Japanese Promo Pokemon Cards

Tamamushi University Magikarp Trophy Promo

• Release Date: 1998
• Grading: PSA Gem Mint 10
• Pokemon card value at auction: $66,100

In 1998, Shogakukans Magazines in Japan offered a contest for school students. Fans that took the various tests offered in the publication could send them back to the company to have them graded.

Those studious enough to pass with high scores were then invited to a special conference held in Osaka of that year. Once there, the children got to participate in a unique Pokemon card battle tournament. Winners of the rare contest ultimately received the Magikarp Trophy Pokemon card Promo.

Due to the insane obscurity of how the TCG item was given out, its easily one of the rarest Pokemon cards on our list. It was not very surprising then when the Trophy collectible went up for auction in February 2021 and sold for $66k at PWCC.

Basic Information To Help You Figure Out The Right Japanese Trading Card Games

Who is the best trading card game?

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Simply so, why are card games popular in Japan?

Moreover, what is the difference between TCG and CCG?

Playing The Japanese Formats

If youre interested in building decks with some of these unreleased Japanese cards, you may also be interested in playing the formats as they were played in Japan. Japan not only had access to cards the rest of the world would never see, they also had some cards much earlier relative to other sets. I break down the most significant differences between the Japanese and international formats for the games earliest years below.

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Secure Your Japanese Pokmon Booster Box Through Mighty Collectibles

Featuring 30 booster packs and more than 100 cards, a Japanese Pokémon Booster Box is the easiest and most exciting way to collect Japanese Pokémon Cards! The Mighty Collectibles Range of Japanese Booster Boxes includes the Eevee Heroes Booster Box, the Silver Lance Booster Box, the Dark Order Booster Box, and the Matchless Fighter Booster Box.

All the Japanese Pokémon Booster Boxes in our range feature genuine Japanese Pokémon cards, with a chance for rare cards in every pack you open!

Pokemon First Edition Mewtwo

Sold in November, 2020 for $22,655

A member of the exclusive and powerful Legendary Pokémon group, the psychic-type Mewtwo is considered one of the top Pokémon of all time.

The vicious and savage Mewtwo originated when a scientist altered its original DNA via gene-splicing techniques.

Its signature move, Psystrike, can deal out massive punishment to opposing Pokemon and has long been a favorite of many Pokemon fans.

Do not be fooled by Ken Sugimori’s tame depiction of Mewtwo on this card, as this creature packs devastating ferocity and power.

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Most Expensive Pokemon Cards Of All Time

Initially released in Japan in the 1990s to accompany the Pokémon video games, the Pokémon Trading Card Game has transformed into one of the most popular trading card games of all-time.

Because of the red-hot popularity of the franchise, some of the most expensive Pokemon cards can sell into the six-figure range…

That may sound shocking, at first, but given that Pokémon is a worldwide phenom, there is a vast, passionate collector base around the globe just waiting to get their hands on these prized cards.

From trophy cards, to First Edition Pokemon cards, to lesser-known rarities, the value of these cards is quite impressive.

And in this guide, we take a look at the 50 most valuable of them all.

Let’s jump right in!

Tamamushi University Magikarp: $66100

Produced as a promotion for magazine publisher Shogakukans Celadon University campaign, this Magikarp card was awarded to those who successfully became Pokemon Professors. By mailing in the Entrance Test, Professor Test, Super Professor Test, and Hyper Professor Test , 1000 Magikarps were up for grabs.

Though so many were printed, only 91 have been identified by the PSA so far. PSA 10-graded cards fetch a much higher price than any other condition, getting $66,100 at auction.

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Japanese Promo Masters Scroll Daisuki Club 8600 Points

Sold in March 2021, for $35,200

This holographic Masters Scroll card is one of several item cards that were part of the L-P Promotional cards released between September 2009 and August 2010.

Once a player accumulated 8,600 action points, he or she would earn the Master Rank distinction and a prize in the form of this Masters Scroll card.

Given the difficulty of acquiring such a massive amount of action points, not many members ever received one of these cards, making it one of the rarest promotional Pokemon cards in the hobby.

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Pokemon Trainer Deck B Blastoise

Sold in March, 2021 for $20,000

This Blastoise card is one of the rarest in existence that was originally part of the Trainer Deck B or “Misty’s Deck” given out as a promotional piece to Pokemon League members ahead of the official launch of the Pokemon TCG in North America.

The Trainer Deck B theme deck contained sixty base set cards in all, with the most desirable of them being Blastoise.

