For most pokemon TCG sets 1st edition cards are rarer and shorter printed than the unlimited printing i.e. WOTC base set. However sometimes the unlimited print is shorter printed than the first edition set and therefore rarer. The goal of this thread is to catalogue which sets had shorter unlimited print runs than their 1st edition prints. Please share your knowledge of short unlimited print sets, ideally with a source to verify, and I’ll collate all of the information into a Google sheet for communal reference.
I’m aware of the old E1 unlimited thread. I’ve been told by several community members that it’s quite old and inaccurate based on what we know now. Ideally this thread will expand our communal understanding of short printed unlimited sets as a whole.
Japanese XY8 (Blue Shock/Red Flash) had a notoriously short unlimited print run, to the point cards are extremely hard to find now.
I don’t have a specific source on that handy at the moment, but I feel like it’s one of the more well-known short runs. Species collectors especially will feel the pain of hunting the unlimited variants.
Yes, that’s true … However, please consider that not every E1 e-card was found as Unlimited variant (E1 Unlimited is something that, unfortunately and for the misfortune of our people, it hasn’t been well preserved … However, there’s a list of E1 cards that were found as Unlimited variant
Please consider that E1 Unlimited Ponyta is NOT rare. It came as an insert of “Card Info Vol.4” (2001) … you can find it relatively easy.
About other sets, several collectors have pointed me that L1 is also extremely hard to find as Unlimited variant due to the low POP. If I’m not wrong, only 5 cards from the set were released as Unlimited variant: Johto Starters (Chikorita/Cyndaquil/Totodile) that were released via Lottery and Lugia & Ho-Oh LEGEND that was part of a Special Campaign. ( Please, correct me if I’m wrong in something)
Several collectors have pointed me that L2 , XY2 and XY3 are also hard to find as Unlimited variant … not as much as L1 Unlimited, but it’s something that doesn’t spawn for sale every day …
What I’m kinda unsure is about WCP … I’ve heard that is kinda rare to find as Unlimited …
Additionally Dutch Fossil. For Japanese WCP, all Legend series sets as well as pretty much all BW and XY sets should be rarer in unlimited afaik (although how much rarer and if unlimited even exists at all varies by set)
I’m ready to be wrong, but I would hazard a guess that actually the majority of sets have rarer unlimited print runs compared to 1st edition. I’ve done no research on that, but off the top of my head it seems most Japanese releases that have 1st edition variants are such, as well as all Base set releases excluding English
I remember reading a thread a long time ago on here that this applies to the Japanese Web series. I’m not sure though if it’s all of them or just some of them.
It’s a great idea to collate the knowledge in one place. The understanding of the rarity of unlimited sets vs 1st edition (mostly for Japanese) exists currently in a number of threads on E4, and you really have to dig through them to get a better understanding of what’s going on (the unlimited E1 thread, for example). It would be great to just have it all in one digestible article.
As others have said, Korean Base Set and Japanese WCP, L1 (just a few cards exists as unlimited), L2, L3, E1 (also just has a few cards idemtified as existing as unlimited), XY8, and XY10 are generally the more notorious sets that I’m aware of.
I have read that it is all across the board. The things is that unlimited is just slightly rarer than the 1st edition, so it seems like the cards are almost available in equal quantities. It is hard to establish just how rare the unlimited is from the 1st edition for the WEB series.
I’ve seen you mention this one, but it wasn’t one that I was aware of. I’ll have to try to remember this one when unlimited vs 1st edition discussions come up (or if I see a species collector doing all languages).
Sorry to post a third time, but I was looking for @Quuador’s post in a thread that I often reference for Japanese unlimited vs 1st edition.
From the thread below, it seems like XY9 and XY11 might also be harder to find in unlimited. Not sure how they compare to XY8 and XY10 though.
Aside from the massive thread on unlimited E1 on E4, pichufan has also put together a blog post about unlimited E1 here. As far as I know, it mostly summarizes all the information that was gathered in the E4 thread. I don’t think any new information has surfaced regarding the release of the cards.
These are the best sources I am aware of. (All of them originating from E4, of course)
Is someone aware if the japanese EBB is more rare in unlimited than in 1st ed? It took a noticable time searching for the copies i needed from the set. Maybe worth to mention that at least in korean EBB there apparently was only 2-3 reverse holos per booster box so not sure if it also applies to japanese (or even english, the reverse holos from the set seem to have more value than average reverse holos?) but if unlimited is more rare that may seriously affect the hunt for unlimited reverses from the set. Korean EBB only got released in unlimited tho so no difference there for this topic.
Anecdotally, I think @royoboy (Shuckle collector) ran into a decent amount of trouble finding the unlimited reverse from EBB. I don’t knoe anything definitive though.
Unlimited WCP is indeed extremely rare and scarce and the rarest PCG series (even in 1st ed). As you said and others unlimited L2 and L3 are very rare too along with some XY expansions.
Hard to make a ranking they are all so hard to find. I would say that it is more difficult to have a full set of unlimited L2 and L3 but only because there are the reverses and more cards. Unlimited WCP is basically as difficult but there are fewer cards.
I am personnally doing the full unlimited WCP set for 2 years and only miss 9 cards (3 pokémons and 6 trainers/energies…).
I did a lot of research regarding unlimited WCP and its scarcity is linked to the fact the whole expansion (with 1st ed) got a very special way of release :
on internet during a 15-day presale period
and during venues : Summer Battle Road 2007 (1st ed), Winter Challenge 2007 (1st ed ?, unlimited ==> got one piece of information but need more proof) and Spring Battle Road 2008 (unlimited, 3 of the 5 venues got cancelled because of bomb threats so only 3 days took place)
Also, it is a PCG expansion (found the proof last year on an official flyer) but was released after two DP series got released ==> Japanese players were not really interested in buying it
The top most scarce sets in unlimited for their respective era are below. These cards are either released or unreleased, set cards or promos. Some are harder to distinguish what category they fall into, all appear as set cards though.
I have always found the Japanese BW sets to be more plentiful in 1st edition, but perhaps that is more telling of the interests of collectors on North American marketplaces rather than print quantities. Admittedly I have never spent much time on Japanese marketplaces browsing for them.
e-card was found as Unlimited variant (E1 Unlimited is something that, unfortunately and for the misfortune of our people, it hasn’t been well preserved … However, there’s a list of E1 cards that were found as Unlimited variant
Please consider that E1 Unlimited Ponyta is NOT rare. It came as an insert of “Card Info Vol.4” 