A variation of questions

General
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1

Greetings from Germany,
I few months ago I started collecting cards and could already find many answers but I need a little support to find the remaining ones. I am totally fine if you just post links regarding the following questions. I think my biggest issue is to learn the right terms, so I can search more efficient. I tried the search function on the forum, but either I am not smart enough to use it, or I look for the wrong terms…

If I can do anything better to present my questions, please let me know. I will stick around for a while - I think :wink:

Okey this introduction was long enough

(1) Banned artwork

  • The Japanese Jynx card was banned for its skin collar, why isn’t the Jynx form Neo Revelation changed too?
  • Jynx Neo Revelation
  • Thread

(2) Backside of Pokemon cards

(3) Terms

  • I often read words like “Sets”, “Edition”, “Expansion” … what is what? How can you tell the dif.?
  • I see this as a TV-series you have a season like “classic” with some episodes “Base Set”, “Jungle”… But it seems not all “episodes” are equal. Some seem to be like fillers…
  • In the flowing questions you will noticed that I do not know how to refer to the right thing

(4) Promo cards* Are they only available at specific events, or can you actually buy a Promo booster pack?

(5) Print runs* What was the first printed “set, pack,…” of cards. I am not talking about the base set. As far as I know the “Promotional pre-Base Set” was even before that. But I would think the first cards ever printed were in Japan, so which set, promo … was it?

(6) Artwork

  • How are the following cards called, the only one I know is “full artwork”, but how do you refer to the others?
  • In my opinion, there is a difference how much they go beyond the usually Artwork frame

(7) Different language / Location = different card design

  • is there an other card like the Vivillon (XY 17) that differ in such a way?
  • Vivillon_(XY_17)

(8) Cards with stamp

  • How is it actually called, or how can you know that someone is not referring to the 1. edition stamp?
  • What was the first Set, Expansion etc. With a stamp on the cards
  • If one card of a Set,… has this stamp, can every card in the Set,… have one
  • Is it possible to collect one card with this stamp from each Set, … since the first one and make a collection out of them, showing each set since the first, with the stamp?
  • can a card with the stamp exist in reverse holo and no holo?

(9) Holo

  • As far as I know there are 2 types of holo “holo” and “holo reverse”. The holo pattern can be different (star, cosmic, …) the same goes for the reverse.
  • Is it right, holo cards (the artwork is holo) with a stamp are reverse holos?
  • how do you call cards with an holo pattern over the whole card like in the Pokekyun Collection

(10) Rainbow

  • Are all those cards on ebay with no specific surface pattern fake rainbow cards?

(11) Maskai Set (not Masaki web)

  • Is there a picture of a vending machine from 1998? As far as I can tell, new ones give you boosters, I would like to know how those looked who had those sheets in them
  • To get the Masaki Gengar you had to send the previous evolution and the bill trainer card. But there are two Haunter cards in the 3. Sheet. I do not know if both where in the first print run, I have only one and would like to know if this is the right one
  • does not work
  • alamedyang.tejat.net/cards/scans/JP/vend/index.html

(12) Cards rotation

  • Some cards have an A, B or C in the lower left corner, is there a bulbapedia article about this?

(13) Red’s Pikachu

  • Can someone confirm (maybe with some article link) the Red’s Pikachu story. I heard, because of the restriction “5 booster pack = one card” JP. Seller went out of stock.

(14) Web-site

  • Does a webpage exist that actually listed every card in every variety? I used pkmncards.com to download every Pokemon card to see which one I wanted to have. Only to find same cards in holo or reverse holo on YouTube, like those legendary collection cards
  • What happened to this project ? seeking-scans-open-source-databas

(15) GB-Set

  • Luckily I found a thread here that told me the Zapdos, Moltres and Aecticus cards with the GB Set-symbol were never produced, what about the Mew card?
  • Thread

(16) Bookmark

  • Where can I find all the threads which I gave a bookmark?

