collectorviper.com (original) (raw)
It's been a wonderful 9 years with a lot of ups and downs.
I'm going to miss you all.
Today, CV is officially closing its doors -- something that my twitter followers have known for quite some time but I've dragged my feet on posting about here on the site officially. I lost a lot of joy with collecting the TCG halfway through the XY-era; the sets were becoming a pain to fill in with boxes, the promos were spiralling out of control (especially extremely limited numbered ones), and there was no joy in going through the motions. S&M was my breaking point, with radical changes to pulls, an extreme over saturation of RR/SR/HR/UR cards with unbalanced pull rates making fill-in costs a nightmare (nevermind if you wanted a chance at good pulls needing to spend over a grand per set for a case), and an overall lack of care from Creatures Inc as to how the player and collector base was feeling with dual set blocks being shoehorned together with new + subsets every two months between.
I realised I couldn't, both financially as well as mentally, keep going with it.
I'm not the only one this era has broken, with other collectors turning in as well.
I also have been struggling to just simply maintain the site. Set after set after set of raw scans sit on my desktop machine unprocessed due to software changes (loss of Adobe CS3 into CC made base editing processes a nightmare), in addition to my physical health actually limiting my ability to sit at my home desk for long periods to work on the site. I'm physically disabled and deal with chronic pain. My passion for archiving the beautiful art of the cards pushed me through a lot in the middle lifespan of CV, but it's just so much of a detriment now its not worth me spending what little energy I have left after my work day (full time work!) trying to do it.
So what does this all mean for the site as a whole? For the collection?
There are a lot of older scan sets on here that I unfortunately just won't update ever, but I will release -- in time, when I sort them into a filing system that makes sense to not just me -- the raw PSD page scans of cards for free use. For archiving, for making base card templates, for use on other sites, and so on. They will be uploaded in compressed files per set or promo year, depending on what I have done, and linked here in time.
As for the collection itself: save for a few articles I'm keeping for myself -- certain jumbos or specific sets like DP6 and DPt4, the entirety of the Collectorviper collection will be going on sale.
Yes, including the 1998 Kamex Mega Battle trophy set. Yes, including the University Magikarp and GET Club Eevee/Shining Karp. Yes, including other hard to find trophy promos. Yes, including the entire Players promo set and shining Umbreon/Espeon.
In time. I need time to sort them, to make private offers available, to see if people would like to take sets vs individuals for certain things. It's going to take me likely the rest of the year before I'm ready to even part with some of it, but it's for the best. The cards, themselves, don't bring me any measure of happiness that they once did, and for that I want them to move on to others who'll appreciate them.
I'll also be doing grab-bags of all my spares, which could range from good cards to a slew of commons. Anything to move the bulk from 10+ years of collecting. Again, this is going to take time. For the most part a lot of it I'd like to organise it via the CV twitter (@collectorviper) in DMs there, solely for ease of back-tracking and collating stuff, vs emails, so please keep an eye out on there for sales announcements.
I wish those collectors who're still going through, who are still holding on and enjoying things to keep doing well at what you do. I'm so proud to have been a part of this community, and will miss it dearly, but this also is a great weight off of my shoulders.
Thank you.
With love, Cally.
20 August 2016 @ 10:09 am
「ポケモンカードゲームサン＆ムーン」
「ソルガレオGX」と「ルナアーラGX」来たる！
Revealed in the Worlds 2016 Opening Ceremony, the next era of the Pokemon TCG has already kicked off with quite a bang. As confirmed by the contents page of the artbook just a few days ago, the next era is going to be called Pokemon Card Game Sun & Moon. The JP site and youtube updated today to feature the logo for the era, in addition to confirming that the first set will debut in December 2016 for Japan.
A new mechanic was also revealed: PokemonGX. GX Pokemon have high HP, high power, and a new devastating attack called a GX Attack. Full rulings on the cards can be seen below:
A player can use only one GX attack per game, total.
(一瞬で戦局を動かす強力なGXワザ。ポケモンGXのみが、GXワザが使うことができます。)Each Pokémon GX has a maximum of two attacks in addition to its GX attack.
