Japanese Ivy Pikachu Reprinted CoroCoro Variant

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Keiji Kinebuchi****A handful of new CoroCoro variants were discovered 2 years ago and with the enormous kindness and help of @subf and @nine I wanted to add some more data on them to help distinguish the incredibly rare reprint of the CoroCoro version from the others.

Here is @nine original post on them www.elitefourum.com/t/corocoro-japanese-promo-reprinted-edition/21760/1


Even though there are 18 individual (8 sealed sets) reprints of the Coros im only going to focus on Ivy Pikachu in this post since its Pikachu and this is only CoroCoro that has a distinguishable difference thatā€™s currently known.

Below are the 4 versions of the Japanese Ivy Pikachu, I added the Gray Star version since it is technically Japanese but I wonā€™t be focusing on it since there are clear differences from its counterparts.

Below is to show the obvious gloss and lack of gloss on all 3

All 3 in more detailCoroCoro 1996 Ken Sugimori GlossyThe first variation is the standard CoroCoro copy, the first unnumbered promo pokemon card to be given out in CoroCoro comic dated October 15 1996.
Every copy of this has the wrong illustrator on it, the wrong one being Ken Sugimori, this mistake has always been known and accepted.

Below shows the card and an unpeeled copy in detail as well as its mistaken illustrator circled.

Scan of my sealed copy

**CoroCoro REPRINT 1998 Keiji Kinebuchi Glossy****This version is the newly discovered version that is incredibly scarce being overlooked for almost 20 years.**Just like its counterpart its glossy but its illustrator was rectified with the correct illustrator Keiji Kinebuchi.

With the help of @nine it was found to be advertised in the October 1998 copy of CoroCoro below, 2 years after its counterparts release.

You would need to send off for it and in return you would receive 2 sealed sets, Pikachu & Jigglypuff and Meowth & Onix.

I believe it was a lottery in the sense there were more applicants than cards available.
2000 sets of 4 were given out so 2000 pikachuā€™s exist, thereā€™s no telling if they were all given out or how many were destroyed over the years.

Considering how few sealed copies if any have surfaced over the years it goes without saying itā€™s incredibly rare, personally this year is the first time ive seen a sealed pikachu & jigglypuff.

**Below shows the advertisement, a sealed copy as well a close up of the card showing its correct illustrator.

Scan of my sealed copy**

With a strong light the illustrator can be seen through the card stock without having to unpeel it.

Below is a recently graded copy by @subf via CGC, with a designation for this incredibly rare card, such a beautiful card.

The letter below congratulates you on winning them and thanks you for your continued support for the CoroCoro Comic

**How to Play PokƩmon Cards 1996 Keiji Kinebuchi Non Glossy****This variation is vastly difference in that its non-glossy and was distributed differently but it can still be easily mistaken for the other 2, its colours are also more pale in colour compared to the other 2.**The versions illustrator was correctly rectified to Keiji Kinebuchi, it was distributed a month after the release of its CoroCoro counterpart.
It was given out as an insert in the magazine ā€œHow to play Pokemon cards that you can easily understandā€ on November 30, 1996 inside the infamous gold ā€œGift Packā€ box which is nye impossible to find sealed these days.

The photos below show the clear differences as well as its origin

Scan of my sealed copy
of the magazine on the left

Thanks!

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GL pikachu collectors haha. I didnā€™t know it was 500 copies of each :open_mouth: thanks for the article and scans!

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Dang, just a week ago I was looking into these since I found one that was more pale than the other and I found out there were 2 different versions. Now to see there is the correct illustrator pikachu on glossy stock, very nice!

@quuador have you got this one already?

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Nope, still searching for one after KEI shared it last month. And I didnā€™t knew only 500 of these were made. I did hear about the 2k lottery magazines, so thought 2k existed, but if there are 1/4th of that that changes the perspective a bit. If anyone has one of these (preferably already peeled) for sale, lmk.

EDIT: @prochaos If 2000 sets of 4 were given out, arenā€™t there 2000 of each card? :confused: Either that sentence is incorrect, or your math.

Greetz,
Quuador

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@quuador

My mistake, with the help from @pokemontrader it does seem to be 2000 people were given all 4 cards (2 sets of 2) which would mean 2000 of each card exist, good catch!

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Thank for you for this thread, very good information.

