Base Set (Japanese: 拡張パックExpansion Pack) is the name given to the first main expansion of cards of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. The set is the first to feature all 151 Generation I Pokémon in the card game.
Blurb
Put the power in your hand with the Pokémon trading card game!
The hugely successful Pokémon Game Boy® game was just the beginning of the Pokémon phenomenon. Now, with the trading card game, you can train your favorite Pokémon to pit them against a rival's Pokémon in a fight to the finish! Increase their powers with Energy, and your Pokémon will launch the special attacks you've seen in the popular Pokémon animated TV show!
Choose your favorite Pokémon from the random cards in this booster pack to customize a Pokémon theme deck or starter set. Or design your own undefeatable deck by combining prized Pokémon and trainers. The possibilities are endless!
Do you have the skills to become the world's number-one Pokémon Master? Master the Pokémon trading card game and find out!
Information
An advertisement for the Base Set
Base Set is the name given to the first main expansion of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. In Japan, it was released as a starter deck (Starter Pack, スターターパック) alongside separately purchasable Base Set packs (Expansion Pack, 拡張パック)[1][2]. The Base Set was promoted through the giveaway of the first TCG cards, a Pikachu and Jigglypuff promo that were peeled from a CoroCoro magazine 5 days ahead of the main release. The promos were advertised to be collected alongside the main set, making CoroCoro readers feel that they had already started the collection[2]. The Base Set is based on Pokémon Red, Blue, and Green, featuring Generation I Pokémon. The English expansion was released on January 9, 1999, while the Japanese expansion was released on October 20, 1996.
The Shadowless print mirrored the 1st Edition print except for the 1st Edition logo. All cards in the 1st Edition and Shadowless runs were printed with thinner HP and attack text. These cards were without drop shadows for the artwork window. The fourth print run mirrored the Unlimited print, with the only difference being the copyright date, which reads "1999-2000".
The English release are ordered by card type (Pokémon, Trainer, and Energy cards), then by rarity (Rare Holo, Rare, Uncommon, Common), lastly, alphabetically by card name. The Japanese release are ordered by the types first, then ascending rarity (Rare and Rare Holo are considered the same), then National Pokédex number, followed by Trainer and Energy cards.
In 2020, it was discovered that the first card to be test printed for the English set was Blastoise with a unique test print identifier of 009/165R. Five variants of this card were printed (one with a black border similar to Magic the Gathering cards, then four with the yellow border and different card layout ideas) before the finalized design that would be seen in Base Set.
↑Page 32 of the December 1996 monthly CoroCoro comic.The base set itself was just called Volume 1. The cards were found in a deck called "Starter Pack" and in packs called "Expansion Pack" which was named as such because more cards could be found from the packs. Relevant translations in the December 1996 ad for the base set:
Top banner, in gold:
ポケモンカードシリーズ第1弾 – Pokémon Card Series Volume 1
Large red letters just below it:
ポケットモンスター カードゲーム – Pocket Monsters Card Game
To the left of the decks:
スターターパック — "Starter Pack" [This is what the Starter Deck was called]
Beneath the base set pack:
拡張パック — "Expansion Pack" [This refers to the base set packs]
↑ 2.02.1The Japanese base set poster included as a furoku in the December 1996 monthly CoroCoro comic. The heading of the poster invites readers to collect 全102枚+2枚 cards: The 102 base set cards pictured and the 2 CoroCoro promos that readers already got for free in the previous month's issue.
The base set is referred to as Pocket Monsters Card Series Volume 1 (ポケットモンスター カードゲーム 第1弾), consistent with the advert.