(ポケモンGXはGXワザ以外に通常のワザや特性を持っています。状況に合わせて臨機応変に戦うことが可能です。)Pokémon GX have strong attacks and high HP, so they can overwhelm the opponent's Pokémon without needing to rely on the GX attack.
(ポケモンGXは高いHP・強いワザを持っており、GXワザに頼ることなく、相手のポケモンを圧倒することができます。)When a Pokémon GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes two Prize cards.
(ポケモンGXは、「ポケモンGXがきぜつしたとき、相手はサイドを2枚とる」という、特別なルールを持っているため、扱いには注意が必要です。)
SolgaleoGX and LunalaGX have been the first GX cards revealed, though only partially with attack costs, HP, and set logo/number all omitted. It's not yet known if GX cards will be basic cards, or power-up cards like Lv.X, Great/Prime, and BREAK. We will likely find out come mid-late September, after the release of CP6.
The one GX attack per game is certainly game-changing! Going to be interesting to see how this mechanic is going to unfold over the next few years of this upcoming era.
17 August 2016 @ 06:31 pm
The 20th Anniversary of the TCG is upon us! A massive update today from the official site gave us a heap of news about the next upcoming Concept Pack, a plethora of promos, a new artbook, and other merch! It's a massive update and a lot to take in, so all parts have been broken up into sections.
Without further ado, let's dive into it!
Update Contents:
- Concept Pack "Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary"
- 20th Anniversary Special Pack "M SlowbroEX + Surfing Pikachu"
- Let's Trade Please Campaign 20th
- Daichi Pan Promotional Cards
- Pokémon Card Game Art Collection
Concept Pack "Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary":
Announced though stockists a few months ago, the 6th and final Concept Pack for the XY BREAK era comes to us in the form of a re-imagining of the TCG original heydays; an 87 card subset that bridges a 20 year generation! Not only does Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary have reprinted/reworked classic Expansion Pack cards, but a number of promo cards are getting the love too in the subset itself.
The Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary concept pack subset releases on September 16th, with packs retailing for 300円 and having 10 cards per pack (1 holo guaranteed per pack). Boxes have a RRP of 4,860円 and come with 15 packs. Additionally, booster boxes bought at eligible stores that run the Pokemon Card Gym program come with a '20th Pokemon Coin Set' -- three coins featuring Chansey, Bulbasaur, and Mew. Chansey is a reissue of the 1996 classic in a new colour and foil. Bulbasaur and Mew are reissues of 2004-2005 PCG coins with new colours.
Images and comparisons to original prints for the cards can be seen below.
Expansion Pack (1996) - Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (2016)
Expansion Pack (1996) - Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (2016)
Expansion Pack (1996) - Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (2016)
Expansion Pack (1996) - Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (2016)
Expansion Pack (1996) - Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (2016)
Expansion Pack (1996) - Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (2016)
Expansion Pack (1996) - Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (2016)
Expansion Pack (1996) - Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (2016)
Coro Coro/JR Promotional Card (1997) - Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (2016)
Expansion Pack (1996) - Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (2016)
Expansion Pack (1996) - Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (2016)
Expansion Pack (1996) - Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (2016)
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-
20th Anniversary Special Pack "M SlowbroEX + Surfing Pikachu":
A special blister pack featuring SlowbroEX (262/XY-P), M SlowbroEX (263/XY-P), Surfing Pikachu (264/XY-P), and a Slowbro Spirit Link (265/XY-P) is releasing same day as CP6. Retailing for 1,200円 the pack will also feature 3 booster packs of the CP6 subset -- the SlowbroEX cards are even done as a 'retro' version of an EX card! Quite the treat. You can check out images below.
CoroCoro Promotional Card (1997) - XY-P Promotional Card (2016)
Let's Trade Please Campaign 20th:
This is... surreal to think this is happening in 2016. The classic Let's Trade Please campaign has begun anew! Going to Pokemon Centre, Pokemon Store outlets, or partaking in the 20th Anniversary Festa, and asking to trade while handing in 20 'classic' cards from CP6 will see people receiving 1 of two sets: a Pikachu set featuring a Pikachu (281/XY-P) promo and a Please Trade (282/XY-P) promo, or a Charizard set featuring a Charizard (280/XY-P) promo and a Please Trade promo.
