Pokemon Guide for Beginners (or Can someone please explain some of the basics?)

threeofsix

I am going to attempt to throw a few collecting notes into a thread so that people can share some of what they know about collecting Pokemon cards. Please know that I am no expert, and will certainly leave enough out for others to add their own expertise along the way.

I have to restrict my knowledge to the first few issues, since that is where my knowledge starts and ends. However, my discussion is relevant to a forum like this since there is a large amount of interest in the Pokemon original issues (and a large amount of $ values associated with them).

Each Pokemon set is defined by the year of its original issue and its issue set name.

The first 4 American Pokemon issues were:

1999 Base Set
1999 Jungle Set
1999 Fossil Set
2000 Rocket Set

The Base set has the most interest of these original 4 Pokemon sets, and it continues to generate a lot of discussion.

The first printing of each set is called the 1st edition version and is marked somewhere on the card. After the original print run is concluded, the cards are then continued to be issued on an unlimited basis. These cards are typically identical to the originals, just NOT printed with the all important 1st edition stamp.

A 1st Edition version of the card is always more valuable than non-first edition version of the same card. (So you always want to know if you have a 1st edition version...hence you should look for it!)

Below is an example of a 1st Edition card. The black dot below the picture shown here shows the 1st Edition stamp.





Below is an example of a non-first Edition card from the same issue year as the card above. There is no black 1st Edition stamp below the picture.





Below is an example of a 1999 Pokemon Base card. No 1st Edition stamp, so it is considered to be an unlimited version. The number at the bottom of the card shows that it is XX/102 indicating that it is a Base Card. (in this case card 25/102 Dewgong.





The card above is considered to be Shadowless. This is because there is no black shadow to the right of the picture.

Below is a picture of the same Dewgong card shown above, only showing a black shadow around the gold picture border. It shows as if the picture were lifted up slightly to cast a shadow behind it which can clearly be seen on the right hand side of the picture.





Shadowless and Non-Shadowless cards only exist in the 1999 Base Set

I believe that after the 1999 Base 1st editions were printed (all of them being Shadowless), the printers removed the 1st Edition stamp to begin the unlimited printing runs. At some later date, the card designers changed the design of the cards to include the shadow on all the future versions of the cards. So only the 1999 Base set has unlimted versions of the cards with (or without) the shadow. The shadowless are much more like the original 1st additions that were printed, and so they are seen as being more desirable and hence more valuable.

Got it? 1999 Base set (1st Editions printed first, Shadowless printed second, and Unlimited shadowed printed third). This only happened for the 1999 Base set....All the other sets are all shadowed.)

Addiionally, every Pokemon issue has foil cards (that is foil where the picture is printed) and non-foil cards.

The foil cards are the most collectable in each set of Pokemon cards. They are the rarest of the cards in each issue, and because of the foil sensitivity, the hardest to get graded in Gem Mint 10. There were somewhere between 15-20 Foil cards released for each of sets mentioned above. I'll type more about those later.

threeofsix

One note to mention: All of the backs of the cards are the same since they are used like playing cards and you don't want to know the card from the back of the deck (so all the Pokemon backs are alike).





So, as I said, every Pokemon issue contains foils cards. These are the rarest cards in these original sets and collectors LOVE chasing them!!!

Having a 1st Edition foil card is a big deal in Pokemon world!

It doesn't mean a foil card is valuable, but they have more value than their non-1st edition counterparts. So with-in each issue the foil cards seem to be the real chase cards. If the character on the chase card is popular or rarer or more powerful in the actual playing game, it becomes the focus of collectors.

The card characters all come from Japanese anime, and they grew in popularity as the shows viewers watched. This all led up to the explosion of interest in the American version of the characters, and hence in the American version of the cards.

Here are 3 popular foil card from the 1999 Fossil Set.







These are popular characters on foil cards, and (along with being first editions) are rare and popular. This is reflected in their value.

HOWEVER, some sets contain foil versions of the card and non-Foil versions.

Whenever considering value, whether it is foil on not makes a HUGE difference. The cards shown below are 3 versions of the cards above in the non-foil version. Identical except for the foil.







