Hi everyone, I come seeking information from those more knowledgeable than me! One night trawling ebay for interesting finds, I came across this “Collector’s Folder”, complete with a Shadowless Charmander and a deck list for a DIY theme deck called “Pokemon Party” as well as general info about the early TCG. I haven’t been seriously collecting for long, but I’ve never come across one of these so I had to snag it. I couldn’t find much info online about it and don’t want to write what various AI bots informed me for fear of encouraging an AI hallucination loop, so I made an account to a) share a potentially interesting find and b) ask if anyone has any further info on how these came about and where they were distributed.
Being UK-based, it is rare to see Shadowless cards as AFAIK we only received the unlimited, shadowed packs back in the day. However, this is clearly UK-based promotional material as the contact number on the back cover starts with 0345 which is a UK freephone code. I asked the seller about it and they don’t remember much but suspect they picked it up from an HMV store which is a record/gaming/entertainment retail chain that has somehow survived to this day. If I had to guess, I imagine these were mass-produced and given to retailers to distribute with purchases of Base Set packs or starter decks but most then had the card taken out and were discarded. I did play and collect as a child in the UK in 99/00 but I don’t recall coming across one back in the day!
For the packaging buffs out there, the magenta angles on the folder run at 45 degrees front and back.
I also took a closer look at the Charmander “promo” card which appears to just be a standard Shadowless print, with -15 degree magenta on the front and +15 on the back. It seemed to have the standard level of gloss to my untrained eye (so no suggestion of a Japanese card stock), and no other distinguishing features under UV light or when doing the flashlight test.
I’m hoping there are others out there who either own or remember these, and if not, I hope this post can serve as a kind of archival preservation of some old promotional material from the early days of the TCG in the UK.