Japanese Neo Genesis - release date?

Recently Bulbapedia’s Neo Genesis article received an edit to say that the set was released on 4th February 2000 instead of what was previously there, 10th December 1999. I’ve done some digging and discovered that this 4th February 2000 date is what is displayed on The Pokémon Japan website: www.pokemon-card.com/products/neo/neo_03.html.

The Pokémon Japan website does still maintain that the release date of the Neo Premium File was 10th December 1999: www.pokemon-card.com/products/neo/neo_01.html.

From the barcodes on the packs, we know for sure that the Japanese Neo Genesis booster box and booster packs were safety tested in 1999, so it’s a bit of a surprise to me that they’d then wait 2+ months to release the set. Furthermore, PSA, Beckett and CGC all label Japanese Neo Genesis cards as being from 1999.

Does anyone have a definitive published release date of Japan’s Neo Genesis from around the time the set was released?

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Hey @pichufan,
the first thing that came to my mind were the Japanese Trainer’s magazines. Looking in Volume 4, which was published in early December 1999, the set wasn’t officially released yet. However the Premium File was specifically scheduled for December 10th 1999 (発売日●12月10日). Regarding the starter deck and the booster packs, this issue names early February 2000 as planned release date (発売日●2000年2月上旬予定). Volume 5, published in March 2000, then included a whole set list in a small broshure.
Another source of information is the “Pokémon Card Official Book 2000”. There you can find a picture of the Premium file with the release date of December 10th, 1999 and pictures of the starter deck and the booster packs with the release date of February 4th, 2000. I think this should be a reliable source of information for this problem. For detailed pictures see below.

Best wishes from Germany
Martin




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@fushigibana thank you, that is very useful information! It’s interesting that all of the grading companies just went with the 1999 date that was listed on Bulbapedia presumably without checking it themselves.

Well, that’s nothing new. Still can’t get over the fact that PSA labels Japanese Jungle, Fossil and Rocket with the wrong year. :dizzy_face: Either they are not able to do fundamental research or the first person who submitted cards from these sets should be blamed for giving them wrong information. However, the cards themselves look gorgeous, even with thre wrong date. :relieved:
Kind regards from Germany
Martin