Unreleased Pokemon TCG Sets

The Base Set was the first English set ever created in the Pokemon TCG in 1999. Most English sets from this time consisted of cards made for Japanese sets years prior. The English Base Set 2 came out just a year later in 2000. Sadly we never saw the release of a Base Set 3 set but there’s evidence that it was in development along with many other unreleased sets. So why did we never see these unreleased Pokemon cards release and what did they look like?

Jamboree

This set was supposed to feature all completely new cards made by WOTC. Rumor has it that these cards were going to have a cute aesthetic to them. Knowing this, it would likely look similar to Southern Islands which was another set packaged by Wizards of the Coast that had a cutesy art style. The Pokemon Company seemingly didn’t agree with this and didn’t want WOTC making their own sets of Pokemon cards because they cut relations with WOTC soon after this.

This could’ve been one of the reasons why The Pokemon Company stopped their partnership with WOTC and caused a lawsuit between the companies in 2003. It’s thought that they wanted more control over the production of Pokemon cards in the West. Sadly, we’ve never seen art of these unreleased cards. With it being almost 20 years since WOTC stopped making Pokemon cards, if there was art created for these sets we probably would’ve seen it by now. We can only speculate what the cards would look like.

Base Set 3

A Base Set 3 would likely feature iconic Base Set cards such as Charizard while adding new Pokemon that wasn’t in Base Set 1. This is similar to what Base Set 2 did with the Jungle cards Scyther, Pigeot, and others. We could’ve seen Fossil and Team Rocket holo cards in Base Set 3 such as Articuno, Dark Dragonite, and Lapras. According to Bulbagarden, another name for Base Set 3 was CrossTrainer and it was supposed to feature all Pokemon at the time from Bulbasaur (1) to Mew (151).

Legendary Collection 2

The first Legendary Collection set consisted of fan favorite cards from all previous WOTC sets and added special holographic and reverse holo designs to them. A second Legendary Collection set would’ve surely kept this same holographic design and added it to different cards that didn’t get this treatment the first time around.

Whether you’ve been collecting Pokemon cards since the 90s or you just started this year, you may have thought about selling some at some point. A common and reasonable question is how much are my Pokemon Cards worth? When selling a Pokemon card, it’s important to think about yourself and the seller. You want the most out of your collection while the seller still wants a fair deal. Here’s how to find correct prices for Pokemon Cards.

Slabs and Sealed Prices

There are a lot of things listed on eBay and can be confusing to use at first but if you get used to it it’s one of the best sources for finding prices of trading cards in general. This goes especially for graded cards (slabs) and sealed packs or boxes. Just search what product you’re looking to sell, select ‘sold’ and see what that product has recently sold for. You can see this by sorting the results to ‘ended recently’ at the top right. This doesn’t give you an exact number but will show you roughly how much people are willing to pay for that product. You can list on the higher side if you’re looking to get more out of it or list a lower price if you’re just trying to get rid of it quickly.

Single Card Prices

Single card prices can fluctuate a little on platforms like eBay. TCG Player is one of the most reliable sources for directly seeing prices of individual cards. Here you can see prices for each condition. From Heavily Played to Mint condition. If you decide to buy or sell cards here remember that these aren’t graded by professionals so it’s more of a subjective opinion for what the card’s condition is.

If you’ve been into trading or collecting Pokemon cards from the 90s or early 2000s, you may have noticed something. The same two cards from this time period can have completely different values all because of one small symbol. This is the first edition symbol. But why are they worth so much and will we see this symbol in the future?

What are first edition Pokemon cards?

First edition Pokemon cards always have a 1st edition symbol, usually on the lower left of the art. This 1st edition symbol signifies that the card was printed during the first print run of the set. Any cards printed after this first run don’t have this symbol and are called Unlimited cards, which are usually more common. This just means this card is one of the first of it’s kind.

Why Are First Edition Pokemon Cards So Valuable?

You’ve probably seen certain vintage Pokemon cards being valued for thousands of dollars. These are typically first edition cards because they’re usually more rare than their unlimited counterparts. It’s impossible to know how many first edition cards are out there but, especially in the original Base Set, they were printed far less than the Unlimited cards or even Shadowless cards. This makes them more scarce and more desirable by collectors. If you get your hands on a First Edition card, you’ll want to take care of it the best you can.

Will First Edition Cards Come Back?

In English sets, we haven’t seen a first edition card ever since WOTC (Wizards of the Coast) stopped printing Pokemon cards in 2003. Despite it being a long time since then, First Edition Cards coming back isn’t out of the realm of possibility. In fact, since 2003, we’ve seen several first edition cards in Japanese sets so this is clearly something The Pokemon Company doesn’t have a problem with. With The Pokemon Company possibly buying MPG, the ones who manufacture English Pokemon cards, they may implement some changes. Amongst these changes could be bringing back first edition symbols to English sets.

Why Did Wizards of the Coast Stop Making Pokemon Cards?

