Hi all! I go by Doob, and I like to collect stuff.
I’ve really liked Scyther ever since the day I first learned what a Poke-ee-man is, so about a year ago I figured it was finally time to do the obvious and start collecting it. 
Like most species collectors, I began with just the English TCG. Then I added Japanese, followed by the European languages, and later the Asian ones. Then came Non-TCG, but “only the cards and that’s it, no need to do more.” Suuure, buddy… 
Long story short, nowadays I collect pretty much everything Scyther-related, with over 960 unique items acquired.
Organisationally, things quickly got out of hand, so I decided to build an online database to keep track of everything I find (public release: Soon™). Over the past months, it has slowly grown to 1,220 documented entries 
(at the time of writing this post), many hundreds more than I ever expected, lol. To say that researching all those obscure series, releases, and variations from around the world took a while would be an understatement. And it would be a bit silly to let all that information just sit there and gather dust, so I figured I might as well turn it into a little project. 
Starting tomorrow, for the next 6 weeks, I’ll be posting daily, with each day covering the story of a new subcategory. The series will end on 31.11 
- the birthday of my collection! Even though my main focus is Scyther, I’ll try to share as much information as I can about the series along the way, hopefully making this useful for other species collectors as well. And if you have anything to add, correct, clarify, or discuss, I’d absolutely love to hear it! 
I will be linking all the posts in this OP so that they are easy to find, and I will also be posting in parallel on Instagram(@doobDoesScyther) . Follow to see just how deep this bug den goes! 
- Figures
- Blocks and Chips
- Ga Ole
- Tretta / Battrio
- Kraks
- Coins (TCG / Metal)
- Chips (En + Jpn)
- Chips (Eu + Asia + Latin America)
- Board Game (Chips + Cards)
- Flats
- Mini Cards / Stickers (European / English)
- Mini Card (Japanese)
- Stickers (Japanese)
- Mini Cards / Stickers (International)
- Stamps
- Oversized (International)
- Oversized (Asian)
- Non-TCG Cards
- English Cards
- Topps
- Japanese Cards
- Japanese Cameo
- Bandai Kids (Backs)
P.S. After all this, I’ve somehow ended up sitting on a hill of non-TCG bulk. If you’re into non-TCG, feel free to send me a message (here or on Instagram) - I might just have something cool hiding in there for your collection! 
Going from English TCG to Japanese, other languages, and then non-TCG must have opened up so many obscure Scyther releases. The database idea is really cool too, especially with 1,220 entries already documented. I’ll definitely be curious to see what some of the more unusual finds are as the daily posts go up.
The Bandai Pocket Monsters rubber figures, also known as keshi (eraser) figures, were first released through Gashapon machines across Japan in May and June of 1996.
, red
, blue
, yellow
, and purple
. The Gashapon capsule contained three random figures, connected together by a rubber strip. Each Pokémon had a pencil hole on the bottom and also came with a small square attached to it, featuring its name and HP value (which is rarely preserved).
one. And just look at that beautiful gold Scyther!
).
(Gold, Copper, Bronze, Silver and Black) and the Brights 
(Light Green, Dark Green, Magenta and Blue). These 9 colors were available for all Gen 1 Pokémon across Series 1 - 7 and can be considered the “base” variants. Within each group, one color is particularly rare and noticeably harder to find - Silver 
The debut Series 1 had 4 additional Bright colors available: Pink, Red, Orange and Dark Purple, bringing the total to 13 variants!
variant, bringing the total to 14 variants! Until recently, Matte Pink was believed to be exclusive to Pikachu, just like Matte Blue. The very few examples I’ve found, however, suggest that Pink was not exclusive after all.
and Dark Green 
one as well). 
/ Red 
this is variant game at its best as the different coloured ones are so good looking together. Like i already said i hope that the mystery of the transparent orange one is solved one day, and i also really really hope you’ll find the missing scyther metal figures + for the love of variation game also the rest of your searches 
in a themed color (the star of today’s show), along with 4 move cards featuring that Pokémon, 3 Energy Dice, and a Life Counter.The first cool thing about these is that each Pokémon was released in 4 different variations (A, B, C and D), with subtle differences, distributed at random inside each box. Scythers (Base Set 11) for example, differ in the position of their hands and mouth. Side by side, the differences are noticeable, but out in the wild? No chance! 
