27 years late, but I have some new evidence of a 5th print run of Base set in the Spanish language.
Spanish was unique in that it had 4 distinct print runs, including two different 1st edition prints not seen with any other Base release. Spanish has a Made in Belgium 1999 1st edition and unlimited release, as well as a Made in USA 1999-2000 1st edition and unlimited release.
There is now proof of an additional 5th uniquely identifiable print run, a 1999 3rd print of Belgium. It is unclear where they come from.
You can see the difference here, these are both Spanish 1999 unlimited cards, the magenta angles are different and the “e” error is present in one.
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I think there’s not enough evidence to demonstrate that in fact there’s a 5th print run of Spanish Base Set …
The images are unclear …
- The first 2 are Latin American Spanish (Made in USA) boosters. This can be distinguished by the “Short Crimp” from the booster.
- The other 2 are Spain Spanish (Made in Belgium) boosters. This can be distinguished by the “Long Crimp” from the booster.
tbh … I don’t see any difference in cards … You’d have to make a comparison with more cards (angle of the last photo doesn’t help) … regarding boosters, back of the boosters might show more differences if a 5th Spanish Base Set print run really exists
I’d like to credit my friend Pokekraken for his amazing video. He made an excellent video about Spanish Base Set.
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The difference on the back is the shadow in the é. @packyman and @Nightvulture often forget that the ‘Belgium back error’ is still a relatively new discovery and not everyone knows what’s meant by that. 
To highlight the difference in the pictures above:
As for the difference in Magenta angles he mentioned, he means the angle the magenta dots in the Rosetta printing dots are printed, which for Pokémon cards are almost always in either +15% or -15% angle, where this would be -15:
And the mirrored version of this (solely looking at the magenta angle) would be +15.
And cool discovery @packyman! So this applies solely to the Spanish unlimited ©1999 cards then? The other three versions (1st ©1999; 1st ©1999-2000; and unlimited ©1999-2000) only have a single distinguishable print run?
I’ve been thinking about trying to get all possible ‘Belgium back errors’ of all Pikachu one day, once I’ve got money and am back on track with my other main collection goals first, so thanks for the info.
Greetz,
Quuador
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Unsure if you can call it a 5th print run(definitely variant tho) BUT it does affect commons and uncommons meaning the stock was distributed between the 2 uncut sheets. Could be rares too but i dont remember if we found them. These error card backs appear on 2000-2008 non-holo printings in Belgium. Holos dont receive it until around 2002-03. If you want a course in all of this, just let me know and ill fill you in
-15 and +15 are easier than throwing 75 out as an angle so i use these. Not wrong, just different.
+15 magenta left, -15 magenta right(w/ error)
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I’m unsure if it can be considered as a “5th print run” as well … (in my opinion I’d consider it as a misprint) …
I didn’t even notice about the shadow in the “e” … That’s new for me …
Yes, I’m interested …
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With how the print runs align, to me, it appears that it’s the end of the +15 and beginning of the -15. I was told when they’re printing, they’re kind of just grabbing rolls off a pile. Basically, first printed does not necessarily mean first used, this could explain the overlap or it could actually be a second print run. Only cartamundi would know.
I cant see what the error is, its only me?
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I dont actually know which is the error, but the shaded part thats circled and circled again.
(Someone should circle inside my circle for triple circleception)
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The missing shade is the “error”. Couldnt tell you if they did it on purpose but definitely couldve been marking their own cards.
For science, the bottom cards have the “e” error, the top do not.
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