Most Interesting Base Set Errors From Vintage Pokemon TCG Cards

With certain Youtubers and celebrities buying and opening up Base Set booster packs and booster boxes, it’s bringing more attention to these vintage Pokemon cards. Something not a lot of people realize is there are a lot of errors and misprints in these early WOTC booster packs. Here are some of the most interesting, weird errors and misprints from the first Base Set Pokemon TCG set.

1. Red Cheeks Pikachu Misprint

Red Cheeks Pikachu is arguably the most famous Pokemon card error, especially in the early days of the Pokemon TCG. These cards were originally supposed to have Pikachu with yellow cheeks. Due to a miscommunication between the illustrator and the printers, these Pikachus had red cheeks. These can be found in 1st edition and shadowless booster packs but in later packs were changed to yellow cheeks. Not only are these more rare but more iconic because Pikachu’s official character design has red cheeks.

2. Diglett Sideways Energy Misprint

Diglett was a common card in the base set but a strange error occurred on the Dig move on some of the cards that were printed. The energy symbol on the first attack listed is rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise. This is a strange and unique misprint as we don’t see this on any modern cards and no information has come out about how this error happened.

3. Ninetales No Attack Damage Misprint

Ninetales is a more rare holo card and even a chase card for many in base set packs but there was a problem with some of these cards as well. It seems someone in charge of designing this card forgot to put the attack damage next to the Fire Blast move. This was probably noticed pretty quickly because back in the day this could’ve caused problems with those who played the TCG, which was very common with kids 20 years ago but now it just serves as a cool collectors item.

Modern Errors & Misprints

Looking for more interesting card errors and misprints from more modern sets? Check out these articles below!