Pikachu was originally released in 1996 through either CoroCoro or the 'Easily Understand How to Play Pokémon Cards' guide book in glossy and non-glossy prints respectively. Charizard is a re-issue of its original 1998 Let's Trade Please campaign release, which was part of a Media Factory promo. It also could later be obtained without the corresponding Please Trade promo in the Pokemon Song Best Collection CD.
Trade 40 'classic' cards from the concept pack and you'll receive both the Pikachu and Charizard set, but it can only be done once per day.
I wonder if the new Please Trade promo will have a holo card-back...
プリーズ プリーズ こうかんしましょう わたしと あなたの なにかを おねがい おねがい トレードきぼう！
ふたりのきもちが ひとつなら!
Daichi Pan Promotional Cards:
Daichi Pan are partnering up with Creatures again to give us some more promotional cards! While some cards are reissues of older ones once again (even with the same number), the campaign will see two classic cards reprinted and rejuvenated: Snorlax from Pokémon Jungle, and the Extended Sheet 0 Pikachu from 1997's promotional card run. At present their XY-P numbers are too small to make out.
You can potentially pull them by purchasing either a Mini Egg or Mini Melon 2-pack sets of Pokemon Pan for 120円 at select combini and supermarkets from September 1st. You can check them out below, with their original print counterparts.
Pokémon Card Game Art Collection:
Finally, and possibly the most exciting for long-time TCG collectors and enthusiasts, a new artbook is going to be released on September 16th called the Pokémon Card Game Art Collection.
(Click for larger)
Much like the prior Illustration Collection book back in 2014 this book will feature high-res clean shots of card artwork, promo materials, pack art, and more. There'll be two versions of the book available -- a standard copy which comes with the enclosed CharizardEX promo (276/XY-P), and a Pokemon Centre exclusive version which will come with a set of card sleeves featuring the cover artwork. The standard book will retail for 2,700円 with the Pokecen version clocking in at 3,240円.
The book will feature 350 illustrations spanning 1996 to 2016.
Additionally, the contents page of the book has confirmed that the next card era name will be: Pokemon Card Game Sun & Moon -- 「ポケモンカードゲーム サン&ムーン」. It's set to feature information about era change and likely even our first peek at SM1 or the November-release Pikachu's New Friends promo pack. You can check out the promo card, sleeves, and a number of sample pages below!
Click any of the images for a larger version of them.
That wraps up this massive news-fest!
We'll keep you posted on news as it comes.
03 February 2016 @ 12:17 pm
Set Name: ポケキュンコレクション (Pokekyun Collection)
Set Logo: 
Number of Cards: 32
Checklist: Download (PDF)
Notes: Much like Shiny Collection back in the BW era, not only is Pokekyun a wholly holo set — be it literal holofoil cards or gloss coating with holo inset onto it to make the cards very refractive in the light — but it shares the similarity of being a cutesy type set with a heavy focus on cute, or popular Pokemon. Pokekyun comes in as our 3rd Concept Pack for the entire XY era, and our 1st specifically during the XY BREAK era, and not only features a vast array of original cards for the subset, but some very gorgeous alternate art reprints of prior cards all the way back to XY4.
In addition to all of this, Pokekyun brought in a ‘charm’ system, wherein the left side of the card artwork border is decorated with an array of hang charms which denote different emotions regarding the Pokemon featured in the artwork. In addition to them generally meaning something, the “Pokekyun Secret” insert cards that were on the back of the advertisement cards give a bit more insight into the illustration brief for the cards in the subset.
Ribbon (Charming): Fully cute! It’s a maximum girly ribbon charm★ Women are attracted by extremely cute illustrations, and ribbon charms are lucky. Pay attention to the little touches in the background♪
Heart (Close Friends): The heart charm looks good and best given to friends♡ When you’re with that little one your heart is warmed. Heart charms have such happy illustrations. You can see there’s so much fun!