(17) More about Prerelease cards

  • W Promotional cards (TCG) vs. Prerelease cards (TCG)
  • I am a little confused about the text on bulbapedia
  • is the only dif. (beside the stamp) that the “W” ones were promoted by magazines and the “PRERELEASE” were given to participants of the early test leagues?
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(18) Ivy Pikachu

  • Understanding the dif. variations (already answered by @quuador ,)
SPOILER: Click to show

CheersCracker

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@djgigabyte, thanks.

  1. got it, so there is no difference between expansion and sets
  2. so promo cards are actually PROMOtionla cards :wink:
  3. no worries I did not take it seriously, I was just interested in the information. I noticed this is a topic there discussion often go out off hand
  4. hopefully this will not be the last one. It seems here it was related to the game, where the Pokémon was different too, depending on where it involved …or something like that.
  5. texture, got it
  6. I can only imagine. I bet I am not the only person who thinks “why can Pokemon international not do it”. There is a lot of information out there, but it is scattered over many web sites.

No stress, collecting thought me to be patient;)

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  1. From the Japanese hero, @nine

https://instagram.com/p/B29erBqFeVD

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@pkmnflyingmaster, damn that’s sooo cool, and even better than just a picture :+1:t2:

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  1. Most likely overlooked. PS: Here is an article consisting of all censored cards including pictures.

  2. I personally call it the ‘back of the card’, although I also hear the term ‘reverse’ pretty often. The three most commons ones are the old Japanese back (1996-2002); new Japanese back (2002-present); non-Japanese or English back (used by every other language, including English and German). The other type of backs are all special cases, of which most are only present on a select few cards.

3a. Sets and expansion means the same thing and are synonyms of one another. Here for example a list of all English main sets/releases. Edition is usually used in the context ‘1st edition’ or ‘unlimited edition’, where 1st edition cards will have a 1st edition symbol/stamp, and unlimited edition cards will lack this symbol.
3b. You’re kinda right, but here are all the English sets split into their own sub-category (apparently on Bulbapedia they are split by generation and series). The same can be seen for Japanese a bit lower on that same Bulbapedia page.

  1. Promotional cards have loads of different sources. Some are given at events; some are given at the movie in the cinemas; some included in DVDs; some are part of blister packs, tins, pin collections, or other type of Pokémon card products; etc. etc.

  2. The very first Pokémon TCG cards printed were the Glossy Pikachu & Jigglypuff glossy promos from the November 1996 CoroCoro Comic, released in October 1996. They are mentioned at the top of the Japanese Unnumbered Promotional cards 1996-2005 page on Bulbapedia. These were the first TCG cards. The very first Pokémon cards in general I’m not sure. I think that would be Topsun, which was released March 1997, but maybe another type of non-TCG cards came even before that. The Bandai Carddass (part 1 and 2) sets were released between Topsun and the TCG in September 1996.

  3. You’re indeed right. I’m not sure what the official names are for some of the cards in between. I personally call the first two Full Art, the third Half Full Art, and the last two regular. But I don’t think there are official names for these.

  4. No, the XY 17/146 Vivillon is unique in that regard. Would love to see some other cards like that, though. The Vivillons are one of my favorite cards in my National Index collection including all forms and Shiny Pokémon. :blush:

8a. They’re just called stamped cards, or cards with stamps, I guess. And usually when someone means a 1st edition stamp, they’ll explicitly state so I would assume.
8b. The Base Set has a few stamped cards, like the E3 Pikachu and PokéTour 1999 Pikachu. Both can be found in my Base Set Pikachu variations article.
8c. No, the stamped cards are only a few specific cards for various reasons. Sometimes due to a pre-release event, sometimes due to another special event or release. Most stamped cards are mentioned at the top of the set/expansion pages on Bulbapedia.
8d. I can’t think of any type of stamp which was included in ALL sets. The closest example are probably the pre-release cards, but some sets won’t have any pre-release stamped cards (Base Set does not for example, and none of the E-serie sets either). And there are also sets with multiple pre-release stamped cards for the same set. Here a list of all pre-release stamped cards btw, again from Bulbapedia.
8e. I can’t think of any example. Reverse Holo cards with stamps definitely exist, like the Burger King cards, but those are only available as Reverse Holo with stamp. Usually stamped cards are either non-Holo or a Holofoil Rare/Promo, though.

