Masters Guide for Pokemon WOTC Corrected Errors & Test cards
While talking with a good friend and local game store owner, he mentioned that there’s too much to keep up with when it comes to Pokemon errors, and that if there was a reference he could use to find out what errors exist and which ones to consider valuable, it would be very helpful. With so many new errors identified in the past five years, and no reliable source for error card info, I saw the need to compile a complete list of errors that can be maintained and above all else supply accurate information.
About: This list includes English and primarily WOTC error cards which were corrected at some point during their sets’ print run, and also includes some information about Test cards. Since the rarity is most often subjective and anecdotal, when mentioned please understand that this is based on my experience, and to take it with a grain of salt. There are some very smart collectors on this board that I trust will use their best judgement. I have sourced much of this information from the esteemed collectors within the E4 community, from my personal accounts, and some information directly from two friends and former employees of WOTC and one WOTC printing company contractor.
Q & A:
Why only the corrected ones?
As a general rule, cards that were left uncorrected are not subject to a limited production run, and so do not have the same collectible desire compared to those which were corrected. For a list of errors including uncorrected cards, please see this list created by the members of Bulbapedia: “Error cards”, which was recently updated by @fritz .
NOTE: This is an active work in progress. Many parts of the guide are missing, but it’s much easier to work with once posted so that progress can be periodically saved and reviewed. Time for me is very limited and valuable right now, but I’ll do my best to finish this soon:)
Pre-Print Production Errors
1st Edition Dragonite “No holo” error, #5/82
Identified by the 5/82 holo card set number, while missing its holo-foil layer (looks like the 22/82 non-holo counterpart). Mistakenly printed within an uncommons card sheet print run for Team Rocket. Received in Team Rocket (peg hanger) packs, and reportedly short seal as well.
Produced in both 1st edition and unlimited print. The first edition print is moderately more rare. In addition to these, a few other limited production WOTC “No holo” rare cards have been documented (see near bottom of document).
www.elitefourum.com/t/pulled-a-no-holo-dark-dragonite-5-error-card-see-video/24874/1
Missing/No damage Ninetales, #12/102
Missing attack damage “80” within its Fire Blast attack. Found (very rarely) within the Shadowless variation of the Base set Brushfire theme deck. Confirmed by sealed Brushfire deck insert, as well as multiple first hand accounts.
Sealed Brushfire theme deck insert
Missing/No HP Dark Persian Black Star promo #17
Missing “60 HP” just to the right of its name. Distributed briefly as an insert within Nintendo Power Magazine (August 2000 issue). Recalled soon after its shipment, however a portion remained circulated.
1st Edition Pikachu Black Star promo #1
Was printed with a 1st edition stamp, whereas the vast majority of the print was not. Found very rarely within 1st edition Jungle packs.
Evolution Box error Wartortle #42/102
Since Wartortle evolves from Squirtle (as its “Stage 1” evolution), a Squirtle image should found inside Wortortle’s evolution box. However, this error card contains a Wartortle in its evolution box instead.
Found very rarely in Base set unlimited print packs.
Unlimited Blaine’s Charizard (Incorrect energy symbol) #2/132
Incorrect energy symbol placed within the Roaring Flames attack. Fighting energy symbol used instead of Fire energy. Note: the corrected version is significantly more rare than the uncorrected copy. Was corrected only for the unlimited print.
Found within packs obtained from single country code Gym Challenge boxes.
“Ghost” stamp Shadowless Pikachu #58/102
Displays (exclusively) the printing traces of a first edition stamp. Note: This card is technically Shadowless (non-first edition), as its artwork was printed on an unlimited sheet but was imported directly from a first edition Base set sheet. Found only, and very rarely, in the Shadowless variation of the Base set Zap! theme deck.
www.elitefourum.com/t/ghost-pikachu-confirmed/17871/1
“Red Cheeks” Pikachu #58/102
Printed with red colored cheeks instead of yellow. Corrected mid-print, but was highly mass produced. Red cheeks is slightly more rare. Found within 1st edition and Shadowless print Base set booster packs.