So be sure if you are collecting that you know which you are purchasing....I have seen prices of non-foil version suspiciously high and not presented as foils, so a person could be easily fooled. Additionally, this is true of first editions and non-first editions. I have seen cards priced at first edition levels, even though they are not 1st editions. So be sure to know the difference before you buy.

threeofsix

In order to recognize the set, each set has a stamp that tells you the set. (Except for the base set).

1999 Base set (none)
1999 Jungle set (flower)
1999 Fossil set (bone hand)
2000 Rocket set (Capital R)

These are located somewhere on the card (just below the picture for these 4 sets) as shown here. None on the base set.








This should give you a rough understanding of what cards look like, why some are collectable, and how to tell them apart.

threeofsix

For each of the sets I mentioned at the start of this thread, there are Japanese versions of Pokemon cards. These were released prior to the American versions, and so they have become collectable as well (especially since they pre-date the American versions). In most instances (not all), they match the American versions in card picture design. They are also referred to as Poke Monsters rather than Pokemon.

For these early issues, there was no 1st edition only unlimited versions. and the sets were often distributed differently than the American issues (which explains why you might see sets numbered differently with some numbers missing from the Japanese sets as compared to the American versions).

They look like this on the front and back:






And LAST....

Charizard is HUGELY popular and the the most valuable card in the sets I have discussed.

Charizard is not issued in every set

So clearly know what cards are in the set set you have interest in is an important consideration when considering value.

Charizard was in the 1999 Base set (as his American version rookie), and in the 2000 Rocket set as his 2nd issue. There are Japanese versions of both of these cards as well. They look like this:

This is just my insight into Pokemon. I am sure the wealth of knowledge on this forum will help expand it beyond my scope if that is necessary.

threeofsix

Sorry, I don't have a Japanese version of the original....darn it!!!

smallstocks

That was a terrific synopsis. Thanks for taking the time to do that!

threeofsix

@smallstocks said:
That was a terrific synopsis. Thanks for taking the time to do that!

Thanks for the kudos!

dontippet

Very well done. I knew maybe 30-50% of that, so you filled in a lot of the gaps where I had no knowledge. Thank you.

threeofsix

@dontippet said:
Very well done. I knew maybe 30-50% of that, so you filled in a lot of the gaps where I had no knowledge. Thank you.

Thanks @dontippet
I was happy to help.

blurryface

very, very informative. thank you so much for the info & the time that took!

threeofsix

@blurryface said:
very, very informative. thank you so much for the info & the time that took!

You are welcome @blurryface
These Forums are a great source of info from those in the know. I am sure this thread will give people a spot to post questions about some Pokémon card things they don’t know.

JBrules

Very well done. Now I know something about Pokémon cards. Thanks for sharing.

threeofsix

@JBrules said:
Very well done. Now I know something about Pokémon cards. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks @JBrules!!! Glad you learned something!

threeofsix

There are a couple of additional items unique to the Pokemon cards that I did also want to mention in this summary.

Every card in each set issued has an rarity indicator to tell you how hard it is to find within that set

In the bottom right hand corner of each card, next to the number of the card in the set, is a rarity symbol. These rarity symbols tell you how hard the card is to get. There are 3 different rarity symbols in the sets I've discussed.

Black Star = Rare
Black Diamond = Uncommon
Black Circle = Common

All of the images shown already have them, so you can identify their rarity. Additionally, I have included an example of each of them below.






This was worth noting in this discussion, because some of the some of the rarest versions of the Japanese Poke Monsters have "No Rarity Symbol"! And because of their scarcity, they are considered to be quite valuable. Sorry, but I do not have one to scan.

Some cards in the 1999 Jungle set were printed without the Jungle set stamp

All sets have the set identifiers, and the flower stamp is used for the jungle set. However, some of the Jungle cards were printed before the set identifiers were used. (Remember Jungle came out right after the Base set which had no set symbol). So these Jungle cards also carry a premium in value. These "No Symbol" Jungle cards were only on the foil cards (in this case, cards 1-16).

I have included an example of a card with the Jungle stamp, and then without the Jungle stamp.






Notice that even though it has no stamp to indicate the card is part of the Jungle set, it still shows the number of the card in the set to be 15/64. So it cannot be part of the base set, since there were 102 cards in the Base set.