9b. Not entirely sure what you mean. Are you referring to the stamped EX era cards? The Reverse Holo cards of the EX era sets aren’t like the Reverse Holo of other sets. They’ll have a Holofoil artwork, and for some sets also a stamp at the bottom-left of the artwork indeed. The Reverse Holo variations of Holofoil Rares cards of these sets will have a golden name usually, to differentiate the Reverse Holo variation from the regular Holofoil Rare.
9c. No idea. In Yu-Gi-Oh I know how all the rarities are called which are on the entire card, but for Pokémon I dunno. I know there are those type of holofoil with stars, hearts, and one more I forgot (dots I think, but not sure). I personally just call them Starfoil and Heartfoil, but no idea what the official name of this holofoil pattern is tbh.

  1. Yes. Those Rainbowy cards without any ridges are almost all fakes. They’re usually also from Chinese sellers. :wink: But if you have any doubts about the legitimacy of a specific card, feel free to ask advice here on the forum.

11a. See post above by @pkmnflyingmaster .
11b. Both Haunters are from the third (green) Vending Series set, and both were allowed to be send in to get the Masaki Gengar.

  1. Do you have some pictures? The ones with an A could be the Yellow A Alternate artwork promos, but not sure which cards you mean with B and C.

  2. Not sure, but Japanese promos almost always sell out pretty quickly, not just the Red’s Pikachu. A few years later some of those Japanese cards can be worth 10 times as much as they initially were. I doubt this would be the case with Red’s Pikachu, but you can see it with some limited released like the Mario/Luigi Cosplay Pikachus for example, which were 25-30 USD per box on release, and are now 200+ USD each (and still rising).

  3. Unfortunately no. The most complete one for English (apart from Bulbapedia) I know is this one on reddit, which is updated every month. But even that one is missing quite a lot of variations, like 1st edition stamp variations, EX era codes, Teach Set cards (EDIT: scratch this one, these are Japanese exclusives, and the checklist is only English), etc. Would love to ever have one, but I doubt there ever will. I personally collect Pikachus in every language and variation (see the link in my signature below), but even I discover a new card everyone overlooked for the past 20 years every now and then. So to have a list of ALL existing cards would be close to impossible unfortunately. I think Bulbapedia for English and Japanese cards actually does a pretty good job, and most missing variations can be found in articles and threads here on the forum.

  4. Here a link to the Mew GB page on Bulbapedia, where it states (and I quote): “This card was made exclusively for the Pokémon Trading Card Game for the Game Boy Color, never printed as an actual card in any language.” :blush:

  5. Not sure. Maybe Scott @smpratte can answer this. I do know you get notifications when someone posts in a thread you’ve bookmarked, and you can also see the bookmark icon next to the thread in the list of a forum section. But no idea if you can see a list of all threads you’ve bookmarked. I can’t find it, but maybe it is somewhere?

Anyway, welcome to the forum, and I hope this answers some of your questions. Took me about 20 minutes to answer all of them, haha.

Greetz,
Quuador

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@quuador , I feel honored :wink: I went through this forum since a week, so I recognize some people.

I just gave your answers a quick overlook (it’s getting late), and all information is helpful, will get back to it by tomorrow.

I noticed some of my questions need a little more input.

(8)I totally forgot about prerelease and all the other once. I had stamps in mind with the set names (like in those pics). I am not good in remembering the set symbols and the name of the set, so I thought to make a collection. Find a card with the Set-Name- Stamp for each one, but I dunno if this is possible

(9)I think I will just post the link of the YouTube video with a time stamp.

(12) www.pokebeach.com/2019/09/japan-rotating-all-a-block-cards-from-standard

More tomorrow with a fresh mind.

@quuador , how do you store all those links? You always do not just write your knowledge , you usually post the source too, I really like that!

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The set stamps in the artwork you describe are the pre-release cards for most part. :blush: In the earlier sets it mentioned actual pre-release, like this pre-release Aerodactyl from the Fossil set. But later on this changed to the set symbol (and usually a separated promo card), like this pre-release Seviper for SM Burning Shadows.

