1999 Pokemon Japanese 64 Mario Stadium Best Photo Contest Articuno #144 BGS 8.5

The Pokémon Snap video game released on Nintendo 64 in Japan in March of 1999 put a new spin on capturing Pokémon. Instead of targeting them with Pokéballs, gamers tried to catch the beloved characters through the lens of the game’s digital camera. Two May 1999 promotional campaigns helped bring the excitement of the first N64 Pokémon appearance to the TCG. One was run by the influential CoroCoro Comic magazine, while the other came via the 64 Mario Stadium TV show. The prizes for each contest – five cards featuring in-game photos taken by gamers – remain some of the rarest Pokémon promo cards ever produced. One of the pioneering aspects of Pokémon Snap was the ability to print stickers of images captured during gameplay. To do so, players saved their best photos using the game's Gallery feature. In Japan, they then took the cartridge to a participating Lawson convenience store that housed a machine specifically designed to print stickers straight from the cartridge. This was the first step in entering the CoroCoro Comic and 64 Mario Stadium contests. Once the stickers were in hand, players sent their entry to either contest by placing their prized snap and contact information on the back of a postcard. Each contest chose five winners. They mailed in their Pokémon Snap cartridge so Nintendo could produce cards featuring the winning image. The player's name was included in the customary bottom left illustration attribution spot on each card. This Articuno was part of the 64 Mario Stadium TV show contest. Just 15 examples of this card were awarded to winner Yui Tanaka. This is the only BGS-graded example. Please note light cracking in the upper right front and back of the holder. The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 06/10/2025.