A little confusing, but once you see it, it makes it a little easier to understand.

threeofsix

So if I have a Charizard card and it looks like the one from the base set, it must be worth $300,000 right???

um,,,maybe...but probably not

Remember, condition is everything....so finding one in PSA Gem Mint 10 condition is tough. Also, It would have to be a 1st Edition card to collect such a premium. The card shown below is the same card as the one that was issued in the base set, but it is not from the base set. You can tell because it has a set symbol (a medallion) which the base set did not have and it is card 3/110, not card 4/102.





The above card came from a reissue done in 2002 called the Legendary Collection. So as you can see it is not a 1st Edition, it has a medallion stamp, and is only in VG 3 Condition. I found it this in my collection, so I had it graded for posterity....not for value.

I included it in this discussion to help avoid some confusion as collectors begin to understand the scope of what exist in the Pokemon universe.

Hope it helps.

RufussCkingston

@threeofsix said:

This was worth noting in this discussion, because some of the some of the rarest versions of the Japanese Poke Monsters have "No Rarity Symbol"! And because of their scarcity, they are considered to be quite valuable. Sorry, but I do not have one to scan.

These are the equivalent of Japanese Base (also referred to as Basic) Set 1st editions, as the original design did NOT include rarity symbols, but at some point early on, the design was updated to include the symbols and the majority of them have them.

Also keep in mind that Japanese cards that don't have a rarity symbol, BUT have some sort of symbol under the pic/holo, do NOT fall into this category, as these cards are considered promo cards and came out after 1996. Such as this one below....

threeofsix

Excellent clarification!!!! Thanks @RufussCkingston

threeofsix

There is one additional topic I want to add to this discussion.

There are valuable Pokemon cards that have been distributed that we’re not distributed in packs.

I have limited my discussion to only standard issue cards. There are, however, many cards that have been created that have high $ value ($10,000 - $100,000+) that were never distributed in packs.

Art illustrators that designed the cards were given limited edition illustrator cards as a thank-you for being part of the Pokemon creative process. Some of these made there way to the open market and they command considerable prices. I believe these were Japanese versions (at least for the period I am discussing), but the title of the card may say illustrator in English.

Additionally, some limited promos were produced for both wide and limited distribution. There scarcity and or their popularity determine their value. Some of these cards were given out at tournaments for players and or winners. These very limited distributions made their values soar. But unless you played in these tournaments or spent some money chasing one on the open market, you probably don’t own one. BUT CHECK THEM OUT IF YOU DO!!!!!

threeofsix

So did you all see it???

In the top 100 PSA cards from the National?????

If you were paying attention to the notes previously in this guide....you would have recognized it as Card #4/102, from the 1999 Base Pokemon set, a Shadowless Charizard in PSA 8. A card shown in the price guide to be worth $4,000!!!

YAY!!!!!!

totallyradd

This is great. From time to time I'll come across a cheap lot of Pokemon cards. Sometimes I buy, other times I don't. Mostly for quick flips. This certainly helps!

paleocards

I'm a baseball card collector and didn't know the first thing about Pokemon, so thanks for your very informative thread, threeofsix. My son-in-law had this card since he was a kid and asked me to have it graded. I sent it in last month (under the "Express" service level) and, as you can see, it came back a "6" probably because of edge-wear on the back (the front seems beautiful). He's asked me to sell it so I'm planning to list it on eBay Sunday night for a 7-day auction.

I wanted to see if you'd offer any advice on how to maximize the sale price: I'm planning to list it at 99 cents (opening bid) and let it ride. Thanks in advance for any suggestions you care to share.

PlayBall

My experience, though limited, has been that Pokemon cards are kind of like sportscards were 15-20 years ago on E-Bay. Kind of a wild, wild, west. When I've done "let it ride" auctions, I've seen the most problems. Non-payers, emails to cancel right after they win, and asking questions AFTER they won the auction, and using that as a reason to cancel.

I've had much better luck setting a market value or a little higher BIN, so payment gets received, and buyers tend to be more serious.