Had Charizard been included in the Trainer Deck B set, it would have been the most desirable, but that’s beside the point.

An easy way to recognize a Trainer Deck B Blastoise is that it is the only non-holographic base set Blastoise.

And, if you’re still not 100% sure, you can flip the card over and you’ll see that the card’s reverse is printed with a distinct red border and “Misty’s Deck” verbiage.

Standard Deck

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Pokemon Pop Series 5 Gold Star Espeon

Sold in February, 2021 for $22,100

Like its Umbreon counterpart that we covered a little bit ago, the 2007 POP Series 5 Gold Star Espeon is one of the two most-desired cards in the 17-card promotional set.

The Gold Star symbol next to the character’s name in the upper-left side of the card denotes the increased rarity of the card.

Masakazu Fukuda mixed an intense color scheme with a striking outline of Espeon to deliver a fantastic card with tremendous eye appeal.

Shining Mew Corocoro Promo Pokmon Card

Japanese TCG collectors who picked up the May 2001 issue of CoroCoro Comic, were rewarded with the Shining Mew promo card. The beautiful collectors item is covered with holo foil speckles on every inch of the card and has a stunning artwork of Gen 1 Kanto Mythical Pokémon Mew, responsible for the series popularity, floating through a cosmic galaxy background. The CoroCoro Comic isnt just one of the best promos to have ever been released in the TCG, but it is also a contender for one of the best-looking Pokémon cards of all time. Seeing this card in person is an experience in itself, as the rainbow sparkles really pop off the card.

So its actually pretty surprising that the rare TCG promo can be picked up on auction sites for just $80. Even high-graded versions of the Shiny Mew card can be found in the $250 range. Out of all the Pokémon card collectibles that are undervalued, and not being worth the most money in Pokémon TCG, this is probably the most shocking example of a card that didnt benefit from the TCGs recent explosion in popularity.

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Base 1st Edition Holo Stamp Shadowless Charizard

If you know Pokemon cards, you knew this card was coming.

Possibly the most iconic chase Pokemon card there is, the base set 1st Edition, Holo, Stamped, Shadowless Charizard.

While another card on this list has now sold for more money, for some Pokemon card collectors, there will only ever be one true Holy Grail when it comes to Pokemon cards, and this is it.

Its not just the fact that this card is first edition, but the huge popularity of the Charizard Pokemon character has put this card head and shoulders above the rest of the competition.

The popularity of a Pokemon can play a huge role in its market value its not a coincidence that Charizard appears on this list more than any other Pokemon.

Update!: This card has now sold for over $500,000!

With its flashy holographic shine, this card has been highly prized ever since it first hit playgrounds and continues to be a pillar of the Pokemon trading card game.

A Word From The Pokmon Team

For more than 15 years, kids all over the world have been discovering the enchanting world of Pokémon. Today, the Pokémon family of products includes video games, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the Pokémon animated TV series, movies, toys, and much more. The games encourage strategic thinking and, in many cases, basic math skills. Pokémon puts a strong emphasis on good sportsmanship and respect for other players, as well. And many parents feel that the Pokémon TCG and Pokémon video games encourage their children to learn to read, since reading is required in most Pokémon games. The Pokémon Company.

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The Top 10 Most Valuable Pokmon Tcg Cards

Pokémon cards are more popular than ever, so do you have some hidden treasures in your collection?

Joe Parlock

With the Pokémon Trading Card Games popularity at an all-time high, people are rushing to their old collections and hoping to find a few treasures they can sell. You see stories of cards being flipped for five or even six digits online with alarming regularity, causing the COVID-19 pandemics equivalent of a gold rush.

However, if youre a casual fan digging out their old binders, there is a slim chance youll find any of those mythical best-sellers in your collection. While paying off your mortgage from one card may be all but impossible, you can still make a healthy profit. With that in mind, here are the top ten most valuable Pokémon cards that you might actually own.

To work this out, I went through every single Pokémon set on TCGPlayers price database and noted every single card worth with a market value of more than $100. I then removed all promotional cards, including tournament prizes, limited editions, and gift cards given to the games staff. While these can be worth a lot, it is very unlikely someone is going to have them sitting under their bed and simply not know about it.

Stormfronts Charizard

Black Star Ishihara Gx Promo Card

Sold in April, 2021 for $247,230

As a gift to top-level employees, Tsunekazu Ishihara, president of The Pokémon Company, gave out an estimated thirty copies of this card during his 60th birthday party at the 2018 Pokémon World Championship.

