Are all Base Set commons equally common?

Market
1

I have about 5,000 English Base Set commons that I put into soft sleeves upon opening years ago. I also have a huge OCD streak, which means I’m itching to inventory them and find out how many of each individual card I have.

My question is, are all commons equally common, or are some better than others? Which cards are at the bottom of the barrel? Which ones are at the top? Or does it not matter at all?

Thanks in advance for all comments and opinions, because I’m on a steep learning curve here.

2

Well assuming you haven’t taken any out, you sure would be a good person to find out given you have so many.
I would assume they are equal because they were cut out of sheets with the saem number of each card. Maybe the ones that also come in decks have higher populations since they were released in more than just boosters.

1 Like
3

There are a couple ways to look at that. I don’t know if the exact same number of common cards were included per sheet of cards or not. Perhaps others can comment on that. That would tell you if there are some that have more printed than others.

The other thing you have to consider is the pre-constructed theme decks. This would throw off the “common” count as specific sheets of cards were printed and cut for these. As you begin to amass cards from that era you’ll start to see some cards accumulate faster. Generally those are theme deck cards.

1 Like
4

I purchased a MASSIVE COLLECTION of Unl. Base Set Cards last year around this time . We’re talking 45,000+ R. Character, All Un. / C. / E. This collection came from back-stock of a massive booster box opening back in the day - when you could actually afford to open Unl. Base Boxes LOL Anyway, here is what I gathered statistically from organizing such a massive collection:

R. Character Cards: 6 Cards

Fairly even distribution between the six cards; Pidgeotto had the lowest quantity BY FAR. These cards all sell for roughly the same price-point; however, Dragonair and Pidgeotto are the two most popular single-cards (R. Character).

Un. Cards: 32 Cards

Basically spot-on (very even) distribution comparing Character Cards and Trainer / Energy Cards separately. When comparing the two together, Character Cards outnumber Trainer / Energy Cards. Again, these cards sell for roughly the same price-point; however, your most popular cards will obviously be: Charmeleon, Ivysaur, Wartortle, and Double Colorless Energy.

C. Cards: 38 Cards

Basically spot-on (very even) distribution comparing Character, Trainer, and Energy Cards separately. When comparing the three together, Energy Cards obviously outnumber Character and Trainer Cards by A LOT. Trainer Cards also outnumber Character Cards. Again, these cards sell for roughly the same price-point; however, your most popular cards will obviously be: Blubasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, and Pikachu.

5

Thanks for the great (and fast!) replies.

So If I were to focus on 10 cards would this be a good list?
Bulbasaur
Charmander
Charmeleon
Dragonair
Ivysaur
Pidgeotto
Pikachu
Squirtle
Wartortle
Double Colorless Energy

6

This had me curious so I did a little more digging. Here is the card list on an 11x11 (121 cards total) uncut Base set common sheet:
Base has 32 non-energy common cards (5 trainers)

Starmie
Ghastly
Caterpie
Pikachu
Poliwag
Trainer - Energy Removal
Abra
Machop
Pidgey
Nidoran
Drowsee

Trainer - Potion
Bulbasaur
Onix
Staryu
Doduo
Magnemite
Trainer - Bill
Rattata
Squirtle
Metapod
Diglett

Ponyta
Trainer - Gust of Wind
Tangela
Vulpix
Koffing
Charmander
Sandshrew
Trainer - Switch
Starmie
Bulbasaur
Magnemite

Pidgey
Poliwag
Trainer - Bill
Onix
Charmander
Caterpie
Machop
Drowsee
Trainer - Energy Removal
Tangela
Staryu

Squirtle
Trainer - Potion
Ghastly
Nidoran
Vulpix
Doduo
Abra
Voltorb
Weedle
Sandshrew
Koffing

Metapod
Pikachu
Diglett
Rattata
Ponyta
Starmie
Staryu
Voltorb
Vulpix
Pidgey
Bulbasaur

Sandshrew
Poliwag
Weedle
Machop
Tangela
Pikachu
Drowsee
Trainer - Gust of Wind
Abra
Onix
Ponyta

Magnemite
Squirtle
Nidoran
Caterpie
Trainer - Switch
Rattata
Trainer - Energy Removal
Doduo
Metapod
Gastly
Charmander

Diglett
Koffing
Starmie
Poliwag
Vulpix
Sandshrew
Pidgey
Trainer - Bill
Voltorb
Koffing
Ponyta

Machop
Staryu
Metapod
Nidoran
Trainer - Switch
Diglett
Magnemite
Caterpie
Trainer - Gust of Wind
Bulbasaur
Squirtle

Drowsee
Abra
Ghastly
Onix
Rattata
Pikachu
Trainer - Potion
Doduo
Weedle
Charmander
Tangela

This leaves us with 4 cards per sheet for all commons except trainers and Voltorb and Weedle cards which all have a count of 3. In theory, if only 1 type of base common card sheet was printed this would indicate that there should be significantly less Weedle and Voltorb cards compared to other creature cards. Same with common trainers.

I’d like to get more clarity on this but that’s what I’ve dug up so far.

7

Did you have the rares too?
They’re all pretty close in rarity. The DCE may be a little rarer than the other uncommons.

8

To answer; NO.

WotC used and still using for Magic a 2-tier C/UC/R system. So while a card is considered common within the common slot you got C-1 and C-2. C2 being the ‘rarer’ common.

Scratchdeck already confirms this, with certain cards being in lesser quantity on the print sheet.

9
10

Yes, I do have the rares too; roughly 25-30 of each.

BTW, I just learned that I misused the term common; my apologies. When I used it to start this thread I was meaning everything that isn’t a holo. I now know that the cards I have are a mixture of commons, uncommons, and rares.

11

Can someone help me understand the Basic Set Vulpix card… HP 50 versus 50 HP?

I must have bought most of my boxes when the 50 HP version was being released, because I have a lot more of them than the HP 50 version.

12

look at the copyright date on the bottom of the card if it has 1999-2000 put those to the side, they’re considered U.K. Variant cards and some buyers will pay more for them. (This goes for all of your cards not just vulpix.)

13

Thanks cullers! 1999-2000 is what the 50 HP cards say.

14

My boy oldschoolpokemon, who commented above, needs all those trainers #70-79 so hit him up:)

15

You must have read my mind, i was going to post the same question. I wonder if the same logic applies to 1st ed base set. @garyis2000 the printing method mention earlier is interesting. Ie. Weedle and voltorb may be less printed.

17

With this info coupled with what comes on a printed sheet I’d assume Voltorb would be the least common of all common cards by a long shot (along with some trainers that didn’t come packed in the Theme decks). Interesting info!