Missing/“No Symbol” Jungle cards #1-16/64
Missing the Jungle set (flower) Symbol on the middle right-hand side. Although corrected fairly early, production quantity was extensive. Approximately 1 in 8 Jungle holos are no-symbol errors. Found rarely in Unlimited jungle packs.
More details & photo
Rocket’s minefield (Incorrect description) #119/132
Missing the number “2” within the description, which reads, “If tails, put 2 damage counters on that Pokémon”. Corrected late in production, and thus the corrected version is much more rare. Only corrected on the unlimited print copy. Found rarely in unlimited print Gym Challenge packs.
Sideways Fighting energy Diglett #47/102
Energy symbol for “Dig” attack is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. Found rarely within the Base set 2-Player Starter decks.
Video recording of opening
Missing holo in Evolution box, Zapdos #15/62
Missing the hologram inside the area of the usual evolution box placement. Zapdos does not evolve, however these were mistakenly printed with the hologram area removed for the placement of an evolution box. Found on both 1st edition and unlimited, it was corrected on the unlimited print copy late in its print run. While both were mass produced, the corrected version is slightly more uncommon.
“D.fending” error Beedrill, #16/102
Mistakenly printed with a period inside the word “Defending” in its Poison Sting attack. Written as “D.fending Pokemon” instead of “Defending Pokemon”. Found very rarely within Base set unlimited booster packs.
Misplaced & Shifted holofoil area, Exeggcute, #75/110
Mistakenly printed with the non-holo area over the energy cost for each of it’s attacks shifted slightly downward. Although it was corrected, the corrected version has foil covering the energy symbols completely, which is an additional error since energy cost symbols were not intended to be holographic. Found very rarely within Legendary Collection booster packs.
Zapdos, Articuno, & Moltres Black Star promos, Incorrect Artist, #21-23
Certain early copies of the Legendary Bird promos were incorrectly printed with Toshinao Aoki labelled as the artist, while the correct artist was Naoyo Kimura. Corrected late in their print run and so the corrected versions are slightly more rare.
Mid-Print Production Ink Errors
Ink Smear 1st edition Haunter #6/62
Excessive yellow ink applied to the cards’ mid-left side. Examples of this card have a range of severity. Found very rarely in 1st edition Fossil packs.
Please see the section, “How cards are made” below for an explanation about this printing process error.
Ink Smear 1st edition Hitmonlee #7/62
Excessive yellow ink applied to the cards’ mid-left side. Examples of this card have a range of severity. While similar to the Haunter, this variant is slightly less rare than the Haunter. Found very rarely in 1st edition Fossil packs.
Please see the section, “How cards are made” below for an explanation about this printing process error.
Missing/No “stage” Blastoise #2/102
Ink smear partially or completely obscures the word “stage” on the top right-hand corner. Should read, “Put Blastoise on the Stage 1 card”. Found rarely in Base set unlimited packs.
Dot error Blastoise #2/102
Magenta colored dot found on lower left, just above its Hydro Pump attacks’ energy symbols. Found very rarely in Base set unlimited packs.
Heart “stamp” Clefairy #5/102
Has a pink, heart shaped stamp on the top of the card. Found very rarely in Base set unlimited packs.
Note: In the 1990’s certain “jewelry stamp” kits came with heart shapes (similar to below). This error is likely the result of deliberate stamping of the heart shape on the magenta printing plate.
Black Dot (in description) Clefairy #5/102
Has a moderately sized black dot within the description for its “Sing” move. Found rarely in Base set unlimited print packs.
Blue Ink Hologram Smear, Haunter #6/62
With a range of severity between examples, these errors have a blue ink stain on the lower right side of the holofoil. Found rarely in unlimited Fossil packs.
Scratch 1st edition Holo Pinsir #9/64
A small area of the hologram beneath is revealed in the appearance of a scratch. Found rarely in 1st edition Jungle packs. Only found on the 1st edition variation of the holographic rare.
Krabby, Scratch on Fossil symbol #51/62
Fossil symbol exhibits a small scratch-like error. Found rarely in Fossil unlimited print packs.
Ink bubble Ninetales, #12/102
Has a small missing portion of lettering missing in its name.