Clover (Pure): You’re sure to find the most pure, immaculate heart with the clover charm. Oh my! Your expressions and behaviour, they're so precious. This is such a blessing. These clover charm illustrations of purity are so soothing.
Droplet (Sorrow): Sadness comes with the droplet charm; a small sadness, such as loneliness. The droplet charm illustrations make you feel that way. …Sadness prepares us for happiness.
Star (Magnificent Battler): The star charm sparkles like a brilliant fight! Believe in yourself and stand up against any opponent! These beautiful battle illustrations with the star charm — it’s hard to not admire them.
Book (Story): The book charm guides us to the hidden story of Pokemon in the illustrations. When a book charm is attached to an illustration, that means another card follows it. Find the continuation and try to complete the story.
This, along with many cards having unique dex entries that are from the perspective of the Pokemon or owners of the Pokemon, makes this entire subset have even more charm than I think Shiny Collection ever had. I really, really love it!
With two boxes I pulled an entire set bar the Pikachu full art card; RR cards are a little spartan in distribution, and while each box has 5 guaranteed it’s in which 5 you get that the trouble sets in when it comes to completing things. Only 1 GardevoirEX and 1 SylveonEX (normal) out of two boxes on my end but nice duplicate pulls. As for favourite cards -- there are so many! Biggest favourites of mine though have to be Swablu and Fletchling, followed by the full art SylveonEX and the normal FlareonEX. Also Yveltal. Because holy gods is that a ridiculously cute card for a death bird.
Trivia:
• This subset was released in Japan on the 29th of January 2016.
• The entirety of this subset is holographic and glossy coated.
• There was a premium long box released alongside this subset, the Premium Pokekyun♥Set, which featured a special Pokekyun style ShayminEX promo and came with packs of the set.
• This subset was released as part of Generations in English.
( Scans: Pokekyun CollectionCollapse )
Last Updated: 03/02/16
31 January 2016 @ 01:35 pm
Set Name: 青い衝撃 (Blue Shock)
Set Logo: 
Number of Cards: 65
Checklist: Download (PDF)
Notes: Blue Shock and Red Flash are a part of the dual set block that makes up the entirety of XY8, while also being the 8th consecutive set for the XY era and the first set of the new Pokemon Card Game XY BREAK block. We’d gotten hints for a while that a Mewtwo-oriented set would be coming through products announced for the October period after this set would come out, and not only was it stuffed full of Mewtwo with a combined 10 cards in total (5 in each set) but also came bearing a new mechanic that’s never been done in the TCG before.
Pokemon BREAK cards. BREAK cards were made so that Pokemon that usually never saw EX cards could gain a power up in kind, and it’s pretty beefy overall due to how they’re played — horizontally, sitting over the artwork of the prior evolution. This is specifically because of the rule which states for us that:
BREAK Evolution Rule: [Pokemon] BREAK retains the attacks, Abilities, Weakness, Resistance, and Retreat Cost of its previous Evolution.
Additionally, all BREAK cards feature gold-clad Pokemon. I think it’s a pretty awesome mechanic, as it’s bringing variety in against the EX cards which has been needed for quite while.
Two boxes netted a fairly hefty chunk of cards, and I pulled all of the main set outside of EX cards and BREAK over livestream with good company. The chunk of SR cards is thankfully not so woefully as huge as previous sets, but only pulling 1 SR from both boxes was a little painful — as much as I’d of loved to have pulled one of the Arita Gold UR cards, it just wasn’t happening either. They found a pretty good balance for distribution I feel given BREAK cards take up the same slot as EX, sharing the double rare (RR) marking.
Big favourite cards for me in this set have to be the UR Mewtwo
(I don’t even like Mewtwo I just love Mitsuhiro Arita’s stunning artwork), Doduo, Noctowl, and Xerneas.
You can see a full size, correct orientation scan of the BREAK cards from this set below:
ZoroarkBREAK & FlorgesBREAK
Trivia:
• This set was released in Japan on the 26th of September 2015.
