I’ve been trying to figure this out the last couple of days. I asked in another ongoing topic of mine but it’s only tangentially related and my interest is only growing.
We all know vintage JP Pokémon cards did not have set numbers. But there is a known set sequence, which you can find on Bulbapedia:
The Japanese release are ordered by the types first, then ascending rarity (Rare and Rare Holo are considered the same), then National Pokédex number, followed by Trainer and Energy cards.
And while I am sure this is true, I’ve been wondering how we have this information. Does anyone have any examples of Japanese set lists where this sequence was taken from? I’m sure there was documentation for collectors of the era and I would be interested in seeing it.
Do you have or know of any officially Japanese set lists from the first TCG era?
There is no official Japanese set list a part from pokedex numbering and ordering by type, setlist order is a western concept that was adopted later on the Japanese side.
This is probably the earliest evidence of ordering by type:
@shizzlemetimbers , Excellent, thank you, this is the kind of thing I was hoping to see.
This categorical sorting is similar to the Bulbapedia sequencing, but Bulbapedia has the additional criteria of rarity added to the mix. The alleged Japanese set order is very specific, and consistent on all of Bulbapedia’s articles on vintage sets, and it is distinct from modern set numeration.
Obviously it is possible that Bulbapedia is wrong - but this is information that’s been posted and taken for granted for probably 20 years. Bulbapedia is usually pretty stubborn about only including “official” information, even to the detriment of their website, but perhaps this predates their rigidity. But many collectors use this set sequence and this is often how complete sets (or partially complete sets) are organized when I see them for sale.
I don’t think I am so bold as to claim the presented Bulbapedia set sequence is a fabrication, but I do remain suspicious of its source.
I know I am seemingly the only person invested in this massive, generational conspiracy, but I’ve spent the last week trying to find a source for the alleged set order as presented by Bulbapedia and I still have nothing. The only thing stopping me from writing it off as a lie that stuck is that I occasionally see Japanese sets from Japanese sellers that utilize this set order. While it’s possible they are also getting it from Bulbapedia, it seems more likely they would be using a resource in their own language and perhaps that one is better sourced.
Still looking for the truth. The truth is out there.
I’ve only shown in detail here all of the pages of the vol 1 of this series of booklets regarding Neo Genesis, which itself was an insert into Volume 6 of the Pokemon Card Trainers Magazine from 2000. Vol 2 of these booklets lists the Neo Discovery set and vol 3 of these booklets lists the Neo Revelation - let me know if you want the contents of vol 2 and 3 uploading as well.
THANK YOU! This is big news. I actually have all the trainer mags en route so I haven’t been able to review them yet. Seeing this in here is very exciting.