As of this writing, only eight copies have ever been submitted to PSA for grading, making this one of the rarest Pokemon cards in existence.

Making this particular example even rarer is the fact that Ishihara personally signed it as well.

The artwork on the card is fantastic and the “60 Congratulations!” and GX attack of 1060 damage are nice touches to help commemorate his 60th birthday.

Ishihara has been instrumental, to say the least, in building the Pokémon brand by contributing to the development of multiple video games and even initiating the creation of the Pokémon Trading Card Game itself.

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Pokemon Ex Team Rocket Returns Torchic Gold Star

Sold in December, 2020 for $25,400

Released in 2004, the EX Team Rocket Returns set marked the seventh expansion from the EX Series and featured 111 cards in its checklist.

Three of the cards, #107 , #108 , and #109 , are special holographic shiny rare cards noted by the gold star next to their name.

First introduced in the third generation of Pokemon games, Torchic is one of the three starter Pokemon that originate in the Hoenn region.

This orange and yellow chick may look cute and cuddly, but make no mistake, this fire-type Pokemon can shoot fireballs at its enemies that will instantly leave them burnt to a crisp.

Pokemon Japanese Promo Wonder Platinum Trophy Card

Sold in November, 2020 for $25,100

Held at the Prince Park Tower Tokyo on May 4, 2009, the final round of the 2009 Japan World Championship pitted finalists against each other in fierce competition.

Each of the twenty finalists across three different age divisions received one of these Wonder Platinum cards, so one can assume that only twenty of these cards made their way into collectors hands.

How many still exist today is unknown, but finding one graded in a BGS 9.5 holder is incredibly rare.

What is known is that this trainer card is one of the most highly coveted DPt-P promotional cards, and its imagery makes for an incredibly well-designed card.

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The Masked Royal Prize Promo: $18000

This is undoubtedly one of the most recent rare cards, featuring the Masked Royal character from Pokemon Sun & Moon and released as recently as 2017. This is essentially a promotional card that was given out to players in an invitation-only prerelease in Tokyo for the new Shining Legends set, where only 100 copies were made.

Even though this is a relatively normal card by most standards, this short print run means itâs incredibly hard to get, especially since it was handed out in such a restrictive event. As a result, there are actually preserved tweets of players first opening it in places like Pokeboon, while Japanese trading sites like Miyabi Hobby have past listings of the card at Â¥2,000,000, which currently is equal to around $18,000 USD.

How To Value And Sell A Pokmon Card

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The cards in the Pokémon trading card game can be very expensive. Its a good thing you can get some of the money you spent back by selling your rare cards. Rare cards are very desirable among Pokémon card collectors and competitive players, so by reselling you can earn back money for more cards or to pay for other activities. To do this, youll have to determine the rarity of your cards, evaluate their condition, find a suitable place to sell them, and then make the sale.

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What Is The Psa Grading Scale

Getting a PSA grade can make high-value cards worth even more and can also help you avoid unnecessary haggling or debating with a potential buyer about the condition of the card you have.

When you are looking to buy a card and the seller makes claims to a certain grade, ask for the required documentation from the PSA or the grading number. All grades that get graded by PSA are given a unique ID number that anyone can look up on their website.

This can help potential buyers spot fake Pokémon cards or cards that claim to have been graded when they havent. So if you are planning to get your Pokémon cards and get them professionally graded its important that you hang on to these details.

Lastly, try not to be disappointed if you dont find hidden gems in your collection.

Unfortunately, it is not an all-too-common event that you will discover a card that is worth several thousands of dollars well, this is why rare cards are called rare!

If you are only in it for the money, trading Pokémon cards will likely be a rather disappointing experience.

You can also treat it as a moment of nostalgia and an opportunity to re-connect with a childhood passion, constantly looking at your Pokémon card collection with a cold, monetary appraising stare can often suck the enjoyment that we get from collectible trading card games.

Whether you are a buyer or a seller, I wish you all the best in your future Pokémon trading endeavors!

Pokemon Japanese Promo Tamamushi University Magikarp Trophy Car

Sold in February, 2021 for $66,100

The Tamamushi University Hyper Test was a two-day event held in June 1998 in Osaka, Japan.

To be invited, children needed to pass a series of test questions that were to be completed and mailed by a specific deadline.

The contestants competed against each other within different age groups with the winners receiving a copy of this card as their prize.

While 1,000 copies were slated for distribution, nobody knows for sure how many actually were.

What is known, though, is that this card is the most expensive Magikarp card in the entire Pokémon series, and one of the most valuable Pokémon cards in general.

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