The world of Pokémon trading cards has always been full of surprises, especially when it comes to those special Shadowless cards from the early days. Shadowless cards come from the very first print runs of the original Base Set, released by Wizards of the Coast back in 1999. These cards do not have the drop shadow around the artwork or text that showed up in later prints. They sit right between the super rare 1st Edition cards, which have a little black stamp in the corner, and the common Unlimited cards that everyone started getting later. Collectors love Shadowless cards because fewer of them were made before the company added those shadows to make the cards easier to print and look cleaner[5][7].
But here’s the big question that gets everyone digging through old binders: how many Shadowless Pokémon cards were printed by each printer? The honest truth is that exact numbers are not out there in black and white. Wizards of the Coast never released official print counts for Shadowless cards, and no public records list precise figures broken down by printer. What we do know comes from collector research, graded card populations from places like PSA, and hints in old articles about limited early runs[1][2][5]. These cards were printed fast to meet huge demand when Pokémon first exploded in popularity, but the Shadowless phase was short-lived, making them scarcer than Unlimited versions[5].
Let’s break this down step by step, starting with who printed these cards. Wizards of the Coast handled the first English Pokémon TCG sets, including Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, and more. They did not print the cards themselves. Instead, they outsourced the job to professional printing companies in the United States. The main printers identified by collectors and researchers were Cartamundi and something called the “Topps” facility, though Topps is better known for other card products. Some sources point to a printer in Belgium for Cartamundi, but most Base Set cards came from U.S. operations[2][3]. Errors and variations in the cards, like ink stains or misprints, give clues about different print sheets and runs, showing that multiple presses were running at once[2].
For the Base Set Shadowless cards, which are the most famous, estimates suggest the print run was much smaller than Unlimited. While Unlimited Base Set had millions printed to keep up with stores, Shadowless were only from the initial waves before the shadow design kicked in. One way collectors guess totals is by looking at PSA graded populations. For example, popular Shadowless holos like Charizard have thousands graded, but that’s just a fraction of survivors since many cards got played with, bent, or thrown away over 25 years[3][6]. Beckett notes that sets like Skyridge had limited print runs, and Base Set Shadowless followed a similar pattern with fewer mint examples turning up today[1].
Diving deeper into printers, Cartamundi seems to have handled a big chunk of the early WOTC Pokémon production. This company printed many of the 1st Edition and Shadowless sheets. Evidence comes from specific errors unique to their sheets, like the “Hitmonlee Stainmonlee” where gold ink smudged on the left border during printing. These happened on 1st Edition holos, but similar ink issues carried over to some Shadowless runs as the presses kept going[2]. Cartamundi’s sheets would print multiple cards at once, and as ink ran low, errors increased until they refilled. For Shadowless Base Set, Cartamundi likely printed tens of thousands of sheets, but no exact count exists. If a full sheet had around 121 cards, and they ran a few thousand sheets for Shadowless before switching, that could mean a few hundred thousand Shadowless cards total from them, though most experts think it’s lower due to quick transition to shadowed prints[2][5].
Then there’s the Topps connection. Topps Chrome and other shiny cards are mentioned in rarity lists, but for standard Pokémon TCG, Topps tested printers and produced some early proof cards, like the Pikachu on a Magic: The Gathering back[3]. For Shadowless, some collectors believe a Topps-affiliated printer did a smaller run, possibly for test sheets or regional distribution. This ties into ultra-rare errors like double-printed backs or inverted backs found on Unlimited but traced back to Shadowless-era presses. Only a dozen or so double-printed uncommons are known, hinting at very limited output from that printer—maybe just hundreds or thousands of cards before scrapping the run[2]. Topps Tekno-Chrome had rare pull rates, showing they knew how to make scarce cards, and this carried over to Pokémon work[3].
Other printers pop up in collector forums and error studies, like a U.S. facility possibly linked to “Dartmouth Printing” or similar, but names are fuzzy without official docs. For Jungle set Shadowless cards, which also exist but are even rarer, the print runs were tiny because demand slowed a bit after Base Set hype. Fossil Shadowless had corrections mid-run, like Rocket’s Minefield Gym, where Unlimited got fixed late, making corrected versions scarcer[2]. Printers would swap plates or adjust ink mid-batch, so Shadowless from Fossil might total under 100,000 cards across all printers combined, based on low graded pops[2].
To give you a sense of scale without hard numbers, compare to later sets. Neo Genesis 1st Edition Lugia had printing issues and only about 1,200 graded copies, with early runs super small[4]. Shadowless Base Set dwarfs that but still feels limited—maybe 500,000 to 1 million total across printers, guessed from sales data and survivor rates[6]. Japanese sets had controlled prints, like only 39 Pikachu Illustrators, but English Shadowless were mass-produced yet cut short[3][6]. Promos like Play Umbreon needed 70,000 points to get, with just 6 PSA 10s, showing how printers made scarcity built-in[4].
What makes pinning down printer-specific numbers tough is that sheets mixed editions. A single Cartamundi sheet might have 1st Edition holos, Shadowless rares, and Unlimited commons all printing together until the shadow template updated[2][5]. Errors like Vulpix HP misprint spanned 1st, Shadowless, and Unlimited, fixed only in UK 1999 prints, with over 230 PSA graded[2]. Dark Charizard tape obstruction hit an Unlimited nonholo run, but Shadowless avoided most major flubs[2].
Collectors track this through population reports. PriceCharting shows sales for Item Finder Shadowless #74, proving steady demand but not totals[8]. Bulbapedia logs errors like inverted backs on rare nonholos from three sources, meaning at least three printer batches went wrong[2]. For Base Set, Cartamundi probably did 60-70% of Shadowless, Topps or affiliates 20-30%, and others the rest, but that’s educated guesswork from error patterns and card backs[2][3].
As years passed, print runs grew. By 2000 European “4th issue” cards, copyrights changed, and shadows were standard[5]. Worldwide, 23
