Help - 1st edition base set

Hi All,

Once again another request for help with my database.

I am looking for more information regarding the 1st edition base set. i know there is a thick stamp a thin stamp and a grey stamp.

However what i need to know it what cards contained each of these, for example.

thick stamp all 102 cards
thin only the holo cards
etc etc.

for the great i have only found these at the moment and need to know about other card as well.

Also if there where 1st edition differences for other sets can you add a little information on them as well please.

Name Set Name Number Type HP Stage Rarity
Pikachu Base 58 Lightning 40 Basic Common
Charmander Base 46 Fire 50 Basic Common
Diglett Base 47 Fighting 30 Basic Common
Drowzee Base 49 Psychic 50 Basic Common
Onix Base 56 Fighting 90 Basic Common
Poliwag Base 59 Water 40 Basic Common
Kakuna Base 33 Grass 80 Stage 1 Uncommon
Koffing Base 51 Grass 50 Basic Common
Doduo Base 48 Colorless 50 Basic Common
Raticate Base 40 Colorless 60 Stage 1 Uncommon
Sandshrew Base 62 Fighting 40 Basic Common
Voltorb Base 67 Lightning 40 Basic Common
Pidgey Base 57 Colorless 40 Basic Common
Vulpix Base 68 Fire 50 Basic Common
Porygon Base 39 Colorless 30 Basic Uncommon
Starmie Base 64 Water 60 Stage 1 Common
Weedle Base 69 Grass 40 Basic Common
Nidoran M Base 55 Grass 40 Basic Common
Metapod Base 54 Grass 70 Stage 1 Common
Magnemite Base 53 Lightning 40 Basic Common
Energy Removal Base 92 Trainer Trainer Common
Gust of Wind Base 93 Trainer Trainer Common

Thanks
Jab2004

Here is what I been able to gather about “Thick” and “Thin” 1st edition stamp cards.

  • Only the base set has Thick stamps. All subsequent sets (Jungle, Fossil, etc.) only have Thin stamps.

  • The non-holo base set cards only have Thick stamps. (There are a few incredibly rare exceptions such as Thin stamped Charmander and Wartortle that I’ve seen, but basically don’t worry about this)

  • Therefore the 1st edition base set holos are the only cards that come in both the Thick and Thin stamp variants.

  • The ratio of Thick stamps to Thin stamps is approximately 1-to-3. (Thick stamps are three times rarer)

  • Thick stamped, Thin stamped, and non-stamped Shadowless cards were all part of the same print run - the very first print run. (All subsequent print runs were Unlimited / non-shadowless runs). In that initial print run, some of the shadowless cards were set aside to receive a 1st edition stamp.

  • Thick stamped cards were stamped first. Thin stamped cards were stamped afterwards, when Wizards of the Coast realized that they needed more 1st edition holographic cards. (We can say this based on the evidence that has been gathered through the years.)

  • The only difference in the Thick and Thin stamps is the pressure that was used to stamp them. Somehow when Wizards of the Coast decided that they needed to stamp more holographic cards, the pressure of the stamping was altered. (Probably intentionally because all their future sets would use Thin stamps)

Only the most serious collectors even know the difference between the Thick and Thin stamped cards. And of those serious collectors, from what I can gather most of them don’t even care about the difference between Thick and Thin stamps. As a result, the market value of Thick and Thin stamp cards is basically the same. I actually do care about the difference, but I seem to be more in the minority.

@garyis2000

I don’t know if this counts but there are cards with smudged 1st edition stamp namely from Team Rocket I have only seen rares with this affliction.

Wow thank you for the information that was very detailed and covered everything I needed to know for the thick and thin stamped cards. Just the grey stamp left to cover now. I seem to have an ocd about collecting and learning about what I am collecting so this is perfect. With a current database of over 20000 English card (not how many I have just what I know exist with english/bilingual text) cataloged these will make a nice edition with there information added. I will post a copy of it in guides even though I don’t feel it is currently finished yet.

I am aware of some card but I have added these under the error cards I am working on. The only 2 slightly remember in there is a blackwater promo 1 which received the 1st edition stamore when it shouldn’t a printing error which looked like it said "d edition and I think a pikachu 1st edition which only has half the stamp so it reads “1 edi n” if you know of any more than this please let me know this would be perfect.

Thank you everyone for the information.

Edit- also sorry about the really poor punctuation I am writing these replies on my phone.

The gray stamped cards are just cards that were stamped with low ink.

I actually have a bunch of gray stamped cards myself. I acquired all of my 1st edition base set non-holo cards years ago directly from a person who had just pulled them all from a booster box himself. All of the uncommon cards he gave me were gray stamped. That’s because all of the uncommon cards in his box probably came from the same sheet that happened to have low ink when it was being stamped. None of my rare and common cards are gray stamped (nor are any of my holo cards but those all came from entirely different boxes anyway).

Personally, I have no interest in collecting gray stamps, because I just consider them to be slight printing imperfections. As I said, I do happen to own some myself, and don’t particularly care for trading them out because they are all in absolutely Mint condition and I’m perfectly fine with them, but I have no interest in specifically collecting the gray stamped cards. I think they are of interest to a few people though.

The reason I find it more appealing to collect the Thicks, unlike the gray stamps, is that:

1 - They were stamped first. So the Thick holos are really the *first* 1st edition holos. That’s appealing to me.
2 - They match the rest of the base set. I like consistency in my sets.
3 - They are three times rarer than the Thins.
4 - I find them more attractive looking (although people disagree on this, and WotC disagreed too because their future sets had Thin stamps)
5 - The thick stamp helps make the first edition base set even more special in my opinion, because it is the only set to use this stamp.

In contrast, I find gray stamped cards simply to be less attractive 1st edition cards with a slight printing defect. There’s no particular appeal to them other than the fact that they are slightly rarer.

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Hi Hyruleguardian,

Thank you for the information regarding the grey stamped cards, for not i know all of the uncommon cards have grey stamps and i have a few imaages of common cards. just need to confirm the holo cards now. I think i will be one of them people who would like to collect them. i like to try and get at least one of everything (I know i will never manage this but it is worth a try) will add these to my database later.

thank you once again

I’m fairly certain that all of the base set 1st edition cards come with a grey stamp variant. Nothing wrong with collecting one of everything. Gotta catch 'em all! Good luck in your search.

Don’t worry about that. Have you read some of Pokesyn’s writings? Lol.

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