An uncut sheet of 1st Edition Base Set Pokemon cards is now up for auction. The auction house Goldin has put the sheet up for auction, with a current high bid of $34,000 as of press time. The sheet not only contains all of the rarest cards in the original Pokemon Trading Card Game Base Set, it also provides a valuable glimpse into the history and manufacture of Pokemon cards. Due to the fact that the sheet has a handwritten note noting that the sheet is “okay for color and fit,” this was likely a proof sheet designed to test the printing of cards before they entered mass production. We’ll note that these cards are all holofoil cards – non-holofoil rare cards weren’t introduced until Wizards of the Coast produced the Jungle expansion set. No details were provided about the seller of the sheet.
Pokemon cards (and other types of cards) are usually printed on large sheets and are divided up by rarity. Cards of the same rarity would usually be placed on the same sheet, with more sheets of common cards and uncommon cards printed than rare cards. This sheet also shows off how some cards were more rare than others. For instance, Machamp cards make up almost half of the sheet, which makes sense as that card was included in Base Set Starter sets as well as boosters. There are also more Hitmonchan, Gyarados, and Mewtwo cards on the sheet, as those cards were included in early theme deck boxes. Notably, Zapdos, Chansey, Venusaur, and Raichu all have more cards on the sheet than Charizard, Alakazam, Blastoise, and other rare holofoil cards, although is likely just a quirk in how the cards were laid out on the sheet as opposed to signaling that those cards are somehow less rare.
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The auction is scheduled to end on February 23rd. While it likely won’t fetch as high of a price as a graded 1st Edition Charizard card, this card sheet is still an intriguing and important piece of Pokemon trading card history.
