Here are 2 copies, 1 sealed, of “Ready for Battle 00” from Topps Mewtwo Strikes Back set. I’ve seen this card mentioned on this and other forums, so with these 2 popping up these last few months and no prior sales history, I wanted to put them out there in case anybody else is looking and might have any information to share.
I found the first before knowing they existed and took a shot on it after seeing it was known-ish but not really available on the market. I made a post on reddit looking for more info, but there isn’t much. It was thought to be another promo like “Super Psychic Pokemon 0,” so the seal (assuming it’s real) could confirm that.*
The sealed one was sold to a game store. It was brought to the store in a retro pencil tin, but I do not know if the card is original to the tin.
The second came from a bulk lot, and I’m looking for more info on that atm.
PSA does not have any data on this card. Beckett does, but they won’t say exactly what. Beckett will grade the card with the appropriate label, PSA would label it “trading card” or something like that until more information is available. I’ve been told Beckett has graded the first of these cards already, but I couldn’t get them to confirm that. They did say it wouldn’t be searchable in their database until A) the population is higher or B) more interest is generated around the card.
If anyone knows anything more or would like additional pictures, please let me know!
It may also be possible to reach out to TOPPS for information.
I did this for the 2013 75th anniversary set but I didn’t get hold of someone who knew anything.
It could be worth a shot
Thanks for the tag! I’ve discussed with few other collectors about the card but unfortunately no one i’ve talked has any additional info about the card. Previous times when people have contacted topps they haven’t been able to provide any extra info since topps claims they don’t keep any material or information stored of their past products (which i find quite odd tho). I am however very interested in purchasing a copy of my own if you decide you at some point want to part with either of them or happen to bump into another copy!
It sounds like neither company is super confident in the cards atm. Any grading company can just say “oh yeah we don’t give records out until there is xx amount in our population” but to me that sounds like an excuse to let some stuff through without thinking about it. What about a 1/1 sports card? Seems like that will need to be noted somewhere right? I’m no expert on grading though, never sent anything to any company, I like the cards as is. I did try to reach out to Topps about this card and got the “We don’t keep records of our cards.” I think it is very odd for them to not keep record of their stuff but also it was a different time. I did look through some old Beckett card collector books but those didn’t mention the card in the set list. Makes me think it was given out in a weirder way than the “Super Psychic” promo. Maybe an Topps employee exclusive, some sort of giveaway, or a more obscure product. I dug pretty deep into toys from that year and didn’t find anything though. My last guess is it could be regional, like Canadian or something. It is a neat mystery for now though!
