Can anyone help me put some history to this product? I have only the information displayed in the pictures provided and some tiny thumbnails from @thecharizardauthorty confirming the contents: 3 UNL packs and the base set pre-constructed deck.
I don’t know anything about distribution, purpose, etc. but just added it to my collection sealed and would love to know more! It is obviously pretty early,but the unlimited edition conflicts with the half-knowledge a handful of people have provided.
I do not know much about the distribution of this. The first I ever saw were in collection in Europe. There should be a decal in there as well. I remember Shadowless Arcanine and Pikachu on it, about the size of the box.
That was what I had heard, but I still can’t find anything saying when it was released, what types of stores got them, why it isn’t labeled “demo,” “display,” “not for resale,” or anything like that if this is the case. I’m also confused as to why they would need such a product.
Thank you for the link though! It means that at least others are saying similar things. And it means we can focus our research on other details.
Looks to me as it was used for promotional/advertising purposes very early on. With the booklet basically describing what Pokemon is, the target audience of Pokemon, a bit of history of Pokemon etc. Maybe it was a prototype of how they were going to promote Pokemon that never made it to stores etc. Cuz we do know about the 2 trainer decks that were distributed to store owners to teach them about the game, how to play etc. This could have been a version of that, but they decided not to go this route. Very interesting find though
edit; also noticed the Pokeball on the front isn’t the design they ended up going with on the back of cards and stuff. So this could have been a very early rough design/promotional attempt
That’s solid gold! The packet info is all exposed in he photos. This was a European sealed product, which explains a lot about the differences from the US promotional materials. Also, the info inside would only make sense if it were a hobby store promotional item.
What is this catawiki business? Some of these things are going for chump change versus what they’re worth. Like, the contents of these boxes are worth a lot more than what they’ve sold for there.
This box surfaces few weeks ago on Pokécardex (a french Pokémon cards forum).
The owner (who worked in a toy store) wrote that the box was given to him by a representative of WOTC when Pokémon cards were released in France.
He wrote nothing more, and there are no more pictures.
“the box was given to him by a representative of WOTC when Pokémon cards were released in France” → 1999
