What is Pokemon? Episode I : The Base Set
GLOBAL PRESENTATION
To talk about Pokemon, we need to start somewhere and we have to start with the first series released in the US back in 1999, the Base set !
This series was released in the United States three years after the Japanese
release and straight away, it was a great success and has become one of the most loved series of every Pokemon extension with so many famous cards such as Charizard or Mewtwo for example.
Cards from this series are those “big yellow bordered” cards and were released in two different categories : first edition and unlimited (Shadowless edition is a different version of Base set). As you may have understood, first edition is the first edition of the Base Set released in the US, before being replaced by the unlimited. If first edition cards are more expensive, unlimited are more rare because they were less produced than the first edition.
To see the difference between those editions, there is a little edition 1 logo in the bottom left corner of the illustration. If the card doesn’t feature this logo, then it’s an unlimited. This first edition system will remain until the Expedition Base Set release.
CONTENT OF THE SERIES
CARDS PRESENTATION
The first Pokémon series features 102 cards including 16 holographic cards. It does not feature any ultra-rare card yet (Ex, Shining, Gx or secret cards for example).
DISPLAY BOX & BOOSTERS
There a three different illustrations, based of the three starters from the first generation : Charizard, Venusaur and Blastoise. Every booster pack features eleven cards including one rare or holographic. The 36 boosters packs box features every starter on its sides and every energy on its top with the first edition logo if the box is a first edition Base set box.
There are also four different decks which allows you to build your own deck to play the game itself, with 60 cards including one holographic card and a couple of energies.
MOST ICONIC CARDS OF THE SERIES
This iconic series includes a lot of well-remembered cards, mostly the holographic cards. We couldn’t talk about the Base set without talking about the holographic Charizard ? One of the most iconic Pokemon card of all time. The Blastoise and Venusaur complete the trio of starters. There are not many legendary Pokemon in the Base set but Mewtwo and Zapdos have both a great looking holographic card in this first series. Also, we have to show you the first appearance of a Pikachu in the US (see below).
We can quickly mention other famous cards like Arcanine (we would like to see a holographic version of this one), Charmender and Charmeleon which complete the trio with Charizard !
THE REDACTION’S CHOICES
We won’t be particularly original here today. To talk about the best cards of the Base set, we just have to pick those we already mentioned before ! But we decided to put some cards that are less known but that are still really good looking from our point of view.
Maybe you were asking : where is the Charizard ? He is finally here ! Probably the most famous Pokemon card ever created, maybe just the most famous card in the world. Not every holographic card were great back in the day, but this one was the holy grail, undoubtedly the best looking card from the Base set. This Charizard artwork designed by the legendary Mitsushiro Arita is splendid and the shiny red background covered by flames is even better to make this card timeless !
We often talk about the trio of starters when the question is “what are the best cards from the first Pokemon series ?”, and even if we think it’s mostly true, you can’t forget the holographic Zapdos, the only legendary bird to be available in this series. Maybe it’s not the best illustration of Zapdos, like the Fossile version but it deserves to be here with Charizard, as we think it’s one of the best holographic card of the Base set, with those great lightnings in the background behind Zapdos.
Even if Dragonite isn’t available in the Base set, his pre-evolution Dragonair is, in the form of a simple rare card. Like the Arcanine, it could have been a great holographic card when we see the quality of drawing (Arita yet again) with those stunning northern lights in the back. It would have been the other Pokemon to have a holographic version before its evolution, like Clefairy from the same series. It’s not the most famous card, because it’s not the big boy Dragonite but it remains a really great looking card from the Base set !
HOW TO COLLECT THE BASE SET
Even if it’s the first series to be released in the US, it’s still quite easy to collect it (at time of writing). Finding the rares and commons is really easy on Ebay, no matters the edition. Gem mint is less and less common but with a bit of luck is still findable. However, the holographic cards are becoming more and more expensive, not particularly hard to find, but you will need to pay more for it. Every card in Shadowless edition is now hard to find but unlimited sets are easy to complete. And above all, you have a great chance to find those cards in flea markets as pretty much everyone had those cards when they were younger so it’s not too late to complete the Base set !
CONCLUSION
If you haven’t already started a Pokemon collection and you are still hesitating, the Base set is a really good series to start with. It’s the first extension to be released in both Europe and US and it’s still an easy one to collect, even if some cards will be quite expensive but they are findable, not like some series released after this one. A really good set which has a good vintage side and its legendary cards to create an awesome series that everyone likes to own.
We hope that we convinced you to start your collection with this overall presentation of the Base set and we are inviting you to follow our future reviews on Pokemon’s most iconic sets !
Have a nice week, dear collectors !