• There were two corresponding decks released with this set block, BREAK Evolution Pack: RaichuBREAK and BREAK Evolution Pack: NoivernBREAK.
• M MewtwoEX’s 1st Edition SR print (063/059) was printed with a typo in the text band that read VANISING STRIKE instead of VANISHING STRIKE. This error has been issued a correction as of the Unlimited print.
• Both Beheeyem and Noctowl, both featured in this set, saw BREAK cards issued promotionally after this set was released.
• This set was released as BREAKthrough in English.
Last Updated: 31/01/16
19 December 2015 @ 10:55 am
This is a pretty unique thing that's happening in the TCG -- goods themed around favourite TCG card prints have been announced as part of a Pokemon Card Kuji that will begin from January 1st at Pokemon Centres Japan-wide. Each entry into the lottery will cost 500円, and each entry nets the chance to potentially pull one of the higher ranked prizes in this merch set.
What's really neat about this is that while the designs for everything revolve around select cards from the XY era, the items aren't all solely for TCG-side of things (ie. deck shields and so on) but include fun things like keychains and even a beach towel. The full list for the prizes is as follows:
Prize A: M RayquazaEX Jumbo Bath Towel
Prize B: Pikachu Coin Cushion or Damage Counter Cushion (30cm in size)
Prize C: Carabina Pouches (4 types)
Prize D: Double Deck Case (M GyaradosEX Type or ShayminEX Type)
Prize E: Keychains (7 types)
In addition to this, entrants have a chance of winning a Special Prize slot, which consists of a Collection X or Collection Y booster box. This is super neat because Collection X and Collection Y aren't currently stocked in Pokecens, as it's been out of print for a while. You can check out shots of the prizes below! I definitely want to get some of these when they come out; it's so nice seeing unique and different goods revolving around the TCG!
Prize A: M RayquazaEX Jumbo Bath Towel
Prize B: Pikachu Coin Cushion or Damage Counter Cushion (30cm in size)
Prize C: Carabina Pouches (4 types)
Prize D: Double Deck Case (M GyaradosEX Type or ShayminEX Type)
Prize E: Keychains (7 types)
Resource(s):
Pokemon.co.jp
14 December 2015 @ 11:12 am
The time sure flies between set releases -- it feels like only a few days ago we were all bemoaning having to collect 10 Mewtwo across two sets with a (then) unknown pullrate since the era was starting anew, and yet now the second instalment of the XY BREAK era (and 9th XY set overall) has landed upon us in all it's Gyarados-ly glory.
Anger of the Broken Heavens came at us with 89 cards all up with SR and UR prints, including Gyarados and M GyaradosEX, EspeonEX, DarkraiEX, along with Scizor and M ScizorEX. A release alongside it gave us 4 more Mewtwo to get -- thankfully in a pre-done pack -- and a plethora of card sleeves came out in addition to a unique take on Gym Challenge's box campaign. Add in the fact this release coincided with a massive merchandise release for a very popular merch line at Pokcen and... well. Madness Weekend certainly surmises it!
Max, the wonderful store-runner of Hoshiiya, kindly sent us photos of just how big a display is made at a Pokemon Centre when a new set is released in Mega Tokyo and Tokyo Bay's respective stores. You can check them all out below!
Check out these shots from Mega Tokyo by the wonderful @hoshiiyashop! They've got a nice display of those jumbos. pic.twitter.com/mqX9zbWlPu
— M CollectorviperEX (@collectorviper) December 11, 2015
(Click for Full Size)
Packs. Packs EVERYWHERE. Packs and sealed boxes everywhere! It's a very unique thing to see, and Pokecen goes above and beyond to show a heap of product because they have the space to do so, which just leads to cool shots like this! I know some of the bigger TCG and hobby stores in Japan do similar but not to this scale -- and this is something you'd just outright never see out in the west, especially all those sealed booster boxes just sitting out there to take up to the counter at will.
They also had new signs up for the Poncho-Clad Pikachu promo that began being given away this weekend with purchases of TCG goods over 1,000円.
