The Pokémon Trading Card Game kicked off with the Base Set on January 9, 1999, in English-speaking markets, but its story starts even earlier in Japan, and what followed were multiple printing waves that kept the cards flowing for years as demand exploded worldwide.[1][2][4]
In Japan, the very first version of the Base Set hit shelves on October 20, 1996, under the name Expansion Pack, with exactly 102 cards packed into booster packs of 10 cards each—though Western packs later bumped that to 11.[2][3][4] This Japanese launch came right after the Pokémon video games took off there, building quiet hype among kids trading cards in schoolyards. By March 1998, factories had already churned out 499 million cards, showing how fast things grew even before the global boom.[2]
Fast forward to the West: Wizards of the Coast, the folks behind Magic: The Gathering, got the license from Nintendo and rolled out the English Base Set nationwide on January 9, 1999, after some pre-sales in December 1998.[2][4] It matched the Japanese count at 102 cards, featuring icons like Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur in their classic holofoil glory. Booster packs flew off shelves, tying into the Pokémon video game launch on Game Boy Color just weeks earlier on November 23, 1998, in North America.[2] Demand was insane—by March 1999, total cards shipped hit 764 million, made in both Japanese and American factories.[2]
This first printing wave didn’t last long on its own. As Pokémania swept the world, Wizards kept the presses running through 1999 and into 2000, reprinting Base Set boosters alongside the next expansions like Jungle on June 16, 1999 (64 cards), and Fossil on October 10, 1999 (62 cards).[1][4] Collectors noticed these early prints had a specific shine and copyright marking from 1999, with the iconic black star symbol on holos that became a hallmark of Wizards-era cards.[1][4]
By early 2000, the original Base Set stock was thinning, so Wizards dropped Base Set 2 on February 24, 2000—a reprint-style expansion with 130 cards that mixed Base Set staples with tweaks from Jungle and Fossil.[1][4] It wasn’t a fresh set but a “reprint wave” to meet endless demand, including fourth-print runs of the original Base Set that showed up in boosters around this time. These prints had subtle differences, like updated copyright dates to 2000 and slight variations in foil patterns, helping collectors spot waves today.[1][4]
Printing didn’t stop there. Wizards continued pumping out Base Set cards in later waves through 2000 and 2001, often bundled in holiday boxes or theme decks. For instance, around April 2000, Team Rocket launched (April 24), but Base Set reprints kept appearing in stores to support new players.[1] By March 2000, global card production skyrocketed to 4.255 billion, with Base Set making up a huge chunk as the entry point for millions.[2] Factories ran overtime, and scarcity started building for unlimited prints versus the rarer first-edition boxes, which had a gold stamp on the box to mark the true initial wave.[4]
Into 2001, as the Original Series wrapped with sets like Gym Heroes and Gym Challenge, Base Set reprints trickled into promo bundles and starter sets. Wizards Black Star Promos, starting July 1999 and running to March 2003, sometimes included Base Set reprints or holos to sweeten deals.[1] This era’s prints had a consistent “Wizards of the Coast” branding on the back, with no major medical issues reported in production—card manufacturing stayed straightforward ink and foil, no health concerns noted in authoritative records from Nintendo or Wizards archives.[2][4]
The big shift came in 2002 when Pokémon TCG handed control from Wizards to Pokémon USA (now The Pokémon Company International). The e-Card Series began with Expedition Base Set on September 15, 2002 (165 cards), but it nodded back to the original Base Set with similar Kanto Pokémon lineups.[1][4] Even here, limited Base Set reprint waves appeared in clearance bins and repacks through 2003, as stores cleared old stock. Skyridge followed on May 12, 2003 (144 cards plus secrets), marking the end of Wizards’ direct printing, but Base Set cards lingered in circulation.[1][4]
Post-Wizards, printing waves for Base Set-style cards evolved into nostalgia products. The Legendary Collection on May 24, 2002 (110 cards), reprinted Base Set holos with new “Legendary” stamps, blending old art into fresh boosters.[1][4] This was like a soft reprint wave, keeping the original designs alive while adding shine from new printers. No health-related halts occurred; production used standard glossy foils, as detailed in Bulbapedia’s expansion logs.[4]
Jumping ahead, modern waves revisited Base Set vibes. Scarlet & Violet—151, released September 22, 2023, recreated the full Kanto dex (1-151) with 165 base cards plus 153 variants for a 360-card master set.[5] It used original Wizards holographic paper for galaxy energy cards, sparking a reprint frenzy—mini tins in May 2024 and Blooming Waters in February 2025 kept fresh prints flowing.[5] These aren’t exact Base Set copies but echo its timeline, with print quality tweaks noted for grading, though no medical sourcing applies as it’s pure collectibles manufacturing.[5]
Throughout, Japanese prints ran parallel. The 1996 Expansion Pack got waves through 1997-1998, with high-gloss foils extending to borders in later eras like PCG (2004 onward).[3][6] English waves mirrored this, with Base Set prints peaking 1999-2001, then fading into reprints by 2003.[1][4]
Unlimited prints of Base Set kept coming post-2000, identifiable by lack of edition marks, flooding the market until around 2004 when focus shifted to EX series like EX Unseen Forces (August 22, 2005).[1] Collectors chase these waves: first edition (Jan 1999, gold box stamp), unlimited (ongoing through 2000+), and shadowless (mid-1999, no drop shadow on art).[4]
By 2005-2006, as EX Delta Species (October 31, 2005) and others dropped, Base Set was mostly legacy stock, but POP Series promos (like POP 2 in 2005-2006) occasionally bundled old Base cards.[1] Diamond & Pearl era (2006) fully moved on, yet nostalgia waves persisted—Stormfront in 2008 (November 5) had faint Base echoes in trainer cards.[1]
Even in 2013, Plasma Blast (August 14) and Legendary Treasures (November 6) included radiant collections pulling Base Set art styles.[1] Today, r
