Fossil

What the Fossil set is

Fossil is the third main expansion of the English Pokémon Trading Card Game, released by Wizards of the Coast on October 10, 1999. It contains 62 cards and no secret rares. In Japan the same material had appeared on June 21, 1997 as Mystery of the Fossils, a 48 card set, and the English version follows the Base Set and Jungle in the original run of Wizards of the Coast expansions.

The theme is the prehistoric Pokémon of the first generation. Aerodactyl, Kabutops, Omastar and their pre evolutions arrive alongside the legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres, plus Dragonite, Gengar, Lapras, Ditto and Raichu. The set's official blurb promised 47 new Pokémon cards, and the checklist bears that out: 57 of the 62 cards are Pokémon, with five Trainer cards including the Mysterious Fossil that lets the fossil Pokémon enter play.

Fossil follows the Wizards era structure exactly. Cards 1 to 15 are the holofoil rares, 16 to 30 repeat the same fifteen Pokémon as non holofoil rares, 31 to 45 are uncommons, 46 to 57 are commons, and 58 to 62 are the Trainers. A 1st Edition print run exists for every card, and Unlimited copies followed, which is why the checklist below carries separate 1st Edition variants.

What makes Fossil different

• Fifteen holofoil rares with non holo twins Every holofoil rare in Fossil (Aerodactyl, Articuno, Ditto, Dragonite, Gengar, Haunter, Hitmonlee, Hypno, Kabutops, Lapras, Magneton, Moltres, Muk, Raichu and Zapdos) also exists as a non holofoil rare at numbers 16 to 30. Gengar 5 and Gengar 20 are the same card in two finishes with very different values.
• The last Starlight holofoil set Fossil was the final expansion to use the Starlight holofoil pattern before Wizards moved to the cosmos holofoil with Base Set 2. Cosmos holofoil Fossil cards have nonetheless been found, and they are a known variant.
• Three distinct artist voices Kagemaru Himeno and Ken Sugimori illustrated 18 cards each, Mitsuhiro Arita 17, Keiji Kinebuchi eight and Miki Tanaka one. Arita drew Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos and Raichu; Kinebuchi drew Gengar, Ditto and the Mysterious Fossil.
• Known print errors Haunter 6 has a stain in the lower right corner of the artwork, the Evolution box on Zapdos 15 was cut out of the holofoil on both 1st Edition and Unlimited prints, and Krabby 51 shows a partially incomplete set symbol.
• An Australian red logo print The Australian Unlimited release used red lettering for the word Pokémon on boxes, packs and theme decks to fight counterfeiting. Its non holofoil cards carry a 1999 to 2000 copyright line and a different card stock, while the holofoils keep the standard 1999 copyright.
• The Prerelease Aerodactyl Aerodactyl 1 was the Pokémon League prerelease promo and exists in two stamp colours, gold and brown. Along with the Thunderstorm Gift Box exclusives and the Top Deck Magazine Kabuto, it gives Fossil more promo variants than its size suggests.

How Fossil arrived

Mystery of the Fossils reached Japan on June 21, 1997 as the third expansion of the Pokémon Card Game, following the Japanese Jungle set and preceding Team Rocket. Wizards of the Coast localized it two years later as Fossil, released October 10, 1999, as the third English expansion after Base Set and Jungle. Every other language edition of Fossil followed in April 2000.

Two theme decks shipped with the set. BodyGuard, a Grass and Fighting deck, featured a holofoil Muk, and LockDown, a Fire and Water deck, featured a holofoil Lapras. Both came with a rulebook, damage counters, a card list and an exclusive Aerodactyl coin. In November 1999 Sandwich Islands Publishing released a Fossil Expansion Player's Guide covering rules, deck building and play.

The Thunderstorm Gift Box added its own exclusives to the set: a cosmos holofoil Zapdos 15 and non holofoil Raichu 29, Golduck 35, Psyduck 53 and Energy Search 59, all with the 1999 to 2000 copyright line. Kabuto 50 was also given away as a Top Deck Magazine promo.

Collecting and grading Fossil

Fossil is a vintage grading set, and the live values above show why: the spread between a raw holofoil and a PSA 10 is enormous, and the 1st Edition holofoils sit at the top of the set. Gengar, Dragonite, Lapras, Articuno, Aerodactyl and Moltres are the cards most often submitted, and the Prerelease Aerodactyl is a market of its own.

Wizards era cards were cut and packed with less precision than modern print, so centering and edge wear decide most grades. Starlight holofoil scratches show readily under light, and 1st Edition stamps should be checked for clarity. The known errors listed above (the Haunter stain, the Zapdos holofoil cut and the Krabby symbol) are recognised variants rather than damage, and the Haunter incomplete holofoil error trades separately in the checklist.

Sealed Fossil is a serious purchase. Booster boxes, 1st Edition boxes, single packs and the two theme decks all appear in the sealed table, and the 1st Edition premium is visible there. Loose packs from this era have been weighed and resealed for decades, so sealed boxes and blister packs with intact hangers are the safer buy.