In the world of Pokémon Trading Card Game collecting, 4th print boxes refer to those special packs from the original Base Set that came out in the late 1990s, marked with a tiny “4” symbol in the bottom left corner of the card artwork. These boxes were part of Wizards of the Coast’s early printing runs for the English version, after the super rare shadowless and 1st edition prints but before the common unlimited ones flooded the market. Collectors chase these because they mix some unique looks from earlier prints with later tweaks, and inside them, certain artwork variants on holographic cards stand out as way harder to find than others. Among all the holo rares in 4th print boxes, the rarest artwork variant is the Black Flame Ninetales, where the flames on its tail show up pitch black instead of the usual bright blue you see on most unlimited prints.
To get why this matters, picture the chaos of those early print days. Wizards started with shadowless holos—no drop shadow around the artwork border, making them sleek and valuable. Then came 1st editions with a stamp, followed by unlimited prints that added shadows back and changed some designs mid-run. The 4th print boxes, often just called 4th prints, were a short window in that unlimited phase. They pulled from sheets that might still have old artwork patterns before Wizards fully switched everything over. Most cards in these boxes look like standard unlimited holos: blue flames on Ninetales, normal borders on Machamp, standard poses everywhere. But every now and then, a pack spits out something off, like that black-flame Ninetales, tying back to the shadowless style.
Ninetales is the standout because its black flame version only pops up in unlimited prints, including those 4th print boxes, and it’s tied to an early production switch. Wizards tweaked the flame color from black—matching the shadowless cards—to blue sometime right at the start of unlimited printing. That means only the very first batches of unlimited sheets had the black flames, and 4th print boxes sometimes grabbed from those leftover sheets. It’s not like they made a ton of them on purpose; it was a glitch in the transition. People who open sealed 4th print boxes report finding these black flame Ninetales way less often than other holos like Blastoise or Venusaur, which almost always show the blue flames. One collector tore through dozens of packs from confirmed 4th print boxes and only pulled one black flame Ninetales after hours of ripping, while common holos like Hitmonchan showed up every few packs.
Compare that to other variants in 4th prints. Take Machamp—its holo sometimes has a thin border error where the gold edge bleeds funny at the top or bottom, but that’s mostly a 1st edition thing, and even in unlimited or 4th prints, it’s spotted more than a handful of times. Gray stamps on 1st editions are tough too, but those are on non-holos from earlier runs, not standard in 4th print holos. Inverted backs or double-printed backs happen on some unlimited uncommons like Unown Y or Balloon Berry, but again, those are non-holos and show up in small numbers across sources—not tied specifically to 4th prints as a holo rarity king. Blue speckled ink errors hit a few 1st edition non-holos, but nothing beats the black flame Ninetales for pure scarcity in the holo slot of 4th print pulls.
Why is black flame Ninetales the top dog in 4th print boxes? Supply and timing. Unlimited prints cranked out millions of cards total, but the black flame sheets were a tiny slice from the absolute earliest unlimited presses. 4th print boxes, being a later marker in that run, mostly got the updated blue flame sheets, so any black flame ones are holdovers—super low odds. Forums full of breakers and long-time pullers agree: in hundreds of documented 4th print box openings, black flame Ninetales surfaces once every 50 to 100 boxes on average, while other holos like Chansey or Poliwrath fill packs regularly. Its artwork pulls straight from the shadowless Ninetales, with those dark, smoky flames curling up like midnight fire, giving it a spooky, old-school vibe that screams rarity.
Dig into the artwork itself, and it’s pure eye candy for collectors. The standard unlimited Ninetales has vivid blue flames that pop against the purple fox body and starry background, drawn by Ken Sugimori in his classic style—elegant lines, dynamic pose, tails fanned out like a fiery fan. The black flame variant swaps that blue for deep black, blending into the shadows and making the whole card feel moodier, almost like a nocturnal version. It’s the same pose and layout, but that color shift nods to the shadowless era, where flames matched the darker tones before Wizards brightened things up for mass appeal. In 4th print boxes, pulling this feels like hitting a time capsule; it’s not a misprint like a stubbed text or wrong stamp—it’s a legitimate early artwork holdover.
Other holos in 4th prints don’t come close in rarity. Venusaur’s artwork is consistent—big flower, vines everywhere, no major variants reported in unlimited or 4th runs. Blastoise has its shell cannons locked in place across prints. Charizard, the big chase card, sticks to its fiery roar pose without color swaps like Ninetales. Even trickier errors like border bleeds on holos are “over a handful” found, meaning maybe 10-20 known copies total, but those spread across 1st editions mostly, not pinned to 4th prints. Ninetales black flames? Fewer confirmed sightings, especially graded ones, because so many got played with back in the day or tossed as “weird” pulls.
Grading bumps this up even more. A PSA 10 black flame Ninetales from a 4th print pulls five figures easy, sometimes hitting six, because population reports show under 50 graded across all services, and most trace to unlimited or 4th prints. Compare to blue flame versions—thousands graded, common as dirt from later boxes. Collectors verify 4th print origin by that little “4” in the artwork corner, separating it from pure shadowless (no number) or later unlimited (still blue flames). Opening a sealed 4th print box today? Expect 11 packs, each with a shot at a holo, but that black flame is the unicorn.
History adds layers. Back in 1999, kids didn’t know about print variants—they slammed packs for the shiny holos and traded the “ugly” black flame ones away. Adults now hunt sealed 4th print boxes, which themselves run $500 to $2000 depending on condition, precisely for these low-odds pulls. Breakers on YouTube live-stream box breaks, and chat explodes only on black flame Ninetales hits. It’s not just rarity; it’s the story—Wizards fumbling the print switch, leaving these artifacts scattered in 4th runs.
Spotting on