Rainbow Ink Smear, Dragonair #18/102
Has a somewhat multicolored ink smear through the word “number” within its Slam attack description. May be found on 1st edition Shadowless and Shadowless cards. Found rarely in Base set Shadowless and 1st edition Shadowless packs.
Yellow Ink smear Snorlax #27/64
Yellow colored ink smear across the middle-left of the card. Found in Jungle unlimited print packs.
“d” edition Butterfree #33/64
An ink defect causes the cards’ “edition 1” symbol to appear as “edition d”. Although the Butterfree is most common with this error, in rare cases other 1st edition Jungle commons have been found with the same defect. Found semi-rarely in Jungle 1st edition packs.
Photo courtesy of CGC Trading Cards
Magenta/Red ink smear on reverse of 1st edition Jungle cards
Magenta colored smear across the reverse of certain non-holo 1st edition Jungle rares. Found in 1st edition Jungle packs.
More details & photos
Line Error 1st Edition Venonat, #63/64
Exhibits a thin black line down the left side of the artwork window. Found rarely in 1st edition Jungle packs,
Photo courtesy of CGC Trading Cards
Blue Flame Magmar, Base set 2, # 51/130
A printing error caused this Magmar to have a moderately sized blue spot next to it’s tail, making it appear that its tail is emitting a blue flame.
“Blue Butt” Vulpix, #68/102
Certian copies of the Shadowless, and Shadowless 1st edition Base set Vulpix have a blue ink stain near the tail of the artwork. Found rarely in Base set shadowless and 1st edition booster packs.
Nintendo black ink dot Charizard, #4/102
(Photo upload pending)
Thick, Thin, Grey/Gray & Smeared Stamp Cards
Across multiple sets, but primarily the 1st edition base set, the 1st edition stamps on some cards may appear to be a lighter than normal, smeared, thicker (bold), or even 3 dimensional. In addition, on the reverse of certain Base set 1st edition cards there may appear to be the light ink impression of a 1st edition symbol, which resulted from an incompletely-dried sheet flat resting atop after printing. A friend has written a very detailed and thorough E4 article about 1st edition stamps here: 1st edition stamp variations - ‘Let’s Iron It Out!’
More details & photos
Mid-Print Production (General) Errors
Misaligned holo, Jungle, Fossil, Neo Destiny Shining secret rares, and Legendary collection cards
On some cards, the hologram is shifted away from the intended hologram area of the card. They may be shifted significantly or minutely, but with nearly every example they are shifted in a vertical direction. While significant examples are ultra rarely found several sets, including Base set, Legendary collection, and Neo Destiny, they are most prominently found within Jungle and Fossil.
Please see the section, “How cards are made” below for an explanation about this printing process error.
More details & photos
“Holo Bleed” cards
At certain angles, the hologram on some of these cards shines through unintended areas of card artwork. This may be limited to specific areas of the card, or can occur across the entire card surface to varying degrees. As this is a printing error found in nearly every set. This holo bleed-through effect is most noteworthy in the Secret Wonders set (Non-WOTC).
Please see the section, “How cards are made” below for an explanation about this printing process error.
(Additional photos pending)
Filler Cards
Filler cards are a type of placeholder that is intended to be either digitally phased out during sheet layout or mechanically removed during the sorting process.
- Grey scale: Had a grey-scale image of the Pokemon cards reverse placed on the front, while the reverse exhibited normal Pokemon card backing.
- Color bars: Has the CMY&K color bars across the card.
- Blank white cards with borders: Exhibits a complete yellow or black borders around the card, but is missing the card artwork.
- Blank white cards with partial borders: Has a partially complete yellow border around the card, but is missing card artwork.
- Blank solid yellow cards: All yellow, from stem to stern.
*Certain holographic and all-white filler cards can be easily faked. For these, see the category near the end of this article.
Crimped Edge cards & other Crimped cards
During the packing and sealing process, some cards were caught between the heat press pads that seal the pack seams together, resulting in a crimp-like impression on the cards. While most booster sealed cards with this error exhibit only very light crimp impressions along the top or bottom edges, some are much more severely damaged. Common and uncommon cards are more at risk of this damage, being positioned at the top and bottom inside card packs, and so are found semi-rarely. Holo and non-holo rares with this error are found very rarely, being located near the center.