And these probabilities are actually listed very specifically in the tutorial book! I seriously doubt they had the means to calculate such tiny differences back then, so I’ve always imagined someone’s job being to roll Scyther A 1 000 times, then Scyther B, C and D 1 000 times and take notes. 
Plakoro Dice of the entire series (painting the dice had already become something of a tradition in Japan in the years prior). There were only 6 boxes released, each themed around 2 Pokémon, and it randomly contained one of two available forms (E and F) for each of them. I currently have one - Scyther F, but I’m still hunting for the Scyther E variant.
If I ever get one, I’ll consider it one of the grails of my collection - not because of its monetary value, but because of the layers upon layers of nicheness that lead to this particular item even existing. So if you have any information whatsoever that could help me track down one, I would be incredibly grateful!
those are some crazy level small differences, i bet they’ll look awesome when displayed but can’t imagine the amount of work that this has required
00 Bandai Battle Museum Series 4
05 Bandai TM Collection Series 8
Base Series 6, should not be standing on a green base! I have yet to find a complete one, but I managed to find just the figure - in Sweden (of all places!) and bought a temporary green base for it. I know it’s not lore-accurate, but it looks sooo much better lol 
, wouldn’t be an understatement. These small finger puppets are made of vinyl, which makes them both cheap and surprisingly durable. They were first produced in October 1996 and are still going strong more than 30 years later! Originally, they were distributed in blind boxes, but nowadays the Pokémon is shown on the front of the box. Some boxes also came with a card, and those cards have TONS of variations - but that’s a problem for another day (October 16th, to be precise).
, randomly distributed in the boxes with the regulars. Three of the five Scyther poses have a clear counterpart, and I’m only missing the OG clear one from 1998 - the one with the green - backed wings to complete the family.
They started a little later, in 1997, but while Bandai Kids are more simplified representations, Moncolle figures are much more detailed and realistic. They also have many iterations, especially among the Gen 1 Pokémon, and Scyther getting three different versions (across five releases) is no exception. The differences between them are subtle: the OG is Shiny Light Green, the middle kid is Shiny Dark Green, and the newest iteration is coloured in Matte Dark Green.
Will be following along with all the posts, but just want to say that including all your exhaustive research here is very much appreciated! I learned a lot, and it’s fun to learn about variants in general, but especially the interesting history of any rarer ones.
(ok, just a plastic box, but it feels like one). Not only do they come in all shapes and sizes, but the amount of variation is insane!
/ keychain 
subgroup is probably the most uniform of them all. I do have a few more on the way, while others are still sitting on my wants list. Most notably, the Japanese '98 Metal Swing and the '00 Collector Pin from the Sidney release, but also some newer ones like the '13 Hanafuda badge. Let me know if you have any of those (or others that I have not seen yet)! 
toys and some random plastic pieces, like this cool AG dice by Tomy and the Mini Blister Collection Pack. I’m still not entirely sure whether I should count the latter as a mini figure or a misc item tbh.
), and I’m also looking into the holos. Sadly, there are so many counterfeit marbles (a sentence the 10-year-old me could never have comprehended), including the white star ones, which are often considered to be first edition (but most certainly are not). Verifying each version takes a lot of time, so this will probably be a more long-term project.
00 Burger King Gameboy
released with Scyther on the cover, including two designs for “Scyther, Heart of a Champion”, one of which you can see in the photo. The Japanese Pokémon Center plushies 
also have a couple of versions - more specifically, the same figure with different tag designs depending on which release they belong to.
). I’ll definitely make an update post with all the new and obscure additions that have had Scyther slapped on them at some point in the future!
They were incredibly popular, and while the game’s arcade machines were active, millions of blocks were printed by players. All the different series and sets are very well documented on Bulbapedia. 
, Traditional Chinese in Hong Kong 
, and English in Malaysia and Singapore 
. Those versions were all printed in holofoil rather than regular stickers, but sadly, the different Poké Ball variations weren’t implemented in those languages. 
