Just checked out this video from : Grade level Collectibles about this history of these three cards, found it very interesting 
I have to say though when I heard the distribution for the Pearl for the winter challenge was 2000-3000 I choked on my morning coffee a bit ! That’s so much more than I thought SHEESH lol
Link:
If any if you check it out would love to read your thoughts !
I sense disappointment from you my friend! Even if there is another video which states that the card distribution is 1000 or even 750 or 500, there is not way to find out the exact number and probably we never will. Best is to enjoy the wonderful card that you have and not let the card distribution detract you from that. It still a valuable and a great looking prize card, not to mention a very nice entry point to get some rare prize cards in Pokemon.
Cheers!
Jokes a side those cards are still amazing and out of reach for many people and they will be even more out of reach as time goes on. If the distribution number is 2000 - 3000 for Pearl it is still very rare card, like I mean absurdly rare. The unique art and history behind it makes it in my opinion even more desirable.
I would buy one without hesitation if I had the funds for one atm and like @mrbubbles said it is great entry point to prize cards.
Haha I was just so surprised that it could be that high ! All this time I’m reading 200-500 and then hearing the 2k-3k I was like … huh that very well could also be the case never thought it would be but with how that tournament was structured yeah who knows 
I just wonder if there’s thousands of these , why is the number of graded copies with psa , cgc , ( bgs I can’t really say since we don’t know ) so low ?
These prize cards are known enough and loved enough from what I have seen in the community that you would think there would be a lot more graded copies !
Either way yes it’s a beautiful card and a awesome piece too a trophy / prize card collection
I wish I could afford the Diamond and platinum but the latest Diamond still inside the trophy case sold for over 16k on pwcc … damn ! 
To me, it kinda seemed like he just casually threw the 2-3k figure out there. Without a source, it’s nothing better than a guess.
There is an implicit assumption in the Western Pokemon community that all high-end Japanese cards will make their way to a PSA slab and to the Western market at some point. That’s just not the case, unfortunately.
Take University Magikarp for instance: less than 12% of the total population has been graded by PSA. Some ~800 Unikarps are still in Japan, whether preserved in a binder or thrown out in the trash. 
I know it’s a possibility always but oh my goodness too think some or a lot thrown into the garbage be it back when they were released or lost through the years makes me cry inside 
I guess with how the winter challenge structure was really any number could be shot out as everyone had told me , we really can’t ever know