Three of a Kind - POP Tournament Trio Set

[BANKS]

Trio Collection Goals

I like collecting trios because it feels so good to see them all together in the same place. Below are my trio collection goals. I’d like to collect these in PSA 9 where possible. If you see any of these out in the wild, or if I missed any cool trios, please let me know

Kanto Starters

Base

Vending

CD Starter Promos

Dark trio + 1st stage evolutions

Dark web trio + 1st stage evolutions

Squirtle and Bulbasaur starter deck

Legendary collection - reverse holos

Trainer’s Magazine

Triple Get Campaign

McDonald’s Promos

Quick Construction Deck

Holon Research Ditto Set

POP Series Holos

Crystal guardian reverse holos

Crystal Guardian Prereleases

Black & White Japanese URs

XY1 sr

CP6 sr

Radiant

Pokémon Go Chinese

Classic set

151 alt arts

Johto Starters

Premium Neo File 1

Battle Road 2000 promos

Neo Starters

Neo Dark Starters

Totodile and Chikorita Starter Deck

Dark trio + pre-evolutions

Trainer’s magazine

E1 starter deck

McDonald’s promo

Triple get campaign

Quick construction deck

Unseen forces reverse holos

L1 unlimited

L1 reverse holo

Pokemon Center Free Card Battle award

Legends pre-release promos

Primes JP - reverse holo

Primes EN

Hoenn Starters

Ken Sugimori Rookies

Ruby & Sapphire

POP Winner Trophies English

POP Winner Trophies French

POP Winner Trophies German

POP Winner Trophies Italian

7/11 promos

Gold stars

WB Creator Pack

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Crystal Guardian Reverse Holos

Shogakuen Trainer Promos

Kanto Eeveelutions

Jungle Japanese

Jungle - no symbol error

Jungle - white borders

Legendary collection - reverse holos

Dark trio

Neo light

Trainer’s magazine

World Championship Pack

Japanese Summer Promos

Simplified Chinese Fight Promos

Indonesian Eevee Evolutions Championship Winner

Prismatic Evolutions Poster Collection

Kanto Bird Trio

The Mystery of the Fossils

Red & Green Quick Starter Set

Prototype Tests

Grand Party Promo

WEB series

Trainer’s magazine

Play promos

Supreme Victors Reverse Holos

Supreme Victors Secret Rares

Majestic Dawn Holos

EX Battle Boost Unlimited Reverse Foils

Next Destiny Incomplete Holo Errors

Johto Beast Trio

Neo premium file 3

Neo

Rocket’s trio

Dark trio

EX

Gold stars

Pokepark

Perfect set

Shiny Present Campaign

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VStar Universe Secret Art Rares

Ultra Rares

DPP Shinies

Bagon
Milotic
Relicanth
Voltorb
Drifloon

Promo Cards

Pokemon Snap Best Photo Contest

Daisuki Mythicals ex

Corocoro Strength Campaign

Delivery Promos

Championship Series

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Kanto Starters

Blaziken Evolution Line

Unova Starters

Poliwag

Eeveelutions

Dragonite

Salamence

Garchomp

Luxray

Lake Trio

Aegislash

Energy

Blister Promos

[mrbubbles]

Very nice collection goal. Best things come in 3’s. You will be posting your cards in every dropdown yes?

Some other potential trios:
Creation Trio : Dialga, Palkia and Giratina.
Fighting Trio: Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquaza. (not sure if this is a trio exactly)
Regi Trio

Looking forward to this thread grow!

Cheers!

[BANKS]

Yes I will, currently have some stock images in place but will replace them with my own images as I acquire cards. Thank you for the suggestion. @c0ll3ct0r’s regi-posting has unlocked core memories of finding and catching the regis in Sapphire version. I think they would be great additions to the list.

The weather trio is a given as well as the creation trio, just haven’t done the research yet to know which sets had trio pairings.

[decoypalmette]

Lovely idea, really! Potentially cool even for a binder considering the usual 3x3 orientation. I’ll drop trio ideas whenever I get one.

-the og fossil trio: omastar, kabutops, aerodactyl
-the ugly trio: jynx, electabuzz, magmar
-the og big bugs trio: pinsir, scyther and heracross
-castform forms: sun, snow, rain
-the impossible to pull POP trio: chimecho, sceptile and deoxys ex
-pokepark forest holos: pikachu, torchic, munchlax
-lake trio: mesprit, uxie, azelf
-maybe a symbolic lvx trio, with gen4 starters or legendaries

[BANKS]

I appreciate how creative some of these trios are!
I really like scyther and heracross, and with all the c0ll3ct0r propaganda I’m learning to appreciate pinsir too lol
Great suggestions!

[Frosty.Puppy]

I really enjoyed this thread and looking forward to following your progress! A unique way to share your collection with the drop down lists!

One set I enjoy which is rather underrated is of the Gen 2 starters from the Pokemon center. Not sure if you’re going for all the possible trios or just picking your favourites but thought I’d mention them anyway. Same artwork as L1 but with a big stamp! Love a stamp!
034 L-P Chikorita Pokemon Center Free Card Battle award
035 L-P Cyndaquil Pokemon Center Free Card Battle award
036 L-P Totodile Pokemon Center Free Card Battle award

[BANKS]

Took a look at these, and really like this suggestion. Will add to the list!

Just going for the ones I like right now. As I mature as a collector I have no doubt that these goals will expand!

[Frosty.Puppy]

Just added a picture to my comment to make it easier if anyone else reads it aha.

