CGC Cards Grades Test Print Blastoise with Magic: The Gathering Back

CGC Cards™ recently certified a very exciting piece of Pokémon history: a Test Print Blastoise Pokémon card with a Magic: The Gathering back. This is an authentic test print produced by Wizards of the Coast during the design phase of the production of the Pokémon TCG.

After releasing the Pokémon TCG in Japan in 1996, The Pokémon Company began searching for a company to produce the game in the West. In the end, they chose Wizards of the Coast — the company responsible for producing Magic: The Gathering — to produce and distribute their TCG. Wizards of the Coast was in charge of localizing the Pokémon TCG, including designing the cards, translating text and distributing the finished product.

The Pokémon TCG went through several designs before Wizards of the Coast ultimately settled on Base Set as we know it today. The Blastoise Test Print features iconic artwork by Ken Sugimori and a gold border, while the other side of the card features a Magic: The Gathering back — a peculiarity that offers insight into the time period when Wizards of the Coast was still developing and designing Pokémon cards.

The rarity of these Test Print Blastoise cards cannot be understated. In total, it is estimated that around seven of these Test Print Blastoise cards are known to exist. CGC Cards has certified five examples of the Blastoise, Pokémon (1998) Test Print (Gold Border) #009/165R with Magic: The Gathering back, according to the CGC Cards Population Report. This one is graded CGC 8, and there are none graded higher.

CGC Cards conducted a full forensic study of the Test Print Blastoise to ensure its authenticity before certifying and encapsulating it. To learn more about the authentication process for this card and others like it, click here.

About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for many other types of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for TCGs, sports cards and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation and more. The newest division of CGC, CGC Home Video, provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of videocassettes.

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