Also, find out if you have a "thick" stamp, or "thin" stamp (the 1st edition symbol). I can't figure out which is which, but some buyers may ask. I am going to guess it is a "thin" stamp, but if I'm wrong, someone please correct me.

threeofsix

@paleocards said:
I'm a baseball card collector and didn't know the first thing about Pokemon, so thanks for your very informative thread, threeofsix. My son-in-law had this card since he was a kid and asked me to have it graded. I sent it in last month (under the "Express" service level) and, as you can see, it came back a "6" probably because of edge-wear on the back (the front seems beautiful). He's asked me to sell it so I'm planning to list it on eBay Sunday night for a 7-day auction.

I wanted to see if you'd offer any advice on how to maximize the sale price: I'm planning to list it at 99 cents (opening bid) and let it ride. Thanks in advance for any suggestions you care to share.

Great card @paleocards!!!!!

Let me do a little research and I will let you know my thoughts before the end of the day today. That will give anyone else a chance to weigh in before you have to list.

I think whatever method you choose should produce a decent result.

threeofsix

Okay...I took a quick look at the history on this card to be sure I had a sense for what I was talking about!

First I wanted to confirm the card you had. I did this to be sure that you did not have a variation that I was unaware of, or that PSA had not labeled.

There are 2 variations of this card. The "thick stamp" version. And the "stage error" version. This card is neither of those.

A "thick stamp" version of the card is determined by the size of the number "1" that is printed inside the 1st edition circle. If the number "1" itself is long and skinny, then it is a "thin stamp" version (referring, in fact to the thinness of the number "1" itself). You don't need to call it a thin stamp version, you would only need to call it out if it were the "thick stamp" version.

The second version is the "stage error" version. This is determined by the writing at the top right hand corner of the card. Some versions of the card are missing some of the wording where it says "Put Blastoise on the stage I card". Yours is not missing anything, so it is not the "stage error" version. As with the thin stamp version, you do not need to call it out in the listing because it is assumed not to be a "stage error" version.

And now for selling it on EBay....only my 2 cents...

You should have a sense for what you want to get for the card before you sell it. Obviously you want to get as much as you can, but knowing what you want may be a factor in how you decide to sell.

Let's say by way of example you want to sell it for $1000. The expense associated with the sale and Paypal charges can be about 20% or so, so that leaves you about $800 when all is said and done. If that's what you are thinking you want to take home after the sale, then great.

If you were to list it right now on EBay for that $1000 price in a non-auction Buy-It-Now style sale....I am guessing you would sell it in about 5 minutes.

I say that with some confidence because the cheapest one on EBay as I type this note for a PSA 6 in a Buy-It-Now style auction is $1500-ish (not sold yet!).

However, one of the last EBay auction-style auction for a similar card sold in the $1100 range. (Note that I did not look up when or how the card was sold, only that it was a sale of a card similar to yours in PSA 6).

So if you start an auction at 99 cents, it can do $1100. Or it could sell (like an auction on a Sunday night!) up to the $1500+ level based on how buyers like the look of your card, or how established an EBay seller you are, what other cards are available in Buy-it-now form, etc.

So that is why knowing what you want to get before you start might be helpful in making your decision.

If you think you want the most you can get, but have no experience on EBay, you need to know a lot of folks that bid like to jump in at the end and win the auction with a sniper type bid. This may result in someone with no (or low) rating winning your card. Are you comfortable sending this card to someone you don't know, and waiting to see if he likes it enough to keep it or if he decides he wants his $ back, and you will have wasted 2-3 weeks with a transaction with a 0 bidder that goes bad?

I am asking that question, because only you can decide what's right for you.

My point is if you want to get more than what you would ask, it might not be worth the headache of not knowing how it will end when you use an auction-style auction.

If, on the other hand you use the Buy-it-now option, you could ask for say (just an example...not a suggestion), $2000 (which might not sell right away) but you may get some offers if you list it in a way that allows that you will take offers. You can automatically turn down offers below $1500 (example)....but you then can decide if the buyer has the right rating level or look at his purchases to see if he is highly rated, or has any negatives. Serious EBay buyers have few if any negatives.

This type of piece of mind is helpful if you decide to accept an offer. It really is all on you, and you could get a $1300 from someone who has been looking for one in that price range, even though you would take $1000.

