DALLAS, TX.- When the Pokémon trading card game was launched in 1996, it enjoyed immediate success in Japan. But any effort to expand to a global audience had to begin with selling the concept to a Western audience.

Part of that sales pitch was a Magic: The Gathering/Pokémon Test Print Uncut Sheet with Notes (Wizards of the Coast) that will find a new home when it is offered to the game-playing world in Heritage’s May 17-18 Trading Card Games SignatureŽ Auction.

The intriguing story lines are as numerous as the cards that appear on the sheet.

“This is as unique as any lot Heritage has offered,” says Jesus Garcia, Consignment Director of Trading Card Games at Heritage. “It is a sheet of test prints from the two most popular games ever made, and comes to Heritage from a former employee of Wizards of the Coast, the company that distributed the game internationally outside of Japan.

“Most importantly, it is the only sheet known to exist representing a Pokémon TCG card with a black border.”

The consignor, who wishes to remain anonymous, kept the sheet in a portfolio, taking it along to show prospective distributors of the game how cards could look. He called it “an experiment sheet,” and cited non-traditional colors on the borders of the various cards, as well as the handwritten notes that surround images of the cards. It was created as a sample to show how Pokémon could look with a similar Magic: The Gathering-style border, which was rejected immediately by Wizards of the Coast management in favor of a yellow border. When he got it, it never occurred to him that it might become a collectible; he simply carried it around as a presentation piece to show the graphic possibilities for the game.

Adding to the utter rarity is the fact that it features test prints of both Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards — a convergence made more remarkable by the fact that the sheet’s cards from both games have Magic: The Gathering backs. This uncut sheet includes cards from both games; the first four rows feature foil test prints of Lightning Dragon, the first foil card released by Wizards of the Coast, and Drifting Meadow, which did not have a foil release until early 2023. Each card has a complete row of each variant. The final row at the bottom features four cards with various printings of Magic: The Gathering set symbols and mana symbols, as well as one single Pokémon card: Blastoise — a beauty that matches other Blastoise test prints, except for the fact that this one has a black border.

Also among the auction’s highlights is a Pokémon Charmander Unnumbered Promo 64 Mario Stadium Best Photo Contest CGC Trading Card Game Mint 9 (The Pokémon Company, 1999) featuring an image by Tsukasa Hosono. Contestants competed to take the best photos they could for the N64 classic, Pokémon Snap, with the top five photos printed on reprint cards from the Japanese Pokémon TCG Expansion Pack. Another card featuring an image from a Pokémon tournament is the Pokémon Squirtle Unnumbered Promo 64 Mario Stadium Best Photo Contest CGC Trading Card Game Mint 9 from the 1999 64 Mario Stadium Best Photo Contest that was taken by Miyuki Ogino. Only 15 cards of each winning photo were made and distributed to the winners, and of that tiny population, the examples offered in this auction are the only one of each that earned a Mint 9 grade — with none graded higher — from CGC.

One of the most popular cards from any game is Magic: The Gathering Black Lotus Limited Edition (Alpha) BGS Trading Card Game EX-MT 6 (Wizards of the Coast, 1993) Rare. The most sought-after trading card in existence, this spectacular card from the Alpha Edition is part of the most powerful group of cards in the entire game, known as the Power Nine. Wizards of the Coast released the Alpha Edition in August 1993, and it was so successful the Beta edition was printed just two months later. With a print run of just 1,100 copies, this card is scarce in any condition. BGS has certified 10 copies earning an EX-MT 6 grade with 250 graded higher.

Always in demand among the most serious of collectors is a Pokémon First Edition Base Set Sealed Booster Box. Released in January 1999, the set included 102 cards, including the widely popular Charizard. Because of the low print run, booster sets like this one that are scarce, and of the few that remain, even fewer come to market.

Sealed sets from all of the major trading card games draw the attention collectors. Such is the case with a Magic: The Gathering Limited Edition (Alpha) Sealed Starter Deck that was the very first set released for the game. It is idendifiable as an Alpha Edition deck because it lacks a bar code at the bottom of the box; Beta Edition decks had bar codes added at the bottom. The set might contain a Black Lotus, Timetwister, Mox or any of the other Power Nine cards.