Do they exist or not? Where do we base this on? Discussion

General
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I guess everyone knows me by now, but for new-comers reading this: I’m a Pikachu, Seviper and Mimikyu collector, who goes for EVERY SINGLE variant I can find. Differences between 1st/UED, languages, copyright dates, EX codes, non-Holo/Reverse Holo, special releases, special stamps, errors, autographed cards, you name it.

I currently have 838 unique Pikachu TCG cards (+ 14 more incoming, and + 30 Jumbos); 133 Sevipers; and 32 Mimikyus (+ 1 more incoming). This is including miscut, off-center, ink-dotted, autographed, and other (close-to-)one-of-a-kind unique cards. Excluding those, I currently have 793 (+ 9 incoming) out of the 857 Pikachu cards I know to exist.

This number (857) is where this discussion is about now. Because for some of these cards I haven’t seen a single picture or prove they actually exist. Some I’ve heard from others (mostly from @justinator ), some I just assumed exist based on other languages and the release pattern of that era. BUT, for a lot of these cards I’ve never even seen a single picture, even after more than 1.5 years, and I’m seriously doubting their existence in some cases.

The problem however, we also discover new cards sometimes, which we didn’t knew existed all this time, and then they pop up somewhere. Some examples would be the German Birthday Pikachu, which I’ve recently saw in a blog, and also on a German Pokémon Database. Or the German Flug-Pikachu, which I’ve only seen once so far (in @omahanime 's collection). Or the ten different Neo Genesis double bordered Sample cards, which I’ve only recently seen for the first time here on the forum. And more examples can be named which I’ve only seen a picture of once so far.

But this thread is about the cards I think (might) not exist, for which I haven’t seen a single picture yet. Some should have been released back in the early 2000s, others only recently, but I have yet to see any evidence.
So let me start by naming all the cards I have doubts about. If anyone has a picture or other evidence for any of these cards at all, please let me know:

  • English Base Set Shadowless Red Cheeks Grey Stamp 1st edition Pikachu. @KingPokemon mentions it here in my Base Pikachu Variations article, but I haven’t seen a picture of it yet (please Gary, you’re killing me… I need pictures as prove almost as much as a lost tourist need water in the desert… :slightly_smiling_face: )
  • English Base Set Shadowless Thin Stamp 1st edition Pikachu. I have seen a couple of Thin 1st edition Base Set non-Holos, but they are very rare to come across. I’ve seen three different Wartortles, two different Charmanders, a Squirtle and a Ratatta so far. But no evidence of a Pikachu yet.
  • Thick 2D 1st edition Yellow Cheeks / Back Imprinted Yellow Cheeks: Both exist for Red Cheeks, but I’ve never seen them for Yellow Cheeks before. (See here for more information of what I mean by 2D / back imprint.)
  • English EX Legend Maker non-Holo Pikachu. Just like the non-Holo 035 Promo Pikachu that was released as part of a Sweden magazine, this non-Holo EX Legend Maker cards should be part of a Swiss magazine. I’ve only seen it mentioned once (and am unable to find that original source anymore…), but this was without picture.
  • Spanish Neo Genesis 1st edition Pikachu. Do any Spanish 1st edition Neo Genesis cards exist at all? I’ve never seen any so far…
  • Spanish HeartGold & SoulSilver Reverse Holo Pikachu. Before this set, Spanish Reverse Holos didn’t exist for a while, and after this set they do. Because this set was released somewhere in the middle of that switch, I don’t know if the Spanish Reverse Holo exists for this set. If anyone has seen ANY Spanish Reverse Holo from the HeartGold & SoulSilver set that is enough evidence for me, so it doesn’t have to be the Pikachu in particular in this case.
  • Italian HeartGold & SoulSilver Pokémon Day stamp Pikachu. I do have the English and German Pokémon Day stamped Pikachus of this set, but I haven’t seen the Italian one ever so far.
  • Japanese Raichu Deck (Undaunted) 1st edition Pikachu. Not sure if these Decks have been released as 1st editions, or they were printed as unlimited edition from the start.
  • Japanese Oshawott Deck / HSZ (Boundaries Crossed) 1st edition Pikachu. Same applies as the Deck card above.
  • French POP5 12/17 & 13/17 Pikachus. No idea if POP5 has been released in French. If anyone has seen any French POP5 cards let me know.
  • Italian POP6 Pokémon Day stamp Pikachu. I have the English Pokémon Day stamp Pikachu, as well as the English, German and Italian POP9 Pokémon Day stamp, but I’m not sure if this one exists.
  • Spanish WotC #25 Flying & #28 Surfing Pikachus. I’ve only come across the French Flying Pikachu twice so far, and the German Flug-Pikachu never (I’ve only seen it in @omahanime 's collection). I’ve never seen these Spanish promos though.
  • German WotC #28 Surfing Pikachu. Same applies as the Spanish Flying & Surfing Pikachus.
  • French DP16 Holofoil Promo without Snowflake Stamp. You see them with Snowflakes stamps everywhere in French. The English and German are both released with and without Snowflake Stamp, but I haven’t seen the French one without Snowflake ever.
  • Italian DP16 Holofoil Promo (both with and without Snowflake Stamp). Haven’t seen the DP16 promo in Italian, with or without stamp. Not sure if it was released in Italian.
  • German / French / Spanish BW54 Holofoil Promo. This card is released as non-holo in English, and holo in Italian, but I seriously doubt it has been released in any of these other languages.
  • Italian / Spanish XY84 Pikachu EX. This card has been released in English, Spanish, German, French and Portuguese for sure, but I seriously doubt about the Italian and Spanish ones.