Also in the Buy-it now, you can negotiate to get more. And turn down offers you don't like. This option is good if you are not in a hurry to make a quick sale, but want more a say in how it ends.

Last, consider that someone with a 0 rating may just buy it now for $2000 (you can't control that), but if it works out, you may take the risk and end up with more $, or at least know it was worth the hassle that a low-ball auction of $1100 would be with the same bidder.

There are other Buy-it-nows on EBay up to $2600 or so, so there is plenty of room for yours to be in the mix. But I am guessing the lowest priced ones may be getting more serious consideration from serious buyers.

As I said....just my 2 cents....

Feel free to let me know your thoughts....and GOOD LUCK....it is a great card to have owned, and a good decision to get it holdered by PSA.

paleocards

Thanks for your comments playball and for your very thoughtful and helpful advice, threeofsix! I really appreciate the generous sharing of your expertise.

threeofsix

@paleocards you are welcome! There is a lot of good sharing on these boards. Glad you found it helpful. Please share your results…especially since I never actually owned any base 1st edition Pokemon!! So I am sharing in your excitement!

RufussCkingston

Pretty simple, if you title it correctly and have good pics, then it should sell for what the going rate is, which is going to be $1k to $1.6k most likely. https://www.psacard.com/auctionprices/tcg-cards/1999-pokemon-game/blastoise-holo/values/544024#

Also, the most it will cost you to sell on ebay is 13% or so, depending if you are on managed payments or using paypal.
Lastly, while I don't know how much this matters, but the feedback level/selling history of the account listing the item sometimes comes into play. But since it is a graded item, I don't think anyone will be scared off by feedback level as long as there are prior sales for the account, unless this is your first time!

I'm never concerned with nor do I even look at the feedback level of a buyer if they pay.

Usually I'd suggest sending such a high-demand card to PWCC, but we all know that just imploded and when they start listing back up, they won't be connected to ebay, so you will only get bidders who specifically look for pwcc stuff, as opposed to someone searching on eBay and just happening to pull up a PWCC listing.

There is currently one for a BIN of $1575 (price last changed on 7/18), so I guess you have a cieling...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/274871488772

threeofsix

@paleocards Any updated thoughts on selling Pokemon on EBay that others might find helpful? How did you make out?

paleocards

It only got $850, but at least the low-feedback winner paid. I was disappointed for my son-in-law. Thanks again for your research and advice.

RufussCkingston

@paleocards said:
It only got $850, but at least the low-feedback winner paid. I was disappointed for my son-in-law. Thanks again for your research and advice.

Wow, I'm shocked it went for so low compared to other sales.... Other than your nonsense life story in the description, your listing looks good and should not have detracted, other than your exorbitant shipping fee! You had a good feedback number.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154578768212

I prefer when sellers post photos that they have taken. The psa ones are too cropped for my liking. But again, wouldn't think it would hurt the price. You ended it at the right time on a Sunday night and it didn't even get any bids in the final 2 hours.

Or the market has imploded!!!

JWP

Frankly, I do not have a clue how to help you with this problem! However, I'll have my Grandkids PM you, They are 5, 5, 7, 8, & 14, and I'm sure they can help

nam812

@RufussCkingston said:
.......Other than your nonsense life story in the description........

I had no idea you were the arbiter on what is and isn't nonsense. I have been looking everywhere for you. Can you free up an afternoon because I have so many things that I need you to settle for me on whether they make sense or not. Thanks in advance.

threeofsix

@paleocards Sorry to hear it did not go as you had hoped. My guess is that by choosing the auction route, it was a little more hit and miss. The low rated bidder followed through, so that part worked out (but it sometimes does not) so I am glad for that.

RufussCkingston

@nam812 said:

I had no idea you were the arbiter on what is and isn't nonsense. I have been looking everywhere for you. Can you free up an afternoon because I have so many things that I need you to settle for me on whether they make sense or not. Thanks in advance.

Not the arbiter of nonsense, but just skilled at what makes a good effective eBay listing. Think more MySlabs style, and less "my blog". But not Probstein!!

nam812

@RufussCkingston said:
Not the arbiter of nonsense, but just skilled at what makes a good effective eBay listing.

