If you have a pile of Base Set cards and you want to know what you are holding, you do not need to memorise anything. You need four checks in the right order. Work through them from the top and stop at the first match.
The four English print runs
| Run | 1st Edition stamp | Shadow under the art | Copyright ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Edition | Yes | No | 1999 |
| Shadowless | No | No | 1999 |
| Unlimited | No | Yes | 1999 |
| 4th Print, also called UK Print | No | Yes | 1999-2000 |
Step 1: look for the 1st Edition stamp
The stamp is small, roughly 5 mm across. It is a circle with a 1 inside it and the word edition above the circle, sitting just outside the bottom left corner of the illustration frame. Nothing else in Base Set has it. If the stamp is there, you are done, the card is 1st Edition.
Step 2: look for the drop shadow
Hold the card so light rakes across it and look at the right hand and bottom edges of the illustration frame. Unlimited cards have a soft dark shadow there, which makes the artwork look slightly raised off the yellow border. Shadowless cards have nothing, so the frame sits flat.
No stamp and no shadow means Shadowless. A shadow means you carry on to step 3.
Step 3: read the copyright line
The copyright text runs along the very bottom of the card and it is tiny, so use your phone camera and zoom in. Standard Unlimited cards end at 1999. The final and smallest run ends 1999-2000, reading in full as ©1995, 96, 98 Nintendo, Creatures, GAMEFREAK, ©1999-2000.
That last run gets called several things: 4th Print, because it is the fourth version collectors care about, UK Print, because it was first noticed in the United Kingdom, and 8th Print, because it was actually the eighth time the sheets went through the press. It also turned up in Australia and the United States. It is the scarcest of the four in raw numbers, though it is far less sought after than 1st Edition.
Step 4: the Vulpix tiebreak
If the copyright line is too worn to read and you happen to be holding Vulpix, there is a shortcut. The 4th Print corrected the HP wording. Later cards read 50 HP. Every earlier run reads HP 50.
Two cases where the shadow test fails
Trainer cards never had a drop shadow, in any run. So a Trainer with no shadow tells you nothing at all. Go straight to the copyright line instead.
Energy cards have no illustration frame, so there is no edge to look at. Again, use the copyright line.
Why this matters if you are building a master set
A true Base Set master set is not 102 cards. It is 102 cards multiplied by the runs you decide to chase, which is why a checklist with a single tick box per card falls apart about a week into the project. Most collectors settle on four columns, one per run, and accept that the 4th Print column will be the last one to fill.
Tracking all four runs
Our Base Set kit gives you a checklist with a separate column for 1st Edition, Shadowless, Unlimited and 1999-2000, plus 108 printable placeholder cards cut to 63 x 88 mm so your binder looks complete while you hunt.
Free download
The WOTC Variant Cheat Sheet
One printable page covering all six English sets of 1999 and 2000: the four Base Set print runs, holo counts, release dates, the checklist columns you actually need and the errors worth knowing. Keep it in the front of your binder. No email required.
Download A4 (PDF)Download US Letter (PDF)
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Sources and further reading
Made by Pokemom is an independent fan project. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Nintendo, Creatures Inc., GAME FREAK, The Pokemon Company or Wizards of the Coast. Card names and set names are used only to describe which cards a checklist covers.