Ulrich and Helva's Cards - Magic, Pokemon, Sports & Nonsports, Comics


Frequently Asked Questions about Pokémon Cards

What is the difference between 1st Edition (Limited) and Unlimited editions of the Pokémon sets?
English Pokémon cards are being produced by Wizards of the Coast in two editions. The Limited "1st Edition" cards were printed in much smaller quantitites than the Unlimited. 1st Edition cards of the first set were only printed for about a month, and the Jungle 1st Edition run might be even smaller. Therefore, those cards are worth much more than the Unlimited versions. The only difference on the cards is a small "1st Edition" logo. The art and the game abilities of the cards are exactly the same.

What are "Japanese Pokémon" cards?
Japanese Pokémon cards are the original Pokémon cards, produced in Japan. These were produced starting in 1996. There are many more series than are currently available in English. All of these cards are in the Japanese language and feature different artwork and Pokémon abilities than the English versions of the cards.

What do the "R" "U" and "C" after some of your Pokémon card listings mean?
They represent the card's rarity for Wizards of the Coast Pokémon sets. R stands for Rare, U for Uncommon, C for common. Rares are marked with a star on the cards, Uncommons with a diamond, and Commons with a circle.

What are the Flipz Pokémon cards?
Action Flipz Pokémon cards are trading cards manufactured by Artbox. They are officially licensed Pokémon cards. Like the Topps cards, they are trading cards and cannot be played with the Wizards of the Coast game. They are much smaller than regular Pokémon cards, and they are square in shape.

Why are two Pokémon listed for most Flipz cards?
The Action Flipz cards are specially designed cards which have two different pictures. The picture you see depends on the angle at which you are holding the card. As you tilt the card, the picture "flips" from one Pokémon to the other.

I have a card that I think is a misprint. What is it worth?
There are several known misprints. Some, like the red-cheek Pikachu, are routinely sold for more than the regular versions of the cards (we sold out of red-cheek Pikachus). Others might only be worth more to people who specifically collect misprints. The value of a misprint usually depends on the severity of the misprint and the popularity of the non-misprint version. These are the misprints acknowledged by Wizards of the Coast: base set Pikachu with red cheeks instead of yellow base set Diglett has Fighting Energy symbol sideways for its attack base set Vulpix has HP 40 instead of 40 HP base set Caterpie has HP 40 instead of 40 HP base set Metapod has HP 70 instead of 70 HP base set Kakuna and Bulbasaur have "Length, Length" instead of "Length, Weight" base set Ninetales without "80" to the right of the Fire Blast attack 1st Edition Jungle Butterfree has "Edition D" instead of "Edition 1" Jungle Rapidash says to put Rapidash on the Stage 1 card on the upper right corner, but it is the Stage 1 card (this text should have been omitted) 1st Edition Jungle Electrode non-holofoil has the same picture as the Base Set Electrode 1st Edition Fossil Zapdos holofoil is missing the foil in the upper left corner

What is the difference between "Topps" and regular Pokémon cards?
The first set of Pokémon cards released in the United States were made by Wizards of the Coast. These cards are the game cards which you have probably seen before. The Topps cards are produced by that company, the same company which has made baseball cards for over 50 years. They have just released a set of Pokémon cards which are purely trading cards, there is no game aspect. The "TV1" notation in our listings is their notation for those cards. Each of the "TV" cards feature scenes from the Pokémon cartoon series rather than just character portraits. Each card in the Topps series was made in a foil and non-foil version. The foil cards feature a reflective, shiny surface on the entire front of the card, similar to Museum Collection baseball cards and other premium foils which you may have seen. They are rarer than the non-foil versions, thus the higher prices. The Topps series features all new artwork and descriptions. They are not reprints of the Wizards of the Coast series. Topps has been given permission to print these and they are legitimate, authorized Pokémon cards. Naturally, Wizards isn't too happy that the Pokémon characters have been licensed to two companies, but it's great for collectors.
Following are examples of both the Topps and Wizards of the Coast cards. The Topps card is on the right, the Wizards card is on the left.