1999 Pokemon Japanese 64 Mario Stadium Best Photo Contest Chansey #113 BGS 8.5

The Pokémon TCG is dotted with a number of limited-release sets and promotions that range from the legendary to the obscure. But in 1999, Nintendo created a set of cards to promote its newest Pokémon game that is considered to be one of the rarest in the game’s history. Released for the Nintendo 64, Pokémon Snap was a photography game that allowed players to take pictures of their favorite Pokémon, and Nintendo held two contests in order to boost sales of the new title. Although these contests were technically held separately—the first through the June 1999 issue of CoroCoro Comic, the second through the Nintendo-sponsored variety show 64 Mario Stadium—they both offered the same means of entry as well as the same prizes. To enter, Pokémon Snap players were required to take photos in the game and then bring their cartridges to their local Lawson, a Japanese convenience store chain. These stores were equipped with special printing machines that allowed players to print their Pokémon Snap photos into stickers, after which they would then affix their entry to a postcard and mail it in along with their name, address, school grade, and phone number. Each contest selected five winners, and those that were chosen had to mail their Pokémon Snap game cartridges to Nintendo to confirm that the winning photo was actually theirs. For the grand prize, all ten winners had their submitted photos turned into Pokémon cards, with CoroCoro winners being sent 20 copies of their card while 64 Mario Stadium winners received just 15 apiece. These cards have since become some of the most coveted in the history of the TCG, as very few of their original owners have parted with them over the years. Just two sales of this 64 Mario Stadium Chansey prize card have been reported, though those copies are believed to have been extra prints sold by Yuichi Konno, one of the original developers of the Pokémon TCG ruleset; it is unknown if Kaori Someya, who submitted this Chansey photo back in 1999 and is credited in the illustrator section of this issue, has sold any of her 15 awarded copies. The chances of this card—let alone any card from the set—surfacing again are incredibly slim, making this auction a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own one of the rarest and most unique Pokémon cards ever made.