In 1999, a entire new generation of Pokemon was being revealed in Japan. This is before the widespread adoption of the Internet. Beckett Pokemon Collector Magazine has a showcase of “100 New Pokemon”, using a set of unofficial drawings including the “Serebii” shown here.
Information from Japan was limited and translation tools were not available. English names for Generation 2 did not exist yet. This was the breeding ground that would lead everyone to call Marill “Pikablu” despite the Japanese name being close in pronunciation (マリル, mariru)
PSA, having been around since 1991, was there to grade cards before English Generation 2 Pokemon names existed. And with limited resources, they tried their best. These classic labels would use the Japanese name of the Pokemon and sometimes use the “DOUBLE WHITE STAR” description. The white stars being the Neo 1 / Neo Genesis logo (Neo Genesis came out at the end of 2000!)
The most iconic (and abundant) “Double White Star” labelled cards are the Neo Premium File 1 cards:
These cards are particularly abundant due to their ability to be easily sold at a premium to the US market. Below is a classic video from the Shop at Home TV show, where Ken Goldin is on the phone pumping these graded cards. The original video can be found on Youtube and has been archived.
Other labels also reference the “white stars” including the Corocoro Marill. The label also uses the classic “Pikablu” misnomer. Southern Island Marill graded back then also carry the Pikablu name and also cards submitted years later under the name before the PSA database was permanently corrected.
Other Neo 1 cards can also carry the “DOUBLE WHITE STAR” description. Some don’t carry the description but still use the Japanese name. Pichu shown below (ピチュー, Pichu)
That video that you dug up makes me cringe. Their attempts at pumping up the cards… lol. The audio is so bad that it sounds like it’s a deep-fried meme. Thanks.
I remember sitting downstairs eating cereal before school watching these for sale, getting so hyped and wanting to buy a set. Then the following summer they were prizes at my county carnival and I spent so much money winning sets with a friend and walking around thinking the premium file was rare and they were DOUBLE WHITE STAR!
The white star birthday Pikachu and Here comes team rocket were a big deal. Then you doubled it with these cards! “Double white star” was the name everyone used at the time. This was the tail end of the 90s craze! When pikablu, togepi and a few other gen 2 Pokémon were new. Basically an extended gen 1 in a way. Crazy how a phrase can take you back!
Great write up and compilation PFM. I didn’t know about these old naming conventions before. Things like this will ultimately become collectible/desirable on their own, as people collect the history of grading.
In coins there is a trend in desirability for older generation slabs, especially a PCGS slab called a ‘rattler.’
I’ve been wanting to upload these for a while now! I remember as a kid seeing this exact issue, with some of the names sticking with me for some time even after the official English names were released. I lost my original copy of the magazine, but back in 2019 I found a nice copy in a comic store for a couple bucks. @pfm , I’m not sure if you want to put these somewhere else, but hopefully they can find a home here somewhere because they’re so darn cool!
The e4 bot just walked me through onboarding!