Before the Base Set: The Very First Pokemon Cards in Japan

The timeline at a glance

1. February 27, 1996Pokemon Red and Green launch (Game Boy)

   It all starts here. Satoshi Tajiri creates the video game that would become a worldwide phenomenon. The original 151 Pokemon are born. The cards would come later.

2. September 1996Bandai Carddass — The world's first Pokemon cards

   Bandai releases the Carddass Pocket Monster series through vending machines. 5 cards for 100 yen (~$0.80). These are not playing cards — just collectible cards featuring Ken Sugimori's original illustrations.

3. October 20, 1996Japanese Base Set — Birth of the Pokemon TCG

   Media Factory publishes the first true Pokemon trading card game. 102 cards, including the legendary holographic Charizard (Lizardon). This is the birth of the TCG as we know it.

4. March 1997Topsun — Cards inside chewing gum packs

   Top-Seika, a confectionery manufacturer, releases Pokemon cards tucked inside gum wrappers. 150 Pokemon (no Mew!). These cards bear the date "1995" even though they were made in 1997 — a source of confusion that persists to this day.

5. January 9, 1999Wizards of the Coast — The Base Set hits the United States

   More than two years after Japan, the English Base Set arrives in America. Wizards of the Coast invents the concepts of "1st Edition" and "Shadowless," which do not exist in Japan. Pokemania explodes.

6. 1999European release — Charizard gets a new name in every language

   The Base Set launches in French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch. Each country receives its own localized Pokemon names. European print runs are significantly smaller than American ones.

🎰 The Bandai Carddass: the very first Pokemon cards

The name "Carddass" comes from "card" + "DAS" (inspired by AMeDAS, a Japanese weather system). The idea was to distribute information to children in card form. Bandai had already launched Carddass lines for other franchises (Dragon Ball, Gundam), and Pokemon was a natural addition to the catalog.

The cards reproduce the official illustrations by Ken Sugimori, the character designer for Pokemon Red and Green. They come in two versions: "Green" (Part 1) and "Red" (Part 2), referencing the two video games. Each series features all 151 original Pokemon, plus special cards (map cards and checklist cards).

Bandai went on to release two additional series (Part 3 and Part 4 in 1997), followed by Anime series (1998-2000) based on the animated show. In total, 958 Carddass cards were produced between 1996 and 2000.

✨ The rarest: Prism, Secret, and Jumbo

Among the 309 cards in Parts 1 and 2, 24 Prism cards (holographic) are the most sought-after pieces. There are also:

• Secret #000 Very rare — distributed in April 1997 at Ito-Yokado stores (a Japanese supermarket chain). Impossible to find in vending machines.
• Secret #CARDDASS Ultra rare — distributed in June 1997, even rarer still.
• Jumbo Pikachu Promo — an oversized promotional card given away at the Tokyo Toy Show 1997.

🍬 The Topsun cards: Pokemon in your chewing gum

The date controversy: 1995 or 1997?

All Topsun cards bear the inscription "© 1995 Nintendo / Creatures inc. / GAME FREAK inc.". For years, grading services PSA and BGS dated them to 1995, which would have made them the very first Pokemon cards in the world — even earlier than the Bandai Carddass.

Blue back, green back, and no-number cards

Topsun cards come in two back variants corresponding to two successive print runs:

The glossy surface of Topsun cards makes them extremely prone to scratching. Add to that the fact they were shipped loose inside gum packs with no protection, and you understand why mint-condition copies are so rare. A Blue Back no-number Topsun Charizard in good shape is a museum piece.

In 1997, a kid in Japan could buy a pack of Topsun gum with a Charizard for 60 yen — the equivalent of about 50 cents. Today, that same card is worth thousands of dollars.

🃏 The Japanese Base Set: birth of the Pokemon TCG

This is the set that started it all. Among its 102 cards, three holographics became global icons:

The illustrations were created by Mitsuhiro Arita (Charizard, Blastoise), Ken Sugimori (Venusaur), and Keiji Kinebuchi (energy cards).

What does NOT exist in the Japanese version

This is a crucial point that many collectors overlook:

This difference explains why the Japanese and English markets have nothing in common in terms of pricing. A Japanese Base Set Charizard in PSA 10, even though it is the "original" version, trades well below an English 1st Edition Shadowless Charizard in PSA 10 — because it lacks the scarcity of the print-run variant. For a deeper dive into this topic, check out our article on the price history of the 1st Edition Charizard.

🌍 From Tokyo to the world: how the cards conquered the globe

Between October 1996 (Japan) and January 1999 (United States), more than two years passed. During that time, the Pokemon TCG became a phenomenon in Japan, with the release of Jungle, Fossil, and Team Rocket following in quick succession. When Wizards of the Coast secured the license for the West, the company knew it had a blockbuster on its hands.

The English Base Set launched on January 9, 1999 in the United States. The first print run — the famous "1st Edition Shadowless" — was limited, which explains their rarity and astronomical value today. To understand the nuances between these variants, see our article on the differences between 1st Edition and Unlimited. The French version followed later that year, with considerably smaller print runs.

In 2003, the license was transferred from Wizards of the Coast to The Pokemon Company International, which has managed the TCG ever since. But the Wizards-era cards (1999-2003) — often called the "WOTC block" or the "Wizard block" — remain the most coveted among vintage collectors. For more details, see our complete Wizard block guide.

📊 Summary: 3 types of cards, 3 different worlds

These three types of cards coexisted in Japan within the same few months. For a Japanese child in 1996-1997, Carddass and Topsun cards were everyday objects — as commonplace as Panini stickers in America or Europe. Nobody imagined they would become collectible pieces worth thousands of dollars — just as nobody imagined that a Japanese promo card like the Pikachu Illustrator would one day sell for $16 million.

It all started in Japan, inside a vending machine, for 100 yen. Thirty years later, a single one of those cards can be worth more than an apartment.