I bought this from PWCC in March 2019. I thought it was the 1996 glossy card with an incorrect PSA label until I showed it to a knowledgeable person in Pokemon that pointed out that the name indicated it was the later non-glossy version. The label seems incorrect (the date at least) whatever the case.

At the moment I am still having trouble trying to see if it is glossy or non-glossy under the case.






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Jim thatā€™s a glossy 1996 pikachu. I am holding a glossy and non glossy version in my hand right now and the easiest way to tell if you canā€™t notice the glossiness is the large color difference (glossy is darker yellow and non glossy is very pale for the card back ground) and the offset in the energy symbols. The non glossy card has corrected centering on the colorless symbols and the symbols are smaller than the glossy. If you have both cards to compare or can search for images in the guide above you can see the small offsets, sizes, and colors.

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@redsky,
Thank you, that helps with trying to figure out whether it is glossy or non-glossy. The only thing with my card is that the named illustrator is different than the 1996 version?

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@jim7

Very interesting, unfortunately a lot of these old japanese promos have been mislabeled, its hard to tell on yours from the photos, the gloss should be really obvious when glimmered in the light like the photos on my posted when held at an angle.

Attach a video if you.

thanks for sharing :blush:

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@jim7 , Yes. See the original guide at the top of this thread as it appears you have a PSA 10 of the corrected card which I imagine will now be considered much more valuable than the original card version since it might have been more limited.

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@prochaos,

That is fine, I was happy to see this thread and thought I would post my card. I will upload a video tomorrow (have to dig the card out and film in day light).

Best wishes.

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@redsky ,
Thank you, I hope that it is the glossy variant of course. I will have a look at the guide again and compare. I will also get the card out tomorrow as it is not to hand at the moment.

(edit, just looked at the guide again). From the images it does look like my card has the coloring of the 1998 variant at least.

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The good and bad news I suppose is that it means the card you have was the reprinted 1998 version probably and now you still need to go get a real 1996 PSA 10 glossy :open_mouth: . I wonder if you can get some type of compensation from PSA?

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Here are 2 more examples from a few mins of research than could also be mislabeled

The colourless symbol does seem a little offset on yours, my photo was edited in photoshop to flatten it some since it was not a flat photo so dont trust the offset on mine too much and like mentioned the non glossy version is lighter in colour but the gloss should be really obvious when held in the light.


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@redsky ,

I messaged PSA a while ago and they were quite eager for me to send it back in to be corrected (I assume they pay all the costs?). I am not sure if they would give me compensation as I bought it from PWCC. It is quite interesting, the bar-code number is so low, it must have been graded a very long time ago?

When it was pointed out to me a few weeks ago that the named illustrator meant it was not the 1996 version I was fairly disappointed and assumed it was the non-glossy variant. If it turns out to be the 1998 glossy reprint that would be very welcome news! :grin:

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@prochaos ,
Well found!

Could this mean the two PSA10 graded 1996 glossy cards are actually miss-labelled 1998 reprints?
www.psacard.com/pop/tcg-cards/1996/pokemon-japanese-corocoro-comics-promo/79576

I have always thought that the 1996 glossy card would be so hard to grade a 10 due to off-centering, rolled edges, most are damaged etc. Perhaps there is no PSA10 1996 glossy card. Just a thought.

Also, possibility of another variant with darker coloring but non-glossy stock?

I will film my card tomorrow and post it here.

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@jim7

The certification for your card has been deactivated on PSAā€™s website, it also is dated 1997 which is wrong, the pop report for the 1996 label is 2 in 10 which could be the 2 I attached photos of but i feel like ive seen more than 2 10s lol

Yeh its a confusing subject, theres no way of confirming if those 2 are wrong or not

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@prochaos,
Seems like a bit of a mess lol, I wonder how many have been deactivated. Clearly quite a confusing set of cards that is still being figured out today.

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Just a final thought, perhaps the 1998 version was printed in glossy and non-glossy like the 1996 version? Also 1996 lightest, 1998 darkest (when looking at the images in your first post)?

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2000名 - 2000 People
If it were 2000 cards ā€“ 2000Ꞛ

There are different counters for different things in Japaneseā€¦ Mai is for cards or flat things, Mei is for peopleso thatā€™s why it is 2000 people received the sets :blush:

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