Does anyone have any idea as to what these cards are and where they came from?
They are glossy on the front and back. They resemble the Japanese back Hoppip and Pichu from E3 in my opinion, except that the backs are English and the cards are hole-punched. I would assume that these were produced around that time.
As far as I can tell, the cards are real.
I actually have two of each Pichu and Hoppip.
More pictures
pics arent working for me?
Me neither.
pics plz
The cards that were used as demos in the New York Pokemon Center were said to have had holes punched in them. They were then attached to lanyards and scanned through the e-readers to show potential customers how they worked. I’ve seen pictures of the cards on the lanyards before in the past, but I don’t recall if the backs were all the same or not. Additionally, these were the “sample” cards, but with holes in them.
Is it possible that these might have similarly been used for that purpose?
The backs were English backs… I’m 80% sure that the words “sample” were on the cards attached to the lanyards.
I saw the backs. I was asking about the possibility of these being a similar, but separate instance of that type of thing.
I am also thinking they had some tie to the demos, except the English backs and lacking the word “sample” on them is throwing me for a loop.
I also updated the OP with pictures
If they did it for the sample cards, surely there’s grounds to think they may have done it with other cards as well. Perhaps these were produced prior to, or separate from the promos that share the front with them. Goodness knows for the sake of demos, tests and promos art gets recycled.
Absolutely. I received them from a collector who had included them in a binder alongside the E3 Pack w/ the Kirby and Japanese backs.
UPDATE: Here is the Hoppip compared with a Japanese Back Hoppip:
The Japanese Back is much brighter and is also non-glossy, while the Hole-Punched Hoppip is glossy on the front and back.
The Japanese Back also has Sleep Powder aligned more to the left than the Hole-Punched Hoppip.
Also, notice that the Hole-Punched Hoppip contains the segment “ID:” that precedes “B-02-#”.
The 2002 Copyright is also much larger and bolder on the Japanese Back.
All of the changes on the Hole-Punched Hoppip match the Pichu with the exception of the misalignment of the attack.
However, the Pichu has much more interesting changes.
The “Evolves into Pikachu” box has been rearranged!
Could these have been test cards for the Sample/E3 Demo Event? The Sample cards have the Japanese numbering system, while the Japanese Backs have the English numbering system.
Does anyone know of someone who would be able to provide some definitive information on these cards?
I’d definitely like to know for sure, if that’s possible.
I’m on the jealous end of this one. 
Same here, Charlie!
Nah, no reason to be jealous 
I love cool, weird English finds. So much mystery!
The cards could be fake, the cut of the bottom of Pichu is weird, especially the right corner …
The cuts are a little off on the Pichu. Both Pichu and Hoppip sets possess exactly the same cut, which makes me believe that the print run for these was very low. I would not say that they are fake, however. I am assuming that the cut wasn’t as important since they appear to be some kind of test print, at least that’s what it seems like to me.
If they were fake they would easily be the highest quality fakes I’ve ever seen in my life, though!
Where did you obtain these cards?
I received them as a part of a large collection. The guy was really fanatical about the e-Reader sets and had complete sets of every e-Reader set as well as the 2002 Japanese Backs, Kirby and Manhole pack. He had quite a few other rare items such as a couple Trainer Deck B’s, complete 1st ed Base Sets and other rare Nintendo items in general.
I emailed the guy that I purchased these from and this is what he said:
“The cards with the holes were promo giveaways at the E3 convention… they were given out as promos, along with a nintendo lanyard with a metal clip at the end. They came out the same year that nintendo was introducing the e-reader for the gameboy system. The cards were intended to introduce people to the e-reader, so they copuld swipe them at the convention, and see the mini-games and the pokemon features. If i remember right, the cards are essentially the same ones that were later included in the blue foil packs of sample cards that later came with the e-reader itself. But if you compare the cards to the ones that were issued in pokemon card packs, there are actually some small differences between them and the E3 convention cards issued with holes. The holes were in the cards, i believe, so people could put the cards on the lanyard.”
