I think my first pack was Base Set Unlimited, Winter 1999.
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My first pack was actually a tin- this one to be exact (and yes, I still have mine):
These weren’t my first Pokemon cards by a long shot- my mom was really into garage sales, and she found a lot of cards for cheap that way since she knew me and my sibling loved them. I also had a handful of cards I just found on the ground or traded for or what have you, but the Empoleon Lv. X tin was the first time I ever opened packs and had brand new cards all to myself. My parents couldn’t really afford packs when I was really little, but this one was a birthday present- I was absolutely over the moon.
Afterward, my mother discovered Kmart had discounted older packs (mostly ex-era) for $2 each, which were cheaper than the most modern stuff at the time, so my sibling and I spent birthday and Christmas money opening a lot of ex when we were kids. We had no idea what sets had what cards, but we had a ton of fun.
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Two Base unlimited Blastoise packs in fall 1999. I pulled a Magneton from one of them.
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Mine was exactly the same. I didn’t understand the difference between decks and booster packs. I was disappointed with all the doubles in the starter deck.
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Base set unlimited packs. Probably 3 or 4 packs if I had to guess. I pulled several shadowless cards as a kid. (I never saw any 1st edition Base set.) I believe the first holo I pulled was a Clefairy. And here is the exact card in my original binder:
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My brother and I saved up money and bought a pack of Jungle each. He pulled a holo Flareon and I pulled a holo Snorlax. I later traded him some chicken nuggets for his Flareon. I would later return and buy a could Base and Jungle packs. I would drool over the Charizard they had in the case.
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When I was a kid, my parents bought my brother and me a Base Set pack while shopping in either BHS or Woolworths. I couldn’t wait, so I opened the pack right there in the store, walking down a long flight of stairs toward the exit. Inside was a holo Raichu!
Later, at my local play park, an older kid convinced me to trade it for his Dewgong which he claimed was rarer. I believed him and I learned a hard lesson that day.
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I don’t remember exactly my first pack, but I know the first bunch of packs I opened were base shadowless, and I pulled a Venusaur. Still have it because that was my first holo.
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Looks like the cards released in North America in 98, so I’d have been 10. First edition base would have been my first packs. Either bought from EB games? in the mall, or 7/11.
From the base set holos I only had Celfairy, Chansey, Gyarados, Hitmonchan, Mewtwo, Zapdos, and Blastoise (which was totally outshined as I pulled it right before my friend pulled the Charizard.)
All I ever wanted was Venusaur 
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The two player starter deck was my first. I played the game as a kid and would get pissed when I lost. So I’d only get the decks. I got a few base shadowless packs and opened the 3 and didn’t pull anything cool or worth using or a holo. I remember getting yelled at for screaming “this is why I wanted the Blackout theme deck because it has good cards. I didn’t get crap out of these”. I was told to be grateful and not complain, it’s just a game. lol think it’s kinda pushed me away from booster packs all my life. I rarely open modern. I just buy the card I’m looking for which is pikachu cards that come out or a cool modern card. I don’t collect sealed anything. Yugioh was different. You had to rip packs or trade bc the decks they released were crap.
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The first was definitely an unlimited base set pack back in 1999 at 7 years old. That said, I had a few shadowless cards in my binder so at some point I must have gotten a shadowless pack in hands as well.
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It was the 2-Player Starter Set for me - unbelievably, my local game store (which mostly sold board games and puzzles) had these in stock in 2007. I still remember how the cards smelled, and how solid those marble-style damage counters were!
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I was 10 and obsessed with the anime/video game when base set hit the US. I remember being so disappointed because I couldn’t find the packs anywhere then one day my father came home with a shadowless pack for me and I pulled an Alakazam. Still have it to this day and still one of my favorite Pokemon!
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My first ever pack was from a burger king happy meal in 2008, this was my first time ever exposed to Pokemon and I got the dialga box and pulled the reverse Pikachu. I went home and my older brother gave me a ton of WOTC cards. I recently got the card in a psa 10 and it was unreal how much I paid because it’s really rare (POP 6) and took years for a 10 to pop up. I even tried buying these and grading myself and sunk hundreds before one came about. My actual first pack, mysterious treasures from the CLAIRES little girl jewelry store during a Christmas event.
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My first pack was HS Unleashed, I remember a Cherubi and a Lucario being in it. I opened it right in front of the stationary store where my mother got it from. At the time I was seven years old.
As a very new collector my first pack was from the Pokemon Go ETB just 2 weeks ago!
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My first pack was Base unlimited and I don’t honestly remember what I pulled. I do remember the last series of packs I ever opened as a kid so I’ll share that story instead.
My mom had taken us to Target for some reason or another. I remember going by “the card aisle” near the front and saw there were Pokémon cards in stock. There wasn’t much to choose from though and I grabbed a third party repack of 6 base set boosters. My mom wasn’t that interested in getting it for me, but I was able to negotiate by saying “it’ll be the last packs I ask for EVER”
I vividly remember getting home and having to open the clamshell packaging with scissors while not trying to damage the cards. Once opened, I went through each pack. Inside the first pack was an unlimited Blastoise (which I had never pulled or owned). Inside the last pack was an unlimited Charizard (also never pulled or owned) which caused me to absolutely lose my mind with excitement. I think my childhood brain might have been permanently fried from the dopamine of that pull, because opening packs has never felt the same after that.
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This is crazy!! This is literally exactly how I started in Pokemon too and have shared my Turtwig I got from that same promotion numerous times here (so happy I still have it). Because of that promotion I got super into Pokemon and Secret Wonders was my first pack and never really stopped 
Awesome Pikachu! I’ve always considered going for the Turtwig. Never thought I would find another person that was introduced through that (what are the odds)!
1st Edition Fossil pack in spanish, pulled Hitmonlee. My best pack pull back in the days was an unlimited Dark Blastoise at a shopping mall in Argentina called Alto Palermo, still remember the card store located where the food court is now. Good’ol days.
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If we’re talking first sealed product, then it would be the Starter Deck with the holo 1st ed Machamp. For booster packs though, it was Fossil. I remember the whole thing very vividly. Walking into the comic shop, seeing all the kids huddled around the display of singles, seeing non-holo Fossil Raichu and falling in love. Most of the singles were too expensive, so my mom bought me one pack of fossil and a couple cheap singles. I actually can’t really remember the rare I pulled, but a non-holo Aerodactly comes to mind. I def remember feeling disappointed that I didn’t pull a Raichu.
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