WCP is actually a PCG era series

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Hello everyone,

I wanted to share a recent discovery with you.

As you may know, World Champions Pack (Ex Power Keepers) is a pretty strange series because it was first released internationally and only after in Japanese.

One of the reasons for this is that the series contains several cards that had already been released in Japan in promotional form, such as the 3 Evolitions Star cards, which were released as Promo Plays in Japan.

However, Pokémon Japan quickly realized that there could be a problem with the international release of this series: Japanese players could be disadvantaged in international Pokémon tournaments!
That’s right, because the release of this series gave to a lot of people cards that were previously only owned by a few lucky (and gifted) Japanese players.

It was therefore decided to release the WCP - World Champions Pack - series in a bit of a hurry (so you understand the name now, “the world champions pack”)

This series was released in Japan after 2 Diamond and Pearl series had already been released.

So people (and Bulbapedia for example) considered this series to be a « special » set that was not really a part of the PCG era.

But yesterday I found this WCP flyer/ad on Mercari (EDIT : up to date picture that I took when I received it) :

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IMG_11443024×4032 3.14 MB

Here it is in high resolution :slight_smile:

31-AC40-C4-772-B-43-CD-BA3-F-A2-F220-DBD325

This was the first time I saw this paper ! I instantly bought it and translated it with DeepL and Google Lens + edited by myself :

IMG-0376

It is clearly written that WCP is a PCG series !

One can read :

“This product is not part of the Pokémon Card Game DP series currently on sale, but is part of the ‘Pokémon Card Game’ series”.
(Best translation from DeepL)

So we have official confirmation that WCP is indeed a PCG era series!

It also says, roughly speaking, “for you aiming for the world championships”, which confirms, even if there was no longer any doubt, that this series was intended for gamers who might find themselves at the world championships.

I don’t know if you’d seen this flyer before, but I think it’s crazy that I’ve only just discovered it, and I’m super glad I was able to buy it

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I’m glad to see it has went to a deserving home. I too purchased this on Mercari last night and woke up to a cancelled order email today. I really wanted the unlimited booster pack that came with this. The poster is a great piece of history for the set.

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Oh I am sorry you got your order cancelled because of me :frowning:

I actually already have an empty unlimited pack in near mint condition (and not flattened) that might interest you. Or maybe you prefer the one on this sale ? Maybe we can arrange something if you want.

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What a coincidence. Yesterday I was thinking about this product. I was interested in the salamence ex that can be pulled from this and I’ve even seen an unboxing on yt lol
I think people hated this at the release? I read on some old E4 topic that it was considered the worst product ever made by japanese people at the time

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This is my favourite Japanese set because of its crazy release and rarity. Unlimited WCP is one of the three rarest Japanese sets and was only available during Spring Battle Road 2008 which saw 3 of its 5 venues cancelled because of bomb threats.
I found out that it might have also been available during Winter Challenge 2007.

For example the 3 unlimited gold stars are the rarest psa 10 Japanese gold stars (there are more psa 10 Japanese Umbreon star)

And yes it was pretty unpopular back then. I think it’s mostly because two DP sets had already been released

There is a full 1st ed WCP box break on YouTube if you are interested.

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I just found out about this set and have been searching “power keeper japanese” lmao glad I can learn new stuff every day on here. I just got the shiftry ex but its been 5 weeks Im worried i might not get it lol.

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Do not hesitate to send a message if you want more information about this set !

And good luck for your search :slight_smile:

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Does anyone know if the unlimited of WCP is harder to find than 1st edition. I just won a WCP Riachu and its unlimted but all other relative post or cards I can find are 1st edition just wondering.

Edit just saw above it is more rare. That makes me super exicted now!!!

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Screenshot_20230818_200812_Chrome
Screenshot_20230818_200812_Chrome1080×2316 168 KB

This is the card I was discussing

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Unlimited wcp is basically as rare as set cards go, congrats for nice catch!

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Yes unlimited WCP is extremely rare compared to 1st ed ! (Read above and also other topics for more pieces of information).
Congrats for the Raichu, I also have it in unlimited psa 9, it’s beautiful, one of my favourite artworks of the set :heart_eyes:

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The holo patterns on the gold Star Eeveelution trio from WCP are incredible

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IMG_23353873×2312 2.62 MB

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A little update

Today I received these World Champions Pack boosters. One is 1st edition, the other is Unlimited.

I was excited to purchase a lot which contained the unlimited pack in particular to go along side my unlimited WCP set although, I wasn’t quick enough!

I’d like to publicly thank @gaano for being an honest and truly upstanding member of the community. I don’t tend to use the C word but honestly, it feels like it is today.

They’ve gone above and beyond to help me secure what I was after and I’m thankful to them for helping me out!

Cheers!

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IMG_92942602×2072 1.25 MB

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I am so happy I could help you secure these packs.

When you answered on this topic that you also bought the lot with these two + the flyer but that I bought them first because I used another proxy, I really wanted to help you get them :slight_smile:

You too are a great person in this community and I hope we will keep talking together !

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This is quite a cool discovery! I wasn’t even aware there was contention if it was a PCG set or not. I just assumed so! Thank you for sharing!

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Thanks !

Yes a lot of people considered it was a special expansion. Maybe because they took into account what Bulbapedia said (and still says) which is : « It was released as a special set during the DP Era of the Pokémon Card Game in Japan. »

EDIT : I modified the Bulbapedia articles.

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Hello ! Just a little update to inform you that I have added a high-res scan of the flyer + a better translated picture based on this high-res scan :slight_smile:

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