I’m new here, and hope the experts among you can answer a question I’ve been wondering about for nearly 15 years.
I’m the proud owner of a Japanese “Tropical Mega Battle No. 1 Trainer” tournament card. I purchased the card in 2000 from an employee at Bandai Japan, who previously had purchased it from the player who had won the tournament and card. (I’ve attached a picture of the card sitting in front of my computer screen as I type this, as I’m sure some will otherwise question whether I have this card in my possession.)
My question is, I hope, a simple one: How many of these cards were produced?
I’ve read different numbers over the years — as many as 18, as few as 3. My particular card is encased in a two-inch thick slab of plastic with a gold plate on which the winner’s name and location and date of the tournament (Tokyo, August 4, 1999) is engraved.
Hello, everyone, and thanks for your feedback thus far. It seems like the consensus is that seven of the cards were made. I knew it was rare when I bought it, but I had no idea it was that rare!
The Tropical Mega Battle card is the only tournament card that I own. I do, however, have most (probably all) of the Japanese promo cards made from 1996 through 2001.
In fact, I have multiples of many of them, as I ran a toy store in Tokyo at the time, and also had an online business (pocketmonsters.com). The toy store and website have long since been closed, but I’m still involved in Japan’s manga-and-anime industry (primarily as a publisher of educational manga, including the “How to Draw Manga” series).
I appreciate the warm welcome everyone has given me, and I look forward to reading and posting here!
Thank you for sharing Looking forward to future posts!
There is a lot we are uncertain of when it comes to older Japanese cards. For example the print run of the Tamamushi University Magikarp, the print run/distribution of the 8 lucky stadium cards and the 1999 tropical wind card, and many more.
I hope that if you have any knowledge about older Japanese promos, that you’d kindly share
Hah! That “big Pokemon card store” was actually my humble little Japanime Toy Store in Kawaguchi (just outside of Tokyo)! I got quite a bit of press at the time for purchasing the card.
What’s interesting is that I paid 500,000 for the card. So, I guess the Bandai exec who won the auction ended up not making a profit. (Maybe he felt he overpaid, and wanted to wash his hands of it.)
Small world is right. I had people purchase promos from you in that little store in Tokyo back in the late 90s and had them shipped here to the states. A bunch of b’day pikachus in their sticker packs if I recall right. I was known as garyhaase2001 (after 2001 a space odyssey lol) on yahoo auctions back then plus I was ebaaysbest on eBay. We actually made a lot of money together back then;)
Welcome to this great collectors site.
Here’s a clearer scan of the card, plus an update regarding how I acquired it.
My wife reminded me this morning that while I did indeed buy the card from the Bandai employee, he purchased it directly from the boy who won the card. He then put it on auction, and I was the one who placed the winning 500,000 yen bid.
In other words, the Bandai guy was the one who held the auction.
It was a long time ago … my memory isn’t what it used to be! Anyway, thanks to darkrai, I now know the exact date I purchased the card — July 16, 2000
As for garyhaase2001, I think I remember you, but my memory is a bit hazy there too. I’m glad I was able to help put Birthday Pikachu cards into your hands, though!