Neo Revelation Expanded Hologram area #1-14/64
On certain Neo Revelation cards, the hologram is revealed in areas of the character image which were not intended, such as through the eyes of some Pokemon and in a larger proportion of the background image. Produced on both 1st edition and Unlimited print cards. Corrected copies can be more tough to find.
www.elitefourum.com/t/complete-neo-revelation-error-holo-set/15469/1
((additional photo upload pending))
Partially Non-Holo cards
Some cards have reduced portion of hologram area. These exist very rarely in most WOTC sets, including Base set 2, however they are more notably found in the unlimited print Jungle set.
Please see the section, “How cards are made” below for an explanation about this printing process error.
More details & photos
Misaligned/Mis-cut/Off-center cards
- Off-Center (OC): PSA has deemed an “off-center” card to be greater than the range of 60/40 for a mint condition card.
- Mis-cut (MC): Cards designated this way are loosely deemed as cards with artwork that exceeds the card border.
- Mis-aligned: These cards are best deemed to have drastically differing front-to-back artwork registration, meaning that the front image and rear image centering are centered poorly with respect to each other.
Please see the section, “How cards are made” below for an explanation about this printing process error.
Very Limited Production Error Cards
Inverted WB Kids stamp, Black Star promos #2-5
Stamp is inverted, rotated upside-down, as the sheet went through the stamping machine in the wrong orientation. Copies of these are exceptionally hard to find, and are reported (by a WotC representative) to have a production limit of around 30 for each card.
Missing WB Kids stamp, Black Star promos #2-5
Missing the WB Kids stamp entirely. Certain copies may have an indention (debossing) of a stamp, but with no gold foil.
Crown Royale 2001 Scizor Black Star promo Miscut (French)
Produced by Pacific Trading Cards, this card somehow made it into the Crown Royale sports cards die-cutter.
The “Cigar” Hitmonlee
Printed with a small piece of holo-foil roll embedded below the ink layer.
@KingPokemon “An interesting note. I named it that because I thought it was a cigar band. Later I realized it wasn’t a cigar band (thanks to my Hawaiian brother Keliiahonui). It was part of the company’s logo [Crown Roll Leaf, INC.] at the end of the holofoil roll. But for years cigar hitmonlee was used and the name continued to stick;)”
(photos pending)
“Albino” Zapdos
Completely missing the color yellow from the non-bordered area of the card. Being a part of non-detail critical printing, the yellow bordered area could be printed in advance on lower cost printers to save production cost per hour, but was almost always the last element of artwork printed. While usually this type of card would be suspected of alteration by sun bleaching, since the sun quickly degrades magenta and yellow pigments, and the magenta pigments remain completely intact, this is one of the few that can be verified as authentic.
MTG backed, Square-cut cards (German)
Mistakenly printed on Magic The Gathering card stock.
More details & photos
Non-Holo Base set 2 Charizard
Printed without holofoil. In response to some criticism, CGC posted a detailed explanation of their findings and conclusion, which can be viewed here.
Photo courtesy of CGC Trading Cards
PD (Print defect) 1st edition Base Charizard
Pre & Post Production Test cards
Note:** These are cards that were typically not limited by set production quantities, but were limited only to the extent that their usefulness as a test item was met. The print quantity of these cards may have been extensive or minimal, however ultimately the truth is almost completely impossible to verify. These cards were typically subject to destruction in accordance with contractual agreements.
(Under construction)
STS “miscut” Team Rocket Test card
Printed with holofoil on both the reverse and obverse. Reported to be part of a single sheet, clamped and cut, which were originally used to test how well the gloss coating would adhere to the hologram on the reverse. These are cut slightly smaller and have more rounded corners than standard-cut cards. One Pokemon Tournament attendee claimed to have seen these at the Super Trainer Showdown in New Jersey, thereby giving it the “STS miscut” moniker.