The cards from the EX era which are Reverse Holos also feature their set symbol sometimes, like this ‘Reverse Holo’ Rayquaza from EX Emerald (also note the different holofoil pattern - with Pokéballs in this case - which all EX Emerald ‘Reverse Holo’ cards will have. The golden name, HP, and rarity symbol is an indication that it’s a ‘Reverse Holo’ variation of a Holofoil Rare card, as I mentioned earlier. Here is the same Rayquaza as a regular Holofoil Rare to see the differences with its ‘Reverse Holo’ version.

I believe there are also some cards with set stamps which were not pre-release cards. Not sure which and how many tbh, but I do know of this recent Garchomp from Unified Minds, which was originally released as a store-exclusive in The Netherlands and Belgium (although if I’m not mistaken was also released in the US later on).

So there are different type of cards which can have the set symbol in the artwork. Most of those are pre-releases, though.

Ah, so that’s the purpose of those letters at the bottom-left of Japanese cards. I actually had no idea they were used as indication of which cards were legal and which were out of rotation for the Pokémon TCG game in Japan. Here is a bit more information about it apparently. Thanks for asking, I’ve learned something new myself now. :grin:

Only some of my own threads I have bookmarked in my browser, like my Base Set Pikachu article, 1st editions stamp variations article, Teach Sets article, National Index collection, etc. But overall I just know where to look for certain information on Bulbapedia and this forum. One thread which might be interesting to read through all threads is this one. It contains an (unfortunately pretty outdated :slightly_frowning_face: ) list of all Pokémon articles in the Articles, Guides, & Resources section. I’m not sure if @pokemontrader is still active, but if he is, here a reminder that thread could use an update. :stuck_out_tongue: I personally find it very useful, although I also know loads of new articles which has been posted in the past two years, including some of my own (1st edition stamps, Teach Sets, National Index), as well as loads of others like the No Rarity guide by @shizzlemetimbers, the fire-proof saves threads of @silversnorlax204, the Base Set ©1999-2000 print run by @styluspt, and probably more I forgot about.

Anyway, I’m active for little over 4 years now, and have learned A LOT from being active on this forum. So with all the links I provided for you I just know where to look for or know where they are located. :blush: I don’t have a folder or something with all these links saved, except for the few I’ve made myself and use the most.

Greetz,
Quuador

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Always feel free to reach out to me for preservation and security related topics for trading cards!

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Regarding Red’s Piakchu, I believe you’re referring to the fact that usually that kind of promo cards, released at the Pokemon Center, are given out 1 for every 5packs that you buy. That’s why they are not expensive (usually around the price of the 5packs, I believe 5/6$) and easily found on the market.
I think I remember how everyone went crazy for this card and in Japan they sold out every single pack they had at the Pokemon Center because people just wanted to get that card (and flip it). @cracker ,

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Ooops I’ll try to update that this weekend!

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I finally got time to read everything that was provided. Thanks @quuador, for all the information, much appropriated!

What “code” do you use to make those “drop down picture links” you have in your post, usually with the text “SPOILER: Click to show”?+

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[spoiler]Surprise![/spoiler]

SPOILER: Click to show

Surprise!

And np, glad I could help. :blush:

Greetz,
Quuador

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@quuador,

I wish I was as smart as you;)

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Thanks for all the answers

Thanks in advance
Cracker

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Hey,I am currently working on a document for myself where I want to cover almost all cards from the CoroCoro Magazine issue of November 1996 up to the “Best of Game”. I am fare from done, but I want to fill a few empty spots and I would like to ask some questions. The reason is, this forum is filled with good stuff and I want to save these things somewhere and not just save a bunch of links.

(19) Error cards* in the pic below are 3 errors I do not understand. If the Pikachu error is the one from the „Phantom or Ghost Pikachu „ okey, but the other two??

  • In this post Best Of Game is an error mentioned that I cannot see either, maybe I compare the wrong cards?
SPOILER: Click to show

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(20) PSA label* why are there PSA graded Mewtwos from the World Hobby Fair Special Sheet that say “Series III” or 1?

