Pokémon Snap CoroCoro Winner Cards
- Event
- Pokémon Snap Best Photo Contest, CoroCoro Comic
- Year
- 1999 (Japanese)
In 1999, winners of the Pokémon Snap Best Photo Contest run through CoroCoro Comic received 20 copies of a card printed from their own winning in-game photograph, with their name in the credit line where the illustrator credit usually sits. The count is not an estimate. Media Factory documented it in the congratulatory letter sent to winners, dated November 12, 1999. Five winning designs were printed this way, including the Bulbasaur photographed by Yuuki Tanaka shown here.
Kangaskhan, Parent and Child Tournament Prize
- Event
- Parent and Child Tournament, Mega Battle side event
- Year
- 1998 (Japanese)
The Parent and Child Tournament paired adults and children in tag team matches as a side event at the 1998 Mega Battle tournaments. The top eight teams received this holographic Kangaskhan, and the winning team received two copies. CGC puts the total at only 20 copies in existence, and the card is easy to recognize because it carries the original Pocket Monsters Trading Card Game logo as its set symbol.
Pokémon Snap 64 Mario Stadium Winner Cards
- Event
- Pokémon Snap contest, 64 Mario Stadium
- Year
- 1999 (Japanese)
The second Snap contest of 1999 ran through the 64 Mario Stadium television program, and its winners received 15 copies of their own winning photograph as a card, five fewer per design than the CoroCoro winners. One winner confirmed the count himself, and the Poliwag winner's full set of 15 copies has been photographed together, which is where the card shown here comes from. Five designs were printed, each one credited to the player who took the photograph.
No. 1 Trainer, Mega Battle Printings
- Event
- Lizardon Mega Battle and Kamex Mega Battle
- Year
- 1997 to 1998 (Japanese)
The Mega Battle tournaments were the first nationwide trophy circuit, with the Lizardon series running from November 1997 into February 1998 and the Kamex series following later in 1998. Champions in each age division received the No. 1 Trainer trophy card, and the Elite Fourum trophy guide and Bulbapedia both land on about 14 copies of each printing. CGC counts the sessions differently and says 15, and no source closes that gap, so this entry is ranked on the lower figure.
Tropical Wind, Quarter-Finalist Stamp
- Event
- Pokémon World Championships 2004
- Year
- 2004 (English)
Worlds 2004 ran in Orlando, Florida from August 20 to 22, 2004, and every competitor received a nine card pack of Tropical Wind in seven languages. In 2004 only, players took home just the one stamped copy matching their highest finish, which makes these stamps scarcer than any later year. Pokumon documents the full stamp run at 6 Finalist, 6 Semi-Finalist, 12 Quarter-Finalist, and 24 Top 16 copies.
No. 1 Trainer, Tropical Mega Battle Print
- Event
- Tropical Mega Battle, Challenge Road '99 SUMMER
- Year
- 1999 (Japanese)
The Tropical Mega Battle was the elementary school finals of the Challenge Road '99 SUMMER series, and its finals were held in Honolulu in August 1999. The champion's No. 1 Trainer carries the event logo with Exeggutor artwork by Ken Sugimori and Hiromi Ito. Bulbapedia estimates about 9 copies from the structure of the event, and that estimate is the figure this list ranks it on.
No. 1 Trainer, Secret Super Battle Print
- Event
- Secret Super Battle, Challenge Road '99 SUMMER
- Year
- 1999 (Japanese)
The Secret Super Battle was the older players' finals of the same Challenge Road '99 SUMMER series, held at a secret location in Tokyo in August 1999. Its No. 1 Trainer shows a Mewtwo silhouette by Hideki Kazama beside the event logo. Bulbapedia estimates about 9 copies, but only 7 copies appear in census reporting, so either two copies have never surfaced or the estimate runs high.
Tropical Wind, Finalist Stamp
- Event
- Pokémon World Championships 2004
- Year
- 2004 (English)
The Finalist stamp sits at the top of the 2004 Tropical Wind ladder. Six copies were distributed, covering the two finalists in each of the three age divisions at Worlds 2004 in Orlando, and Japanese players swept all three divisions that year. Among cards handed out at that championship, only the No. 1 Trainer trophy cards at number one on this list were printed in smaller numbers.
Trophy Pikachu No. 1 Trainer, First Official Tournament
- Event
- First Official Tournament, Pokémon Card Game
- Year
- June 1997 (Japanese)
The first official Pokémon TCG tournament ran at Makuhari Messe in June 1997, as part of the 6th Next Generation World Hobby Fair. Four sessions ran across two days with one winner each, and the winners received the Pikachu trophy cards, with third and fourth place both taking the No. 3 card. The Elite Fourum trophy guide and CGC both put the No. 1 printing at 4 copies, one for each session winner. These cards come from this 1997 event only. They are not Mega Battle prizes, even though the Mega Battle trophies that followed used the same Pikachu artwork.
World Championships No. 1 Trainer
- Event
- Pokémon World Championships
- Years
- 2004 to 2012 printings
- Shown
- 2005 World Championships printing
From 2004 to 2012, the World Championships awarded No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 Trainer trophy cards to the top finishers in each age division, and only 3 copies of the No. 1 Trainer were produced per year. The card shown here is the 2005 printing, and its text invited the winner back to battle the best in 2006. In 2013 the count rose to 6 per year once Video Game champions received the cards too, and even that doubled figure leaves every annual printing among the rarest cards ever made.
Sources
- Pokumon, 1999 Pokémon Snap photo contests (the CoroCoro and 64 Mario Stadium winner counts, and the Media Factory winner letter dated November 12, 1999)
- Pokumon, 2004 Pokémon World Championships (the Tropical Wind stamp distribution of 6 Finalist, 6 Semi-Finalist, 12 Quarter-Finalist, and 24 Top 16)
- CGC, Pokémon Trophy Cards (the Kangaskhan Parent and Child Tournament count of 20, and the First Official Tournament of June 1997)
- Elite Fourum, Pokémon Trophy and Prize Cards Guide (the First Official Tournament and Mega Battle trophy counts)
- Bulbapedia, No. 1 Trainer (printing histories for the Mega Battle, Tropical Mega Battle, and Secret Super Battle prints, and the estimate of about 9 copies for the 1999 prints)
- Heritage Auctions (World Championships trophy card production of 3 copies per placement per year from 2004 to 2012, and the Pikachu Illustrator distribution of 39 copies)
- Bulbapedia, Master's Key (the 36 copy distribution at the 2010 Japanese championship)
Honorable mentions
- Master's Key (36 copies). The 2010 Japanese championship prize went to 36 winners across the TCG and Video Game divisions, and copies keep setting auction records when they surface. On a strict count it misses this list by 16 copies, which says more about the ten cards above than it does about Master's Key.
- Pikachu Illustrator (39 copies distributed). The most famous prize card in the hobby went to winners of three CoroCoro illustration contests in 1997 and 1998, 39 copies in total. Two further copies later surfaced from a TCG rules designer, taking the known total to 41. It is the card most people expect to see at number one on a list like this, and on distribution alone it does not make the top ten.