
: Overview: Item availability matrix (Asphalt Xtreme)
Shortly after the soft launch of Asphalt Steetstorm and its universal item system in December 2016, Asphalt Xtreme went the opposite way with its Coachella Update released in May 2017. The update made cards unsellable and replaced all card types with blueprints and class-specific tool cards. Blueprints were now needed to buy and to upgrade vehicles; tool cards only for upgrades.
As a player's inventory would have grown infinitely without the possibility to get rid of unneeded cards (for example if a vehicle is already at max level), the Nepal Update later added the booster which is vehicle-specific and can only be bought with blueprints.
As of 2020, cards are stored in the inventory, boosters are only available on pre-race screens and decals can be accessed by tapping on a vehicle in the garage. Apart from the Overclock booster for blueprints, none of these items can be exchanged, sold or otherwise disposed of.
The following table gives an overview of how items are stored and obtained. Note the missing possibility to sell items as well as the reduced function of Blueprints which serve as a mere currency to buy and upgrade vehicles or to buy the Overclock booster.
Item 	Storage 	Boxes	Buy with	Sell for
Vehicles 	Garage 	 	 	-
Blueprints	Inventory 	 	 	-
Decal 	Garage 	 	- 	-
Boosters 	Pre-race screen	 	 	-
== Asphalt Nitro ==
Asphalt Nitro can be regarded as a "light version" of Asphalt 8 how it was before the introduction of in the 2019 Holiday Update, but with some new features:
* Kit Boxes do not only grant Cards but also Boosters and , a currency for the entry fee of Time-Limited Events.
* There is only one type of upgrade instead of the and sections of Asphalt 8, and every update costs Cards.
Cards can be "exchanged" like in the old system of Asphalt 8. However, the equivalent of exchanged cards is not expressed explicitly in an extra currency but is only shown graphically in a bar that indicates which of the Exchange Boxes can be bought with the accumulated points. Cards have different values, so the progress bar grows more or less, depending on the card. This progress can be measured in pixels and led to the introduction of Exchange Points on Asphalt Wiki, the equivalent of in Asphalt 8.
The following table gives an overview of how items are stored, obtained and sold.
Item 	Storage 	Kit Boxes	Buy with 	Sell for
Vehicles 	Garage 	 	Real money	-
Kit Cards	Inventory 	 	- 	Exchange Points
Colors 	- 	 	Free 	-
Boosters 	Pre-race screen	 	 	-
== Asphalt Overdrive ==
As an "endless runner" spin-off, Asphalt Overdrive differs in many ways from the other games of the Asphalt series. In this game, most elements are rather properties of the objects they belong to than items that can be owned. The only objects that can be owned are vehicles and boosters. Consequently, there are neither an inventory to store items nor boxes to grant them.
The following table gives an overview of the rudimentary item system.
Item 	Storage 	Buy with	Sell for
Vehicles 	Garage 	 	-
Colors 	- 	 	-
License plates	- 	 	-
Boosters 	Pre-race screen	 	-
== Asphalt 8: Airborne ==
: Overview: Item availability matrix (Asphalt 8)
Category:Gameplay elements
Category:Asphalt 9: Legends
Category:Asphalt Street Storm Racing
Category:Asphalt Xtreme
Category:Asphalt Nitro
Category:Asphalt Overdrive
Category:Asphalt 8: Airborne