(Click for Full Size)
The aforementioned new sleeves! The booster art of Mega Gyarados was predictably a sleeve done for release, but we also got Mega Scizor sleeves illustrated by Hitoshi Ariga, some very cute Slowpoke sleeves, and Garbodor was a focal 'mon just because they felt like it (it was revealed early for the set at Battle Festa after all, so they were clearly super hype about it!)
Additionally, they've got advertisements up for the Pokemon Gym campaign -- instead of a promo card this time they did damage counter tins featuring two of the EX 'mons of the set. Hilariously enough none of us picked that Espeon would be one despite seeing these tins a month before it's reveal.
(Click for Full Size)
And lastly, check out the Mewtwo Special Boxes that they released the same day -- they're currently sitting cushy with the November-released Double Mega BREAK Set blisters! They also have a massive chunk of Red Flash and Blue Shock being displayed with them. I wonder if we're seeing Unlimited release packs yet?
Once again, a big thank you to Hoshiiya Shop for the wonderful photos! It's so nice being able to see how TCG releases are back in PCL's own home territory, given they're a big thing over there. Our next major TCG set release isn't until next year, but we're going to see two big releases for filler products between now and then with the Eeveelution Battle Strength sets and the just-announced Poncho-Clad Pikachu boxes, so we'll likely see shots of those when they land.
In the middle of holiday season hell. Pokemon, your timing for releases is always impeccable.
28 November 2015 @ 07:30 pm
Set Name: BREAK進化パック「オンバーンBREAK」(BREAK Evolution Pack: NoivernBREAK)
Set Logo:
Number of Cards: 10
Checklist: Download (PDF)
Notes: Our first BREAK era deck comes to us in the form of these two little 10 card packs, toting RaichuBREAK and NoivernBREAK as their star-runner cards. When the decks were first announced no one was really sure if they were going to be their own standalone small deck, or simply feature promo prints, like some later BREAK releases did. Instead a lot of us were pleasantly surprised to find they were standalones!
Given how cheap these tiny decks are they’re pretty awesome, and while they only offer a small sampling of Pokemon with a fair few trainers, both reprint and new, they’re still pretty neat. The Raichu deck of course focuses on Noivern and it’s pre-evo, but sees support from the most darling Chatot, too. Each deck came with a special fold out poster all about the new BREAK mechanic, with play style guides written up for each card in the deck.
You can see a full size, correct orientation scan of NoivernBREAK here.
Trivia:
• This deck was released in Japan on the 26th of September 2015.
• The SNP set logo and designation comes from the word Evolution (しんか/Shinka) and Pack.
• These cards were assimilated into the English set BREAKthrough.
( Scans: BREAK Evolution Pack - NoivernBREAKCollapse )
Last Updated: 28/11/15 Set Complete
28 November 2015 @ 06:39 pm
Set Name: BREAK進化パック「ライチュウBREAK」(BREAK Evolution Pack: RaichuBREAK)
Set Logo:
Number of Cards: 10
Checklist: Download (PDF)
Notes: Our first BREAK era deck comes to us in the form of these two little 10 card packs, toting RaichuBREAK and NoivernBREAK as their star-runner cards. When the decks were first announced no one was really sure if they were going to be their own standalone small deck, or simply feature promo prints, like some later BREAK releases did. Instead a lot of us were pleasantly surprised to find they were standalones!
Given how cheap these tiny decks are they’re pretty awesome, and while they only offer a small sampling of Pokemon with a fair few trainers, both reprint and new, they’re still pretty neat. The Raichu deck of course focuses on Raichu and it’s pre-evos, but sees support from a very cute Stunfisk as well. Each deck came with a special fold out poster all about the new BREAK mechanic, with play style guides written up for each card in the deck.
You can see a full size, correct orientation scan of RaichuBREAK here.
Trivia:
• This deck was released in Japan on the 26th of September 2015.
• The SNP set logo and designation comes from the word Evolution (しんか/Shinka) and Pack.
• These cards were assimilated into the English set BREAKthrough.
( Scans: BREAK Evolution Pack - RaichuBREAKCollapse )
Last Updated: 28/11/15 Set Complete