Greetings! I wanted to ask if the 1995-1996 playtest/prototype cards are actually considered Pokemon cards (if real of course). These “cards” are not a single piece of card stock, and the playtest material is a thin piece of paper glued onto cardstock. I can’t seem to find a definite, factual answer on this.
There is no factual answer because the answer can only be an opinion and based on how you define “card”
In my opinion they are not “Pokémon cards” in a strict definition in the same way we discussed I don’t think non-tcg are “Pokémon cards”. But the playtest are even further on the spectrum as they are not even licensed Pokemon trading cards.
I think they are better defined as Pokémon “artifacts” (perhaps even the fake ones now lol) than “cards”. They are closer to the WOTC godbooks than actual cards.
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a unique bit of history that has been commodified in a seemingly poor way. They may be actual playtests, and “card” may be even be an appropriate term to use (at least colloquially), but there will always be a bit of debate over how to actually define them.
For collecting purposes, I wouldn’t classify them the same as cards from base set, jungle, vivid voltage, etc.. They are more so an oddity that gives us all a glimpse of the early tcg planning stages. There are other cards I would do this for too keep in mind, so the weird categorization isn’t unique to the playtests.
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I’ve searched for a definite answer because before the playtest cards arose to the public, the Bandai were the first Pokemon cards ever. Now that the playtest are a thing, that devalues the “first ever” aspect, and that upsets me. The Bandai are still the first official cards, but the playtest being older bothers me. The fact that there’s no solidified answer to them being cards is a headache.
The REAL playtest cards are actually pokemon cards. We need to realize that the ones that were found as fake are just forgeries and not actual cards. The real cards were produced organically before everything else in a facility and count as real cards.
Maybe I’m being to nitpicky in wording. Pokemon Cards is a very board label a lot of things can fit into. They are a card with Pokemon on it. Like Topps, Carddass, etc. In the broad umbrella, yes they’re Pokemon Cards.
None of those are Pokemon TCG Cards, which I think is what most people envision when you say actual Pokemon Cards. To me, they’re prototypes/playtests/whatever for the TCG existed, but not actually TCG cards.
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Yes, they are Pokemon cards.
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The piece of paper mounted cardstock is not part of the card but the cardstock underneath is
Are the little condo tower models they make also considered buildings?
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Are trainers Pokémon cards too?
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