If you were as skilled as you have alleged you would have realized that what you considered nonsense was actually Andy providing a little provenance. I can see where someone lacking the proper skills might confuse the two.

RufussCkingston

@nam812 said:

If you were as skilled as you have alleged you would have realized that what you considered nonsense was actually Andy providing a little provenance. I can see where someone lacking the proper skills might confuse the two.

The general purpose of including provenance is to add value to the item. But in this case it adds zero value or worse subtracts value...

But you are correct, I should have stated worthless provenance, not nonsense... You have enlightened me

nam812

@RufussCkingston said:
The general purpose of provenance is to add value to the item........

Value? I don't think so.

prov·e·nance
/ˈprävənəns/

the place of origin or earliest known history of something.
"an orange rug of Iranian provenance"

the beginning of something's existence; something's origin.
"they try to understand the whole universe, its provenance and fate"

a record of ownership of a work of art or an antique, used as a guide to authenticity or quality.
plural noun: provenances
"the manuscript has a distinguished provenance"

jessmclaughlin

Anyone currently waiting on value TCG from PSA? Sent my childhood Pokemon collection about a year ago and it just went to shipping today. Just wondering if anyone knows how long it is taking to go from shipping to shipped? I'm trying to not look at my grades as I would rather have them be a surprise when I open them lol. If those cards are not here by tomorrow though, I doubt I'll have the will power to get through the weekend

RufussCkingston

If you have a tracking number, then it should ship today as they are west coast. I would be shocked if not shipped by tomorrow. If today was Friday, then I would say ship by Monday as I have never had a PSA shipment get picked up by USPS on Saturday.

nam812

@jessmclaughlin said:
Anyone currently waiting on value TCG from PSA? Sent my childhood Pokemon collection about a year ago and it just went to shipping today. Just wondering if anyone knows how long it is taking to go from shipping to shipped? I'm trying to not look at my grades as I would rather have them be a surprise when I open them lol. If those cards are not here by tomorrow though, I doubt I'll have the will power to get through the weekend

You waited this long you can make it a few days longer. lol Let us know how you did when you finally see the grades.

blurryface

@RufussCkingston said:

Also, the most it will cost you to sell on ebay is 13% or so, depending if you are on managed payments or using paypal.

actually it will be closer to 14% after you pay the fees on the taxable rate and any shipping charges. rufuss is good a giving math classes and can explain it further! 😉

just pray it doesnt go to cali or pr.

threeofsix

@jessmclaughlin said:
Anyone currently waiting on value TCG from PSA? Sent my childhood Pokemon collection about a year ago and it just went to shipping today. Just wondering if anyone knows how long it is taking to go from shipping to shipped? I'm trying to not look at my grades as I would rather have them be a surprise when I open them lol. If those cards are not here by tomorrow though, I doubt I'll have the will power to get through the weekend

@jessmclaughlin I have gotten a couple of tcg orders recently. No real holdup in shipping…2 days tops. Good luck on your end. Also I ALWAYS want to wait to see my grades but never do!!! Please feel free to let me know when you know. In the interim, what cards are the Pokemon sets from that you submitted?

jessmclaughlin

RufussCkingston , Thanks! You were right. Got the tracking info at the end of the day and it is scheduled to arrive by 5 pm tomorrow

nam812 , lol in theory I should be able to wait, but it's so much harder when PSA actually gives you access to your grades. I wish there was an option when you send cards in to not disclose grades until after delivery... Self control in this scenario is very hard for me to exercise. I've already cheated and scrolled through the first 10 grades.... Pretty happy though considering how old these cards are.

threeofsix , you definitely feel my pain. I have had other value orders for sports cards that for some reason have sat at shipping for more than a couple of days... I knew I would never be able to wait until next week to see the grades for my Pokemon cards... I was worried that was going to happen, so I cheated and scrolled through the first 10 cards of my order (grades to follow). Then I got an email saying my order has shipped and will be here tomorrow. I am now trying to be strong and disciplined. There are 100 cards in this order, so as long as my order is on schedule for tomorrow, I will wait and let the other 90 be a surprise.