It is pretty tough to say something doesn’t exist just because almost no one has ever seen anything. “With absence of evidence, we don’t have evidence of absence.” A quote used pretty often by Alien enthusiasts, which makes this subject pretty hard to grasp in my honest opinion. How do we prove something doesn’t exist? As I said, some cards I haven’t seen at all in more than 1.5 years time, BUT some I also haven’t seen in 1.5 years time, but I have seen a picture of somewhere. Take the following list for example for some Pikachus I have yet to find:

  • Spanish Neo Genesis 1st edition Pikachu
  • German Expedition Base Reverse Holo Pikachu
  • Italian EX Holon Phantoms 79/110 Reverse Holo Pikachu
  • Italian Mysterious Treasures 94/123 Reverse Holo Pikachu
  • Polish Mysterious Treasures 94/123 Reverse Holo Pikachu
  • Italian Stormfront Reverse Holo Pikachu
  • Japanese L1 (HeartGold & SoulSilver) unlimited edition Pikachu
  • Japanese L1 (HeartGold & SoulSilver) unlimited edition Reverse Holo Pikachu
  • German Next Destinies Reverse Holo Pikachu
  • Chinese POP4 Pikachu
  • German WotC #24 Promo Birthday Pikachu
  • Korean 049/BW-P Promo (151/BW-P)

Some of these are in the possession of Justin(ator). And for those that are not, we’re both fairly certain hey do exist, even though we’ve haven’t come across any yet so far.

Are there any other of you collectors out there who go for every single variations of certain cards? Which cards do you remove from your collection checklist for lack of evidence of existence? Have you come across a card for the first time that you were surprised to see existed?

@justinator My list originates from you, and some languages were already removed in this original list for certain promos. Why were these crossed out, but others not? For example: the WotC #1 Ivy Pikachu is only mentioned as German and English (apart from reprints and special stamps). How do we know this card also doesn’t exist in French, Italian, Spanish, while the Surfing/Flying Pikachus do? Or the HGSS03 Promo Pikachu which we’ve listed as English, French and Italian. How do we know this card also doesn’t exist in German? Or the 012 or WoTC #27 Pikachus which are both listed as English and Italian. How do we know these cards also doesn’t exist in French and German? Etc. etc.

When do we remove a certain card from our checklists, and when not?