Whether you’ve been collecting Pokemon cards for decades or you’re completely new to the franchise, you’ve probably seen the famous 1st edition cards and other vintage cards from the 90s or early 2000s. Most of these are WOTC cards. WOTC stands for Wizards of the Coast, which is the company that manufactured English Pokemon cards back in the day and still produces other TCGs such as Magic The Gathering. You also may have noticed that this company no longer makes Pokemon cards. Why is that and when did this happen?

When did WOTC Stop Making Pokemon Cards?

The last Pokemon set that was printed by WOTC was Skyridge in 2003. There were many more sets in the making during this time but production came to a halt when The Pokemon Company decided they didn’t want to work with WOTC anymore and the license was canceled. Most English sets from this time, if not all were just recreations of Japanese sets. Apparently, WOTC wanted to make their own Pokemon cards but it seems like The Pokemon Company didn’t agree with this. Pokemon split off and started printing English cards elsewhere around the same time. This caused a lawsuit to be filed because WOTC felt like their relationship was undermined.

Who Prints Pokemon Cards Now?

A company known as Millenium Print Group prints modern English Pokemon cards but this could change. Lately there has been talk about The Pokemon Company acquiring MPG. The reason for this action isn’t know but it’s speculated that The Pokemon Company wants more control over the printing process of English Pokemon cards. This could help quality assurance and security become noticeably better in the future but we’ll have to wait and see.

The Pokemon TCG has been getting a new wave of popularity the past couple years. With this hype there are a lot of people getting back into the hobby and digging up their old collection to see how much it’s worth. When we were kids we didn’t think much about keeping our cards safe so a lot of our old cards are damaged. This is why good condition, PSA 10 vintage cards are worth so much, they’re even more rare now. Here are some things you can do with your damaged cards.

This is my favorite Pokemon card of all time. I remember crying when I was a kid because I accidentally left it out in the rain and it's been damaged ever since. Today I finally got one in good condition and it feels good 🙂#Pokemon #PokemonTCG pic.twitter.com/KEX2tb1N3Q

— PokePatch (@PokePatchNews) April 22, 2022

Damaged Pokemon Cards

A lot of people ask how to fix damaged Pokemon cards. For the most part, damage to trading cards can’t be “fixed” but there are steps you can take to make it more appealing and prevent further damage. Tears, scratches, and discoloration cannot be reversed. However, there are remedies for smudges, dirt, and bending. You always want to make sure to use the safest methods for cleaning your Pokemon cards as you don’t want to cause more damage. This includes using a q-tip or soft cloth that won’t cause scratches. Gently clean the surface and avoid rubbing any holographic parts. The Holo part of Pokemon cards scratch the easiest.

A major step you want to take is getting the right materials to keep your card safe. This means sleeves and top loaders. Card sleeves prevent them from getting scratched while top loaders provide support so the card doesn’t bend both of which can be found online or at your local card shop for cheap. After you have the proper protection for your cards and you’ve cleaned them up, you should decide what to do with them.

Keep or Sell?

This is a tricky question. The decision to keep or sell your damaged cards is based on how attached you are to the card. One thing you should keep in mind is that damaged cards are worth significantly less than the mint value. For this reason alone, if you have any sentimental attachment to the card, it’s probably best that you keep it for yourself instead of searching for a quick buck. You should not try to hide damage when selling cards because you’ll only disappoint the buyer and face possible repercussions from the platform you’re using. Another option is trading. Trade your rare card for other rare cards and eventually you might trade up to something worth a lot more than you originally had.

Pokemon TCG Quality Control Is About To Get Better. According to PokeBeach, The Pokemon Company is considering buying Millennium Print Group. This printing company is the one that Pokemon has been partnered with for years to print English booster pack sets for the Pokemon TCG. This acquisition would allow The Pokemon Company to have more control of the operations and could change a lot more than you’d expect. Here’s what changes are possible if The Pokemon Company buys Millennium Print Group.

Pokemon TCG Quality Control

Pokemon cards have grown rapidly in popularity the past couple years. Pokemon has secured it position, once again, as the best trading card game out there. At the time time it’s become infamous for the amount of damaged cards that get put into packs. Every new set that comes out nowadays, we see tons of fans sharing the damaged and error cards they found. There are tons of collectors that like these cards but for the average enjoyer you don’t want to pull a really rare chase card only for it to be damaged or crimped. The Pokemon Company having more say in what Millenium Print Group does would allow them to reduce the amount of damaged product going out to consumers.

Pokemon TCG Security

It’s also been speculated by fans that this change will improve security for the manufacturer. Leaks have become a normal thing when it comes to upcoming Pokemon TCG sets. A lot of things start as rumors but there have been plenty of times we see photos of unreleased cards or pack art. Though, this is sometimes from promotional material we suspect it could be people working with the cards directly as well. If this is the case, The Pokemon Company might want to crack down on how tight there operations are so no more leaks happen. This will keep customers surprised when new sets are announced.

Older packs are becoming more and more scarce and expensive. Right now, a single Evolutions booster pack goes for about $20. If you want to open multiple of these packs, it can get expensive really quick. Luckily there’s a cheaper option. At certain dollar stores, you can find mini booster packs that only have 3 cards in them. They usually retail for a dollar but since Evolutions isn’t being printed anymore the current value is about $8. That’s less than half of the price of a normal booster pack. Even with this major price decrease, are these 3 card packs worth it?

