Thanks regardless for keeping track of them thus far. It’s pretty interesting how at least 4 copies of the known cards have emerged thus far. It’s also interesting that there are only 15 known cards, which seem rather random if we look at the Pokémon-e Starter Deck and Base Expansion Pack set numbers:
Set/Deck
Number
Pokémon
Amount seen thus far
Remarks
Pokémon-e Starter Deck
002/029
Bulbasaur
4
Pokémon-e Starter Deck
005/029
Chikorita
12
Pokémon-e Starter Deck
009/029
Charmander
4
Pokémon-e Starter Deck
010/029
Charmander
6
Jusco lottery for GB2 (unlimited card as consolation prize)
Pokémon-e Starter Deck
011/029
Charmeleon
12
Pokémon-e Starter Deck
013/029
Cyndaquil
10
Pokémon-e Starter Deck
022/029
Totodile
6
Pokémon-e Starter Deck
023/029
Croconaw
5
Pokémon-e Starter Deck
024/029
Feraligatr
9
Base Expansion Pack
007/128
Ponyta
1000+
Magazine promo
Base Expansion Pack
016/128
Pikachu
8
Base Expansion Pack
028/128
Clefairy
10
Base Expansion Pack
029/128
Meowth
7
Base Expansion Pack
079/128
Charizard
20
Base Expansion Pack
082/128
Pichu
25
What I mean by ‘rather random’ is: Why for example both Charmander, but no Squirtle? Why Feraligatr as final evolution, but none of the other final gen 2 evolutions? I’m curious whether we’d see any other cards than the ones above emerge eventually. And if not, why only these cards were chosen to be distributed. Then again, why is only the Ponyta a magazine promo could be one of the questions as well tbh.
But cool that we’ve at least received some more info in terms of this GB2 lottery at the Jusco in Sapporo, as well as a lottery in Fuji Grand Natalie.
I’m still on the lookout for one of these Pikachu cards, though.
If we can answer either of those I think we’d be well on track to finally solving this mystery - and then we can all move on to the unlimited L1 set.
In terms of #1 it could simply be that different locations received different cards and for whatever reason the locations which may have had cards which haven’t appeared like Squirtle, Ivysaur and Meganium could have had their events cancelled.
In terms of #2 I imagine there may have been a cost-based structure whereby differently priced tickets awarded different prizes. Perhaps the 010 Charmander was awarded to those as a consolation price for the GB2 game but the 002 Bulbasaur for example may have been a consolation prize for something completely different. This may even be the reason cards like Squirtle haven’t appeared, because perhaps that was part of a lottery for something nobody really wanted to begin with.
I’ve left a message this morning for the user who mentioned the Fuji Grand Natalie lottery to see if they can provide any more information (and share the 4 cards they have). Hopefully they can understand my Google-translated Japanese!
When I was looking for the charmeleon I made an offer of 200,000 and was denied. So I’m sure there are people crazy enough to buy these. And honestly (I know it means nothing) if I had the funds, that croconaw and feraligatr would not be available rn
The lack of pictures of the back of those is too much of a gamble for me. I’ve found that the front of e-Reader cards can be quite deceptive and it’s usually the back of the cards which tells the full story of what the condition is really like. I can only assume the seller neglected to include a picture of the backs of those for a good reason.
As a counter-argument to myself though, I’m very surprised nobody has picked up this 40,000 JPY Meowth yet: www.mercari.com/jp/items/m67032593904. Meowth used to be one of the more desirable cards from the set, so I’m not sure if the lack of interest in this one is a sign that these are becoming too much of a regular appearance to make people as willing to throw money at them.
Yep, Ponyta is the insert in a poster/booklet called Information Pack volume 4. I used to buy these sealed packs in bulk when I first started selling on eBay as they were practically worthless in Japan - I think I bought this lot for around 500 JPY back in 2018:
As some trivia about these packs: the cards always have their backs visible so as not to reveal what the card is, but it used to be a lot more profitable to open the pack and turn the card around to show everyone what card is included. Packs with cards with the front facing outwards have already been opened.
Despite being quite flimsy I always found the packs did a good job at protecting the card. Here is one of several PSA 10 copies I graded which I still have:
If you’re looking to pick up one of these Ponyta cards it may be cheaper to track down a sealed Information Pack, but I have no idea what those sell for these days.
Thanks a lot!
Let’s hope it’ll end below Buyee’s threshold this time…
Just in case, does anyone have any recommended Japan middleman services that can go as high as I’d want (without having to pay beforehand)?.. Noppin is still not back in business unfortunately.
Oh, didn’t even notice it was the same seller. Hmm, not sure how I feel about that considering they said they were only selling it because they found a better copy.
The pictures of the front are similar but different though. Here is a picture I saved of that previous auction:
Welcome @darsh ! Those were shared a couple of weeks ago. I tried buying the cheaper of the two Charmander cards they have but they’re currently have an ongoing selling ban placed on their account for whatever reason so it’s not possible to buy those at the moment.
Edit: Just tried to buy it again and it worked this time.
Awesome find
I’d probably say that price is around market. It’s good to see more pop up though. Still waiting for a sub 1k Bulbasaur and sub 500 clefairy not sure if that’ll happen.
Some nice cards overall. Quick question, although these are from the Japanese base set expansion, any reason these specific unlimited versions for some of the cards are rather high? Was just wondering.
not sure if that’ll happen.