From what I’ve read online there were unlimited and 1st editions versions of the Expedition and Skyridge sets in Japanese. However every picture I’ve seen and my own cards are all marked 1st. Did an unlimited version actually exist?
Also does any one have a link or higher res pictures of the Japanese ‘sample’ set? Particularly looking for the 2001 Space World cards.
Thanks
Skyridge does have an unlimited set. Expedition technically does. It wasn’t offered for sale, but rather specific unlimited cards were handed out at events I believe. Not every card has an unlimited version. There’s only a handful of unlimited cards from the set that exist. And I think people aren’t even sure if there’s more out there, or if we’ve found out about all the unlimited version out there for Expedition.
These are the highest res I’ve seen of the 2001 samples.
Interesting! In the Skyridge sets surely the unlimited versions are considered more valuable than the 1st ed? I’ve never seen one.
So strange they did with unlimited cards haha, and idea on if Abra is apart of that list?
Amazing, thank you! Just shows that precious Abra card that I’ll never get. Any info on sales of these cards?
@quuador has a great thread with pictures of lots of obscure cards including the Japanese sample cards: www.elitefourum.com/t/pokemon-tcg-picture-dump/17973/1.
There’s also a thread here all about the unlimited E1 set: www.elitefourum.com/t/japanese-unlimited-e-series-1-cards-base-expansion-pack/16426/1. It’s gotten quite long so if you want a condensed version of everything we know so far I’ve written a blog article about the set: pichu.blog/unlimited-e1.
The unlimited E1 tl;dr is that we currently believe the cards were distributed as part of a lottery event at participating Pokémon Gym stores (here’s the section on my blog which discusses that: pichu.blog/unlimited-e1#pok%C3%A9mon-card-gb2-lottery-event).
Some great info! Thank you!
Just getting back into the hobby after a 7 year break and trying to cross off some Abra’s on my list. Looks like there was no unlimited expedtion and the sample set will be almost impossible so only on the hunt for skyridge unlimited now.
I’m pretty sure they’re more valuable but I’m not really sure. I was talking to someone from Japan and they were telling me that right now, there’s not much of a price difference between the editions. At least that was for specific cards I was curious about. It’s also weird because a lot of people forget unlimited tends to be rarer and usually want that 1st edition stamp so prices are kinda weird.
Interesting. I’ll keep my eyes open for some.
If you come across an Abra keep me in mind haha
Well, @pichufan has already linked both my picture dump thread and his own blog, and @qwachansey already shared the best pictures of the Nintendo Space World Sample/Test print cards.
Two more pictures I could share which shows the Abra:
Unfortunately no, for all the Sample cards you see in the pictures shared by Qwachansey and me, it’s unknown if any ever made it into public hands or all simply got destroyed or vaulted. For Pokémon there are only twelve type of Sample/Test ‘mini sets’/cards available. I’m actually in the process of writing about all of them in my ‘Pikachu around the World’ series for my collection thread - although it’s just a draft currently, so don’t expect it anytime soon. From those twelve, it’s unknown whether any of the Sample/Test cards from the May 2001 English E3 Expo and August 2001 Japanese Nintendo Space World made it into public hands. For the other ten Sample/Test prints we know at least some are in public hands (and some I own myself).
As for the unlimited edition Skyridge / Split Earth set, it’s indeed quite a bit rarer than 1st edition, but with some patience you should be able to find it eventually. Unlimited edition Japanese cards are usually some of the last cards people add to their single Pokémon collections in my experience. It took me 7 years to find the unlimited edition E1 Pikachu, and 3.5 years to find the unlimited edition World Champions Pack Seviper. The unlimited edition Skyridge Pikachu I was able to find rather quickly however, and have seen a couple of times after that, so I’m sure Abra should pop up for sale eventually (although I was unable to find even a picture of one after a quick search just yet 
).
Greetz,
Quuador
Judging by the total graded populations of Mysterious Mountains and Split Earth (the two JPN sets that make up English Skyridge), I’d guess that there are 3-6x as much 1st ed than UED cards.
However, that does not translate to much of a price difference. If anything, 1st Ed is usually a tiny bit more expensive.
Not many people (aside from a few freaks like myself and a handful of other e4 members) are specifically looking for the rarer UED versions. I have some in my collection thread if you want to see your first few UED copies 
From my experiences this year I’ve noticed quite a few Japanese sellers charging more for unlimited e-series cards compared to 1st edition. Not everyone though.
Awesome info in here, thanks guys.
I can pretty safely cross off the Sample Set Abra from my collection list haha.
Eyes will be kept peeled for the Unlimted Skyridge Abra.
