I found these extra-large cards in one of the boxes I was opening today. They are about twice the height of the standard card (as you can see in this comparison picture where I have two of the XL cards — front and back — placed next to a regular-size Lucky Stadium promo). These extra-large cards are about a third of the size of the very popular “jumbo” promo cards.
I know this much: They were clearly created to teach the game to new players, as evidenced by the Japanese text at the bottom of each card.
The edges of the cards show signs that these were perforated cards that were attached to either a larger sheet, or to each other. However, I don’t recall ever seeing these cards attached to anything. So, I either received them already detached, or maybe the perforation was simply part of the printing process.
The copyright date on the back of each card is 1996.
Perhaps these aren’t unusual or special at all — maybe all of you know something about them that I don’t! ;D
Nonetheless, I find them to be quite interesting. My main interest as a collector has always been ephemera, and I think these probably fall into that category.
Below are pictures of the nine other “XL” cards I came across.
I’m surprised to hear they are rare. To me, they look like a lot of the other promotional material that Media Factory used to deliver to us each week at the store. Most of the stuff was meant to be tacked to the walls, taped to the storefront windows or handed out to kids.
So, people actually collected these 2X cards? Any idea what they might be worth?
No idea what they are worth! I only know of a couple sets.
I bought mine a bit ago from Japan, they all came attached together. I detatched mine when I got them for ease of storage. Hope that wasn’t a silly move!
I have the same 10 as you so that appears to be a complete set. I have the folder they came in, I’ve attached scans of the front and back. I don’t know Japanese but maybe it can help all of us to learn what these are etc!
That is why they are collectible. Anything that was as a promotion is typically sought after by collectors since the number of copies available are limited.
Putting a price on them would be impossible. Not enough sets/copies have sold. Also, the number available is still a mystery. It is one of those strictly supply and demand items.
Thanks, smpratte, for the info. I guess I’m very fortunate, as I have more than one of these sets. I still can’t remember how I got them, though.
And thanks, cbd1235, for posting the packing material — I’m pretty certain I’ve never seen that before! It’s helped me figure out a bit more as to whom these particular “teach” cards were marketed.
The top of the front of the package translates to “Original Introductory Kit for Kindergartners.” So, the cards were designed for the youngest of Pokemon fans!
Also, all of the words written in katakana (the Japanese syllabary used for non-Japanese words, such as “Pocket Monsters”) has hiragana (the syllabary for native words) written above. That’s because Japanese kindergartners learn hiragana before they learn katakana. So, they wouldn’t be able to read the package without the hiragana.
They were attached to a magazine called “入学準備 学習幼稚園”. This translates to “School Admission Preparation Learning Kindergarten.” Specifically the May 2000 issue (2000年 5月号).
I was looking for something else when I came across their origin.
This is obviously a really old thread to be tugging at, but I figured the information is worth adding for those interested - it may already be posted somewhere else on here, but a quick search didn’t show anything.