The first 10 grades are below. All the cards in this order are basically that era. My best card is a holo Blastoise (not shadowless or first edition unfortunately). When I sent these cards in last August, I wrote down the grades I expected for each card I submitted. Received a grade higher on the Bulbasaur, a grade higher on one of the common Charmander's, a grade higher on the Ninetails, and two grades lower on the Raichu (don't know what happened on this one lol). The other six cards were spot on! Pleasantly surprised with the outcomes thus far! Here's hoping my other estimations are close lol.

1 1 51455722 NEAR MINT 7 1999 Pokemon Game 44 Bulbasaur Shadowless Card

2 1 51455723 EXCELLENT-MINT 6 1999 Pokemon Game 30 Ivysaur Shadowless Card

3 1 51455724 EXCELLENT-MINT 6 1999 Pokemon Game 46 Charmander Shadowless Card

4 1 51455725 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1999 Pokemon Game 46 Charmander Card

5 1 51455726 MINT 9 1999 Pokemon Game 46 Charmander Card

6 1 51455727 EXCELLENT-MINT 6 1999 Pokemon Game 63 Squirtle Shadowless Card

7 1 51455728 MINT 9 1999 Pokemon Game 58 Pikachu Yellow Cheeks Card

8 1 51455729 EXCELLENT-MINT 6 1999 Pokemon Game 14 Raichu-Holo Card

9 1 51455730 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1999 Pokemon Game 12 Ninetales-Holo Card

10 1 51455731 EXCELLENT-MINT 6 1999 Pokemon Game 8 Machamp-Holo 1st Edition Card

threeofsix

@jessmclaughlin Wow!! So far so good meeting expectations! The base set is a great set to own. And having shadowless cards show how early into Pokemon your collection began. (We had no shadowless or 1st editions base cards in our collection so I am a little jealous). Enjoy opening your order! Thanks for sharing.

blurryface

what was the first pocketmonster/pokemon card ever? not US based, just ever? like, ever ever?

year, set name, character?

threeofsix

@blurryface said:
what was the first pocketmonster/pokemon card ever? not US based, just ever? like, ever ever?

year, set name, character?

@blurryface So Nintendo released the Japanese version on the Pocket Monsters video game in 1996, along with many of the Japanese base set versions of the pocket monster cards that I discussed above. However, in anticipation of the video game release, in 1995 a gum company called Topsun released 2 cards in their candy with the card images of the game characters that would next year (1996) become the pocket monsters characters. The backs of these character cards were colored blue or green and had curved corners just like regular playing cards. I believe the blue back version came first. All of these card characters were numbered from 1-150 to match the number of the characters in the upcoming video game. So it makes sense that Blue Back character #1 Bulbasaur from the 1995 Topsun set would be that card. However there are also un-numbered characters in this set. Presumably these un-numbered Blue Back versions were promos that preceded the wider distribution of the numbered ones that came later. So using that logic, it seems that the un-numbered Balbasaur would have that distinction.
I’m not an expert on the Japanese releases but this logic makes some sense and these cards predate the pocket monster cards that came later. I certainly welcome any additional thoughts or corrections to my understanding.

blurryface

@threeofsix said:

@blurryface said:
what was the first pocketmonster/pokemon card ever? not US based, just ever? like, ever ever?

year, set name, character?

@blurryface So Nintendo released the Japanese version on the Pocket Monsters video game in 1996, along with many of the Japanese base set versions of the pocket monster cards that I discussed above. However, in anticipation of the video game release, in 1995 a gum company called Topsun released 2 cards in their candy with the card images of the game characters that would next year (1996) become the pocket monsters characters. The backs of these character cards were colored blue or green and had curved corners just like regular playing cards. I believe the blue back version came first. All of these card characters were numbered from 1-150 to match the number of the characters in the upcoming video game. So it makes sense that Blue Back character #1 Bulbasaur from the 1995 Topsun set would be that card. However there are also un-numbered characters in this set. Presumably these un-numbered Blue Back versions were promos that preceded the wider distribution of the numbered ones that came later. So using that logic, it seems that the un-numbered Balbasaur would have that distinction.
I’m not an expert on the Japanese releases but this logic makes some sense and these cards predate the pocket monster cards that came later. I certainly welcome any additional thoughts or corrections to my understanding.

