Base Set: How to Identify Cards From This Set

• Card numbers use a 'number/total' format. Base Set cards are grouped by card type (Pokémon, Trainer, Energy), then sorted by rarity (Rare Holo, Rare, Uncommon, Common), and finally alphabetically by name, for a total of 102.
• Rarity is shown by a small symbol at the bottom of the card: a circle = Common, a diamond = Uncommon, a star = Rare.
• Base Set was the first Pokémon TCG set released in the US, and every card in its first print run carried a '1st Edition' stamp — the key clue for identifying a first print run.

• 1st Edition: On Pokémon cards the stamp sits on the left edge, vertically centered; on Energy cards it is in the top right corner; on Trainer cards it is in the bottom left corner. The stamp is a white number '1' on a solid black circle, with the word 'EDITION' arching above it.
• Shadowless: The second print run: cards carry no 1st Edition stamp and also lack the drop shadow later added to the right/bottom of the artwork box — hence the name 'Shadowless'.
• Unlimited: The third print run, commonly called Unlimited: a drop shadow was added to the right side of the artwork box, a redesign meant to make the card easier to read, and the key marker that distinguishes it from Shadowless.
• 4th Print (1999-2000, final UK print run): This run was the final print released in the UK in 2000. It shares the same design update as Unlimited, but the copyright year printed on the card reads '1999-2000' instead of '1999', which distinguishes it from the first three print runs.

• [Base Set 2](/lookup/pokemon-sets/base-set-2): Base Set 2 is a separate 130-card set released a year later, made up of reprints from Base Set and Jungle, and it never had a 1st Edition print run — which distinguishes it from the original Base Set.

The chronological order of the four print runs is: 1st Edition (earliest, 1999) → Shadowless (second run) → Unlimited (third run, drop shadow added) → the 1999-2000 copyright-year run (fourth run / final UK print). Industry sources note Base Set actually went through more print runs than this, and the 'four versions' label is a common simplification; finer print differences (paper stock, ink, etc.) are not itemized in this record.

• Bottom-left or bottom-right corner: the set symbol and the collector number (e.g. 4/102) tell you the set; older cards have no symbol at all, which itself narrows them to Base Set.
• Left of the number: a 1st Edition stamp, if present, sits below the art on WOTC-era cards.
• Regulation mark (a letter in a box near the bottom, D through H so far) dates modern cards to a two-year window.
• Back of the card: the blue Poké Ball back has changed little since 1999; a washed-out, blurry or wrongly colored back is the first sign of a fake.

Lay the card flat on a dark surface in daylight, straight on, with the whole card in frame, then a close-up of the bottom edge where the set symbol, number and any edition stamp sit. Tilt holo cards under the light for a second shot to show the foil pattern. Photograph the back too. The app reads the card and set; the edition and rarity checks above tell you which version you have.