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(21) 1st edition stamp* Does anyone have close ups of a 1st stamps in other languages like these link

  • This maybe a very obvious question but … I think I red somewhere, that the EN 1st stamp is applied by an stamp, but in other languages it is printed along with the card itself!?
  • Quuador: “The “E” and “ITION” parts of the symbol have an outlined, almost 3D, look to it. These outlines were most likely printed with the actual card, and used as indication during the printing process to properly align the 1st edition symbol (which seems to have failed by the looks of it).” (Thats not the post I mentioned, just something that belongs to this topic)

(22) Uncut sheets* are often bend, but a single card seems to be much sturdier…!?

  • Maybe this is just physics, a small stick is harder to bend than a long one (lever arm etc.)
  • Is there a thread about how these are made, printing both sides, gluing, cutting?
SPOILER: Click to show

(23) Where can I find info about „mcdonalds black star promo“?* I think I know these McDonald’s Pokémon-e Minimum Pack (TCG) but those miss the black promo star Promos

  • but where to put them ?? belong these to the Unnumbered Promotional cards? Or is this an actual set?
  • …and are these all?
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(24) Pokemon Web Set* I found 1st edition and non 1st edition cards, are they both from this set?

  • I know with the VS-Set 1st edition was a thing in JP, just want to be sure
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(25) Where can I find stuff like this?* (If any of those were released after 2003 that would mean I do not need more information that just that)

  • Lottery Promos
  • Players / Daisuki Promos
  • Battle Roads Promos
  • Unqlo warm Pikachu Set
  • Pai City Set
  • Illusion’s Zonua illustrator Set
SPOILER: Click to show

(26) Glossy Pikachu* „…The glossy Pikachu and Jigglypuff from the CoroCoro Magazine issue of November 1996 were released on October 15th, 1996 (5 days before the No Rarity Japanese Base Set release of October 20th, 1996)…“ link

  • Does anyone have (good quality) pictures of this Magazine or any other CoroCoro Magazine?

(27) Scans or high quality pics* I know this is a tedious question, but maybe someone would be willing to do some digging or scanning

  • I would love to have better ones than these and some I did not even found
SPOILER: Click to show

I hope all this “BBC Coding” works, if not I will try to fix it :wink:
Have a nice dayCracker
(in case it does not work Pics

17

Not sure what the second Wartortle error is referring to. Never heard of that error before.

The other errors you’ve already answered yourself in the spoilers… :confounded: The Pikachu they’re referring to is indeed the Phantom/Ghost stamp Pikachu. The Water Energy they’re referring to is indeed the one where it’s slightly misaligned upwards. And the errors Gary mentioned for the Best of Game cards are indeed the energy symbols that are slightly misaligned with the holofoil layer.

Just PSA making mistake. Happens pretty often.

I don’t think you’d be able to find close-ups of foreign 1st edition stamps. You could go to my Base Pikachu article, and copy the foreign Base Set Pikachus to cut out the 1st edition symbols in Paint/Photoshop. Or just try to google more high-res pictures to cut the 1st edition stamp out of.

Not sure about your second bullet-point. I think this is indeed the case for Japanese cards, but I don’t know how they did it with non-English/non-Japanese WotC era cards.

About the third bullet-point, I don’t think so. I wish there was. But here are two good videos to get a better idea of how Pokémon cards were produced:

(Second video is made by @pkmnflyingmaster )

Those are all P Promotional cards.

Yeah, they’re both from that set. This Japanese set was released in both 1st and unlimited edition.

I guess you mean on Bulbapedia?

  • Lottery / Daisuki / Battle Road Promos: these are spread among different promo sets tbh. Just go to the Unnumbered Promotional cards and Ctrl+F for those search terms. (I.e. searching for “lottery” or “daisuki” will get you the Poké Dude promo; and searching for “battle road” will get 17 results on that page.)
  • By Player promos I assume you mean Trophy cards, which can mostly be found here.
  • The Unqlo Warm Pikachu set can be found here, although they’re from the XY era, thus 2014…
  • The Battle Road Pokémon Pal City cards can be found here, which are from 2007.
  • The Illusion’s Zoruo illustrator set (as well as other illustration contest cards like Art Academy, WB Poké Card Creators, etc.) can be found here, for which the Zoruo cards are from 2010.