well thank you. and based off this info, i purchased this card to add to my sons/our collection. hes really into wrestling, fortnite and pokemon (a lil). other than the mcdonalds promo packs that came out a lil while ago, this is the first pokemon card that ive bought. hopefully it ages well and he’ll appreciate it later on down the road…

threeofsix

@blurryface said:
well thank you. and based off this info, i purchased this card to add to my sons/our collection. hes really into wrestling, fortnite and pokemon (a lil). other than the mcdonalds promo packs that came out a lil while ago, this is the first pokemon card that ive bought. hopefully it ages well and he’ll appreciate it later on down the road…

@blurryface OMG!!! What a beautiful looking card!!! And what a great addition for the family. My son loved that I saved his cards for him…I’m sure your son will too!!!
Thanks so much for sharing…you made my day!

blurryface

thank you for the info! youve done a remarkable job in clearly & slowly explaining the cards and history to us. ive tried reading in the past but it was so much info to absorb that was hard to retain or put 2 and 2 together. its nice having a go to resource thread here, so i really appreciate it.

one follow up question on the no number cards like the bulbasaur or even the charizard. based off my searches, i see a ton of folks refer to the no #d cards as “errors”. is that just based off the fact that they dont have numbers & where distributed in the same packs as the numbered versions or completely different distributions?

threeofsix

Thanks @blurryface for the kind words (much appreciated).

I believe the sequence of events was 1) 1995 Topsun un-numbered versions 2) 1995 Topsun numbered versions and then 3) 1996 Pocket Monsters numbered versions. And I believe 1 & 2 were distributed the same way.

I think this way because when the Japanese Nintendo video games were released in 1996, the Pocket Monsters' information was "stored" in what is referred to as a "Pokedex". This video game Pokedex is a computerized information reference device in which each Pocket Monster was assigned a number. The first generation of these Pocket Monsters were numbered in the Pokedex 1-151.

The subsequently released 1996 Japanese Pocket Monsters cards matched this video game Pokedex numbering.

So if the game was being finalized in 1995, but early versions of the cards had been released for marketing reasons through Topsun, it would make some sense that the cards were changed to match the video game release AND the Pocket Monster card numbering. This way people would know that these earlier released cards were in fact, the Pocket Monsters of the video gaming system.

And certainly if it occurred as I described here, they would all appear (many years later) to be "errors" when compared to the later card releases with the now, well-known, Pokedex sequencing.

blurryface

@threeofsix

heres a fun story back…so i had this guy reach out to me a year or so ago on ig bc he heard i pretty much had the stranglehold on all the high grade jack nicklaus rookie cards. i politely told him for months that i wasnt interested in selling but dude was funny and persistent. i followed him back and after awhile realized we kinda mirrored each other in collecting styles. neither of us really focused on any one niche, decade, theme, sport or player. but whatever we collected, it was usually top tier or rare items. he would post a pokemon card one day, a wrestling figure the next, a golf card one day and so forth and so on. after awhile he reached back out about the possibility of me letting a nicklaus go. i politely declined again but a few days later we jumped on the phone together just to shoot the breeze. we didnt talk nicklaus but rather our collections as a whole. i realized this guy was a good dude. his quest for the nicklaus was a sincere one. he wasnt buying it to flip or as an investment but just looking to complete his jack nicklaus run in the highest grade possible. which for the nicklaus rc is a 9. there are no 10s (yet. im trying). so i tell him “jeremy, i cant believe im gonna do this. but ill let you take a pick of nicklaus 9s. they are gonna be the bottom of the barrel ones bc im gonna submit all my 9s for a review to get the 10 BUT i will let you have your pick of the available 9s. im praying that youll pass on any of the 9s but im willing to do it and i only want you to do it if you are happy with it.”. at this time, i guess i really didnt know who he was in the grand scheme of things. i figured you might know him though? his name is jeremy padawer. if i recall correctly, he was pretty instrumental in bringing pokemon to the united states amongst other franchises like spongebob, phineas & herb, relaunch of masters of the universe, jakks figures and so forth.

to bring it all home, i realized i had this contact and asked what he thought the first true pokemon card ever. i thought you might enjoy his response….