Hard launched to release in early December 1996 exclusively as promos to a single, specialized Jumbo Bandai Carddass vending machine via an advertisement on page 417 of a 1996 November Monthly #12 in Coro Coro Comics Magazine issue #224, this #5 out if a series of 6 Bandai Carddass W Pokémon cards were a two-in- one sticker/card product only sold for an extremely limited period if time; 25 days after the first TCGs were released; and 5 days prior to the standard sized vending series cards: the 96 bandai carddass 96 red version (green versions came like a month after).

These jumbos are the true rookie cards of the Pokémon vending series franchise. I also hinted earlier that they are some of the rarest Pokémon cards in the world. There are only 6 examples of #5 in the PSA pop report. There are only 2 out of the 6 graded in a PSA 6. One higher exists in a PSA 8.

Out of the set of 6, this is the only Jumbo that has an early watercolored version of Charizard with only one Horn, like a unicorn. Quality control standards were laxed back then huh?

Anyway, the sricker top sheet is boring compared to what is underneath #4, #5 and #6. I think “without sticker” versions are cooler than “with sticker” covering Ken Sugumor’s masterpieces.

I have included photos and summaries of my research concerning this item, they are there to prove this Jumbo comes with high pedigree and is significantly undervalued in the marketplace right now due to its scarcity (pop 6), and it’s claim to be the first vending series card ever sold. It has been 30 years and theres only 6 of these early artifacts of pokemon graded professionally. So, dont come at me saying “but last sold was blah blah”. I dont care. Those sellers didnt know what their products inherent value or scarcity were.

(Yes, thats right, this jumbo promo was announced in the issue following the issue where Pokémon gave the world their first Trading Card Game product: the Glossy, incorrectly labeled illustrators for the now coveted Ivy Pikachu and Jiggly TCG cards released in the appendix of Coro Coro comic magazine #223 )