Never really thought much about this, but I’ve noticed it over the years. ninetales (black flame) was my first holo card, so there ya go. Curious though, which version did Evolutions end up with? Is there a difference between holo/Rev/non in that set? CP6? Or is this only a WotC Base thing?
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Thanks for sharing! Learned something new today 
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@pikachutcg, What cool news!
Thanks for sharing!
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I wish i could upvote this thread like 500 times. So awesome!!! Thanks for all the info!
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Pretty new to E4, but I’m glad to have discovered this forum! I recently graded 2 black flames and they came back as CGC pop 1a & 1b at the time! 1 other CGC 9 with no sub grades has been graded since. I know there are psa 9s and 10s out there. Below are before and after photos (also posted on my IG page)
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Your pictures are too dark to tell
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Just thought I would throw my prized BFN here to help this awesome thread grow. Definitely going to continue looking for Black Flames to add to the collection.
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I really like these types of changes aswell but don’t forget that there are more base set cards that have the black color in their background removed. The biggest reason why Ninetales is interesting is I think because it has both versions in the unlimited print run. Just like Ninetales can two versions be found in the unlimited run for mewtwo and zapdos.
Besides those three there are three others that got their black color in the background changed. They where changed for the 1999-2000 version or 4th print and i don’t think you can find both versions in the unlimited print for these which makes them less special but still interesting I think.
Also note that for Charizard and Alakazam the color of the pokémon power text has been changed from purple to blue for the 1999-2000 print. because they made that change it is possible to find Mr. Mime in the jungle unlimited print with both the purple and blue color variant. this also shows that the base set 1999-2000 version was released after jungle set.
Made these pictures to post in my collection thread but I thought it would be a good idea to post them here aswell because for some reason allot of people know the black flames Ninetales but I never hear people talk about the others (besides of Charizard). Also don’t pay attention to the condition of my cards and the blurr in the pictures please. 
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@pinn033 Wow I never knew this, this is really good info. Makes me question whether or not the Black Flame Ninetales is really even an error then…
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Black Flame Ninetales is not as much an error as it is a very early printing of Unlimited Base Set.
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So we could have 1st ed, shadowless, dark unlimited, light unlimited and 1999-2000.
Hmm, not sure that I would go that far. But it’s funny to know how many “variants” of the same card art exist. 
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Always learning more about what i thought were the basics lol.
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@pinn033 we need names for the other cards like the ninetales.
Not gonna lie, this is somewhat mind blowing. Feels like the Black Flame Ninetales is suddenly a little less special, yet makes the various print runs of Base all the more intriguing. Makes me wonder what’s next to be revealed.
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This is still a “WTF” moment for me. How did nobody realize it affected other cards, then @pinn033 just walks on in here and is like btw everyone, this affects all holos 
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We took for granted. Maybe we should start at the beginning.
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It is said that the base set 2 print is based on base unlimited and legendary collection is based of base 4th print. You can see the changes made for unlimited are present in base set 2 and changes made for 4th print are present in legendary collection. (Nice example is the hp change for vulpix). One that doesn’t follow the rule here is base set 2 Zapdos because that version still has it’s black stripes. This could mean it was just forgotten or that the change was done in a later time I think. I’m certain it is possible to make some sort of timeline with all the changes that have been done throughout the sets although not an easy task. There are still allot of changes that I don’t know of yet or that I don’t quite understand. Like the info given for magneton here in this thread, it’s something that could add to a timeline but one must fully understand these things first.
There have been talks about the black flames/ stripes variations in the FB misprint page but still not many talk about it (besides Ninetales) and I assume it’s because the general collector base doesn’t care to much about these changes/ variations. Maby more will notice because of these pictures but I don’t know, Someone mentioned some changes two years ago and I started to look for differences myself. It’s even possible that there are more but I just haven’t spotted them yet.
@kromaticlanturn I wouldn’t say that the BF Ninetales is less special now because it’s still a rare version that can be found in the base unlimited print and for me that always has been the reason why it’s special.
@JoshsOddCollection this does not affect all the base set unlimited holos, only Ninetales, Mewtwo and Zapdos as far as I know. These where actual design updates being made and it’s not something that happened from the machine process.
@jac2357 there is a thread on the forum about the base 4th print explaining that it’s not the actual 4th print but rather the 12th print or something like that, it’s just a name that stuck to the public. This does show that allot more design updates where done for base unlimited. And also, call em black flames/ black stripes and black waves, no actual name needed. 
Sjees, so much text sorry for that. Hehe
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Shame one can’t like posts multiple times, feels like i’m as excited about your posts here with new info on such old and known cards than the new gen released!
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