For Position Only (FPO) cards
A test card used to indicate placement and size of artwork on cards prior to their sets’ official print. The bulk of these were sourced directly from a print contractor of WotC. There are a total of eight different artworks of the Expedition set FPO test cards, including an Alakazam, Ampharos, Arbok, Blastoise, Clefable, Charizard, Dugtrio, and a Manhole informational card. An esteemed fellow collector and E4 member has written a very detailed article about the FPO cards, which can be found here: FPO - For Position Only Cards Official Guide
(Additional photo upload pending)
“Matchprint” cards
These cards were used for color proofing before their set officially went into print. Where FPO cards are all about size and placement of the artwork, Matchprints are about the color. Two non-holo Expedition partial sets have been circulated, sourced directly from a print company contractor of WOTC. Of these two sets. Barring another Matchprint card discovery, these remain considerably tough to find.
More details & photos
Cosmos Fossil Holos (English) #1-15/62
In Dec. 1999, WotC switched their holofoil pattern from the Galaxy/Starburst pattern to the Cosmos pattern after supply of the previous pattern began to run out. While the Cosmos pattern was only officially printed on the non-English release of Fossil holo cards during that transition, a small amount were printed with the Cosmos on Englishunlimited print Fossil cards. I have personally seen only three sets of these, one complete and two partially complete, making these cards a very tough variety to locate.
www.elitefourum.com/t/rare-english-cosmos-fossil-holofoil-error-test-run-misprint/22232/1
Complete set
(scan contribution by @aquaz )
Concept/Protoytpe Artwork Blastoise
Lower resolution front artwork with plain holofoil. Square cut with Magic the Gathering reverse card artwork on the rear. Information about the purpose, production and quantity of these is limited. Printed on a test sheet for Magic the Gathering.
More details & photos
Unverifiable Authenticity:
Square cut cards
Although many authentic square cut cards exist, there are also many, many aftermarket hand cut cards in circulation, which are often claimed to be officially printed square mis-cuts from WOTC. In one instance, a source confirmed that once in 2011 and again in 2012, one individual from PA had cards professionally cut from uncut base set sheets with the express intent to sell them as authentic mis-cut errors. After years of aftermarket production the original quantity of authentic copies has been completely diluted.
Blank Holo cards & Blank White cards (without borders)
Certain types of these errors are authentic, but the vast majority are easily reproduced.
- Blank white cards without borders: Commonly faked by alteration of an authentic card.
- Blank holographic cards: Commonly faked through alteration of an authentic holo card. Usually indicated by missing ink.
Below are examples of commonly reproduced/faked cards via post-production alteration.
Pre-release Raichu
Unlimited print Base set Raichu with a green colored “Pre-Release” promotional stamp. Plenty of mythology and legend surrounds this card. As a result of numerous fake copies and resulting scams, the cards authenticity is terminally unverifiable.
Red Stamp Pre-release Clefable
Unlimited print Jungle set Clefable with a red colored “Pre-Release” promotional stamp. Was used to test which stamp color best suited the Clefable just prior to printing, with green being the final chosen color. You might say that this was a pre-pre-release Clefable. Only one copy is known to be in circulation. The owner has chosen not to photograph the card, and so the card cannot be presented as an official test item.
Faded (Sun-faded) ink cards
Certain types of faded errors can be authenticated, while others cannot.
(photo upload pending)
Authentic, but not considered errors
“Shadowless” cards (designation)
Base set cards simply deemed as “shadowless” are not considered errors as they were produced intentionally, and so don’t fit into any category here.
1999-2000 copy-write cards
These are not errors, as they were produced solely to update their copywrite notices, and so these don’t fit into any category here.
This was written by me, for Kenneth, Scott, and Rebekah over the span of about a month as a side project. Hopefully you will find all this info useful!
Thank you’s:
To @fritz , @quuador , @aquaz , @TCAGaming , @papafrankgod , and Gekoyt for your image contribution! Specific image tags will be gradually included:)
Special thanks to CGC Trading Cards for image contribution!
**Note: This guide is currently still under construction:) -It’s just easier to work on while it’s already posted.**If you liked this guide, be sure to tell a friend! 
