Urgh. Do we have to go there?
I’m glad Ed plays ball with me when I need something from him. My understanding is that he rejects quite reasonable offers to hold out for a crazy one in the future. I guess good luck to him, but what I don’t like is good cards not in the hands of decent and honest collectors
Hahaha Nahhh. Anyway I’m just curious about the counts on the other cards? I know we will never be 100% certain (unless media factory releases print records…I’ve tried 
) but its interesting to hear someones else take.
It’s interesting that Yamato is adamant there are three. That makes no sense. I’m guessing something was lost in translation.
PS: feel free to bug Scott to tell the story, but I bet it ain’t interesting 
I can personally only account for 3 copies. 2 of them have traded hands so many times it seems like there is another out there.
I know of mine, the one smason had and the graded copy. So far 3 are accounted for and I have literally seen the same 2 switch hands multiple times.
With that said I do not think there are only 3, but only 3 are accounted for at the moment.
I feel like I have mentioned this before 
…although bulbapedia says there are four, if you check under their illustration contest page.
Oh wow. That is pretty official. I wonder if Yamato meant 3 more copies.
Or that he also knew of three. Lets just say that very few are made and its really expensive 
haha exactly. And I am pretty sure it was not that he knew of three. I think that page on the illustration contests is the best reference so far. Either way, very few very expensive!
very few very expensive and very hard to find is all that counts lol.but seeing yamato say 3 he could either mean he knows 3 people who has it or just 3 in general kinda hard to say since not much is known about this card and who knows if some of the japanese collectors still have this hidden somewhere in the area of japan
I know that 3 have been sold. The one smason had, the graded copy and the one I have.
Yamato did not know where they were. I talked to him in detail and I asked how many copies and he specifically said 3. From that list of winners on bulbapedia the number right now for me is 4. That is the best source at the moment on how many were given out.
guess so but who knows there might be japanese collectors out there in japan who have hidden the treasures of the illustrator.
No there aren’t.
Here is the best resource for how many were distributed.
For those of you with the official pokemon card book 2000, please flip to page 84 (bottom right) and look in the frame. A full set of 1998 trophy pikachu’s and another illustrator. That makes 5. Oh and in the frame under it is a trophy kangaskhan, Kamex computer error and university magikarp.
That could be one of the copies that are in circulation.
And that photo is one of my favorite’s!
Highly doubt it. PCL would never let one that was only printed to be framed out into circulation. That means someone on the inside would have to have taken and sold it…which i’m guessing would be frowned upon. Most likely that card is hanging up in someones office there…just my speculation.
I would speculate the same thing! But it is still speculation. 
We need someone that knows japanese to translate the entire book. I should of asked around at worlds, that will be my goal for next year. Also, PCL needs to release another bible!
Or we can find someone who knows Japanese and translate an e-mail for us and just ask a few questions regarding these ultra-rare cards. Seems like the most direct route to me.
Maybe I will ask Yamato. If we can figure out which pages. Have you seen the one with the GB cards? I am pretty sure they do not exist but I always have a what if moment with them.
We really need a new testament card book. There was a master cd in 2005 that had almost every card but something like that needs to be release by PCL.
Yeah I’m almost 100% that those were never “officially” printed. Whether they were printed and photographed for the book or are just computer generated I do not know. I’m not sure if all of those cards are actual scans if so that means PCL has a copy of each card. I noticed that all the Pikachu’s in that book have the same holo patterns but different text…which leads me to believe that those aren’t actual scans.
Wow, I genuinely thought there were more winners, but I can definitely confirm that list (It’s easy. Just look at the illustrators, all but four are established artists for the TCG)
Four it is, unless winners got more than one copy!
I think Scott is right then. The ‘multiple’ copies I’ve seen are actually the same one changing hands