Validating Rare Distributor Issued Cards 2007 San Diego Piplup and 2008 New York Turtwig

General
1

Just wanted to help out on validating some rare, obscure Pokemon cards. Specifically, the Global Distributor Cards of Piplup 2007 and Turtwig 2008.

Here are the pictures of my cards along with the attendee badge issued at both venues.

My recollection of these events is fairly “good” but by no means 100% accurate. One thing for certain is, the San Diego card is definitely the rarest as for the number of attendees.

Here is my recollection of distributors by their accounts that attended:

San Diego – del Coronado Resort:

  • Toy R Us / Kmart: 1 distributor
  • Target / Shopco and other smaller accounts: 1 distributor
  • Wal-Mart, KB Toys, Meijer: 2 different distributors
  • Canada: 2 distributors
  • Hobby Gaming Master Distributors: 3 that I can remember

New York – Westin Times Square

  • Toy R Us / Kmart: 1 distributor
  • Target / Shopco and other smaller accounts: 1 distributor
  • Wal-Mart, KB Toys, Meijer: 3 different distributors
  • Canada: 2 distributors
  • Hobby Gaming Master Distributors: 3 that I can remember
  • Australia: 1 distributor
  • Mexico: 1 distributor

It is not my intention to “pump up” or inflate the value of these cards but to share history, provenance and some insights. So, gauging the true degree of rarity of these cards is very difficult. Of everyone that was at these conferences only 6 out of 9 of the San Diego Distributors remain and 6 out of 12 New York Distributors remain. Of those who attended I have personally only confirmed 1 other person who actually still has a card – the New York Turtwig. I am not sure how many, if any, were given to the TPCI staff who attended.

Something else that adds to the rarity of these cards is the odd way they were given to us. They were enclosed inside the Ultra Pro Premium Card Holder packaging. A lot of people just thought it was an “Ultra Pro” sample and probably never opened the box to see what was inside. And unfortunately, one person I know of took the card out and placed a sports card in the holder – he has no idea where the card went.

As for the third card, the 2009 Chicago Muchlax, I did not attend but there we several more distributors attending that conference than in New York. Also, the “4th” Card of Chimchar was not a “Global” meeting cards and I have no recollection of that card.

And as a point of reference: I am not selling my cards (or my badges :blush:).

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16 Likes
2

Pretty cool that you have the badges that were used at those 2007 and 2008 meetings.

Thanks for sharing the info and pictures (and welcome). :slight_smile:

Greetz,
Quuador

2 Likes
3

So cool! Thanks for sharing!!!

4

Very neat! Thank you for sharing!
As time goes on provenance will be the most important as spect of these cards.

5

Cool to read about something I had no idea existed. Appreciate you sharing!

6

Very nice to see some additional info other than the cards themselves! According to tcggermany, I believe the German distributor should also have been there in 2008.

7

Welcome to the forum.

And who are you?