Anyone who was around when Pokémon first arrived knows the phrase Gotta Catch ‘Em ‘All. After all, it was Pokémon’s catchphrase, although not as widely used as it once was. So the question is, has anyone achieved this goal and caught all the Pokémon cards ever made?
The simple answer is, no. Nobody has every Pokémon card ever made and for good reason. There’s a lot of cards including different variants of the same card that make this task very difficult, many cards that aren’t for sale no matter how much money you offer, and even cards that were produced but never released to the public.
Even though there isn’t a single person with all the cards, there are few individuals who have amassed some impressive collections. The rest of this article will go over some of the cards that are seemingly out of reach for many collectors. As well as highlight some of those collectors that have come close to owning them all.
The Massive Amounts of Cards Produced
Let’s talk about just how many cards and variants exist. Let’s take the first released set, Base Set. In Base Set, there are 102 cards correct? So, there are 102 cards and we can move onto the next set, correct? Not even close. See there are 102 cards in the set, but there are also four versions of the cards, there’s 1st edition, shadowless, unlimited, and even a variant of the card where the copyright date reads 1999-2000. Okay so that’s 408 and we can move on now, right? Nope.
We also have to account for special cards, there was a printing change in base set that created red cheeks Pikachu for both the 1st edition and shadowless print, plus some cards were produced for Pokémon Leagues to help promote the cards with special red backs called trainer deck cards, we also have error cards which can be a hassle to get to all of those. Even if we account for those we still have to consider all the languages Pokémon cards were produced in and all their variations. If I counted correctly there are 2,169 base set cards, not including reprints and promo releases (E3 Pikachu and Poketour Pikachu). That’s just the first set of cards released, we haven’t even gotten through original 151 Pokémon yet.
As you can imagine this is a feat that Hercules himself would have failed and is one of the main reasons nobody owns every Pokémon card.
If you’re interested in reading all about Base Set I have a massive guide that you can learn all the variants and how to tell them apart. Just click here.
Money Can’t Buy Everything
Let’s just say there was someone crazy enough to try and hunt down every card known. They have what it takes to complete this mission, can they do it if the amount of cards doesn’t scare them off? No, the truth is there are cards that aren’t are in people’s collections that aren’t going away. Take a look at these cards:
Here’s a couple of trophy cards that have the winners faces printed on them. These cards have never surfaced for sale, and most likely never will. They’re very personal to the owners of them and money just can’t buy them. These aren’t the only examples, there’s plenty of cards out there that just aren’t for sale by anyone.
Not only are some of the cards too personal, but some of them are owned by people who don’t need the money. You can’t force someone to sell, and there’s a lot of collectors who would rather have the cards they own instead of millions or even billions of dollars. They’re just not for sale.
Some Cards That Are NEARLY Impossible To Acquire
Do you see that card above? That’s a special gift given to Tsunekazu Ishihara for his 61st birthday. If you believe this is the only example of a card that has been created for a special event you’re wrong. There’s been a lot of cards over the years, many of which aren’t publicized, that were given out as special gifts.
Any collector that has the goal of collecting every card will undoubtedly fail when trying to get their hands on these cards. This is just another reason nobody owns all the Pokémon cards.
Noteworthy Collectors Who May Be Close, But Aren’t Really
While no individual collector has all the Pokémon cards, there are some people who have high profile collections that are noteworthy for their accomplishments.
David Persin
David is the self-prescribed Pokémon’s Number 1 English Card Collector, and he might be. It’s known by many collectors that Mr. Persin has the most complete English collection in the hobby. He’s been buying complete sets for years and over time that adds up. He’s the only person to have a confirmed Prerelease Raichu.
Scott Pratte
Trophy cards are some of the hardest cards to obtain due to only being released to winners of tournaments. Often times when an individual wins their tournament they decide to keep their cards instead of selling them. This makes trophy card collecting very difficult.
Because of this Scott having the most complete known trophy card collection is an impressive accomplishment. Some of his collection includes the Pikachu Illustrator, a complete ‘97 Pika Trophy Set, a complete Tropical Mega Battle Set, a Complete Super Secret Battle Set, and so much more.
Gary Haase
Some people may have watched the Pawn Starts episode where a guy comes in to sell off his Charizard collection. That person is Gary Haase, he’s not only known for his massive Charizard collection; which isn’t his favorite Pokémon – Venusaur is. He also claims to be the king of the WOTC era of Pokémon. Gary has a large collection and has been open to sharing and nobody has shown a collection even close to the same magnitude of Gary’s. Gary has been involved in the Trading Card hobby since it first came to America and Gary is one of the people that helped bring it overseas.
The Pokémon Card Game Creators
Takumi Akabane, Kouichi Ooyama, and Akihiko Miura are the individuals who are credited for creating the Pokémon Trading Card Game, but Yuichi Konno is said to be the fourth creator by Takumi Akabane. If you’ve been heavily involved in the buying and selling of Pokémon cards in Japan you would have known of a seller who went by pkonno2002. Pkonno2002 is undoubtedly Yuichi Konno.
Some of the cards Pkonno2002 listed for sale were some of the rarest cards in the hobby. We’re talking Pikachu Illustrator, Pokémon Snap Prize cards, and various other trophy cards that shouldn’t have been readily available to the general public. This highlights that if you have special connections to the Pokémon worlds you have access to some special cards. Sometimes one-of-a-kind cards like the Ishihara birthday card I mentioned above.
There should be little doubt that these individuals with close connections to the Pokémon Franchise probably have some very impressive cards; however, their collections aren’t well known to the public. We know they don’t have them all, but they may have collections more complete than most.
Thank You
Thank you for reading. I hope you found this informative. If you enjoyed this article, please share it with others who would like to learn more about Pokémon. If there are any corrections that need to be made, contact me through the contact page. Finally, make sure to check out my other articles, I put a lot of effort into all of them.