Gym Heroes (TCG)

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Set size: 132 in North America, at least 128 in Japan (94 avaliable in packs + 34 fixed cards)

Sequence: 6th set in North America, 6th set in Japan

Release date: August 14th, 2000 in North America, Spring 1999 in Japan.

Miscellaneous:

  • This set is known as "Gym 1" in Japan. There is a significant difference between Gym Heroes in North America and Gym 1 in Japan, namely what cards were avaliable in those sets. Gym 1 focused solely on the first four "Kanto" Gym leaders (Brock, Misty, Lt. Surge, and Erika). Because of which, there was lack of Psychic Pokémon. Wizards, when releasing the set to North America, decided to mix in a few cards from Gym 2, just to mix some Psychic Pokémon into the set.
  • The set symbol was changed between Gym 1 and Gym Heroes, apparently to not confuse collectors.
  • Another unpopular decision made by Wizards was the way the rarity was accounted for. Since there were a number of "fixed" cards in Gym 1 (cards only avaliable in special "Gym Leader" preonstructed decks), Wizards decided to give a number of them a rare rarity. While most of the new rarities were appropriate, other cards, like Misty's Tentacruel, didn't deserve their Rare rarity. These "common rares" created quite a stir in the Pokémon TCG community. Although the logic behind it made sense (fixed cardsd are inherently rare), many fans disapproved of the action. By Gym Challenge, however, Wizards decided to base the rarity of fixed cards on their game play abilities over their "fixed rarity" properties.