Japanese Fossil

What Japanese Fossil is

Japanese Fossil, released in Japan as Mystery of the Fossils on June 21, 1997, is the third expansion of the Pokémon Card Game. It has 48 cards: 16 holofoil rares, 16 uncommons and 16 commons, based on Pokémon Red, Green and Blue and built around the Fossil Pokémon Omanyte, Kabuto and Aerodactyl. Its English equivalent, Fossil, followed on October 10, 1999 with 62 cards, and every other language edition arrived in April 2000.

Early Japanese cards carry the Pokémon's National Pokédex number rather than a set number, so Gengar is card 94, Mew is 151 and Dragonite is 149, and that is how the cards are tracked here. The 16 holofoils are Aerodactyl, Articuno, Ditto, Dragonite, Gengar, Haunter, Hitmonlee, Hypno, Kabutops, Lapras, Magneton, Mew, Moltres, Muk, Raichu and Zapdos.

That list holds the set's biggest difference from the English release: Mew 151 is a holofoil in Mystery of the Fossils but was left out of the English Fossil, which carried the other 15 holofoils. The five Trainers are Energy Search, Gambler, Mysterious Fossil, Recycle and Mr. Fuji.

What makes Japanese Fossil different

• The Mew that English never got Mew 151 is a holofoil in the Japanese set and second in the set in PSA 10, but the English Fossil did not include it, which makes the Japanese card the only Fossil set Mew.
• Gengar leads Gengar 94 is the most valuable card in the set in PSA 10, ahead of Mew 151 and Dragonite 149, and the three sit well clear of the rest of the holofoils.
• The original prints Mystery of the Fossils released more than two years before the English Fossil, so every Japanese holofoil is the first print of its artwork, from Ditto 132 to the legendary birds Articuno 144, Zapdos 145 and Moltres 146.
• Pokédex numbering The cards carry no set number, so collectors track them by Pokédex number, and the hub above lists them the same way.
• Commons that grade Psyduck 54 and Slowpoke 79 are commons that rank among the set's top fifteen cards in PSA 10, ahead of several holofoils, and both cost little raw.

How Japanese Fossil arrived

Mystery of the Fossils released in Japan on June 21, 1997, fifteen weeks after the Japanese Jungle on March 5, 1997 and five months before the Japanese Team Rocket on November 21, 1997. It completed the game's first three expansions, with the Fossil Pokémon and the Kanto legendary birds joining the roster.

The English Fossil followed on October 10, 1999 with 62 cards, adding non holofoil versions of the rares and dropping Mew, and it was the final English expansion to use the Starlight Holofoil before Base Set 2 switched to the Cosmos pattern.

The Japanese set is tracked here as its own hub because its holofoils trade as the original prints of the Fossil artwork and because its Mew has no English counterpart.

Japanese Fossil products

Mystery of the Fossils was sold in booster packs and booster boxes. The sealed table above tracks both.

Collecting and grading Japanese Fossil

Gengar 94 leads the set in PSA 10, with Mew 151 and Dragonite 149 behind it, then Ditto 132, Raichu 26, Articuno 144, Haunter 93, Moltres 146, Lapras 131 and Psyduck 54. Zapdos 145, Aerodactyl 142, Hitmonlee 106, Slowpoke 79 and Kabutops 141 complete the top fifteen. The live chase list above ranks every tracked card by PSA 10 value.

The 1997 holofoils scratch easily, so PSA 10 copies of Gengar 94, Mew 151 and Dragonite 149 are scarce and the gap between PSA 9 and PSA 10 is very wide across the top of the set. The commons and uncommons grade far above their raw prices for the same reason.

Sealed Japanese Fossil is rare, and the sealed table above tracks what boxes and packs trade for today.