Did the 4th Print Mark the End of the Original Base Set Era in the Pokémon Trading Card Game? Let’s dive deep into this question that’s been buzzing among collectors, players, and fans for decades. The short answer is yes, many in the community see the 4th print run of the Base Set as the true close of that magical early era, a time when the game felt raw, full of printing quirks, and tied to Wizards of the Coast’s original vision before shifts in production and distribution changed everything.[1][2] To understand why, we need to go back to the very beginning of the Pokémon TCG, when packs were flying off shelves in 1999, and every card pull felt like striking gold.
Picture this: It’s late 1998 in Japan, where the TCG launches with the Base Set, but in the West, Wizards of the Coast grabs the license and localizes it for English speakers starting in January 1999. The Base Set drops with 102 cards, featuring icons like Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur as holographic rares that kids and adults alike chased endlessly. Those early prints were divided into clear waves: the ultra-rare 1st Edition with its coveted stamp, then Shadowless versions without the shadow around the card art, and finally Unlimited prints that fixed some visual tweaks. But demand exploded so fast that Wizards kept the presses running, churning out multiple print runs to meet the hype.[2]
The 1st Edition print was tiny, meant for the earliest shipments, and it’s legendary today because of its scarcity—only available in those first booster boxes before the stamp was dropped. Shadowless followed quickly, still carrying that fresh, unpolished charm with no drop shadow under the artwork, making holos pop even more. Unlimited prints started correcting minor art issues, like adding shadows back for better visibility. But here’s where it gets interesting: Wizards didn’t stop at three. They rolled out a 4th print run, exclusive to the UK market in late 1999 to early 2000. This wasn’t just another batch; it was the one that finally ironed out stubborn errors plaguing earlier versions.[2]
Take Vulpix, for example. In 1st Edition, Shadowless, and early Unlimited prints, its HP was printed wrong as “HP 50” instead of the standard “50 HP.” That tiny flip mattered because it matched the clean format used across the set. The 4th print fixed it, along with Sandslash’s weird black dots messing up its weakness text, turning “weakness . . . . . . . resistance” into something readable. Even Jungle expansion cards, like some misprinted ones, got nods in this era, but Base Set bore the brunt of these fixes. These weren’t massive errors that broke gameplay, but they screamed “early days” to collectors—proof of rushed production in the gold rush.[2]
Why does this 4th print feel like the end? For starters, it was the last major correction Wizards made to Base Set before pivoting hard. By 2000, the TCG was evolving fast. Jungle, Fossil, and Team Rocket had hit shelves, introducing Gym Heroes and Gym Challenge with new mechanics like Pokémon Powers and evolutions that built on Base Set’s foundation. But the 4th print wrapped up Base Set’s production cycle at a time when Wizards was already testing Prerelease cards—those stamped promos given out at early league events.[1] Officially, Wizards only acknowledged four Prerelease cards from the Wizards era, but whispers in the community talk about a misprinted Base Set Raichu slipping into test sheets for Jungle Clefable, stamped and handed to employees. Wizards denied it for years, adding to the mythos, but it ties right into how Base Set’s print runs were winding down amid experimentation.[1]
Economically, the shift was huge. Early Base Set cards, especially 1st Edition Shadowless Charizard (4/102), command insane prices today. Recent sales show ungraded copies around $329, with PSA 10 gems hitting over $12,700, and even Near Mint ones fetching $400 to $500 in late 2025 sales.[3][4] That 4th print stuff? It’s more common and corrected, so values dip—Unlimited Charizard from those runs go for far less, signaling the “era” of scarcity ended. Collectors draw a hard line: anything post-4th print feels like the mass-produced future, not the original wild west.[3][4]
Gameplay-wise, Base Set defined the TCG’s core. All Pokémon were single-prize cards—no fancy EX or Megas yet. Battles revolved around basics like energy acceleration with Bill or Scoop Up, and haymakers like Hitmonchan’s Big Punch. The 4th print came as Wizards was prepping bigger changes. By Team Rocket in 2000, errors like Rocket’s Minefield Gym missing damage counter rules got late Unlimited fixes, but Base Set’s 4th was the clean finale.[2] Prerelease evolution sealed it: after Base Set through early sets, Wizards stopped standalone Prereleases, only reviving stamped “STAFF” versions much later with Diamond & Pearl in 2007 under new rules.[1]
Fast forward, and the “original Base Set era” gets romanticized as Wizards’ full control from 1999 to 2003, before Pokémon Company International took over in 2003 with EX series like Ruby & Sapphire. That era brought lowercase “ex” Pokémon—two-prize powerhouses that shook up prize trading, making decks faster and riskier. No more pure single-prize slogs; now you bet on big hitters like Rayquaza ex.[5] But purists argue the 4th print era ended that innocence because it coincided with Wizards flooding the market. Booster packs from 4th print UK boxes are tougher to find mint, but they mark the pivot to global scaling—Base Set wasn’t “new” anymore; it was legacy stock.
Community lore backs this hard. Forums and Bulbapedia threads dissect print dots (those tiny codes on card edges revealing run dates), with 4th print cards showing later codes like “B3” or UK-specific tweaks. Errors like Jungle’s Ditto pink ring or Sandslash dots vanished entirely post-4th, proving Wizards nailed consistency.[2] Even oddities like double-printed backs on Team Rocket uncommons hint at printing chaos easing up. The Raichu Prerelease rumor? It embodies the era’s end—test runs for Jungle meant Base Set sheets were archived, engines cooling.[1]
Compare values: A 1st Edition Shadowless Charizard sold for £4,083 in July 2025, while Unlimited from later prints hover under $500.[3][4] Graded PSA 9s from early runs top $1,700, but 4th print Unlimiteds are bulk for most. This scarcity gradient screams “era close”—pre-4th cards are time capsules of hype, post-4th are the bridge to Jungle/Fossil saturation.
Distribution shifted too. Early Base Sets hit local stores via test leagues, with Prereleases as participant rewards.[1
