I am posting this in the hopes that it will help anyone who is trying to assemble a set of the Japanese no-rarity-symbol Base cards.
I’ve noticed an increase in YJ auctions offering these often-overlooked gems. However, I’ve seen some sellers describe Trainer cards from the Quick Starter Gift decks as “no-rarity-symbol,” thereby implying the cards are part of the first-edition Base set.
While it is true that the Trainer cards included in the Quick Starter decks also lack rarity symbols, these cards are not the same as the Trainer cards in the Base set. The Japanese text on the Trainers from the Base set is different than the text on the otherwise identical cards from the Quick Starter decks.
Here are the Trainer cards in question:
Gust of Wind
Potion
Switch
Energy Retrieval
Pokemon Trader
Hope this helps!
EDIT: Removed earlier comment regarding uncertainty about the text on the Pokemon Trader card.
The best way to ensure yours are from the Base set is to do a direct comparison to their counterparts from the Quick Starter set. The reason is that there are also some differences in text between the original no-rarity-symbol cards and their counterparts from the second edition of the Base set.
I’m still trying to determine if there are some second edition Base set cards that were printed with both the original (no-rarity-symbol) text and the newer text.
For instance, the Pokemon Trader no-rarity-Base card is different than every Pokemon Trader second-edition Base card I’ve seen. So, now I’m searching for a Pokemon Trader Base card with a rarity symbol that has the same text as the original card.
Confusing … but fun!
EDIT: Added strike-through as we now know that the Pokemon Trader no-rarity and regular Base cards do have the some text. However, there are still differences between some of the no-rarity cards’ text and that of their regular counterparts. These differences are primarily due to errors in the original text, though.
I’ve been doing direct comparisons from no-rarity cards to normal base set cards, if they matched then I was good to go, if not then I assumed they were from the quick starter set. Are you telling me that the Pokemon Trader no rarity does not match the normal Pokemon Trader card? I just turned back a Pokemon Trader no rarity card because I thought it was from the quick starter deck, I’m hoping I didn’t make a mistake.
~~Yes, correct — The Pokemon Trader NR (should we call them that now?) card has text that is different than the normal Pokemon Trader card.
The Pokemon Trader NR and Pokemon Trader Quick Starter cards have identical text — the only exception to the rule.~~
EDIT: Now I’m beginning to question myself. Perhaps the Pokemon Trader no-rarity and normal cards ARE the same — and it’s just that I’ve never actually seen an actual Pokemon Trader no-rarity-symbol card
Jason, do you have a Pokemon Trader NR card that has the same text as the normal version of the card?
And all of these years, I thought I had a complete set of the no-rarity-symbol cards, but I might have been wrong. The Pokemon Trader may turn out to be this particular set’s holy grail!
I spent some time checking various Japanese blogs, and have concluded that the text on the no-rarity-symbol Pokemon Trader card is indeed identical to the text on the version of the card with the rarity symbol — and, therefore, different than the text on the Quick Starter version.
I’ll post a picture up of a no rarity Pokemon Trader later on today, but there is a difference as japanime said above. Feel free to use it in your guide cbd1235.
Wow this is great. I’ve got a few no rarity trainers, and I figured they were from Quick Starters. I’ve been debating selling them as no-rarity, but haven’t due to some guilt that I’m pretty sure they are QS deck cards. At least now I can double check! Please update (if someone has time) if there are any other differences besides the Pokemon Trader (with pictures if possible).