PS: Sorry for the wall of text, and somehow chaotic post. I kinda just typed my thoughts out, so I’m not sure if it’s easy to follow for everyone… :blush:

Greetz,
Quuador

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Just checking, Is this the English thin stamp you where talking about.

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Just a normal 1st edition stamp unfortunately. Here is a good idea of what the differences are if you were curious.

imgur.com/a/WKF5l#n5uBf1P

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Aaaa right ok , the pictures i posted where taked from a sold card on ebay listed as thin print error.

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I have 2 of the following cards




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That’s a Grey Stamp.

Thin refers to the width of the “1”.

And thanks for showing me those @omahanime (jealous… :heart_eyes: )

Greetz,
Quuador

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Is there anything to the fact Fliegendes is Wizards and the others aren’t?

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Thin stamp holos aren’t the same as thin stamp non-holos in my opinion.

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I haven’t done much research for a while since I’ve concluded I know at least 99% of the Voltorbs and Electrodes, but there may be some out there that I’m unaware of. I don’t think either are popular enough to have been given special cards. I don’t care for the 1st edition stamp variations, so those aren’t included. The one thing that always lingers in the back of my mind is if there are any misprint in other languages that I wouldn’t recognize.

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Every time I see the Flug-Pikachu I feel a non-German did the translation xD

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I agree. Btw, @omahanime I see you’ve got a Flug-Pikachu and Surf-Pikachu. Fliegendes Pikachu is actually the intended name for the Flying Pikachu, but shouldn’t Surfendes Pikachu be the one for Surfing Pikachu?.. Maybe these also have two versions? When did you acquired all these cards? You collected all kind of different languages of the WotC Promos back in the day?

I wish I knew a webshop selling Pokémon cards from the early 2000s in all kind of different languages… pokemoncardmarket.eu and ebay are the only two webshops I buy cards from regularly. Anyone know a third (or fourth, fifth, etc.) comparable place to buy Pokémon cards of all kind of different languages? Kinda derailing my own topic with this question… :unamused:

Greetz,
Quuador

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I own a pikachu, signed by myself…one of a kind! I dont see it on your list though?
I am willing to negotiate, I’m a fair man.

:blush:

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I think I bought those promos around 2004 from a seller in Europe.

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I actually went through a bunch of grey stamps last month and graded some…including some yellow cheeks that got 10s. I didn’t come across the red cheek but it could be in any of numerous places cause my for sale cards are well organized but my personal collection is not. It’s actually spread between storage lockers in multiple states lol.

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I’m beginning to question unlimited L1 also, I should have kept the source that made me believe they existed. Will have to open the old case files up again lol

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Bump. Crossed out some cards that I’ve been able to confirm / unconfirm, removed some cards from the second list that I was able to buy recently, and added some new ones for which I have no idea if they do/don’t exist. (One added is 1st edition Spanish Neo Genesis; since I haven’t seen a single card from this set in Spanish 1st edition yet. Indeed exists, as I was expecting. Here is a Pikachu, which my friend Tom from Belgium managed to buy right after we talked about it two days ago…)

For everyone wondering: of the crossed out cards, the French & Spanish BW54 Holofoil Promos and Italian & Spanish XY84 Pikachu EX cards doesn’t exist; every other crossed out card I’ve been able to confirm that they do indeed exist.
All that’s left are the other cards in the list… Anyone has any idea?

Greetz,
Quuador

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This may be a stupid question but is there such thing as a red cheeks base set unlimited Pikachu?

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Nope there isn’t

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@acebren is indeed right, there isn’t. For all Base Pikachus I personally know to exist, I can refer to my Base Pikachu Artwork Variations article. The ones I’m asking about in the first post are variations I’ve recently discovered in general (which can be found in my 1st edition stamp variations article), but I’m unsure if they exist for Yellow Cheeks.

Greetz,
Quuador

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This might not be total proof… but the French Poképedia says the POP5 series was never released in French.

www.pokepedia.fr/POP_Series_5

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