Japanese 1st edition

General
,
1

Hi guys, how does the japanese 1st edition cards compare to their unlimited counterparts? How much rarer are they?

2

If you are talking bw/xy era. The unlimited are more often harder to get than 1st ed.

1 Like
3

Yeah I heard that but how come? Isnt the 1st edt print run only for the 1st distribution? Do 1st edt get printed more than unlimited?

4

The 1st edition print run is actually quite numerous. I dont know exact numbers but some sets havent even had an unlimited run (wild blaze).

Someone else might know approx print quantity.

5

I believe unlimited is much more rare since people always buy the first set boxes which are always 1st edition and they soon move onto the next set box and forget about the unlimited print since they already have the 1st edition of the set,

till this day I still cant find any unlimited BW Entei cards and I haven’t done any research to see if any were made.

6

I find it quite frustrating to figure out what Japanese sets ran unlimited/1st. Edition. I wish there was a declaraction on bulbapedia for example to show what sets produced.

I’m paranoid for my Gyarados collection as every once in a while I find an unlimited/1st Ed. card that I thought never existed. I’m afraid I might not have an up-to-date list of available Gyarados cards soley because of this.

Edit: Could we group up together and compare notes on what available Japanese sets we have and whether we can confirm 1st Ed./Unlimited runs?

2 Likes
7

Based off the information I have piecemealed together…

1st edition is, obviously, the primary print run of Japanese sets. There’s a set amount of boxes that is 1st Edition. This varies by set, often based off of anticipated demand. XY2 Wild Blaze had a massive amount of anticipated demand, so a large number of 1ED boxes were printed, and there was no need for an additional UED print run. XY5 and XY6 were wildly successful, so UED print runs of those sets were made. UED print runs can also be made for “special packs” or promo things that come out a good time after the set’s release. To my knowledge, UED print runs are available for the following few XY-based sets:

XY1 (both)
XY5 (both)
XY6

Some notable sets that never had a UED print:

BW4
XY2
XY3
XY4

3 Likes
8

When it comes to old school EX era, the 1st Edition is rarer… But unlimited of old ex era is also pretty damn rare to der boi.

9

Seeing as how XY3 and XY4 packs are going to be included in the upcoming Pikazard X/Y boxes, there’s a good chance that these sets will now have unlimited cards if they didn’t have them before. Which would mean that XY2 may end up being the only XY set that doesn’t have an Unlimited run… how strange that an XY2 pack isn’t going to be included in a Pikachu/Charizard themed box.