I don’t, so someone else will have to answer this. I do come a few scans can be found on Bulbapedia, like these two Pokémon Card Fan Club magazines, but I’m not able to find any of the CoroCoro ones.

Hope this helps again.

Greetz,
Quuador

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@quuador , YES I always appreciate your work, thanks a lot!!

(28) TopDeck* This TopDeck Magazine does mention a Mew Promo card (pic below). But the Mew (Wizards Promo 8) article does not mention it

  • This eBay insert stays states that Mew is from a TopDeck Magazine eBay
  • Is someone able to confirm this?
  • TopDeck Scans
SPOILER: Click to show

(29) TopDeck* Some of the Magazines actually say what is inside, others not. On T&T i found this info link “…& Wartortle W Stamped Promo” can I trust T&T?

(30) E3 Pikachu* “This card was included in the 1999/ September issue of Nintendo Power Magazine and is stamped with the E3 logo" link

  • The thing is, I doubt that the September version had a Pokemon card inside, because the left (pic below) one states “special Pikachu edition” link link
  • I noticed while working on the CoroCoro magazines, that (link) there can be 2 dates "February 1997 CoroCoro Comic (January 1997) " I am still confused about this, but maybe this is the issue
SPOILER: Click to show

(31) Pokémon Card Fan Club Vol. 1 ポケモンカード ファンクラブ * Again Vol. 1 is not mentioned under the Unnumbered Promotional cards (TCG)/1996-2005 cards.

  • But what card is inside??
  • eBay Y! but I also found a pic with the Natta Wake Promo, even tho it is not clear if the card is inside or on top
SPOILER: Click to show

(32) Pokémon Card Fan Club Vol. 4 (February 28, 1998)

  • Does anyone know what comes with this one Amazone?
  • Again nothing under the Unnumbered Promotional cards, but this Amazone article shows some kind of box, maybe this one has no card only this box…

@quuador , is there a “BBC-Code” to make pdf files visible or to present them in some kind of way??
Thanks for readingCracker

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@cracker Glad I was able to help again.

Magazines are not my expertise, but:

28 I dunno.

Bulbapedia mentions the same thing: A special W Wizards stamped version of the Base Set 2 print was released with the March 2000 issue of Top Deck Magazine.

It seems to be indeed from the September 1999 issue without Pokémon at the front (except for a tiny mention of the First Pokémon movie at the bottom). Here is another eBay auction of that magazine that mentions it contains the Yellow Cheeks E3 Pikachu.

That first magazine does NOT come with the Natta Wake Psyduck. The Natta Wake promos came in the the How I Became a Pokémon Card magazines.

For the Pokémon Card Fan Club magazines:

Greetz,
Quuador

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I think I came to an end for now with my document. Unfortunately the part about tournaments was no fun to write and I lost my “momentum” to finish this.

Please note, that this document is still in work (chapters are missing, there is no uniform design …) but I need to focus on my studies now. The last week was fun, but also very exhausting :wink:

I did not plan to share this, therefore a few warnings* this is no cohesive text, I just copied and pasted all the text from different sources

  • I can understand if I need to take down this like because of copyright issues
  • I am a rooky and do not even own any cards myself. I just wanted to get more knowledge. This means, I cannot really tell if a source is good or bad and therefore this document can contain many false statements!!

SHORT UPDATEremoved

CheerioCracker

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315 pages!! Dang cracker. :face_with_spiral_eyes: But it looks great. I’ve only looked at the first ~20 pages thus far, and not in a lot of detail yet, but I like what I’m seeing. Especially the pictures and document layout in general. I don’t really have a lot of time right now, but I will definitely take a better look later on. Might take a while to proces it completely though, haha. :wink:

Greetz,
Quuador

1 Like