I recently acquired what I believe to be the only known Pokemon TCG spot color ink reference samples from the WotC era.
Four Koehler Paper Group cardstock draw-downs dated October 2001, two Pokemon Coatable Blue and two Pokemon Coatable Yellow. These are the spot color ink standards that Joy Fortney, WotC’s Director of Quality Assurance, created and distributed to print facilities like PBM Graphics and Cartamundi to ensure color consistency across all Pokemon card production worldwide. Each piece is signed and dated by Joy on the back as her official approval.
The samples were sourced from an official WotC “Harry Potter Trading Card Game Manufacturing Information” binder, which I have attached
Authentication so far:
- Tavis King (Blastoise test print authentication panel) has reviewed and confirmed what these are
- A former PBM Graphics insider confirmed Joy Fortney’s identity and role
- A current Cartamundi Belgium employee who personally knows Joy confirmed her signature
- Leonhart has confirmed this is Pokemon history and expressed interest in displaying in his exhibit at the National Video Game Museum
The JV codes on the labels are ink product codes JVY for yellow, JVB for blue. “Strong” indicates high pigment density. These were the border colors for Pokemon cards, requiring extra color units on the press.
Has anyone ever seen production material like this surface?
I have also included pictures of other Harry Potter items (that i do not own) that were found in the binder.
