SMPRATTE where you at?
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This is very interesting, thanks!
This has not gone unnoticed. I don’t remember when I learned about this card but I’ve been aware of its existence for a very long time, WAY before I ever considered entering this hobby.
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Good luck to everyone trying to get it. It’s indisputably one of the most desirable cards.
zenmarket.jp/s/pokemonm/pko_001?id=2741b579-1c2b-41f8-bd2e-97197b94488d
pkonno added a Tropical Mega Battle #2 trainer on his ZenMarket account.
At the moment his pictures don’t seem to be posted properly.
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zenmarket.jp/s/pokemonm/pko_003?id=0f436da5-44a6-4b9f-9a7f-06ed88c0412d
He’s also trying to sell something that he’s advertising as the “first flyer” or the “first leaflet” of Pokemon ever. (Although he’s having issues with pictures again)
Perhaps this is what he’s trying to sell?
I’ve seen some people say this is the first Pokemon-related item ever released.
So I’m not sure if this is what he’s selling or if there’s something extra special about what he’s selling, because he’s asking a pretty high price for it.
Obviously, we need him to properly post pictures.
I’m betting its the card factory No Rarity poster. He has sold a few of those for 120k and 250k yen
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Yeah, you’re right. He’s fixed his pictures for his other listings now.
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What makes that so valuable?
The obvious factors would be that it’s the first publicly released image of the Pokemon Trading Card Game and I’m sure surviving posters are quite rare. Older, rarer, minter, yada yada.
Beyond that, it’s also cool that this is the poster that allowed us to really identify the No Rarities as the earliest print run of the Pokemon TCG, as opposed to No Rarities just being error cards.
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echoing what was said, it’s probably the first poster of the Pokémon card game.
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That card is so pretty, there’s nothing overbearing about it at all. Just very very very pleasant to look at 
Love the look of that card!
Its actually not a poster and quite small about A4 size, it was a flyer handed out during the 4th World Hobby Fair in Tokyo prior to the release in late August 1996.
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Is this site legit? Seller legit?
Anyone have any experience with the platform?
Any information would be appreciated!
Yes.
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Yes, ZenMarket is legit. Usually they are used as a middleman service to buy items from sites like Yahoo Japan. But lesser-known is that they also have their own marketplace, ZenMarket Plus (which is why the Illustrator is available exclusively on ZenMarket Plus right now).
One thing I will warn you of - exchanging messages with ZenMarket support can be painfully slow. Despite the fact that exchanges messages is incredibly slow, inputting money into their system is a fast process as long as you don’t have any issues transferring the money from your savings account, credit card, PayPal, etc. And once the money is in their system (which should happen instantly unless you the money you’re depositing gets flagged for whatever reason) then you will be able to buy the item instantly as well. Once I put in over $20k into ZenMarket, I was able to purchase my Snap Bulbasaur instantly.
And yes, the seller is legit. As I explained in the OP, the seller is “pkonno,” who was one of the creators of the Pokemon Trading Card Game, which is how he has extra copies of all the rarest vintage cards.
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Is anybody else a little bit surprised it hasn’t sold yet?
The majority of people who would be theoretically willing to buy an Illustrator for that amount of money are likely not aware of the listing’s existence.
Combine that with the fact that ZenMarket can be a pain to deal with (extremely poor communication times) and the fact that their system requires that you put 1/4th of a million dollars into their system and pay the 3.5% fee and then still provides no guarantee that you will get the item you want want to acquire.
Having said that, I do think that if someone were to put in the necessary funds to buy the card, it would be extremely unlikely that someone else would buy the card between the moment the funds are deposited into ZenMarket and when they’re able to buy the card. In my experience, the money transferred to ZenMarket immediately and then I was able to purchase the Snap Bulbasaur immediately after that.
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