I think I might have a spare Totodile, if I do I’d love to send you it

[BANKS]

Wow, that’s very generous! And would make this trio all the more special to me. No worries if you don’t have a spare tho!

While we’re on the subject: what do you think are the backdrops for cyndaquil and totodile? Chikorita is in Oldale town posing in front of Professor Elm’s lab

[joponnes]

Really love the idea! I’m very fond of these kinds of goals that fill a row when set up in a binder but i’m sure it will also look awesome when three slabs are next to each others i don’t want to push anyone to add to or change their collection goals but as was already suggested there would be some regi and weather trio cards that would look excellent in a collection like this, so really looking forward to seeing how this collection and your goals shape up

[BANKS]

Do you have regi or weather trio suggestions? I’m looking for sets rn, I like the regi play promo set, considering the god star set

[joponnes]

Not sure how strict you are about what you consider a set but i really like for example regi ex cards from hidden legends with cracked ice foil, and weather trio nintendo black star promos 37-39!

[BANKS]

Those are great trio set examples! I’m also interested in trios with the same illustrator even if they came in separate releases

[BANKS]

Last night I completed this trio with the addition of the feraligatr L-P promo. Initially I got the typhlosion and meganium for less than $100 each, which felt like a great deal, and it made me want to get the feraligatr in a 10 as well, you know “for the set”.

However I coudn’t get the same great deal on a feraligatr as I did the other two, despite the feraligatr being the most abundant of the three. That’s when I had my come to CGCesus moment. Less than the cost of grading for PSA 10 condition, pretty happy with how this trio resolved.

Shoutouts to @rtas for helping me search out this feraligatr since last year!

[rtas]

Congrats on completing this trio! Left the best for last

[BANKS]

Finally was able to upgrade the gatr, updated the main post with the full trio!

[BANKS]

The Mystery of the Johto Gold Star Trio & Miraculous Berry Duo

This trio and duo subset completes a long-time hunt for me.

Berry Duo

When I looked into this Berry Duo I fell down a rabbit hole trying to figure out how these cards were distributed. Pokumon has a great article by @HumanForScale about how these cards were part of a sub-event at the Champion Road 2000 tourney series called “The 3 Win Corner”. If you could win three games in a row, then you would be awarded with a stamped copy of berry and miracle berry promos. The article provides a translation of materials advertising that 100 of each berry promo were given away at each of the eight tournaments in the circuit.

A total distribution of 800 cards strikes me as odd because these promos are readily available. I would be surprised if these were rarer than the present campaign promos.

A Firsthand Account

After talking to @mrbubbles he shared the blog of a parent who was an avid card collector in early days Japan and took his children to events to collect cards and trade. In his blog, he tells the story of how he took his family to the Champion Road 2000 event held at the Osaka World Hobby Fair. His daughter, Asami, participated in the 3-win corner event, but was spacing out the whole time. Eventually, she lost but was given a stamped berry card for her troubles. Meanwhile, the blogger’s son wins three games in a row on his second attempt and earns both berry promos and a darkness and metal type pin badge.

It’s interesting how promotional materials and actual event distribution can differ. In the case of Asami, I imagine the staff decided to give away a promo since they had a stock of 100 and the event capped at 64 participants.

The Mystery of the Johto Gold Star Trio

Now for the mystery of the Johto Starter Gold Stars. The mention of which I have not found in any promotional materials, nor in the blog I linked above. Which is odd because the dad was very interested in collecting promos and likely would have mentioned them.

Theory of Origin

This brings me to my theory that the Johto Gold Star Trio was distributed at the three non-world hobby fair events. The World Hobby Fair events took place in large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, and it was there that promos of the starters labeled “World Hobby Fair 11” were given away. Whereas three additional events were held in the smaller cities of Sapporo, Sendai and Hiroshima.

Pop reports are never proof of anything but here we see numbers similar to what we would expect of promos given away at 5 large WHF events vs a more desirable set given away at three smaller events.

WHF are readily abundant on the market and do not sell for much, so few people bother with grading. On the other hand the gold stamps are hard to find and a greater percentage of them have likely been graded for their desirability.

I began chasing this set after getting back into collecting two years ago. It was only in May of this year that I was able to win an auction for the set. These were the last cards I bought before leaving Japan.

If you have any other clues about the origin of these promos please let me know because I have fun piecing together history like this!

[mrbubbles]

I like the theory and it could well be correct. My personal understanding was that since these were ‘commemorative cards’ they were probably given to people who participated and won the Neo Card pre-release league. These were held at all locations but from the descriptions it looks like it was a corner at the event where people could participate. Meaning, out of all the events, you had to go to this corner and participate in this pre-release league and would get the neo gold star cards. However, still unsure if doing this you were able to get all of the cards, or just one.

Although, I won’t be surprised if the real reason was that there was an abundance of the 11th WHF promos (due to the 4 locations) and most could not distinguish the subtle differences between the 2 copies. So everyone just got the WHF copies unless someone actually knew and was well aware of the differences between them.

Cheers!

[joponnes]

I sure have nothing to add in the theory but i love these long posts of niche japanese promos, and i absolutely love to see more of this three of a kind collection

[BANKS]

Here’s the blurb about the prerelease series from Pokumon for those following along

While vague, it is plausible that the gold stamp promos were given away at this sub-event as gifts. It also makes sense that the organizers would organize a second sub-event parallel to 3 win corner.

Unfortunately, we need more sources to know for certain. I wonder if Dr. Sameji would be willing to talk about it