No.2 Trainer Trophy Card From 1997 Sold for Over $84,000

Published on 19 April 2020 at 17:06

One of the rarest and sought after card in Pokémon TCG history has been sold today for 9,051,000 yen ($84.175,78 converted) on a Yahoo Japan auction.

This specific Trophy Card is a unused and ungraded card with it's original display case. It's the No.2 Trainer Trophy Card (No.2トレーナー) and was given out in Japan to the runner-up during the Lizardon (Charizard) Mega Battle held at Masala Cup: Kobe International Exhibition Hall, Kobe, November 8, 1997. 

 

Trainer Trophy Cards were only given out to the winners of their respective age division during these Pokémon Card Game tournaments in Japan. This Lizardon Mega Battle from 1997-1998 was the 2nd ever official major tournament in Japan.

Nowadays you would obtain these Trainer Trophy Cards with Pikachu holding a trophy during Pokémon World Championship tournaments if you win in your respective age division.

Because of their low print run and rarity, these don't appear on the market very often. Only a few dozen of these have ever given out in Japan during that time period, making these trophy cards one of the rarest and most sought after Pokémon TCG cards in Pokémon TCG history. Especially the 1st place versions are the most sought after.

According to the Japanese seller on the listing: "Especially, the product with the Masala Cup shield is so valuable that it has not been exhibited in the last decade!" 

The Lizardon Mega Battle was held 7 times in different places in Japan between 1997 and 1998:

  • Masala Cup: Kobe International Exhibition Hall, Kobe, November 8, 1997.
  • Tokiwa Cup: Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome, Fukuoka, December 7, 1997.
  • Nibi Cup: Makuhari Messe, Chiba Prefecture, January 10-11, 1998.
  • Hanada Cup: Kyocera Dome Osaka, Osaka, February 1, 1998.
  • Sion Cup: Sapporo Community Dome, Sapporo, February 8, 1998.
  • Kuchiba Cup: Nagoya Dome, Nagoya, February 15, 1998.
  • Finals: Makuhari Messe, Chiba Prefecture, April 26, 1998.

 

The link to the auction page on Yahoo Japan:

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/467976454

 

Some information comes from trophycards.weebly.com, you can visit that website for more information about older Japanese Trophy Cards.

The card from the auction


Scan from the Pokémon Card Official Book 2000 showing some pictures and information from the Lizardon Mega battle from 1997-1998.

(Image is from CollectorViper)

More trivia:

An official book from Media Factory of the Lizardon Mega Battle was released in 1998 with documentation, competition reports, interviews, pictures (from all players) and more of this tournament.

It's called: めざせ!ポケモンカードマスター―ポケットモンスターカードゲーム日本一決定戦リザードンメガバトル公式ドキュメントブック / Aim! Pokemon Card Master-Pokémon Card Game Japan's No. 1 Match Charizard Mega Battle Official Document Book

Add comment

Comments

There are no comments yet.