Pokemon 3 Card Pack Pull Rates

The pull rates on these 3 card packs seem to be pretty random. Some collectors have reported getting secret rare cards just from a few packs but there are others that open dozens and get close to nothing. The best we can go off of is mass openings from YouTubers. A couple years back, Leonhart opened a case of Unbroken Bonds 3 card packs. Out of a total of 96 packs, he pulled 20 reverse holo cards, 4 rare holos, and 3 rare holo GX cards. The normal pulls rates for Unbroken Bonds state that you should get a Rare Holo GX every 10 packs on average. This lines up pretty well if 3 card packs cost 3x less than normal boosters, then you should expect about 3x less pulls.

Unbroken Bonds 3 card pack Pull Rates

• Reverse Holo 1:5
• Rare Holo 1:24
• Rare Holo GX 1:32

Are Pokemon 3 Card Packs Worth It?

If you’re looking to open a lot of booster packs for cheap just to have fun, then these are definitely worth it. You never know what you’re gonna get. At the same time, you risk not getting anything. Normal booster packs have some guarantee that you’ll get something. Especially if you’re opening something like a booster box or ETB because they can’t be weighed by the seller. The best video for seeing what I mean is PokeRev’s video on YouTuber where they open multiple cases of these 3 card boosters and rarely pull good cards. In an entire set of Cosmic Eclipse they get 4 reverse holos and 1 secret rare. That’s 1 rare card out of 96 packs, which is something that would never happen with normal booster packs. This leads me to believe they’ve been weighed, which is something that’s sadly done a lot with these small booster packs. Since they weigh less, it’s easier to determine if it has a heavy card in it or not. Keep your expectations in check when opening these packs because you may get scammed.

Fans of the Pokemon TCG are currently waiting on the upcoming Astral Radiance set to release next month. With this down time, many collectors are going back to past sets to finish up collections and open packs. There are some sets that we see in stock all the time but they’re not usually what fans really want. Luckily, we’re starting to see some of those high demand sets come back.

Evolving Skies Restock

Sightings of Evolving Skies blister packs in stores have become more frequent! This is something fans have been waiting for for a while. Evolving Skies didn’t start as one of the best Sword and Shield sets when it first released but with how many chase cards are in it and how scarce they’ve become, it’s become incredibly hard to find any in stock. We haven’t seen Evolving Skies ETBs or other boxes in stock for a while but hopefully now that we’re seeing more singles on shelves, we’ll soon see more Evolving Skies products in stock later this year. It seems like the wave we’ve seen isn’t huge but we’re sure one will come soon.

Cosmic Eclipse Restock

Compared to all the other Sun and Moon sets, besides the base set, Cosmic Eclipse seems to be getting special treatment as we’ve seen it in several products recently released. From mini tins to Pokeballs and now the new Arceus figure boxes, Cosmic Eclipse has stuck around and fans are thankful. They were very hard to come by before and now they’re in official products again! Being one of the best Sun and Moon sets, this is great news for all collectors.

Vivid Voltage Restock & Shining Fates Restock

If you’ve been looking at what’s on the shelves lately, you may have noticed there’s a lot of Vivid Voltage ETBs and Shining Fates boxes in stock. We suspect that this may be the last big restock or reprint for both of these products. With Sword and Shield coming to an end and Scarlet and Violet starting next year, The Pokemon Company probably wont keep these around for long. Shining Fates is considered a special set, similar to Hidden Fates and the last big restock for that was only a year after it released. Shining Fates is already coming up on that time so buy them now while you can!

The past couple years we’ve seen a huge rise of popularity around the Pokemon TCG. With this rise of demand also came with more people doing giveaways on social media for Pokemon cards and sealed boxes. Most people that do these giveaways are genuine. Maybe they’re trying to build a community or just help out other collectors get cool cards. The sad reality is, some people that host these giveaways have bad intentions. Recently a few people have been called out in the Pokemon community for hosting fake giveaways or just blatantly trying to scam people. Here’s how to avoid scams and fake giveaways.

Spotting Fake Pokemon Giveaways

The first and easiest thing you can do is reverse Google search the image that the host posted. This will show you if they actually took the picture themselves or just grabbed it off Google images. This doesn’t always mean the giveaway is a scam but it’s more trustworthy if they take the picture of the product themselves.

The second thing to look for before entering a giveaway hosted by someone you don’t know is look at their past giveaways. Looking at precious giveaways will show you if they’re fulfilling their promises. The winners shouldn’t be all new accounts that the host could’ve created as well.

Lastly, a well known scam through these giveaways are shipping costs. Never pay for shipping costs unless you really trust the person you’re talking to. There have been countless accounts that will message every giveaway participant, telling them they’ve won and all they need to do is pay a few dollars for shipping. Once the person sends the “shipping cost”, they get blocked or ghosted. They’ll do this to hundreds of people until they run out of people to scam.