The Pokemon card game was an instant hit in 1999 right out of the starting gate when those very first English packs sold out of stores all across the United States in a matter of weeks. Now almost 20 years later to date a factory sealed English 1st edition base booster box has surfaced selling at auction for a whopping $56,000 this past August. This set featured many “rookie” cards for Pokemon all-stars such as Pikachu, Professor Oak, and everyone’s all time favorite – the all mighty Charizard. When looking at recent sales regarding these original 1st edition cards, PSA 10 examples are ranging from $100 to $30,000 trading everyday online which is how they have earned their nickname “cardboard gold”.
The impressive 1st edition base set was printed four times over the course of a year between 1999-2000 and included many variations, error cards, and corrections as well. For these stated reasons experts are now forging comparisons finding many similarities between the T206 tobacco baseball card set and the original base Pokemon card set only increasing its popularity among collectors. One of the most interesting error cards from the very first printing of the English base set is the Pikachu (yellow cheeks variation) ghost/phantom 1st edition stamp error card. The 1st edition stamp is partially printed, but missing the black ink as you can see in the picture. Other 1st edition stamp errors include grey stamps as well as brilliantly bold black stamps. Arguably the toughest error to come across however is the upside down back error with only a handful known to exist. Attracting Pokemon fanatics and investors alike, it is safe to say that the English 1st edition base Pokemon cards will hold their value and only continue to grow over years to come.
