Jungle

What Jungle is

Jungle is the second main expansion of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, released in English on June 16, 1999 under the set code JU. It has 64 cards and comes from the Japanese Pokémon Jungle, the second expansion of the Japanese game, released on March 5, 1997 with 48 cards. The set is based on Pokémon Red, Blue and Green, continues the Generation I roster and is said to take place in the Kanto Safari Zone, which is why Kangaskhan, Scyther, Pinsir and Tauros lead its cast.

The Japanese set had 48 cards, but Wizards of the Coast expanded the English release to 64 by adding non holofoil prints of the 16 holofoil rares. That made the set larger and stopped every pack from guaranteeing a holofoil, and it created the pattern of holofoil and non holofoil rare pairs that the early English sets kept. The 16 holofoils at 1 to 16 include Snorlax 11, the Eeveelutions Flareon 3, Jolteon 4 and Vaporeon 12, Kangaskhan 5, Mr. Mime 6, Nidoqueen 7, Pidgeot 8, Pinsir 9 and Scyther 10, with Kagemaru Himeno, Mitsuhiro Arita and Ken Sugimori illustrating almost the whole set between them.

Jungle was printed in 1st Edition and Unlimited, and the 1st Edition print run accidentally included the extremely rare 1st Edition stamped promo Pikachu. Some early holofoils were also printed without the Jungle set symbol, and those No Symbol cards trade as their own variants.

What makes Jungle different

• The Safari Zone set Jungle is said to take place in the Kanto Safari Zone, and its holofoils are the Safari Zone's residents: Kangaskhan, Scyther, Pinsir, Nidoqueen, Pidgeot and Snorlax alongside the three original Eeveelutions.
• Non holofoil rares begin Wizards of the Coast added non holofoil prints of all 16 holofoil rares to reach 64 cards, so every Jungle holofoil has a cheaper non holofoil twin, a structure the English game kept through the early sets.
• The 1st Edition Snorlax The 1st Edition Snorlax 11 is the most valuable card in Jungle, ahead of the 1st Edition Kangaskhan 5, Vaporeon 12 and Jolteon 4.
• No Symbol errors Some early Jungle holofoils were printed without the set symbol, and the No Symbol Vaporeon 12 and Snorlax 11 rank among the set's most valuable cards as error variants.
• A stray 1st Edition Pikachu The 1st Edition print run accidentally included the 1st Edition stamped promo Pikachu, one of the rarest cards of the Wizards of the Coast era.

How Jungle arrived

Jungle released in English on June 16, 1999, five months after Base Set on January 9, 1999 and two weeks before the Wizards Black Star Promos began on July 1, 1999. In Japan, Pokémon Jungle had released on March 5, 1997, following the Expansion Pack and preceding Mystery of the Fossils, the source of Fossil. All other language releases of Jungle followed in February 2000.

The launch brought two Theme Decks, Power Reserve, built on Kangaskhan with Grass and Psychic Pokémon, and Water Blast, built on Vaporeon with Water and Fighting Pokémon, each with a rulebook, damage counters, a Vileplume coin and a card list. In Australia the Unlimited packaging used red lettering for the word Pokémon instead of yellow to help prevent counterfeiting.

Jungle is the set that added the Eeveelutions, Snorlax and the Safari Zone Pokémon to the English game, and its holofoils have been collected alongside Base Set's ever since.

Jungle products

Jungle was sold in booster packs, booster boxes and blisters in 1st Edition and Unlimited print runs, with the Power Reserve and Water Blast Theme Decks. The sealed table above tracks each product.

Collecting and grading Jungle

The 1st Edition Snorlax 11 leads the set by a wide margin, with the No Symbol Vaporeon 12, the 1st Edition Kangaskhan 5, Vaporeon 12 and Jolteon 4, the No Symbol Snorlax 11 and the 1st Edition Pidgeot 8, Scyther 10, Flareon 3, Pinsir 9, Mr. Mime 6 and Nidoqueen 7 behind it. Unlimited Kangaskhan, Vaporeon and Snorlax holofoils also rank high. The live chase list above ranks every tracked card by PSA 10 value.

1999 holofoils show scratches, print lines and edge whitening, and 1st Edition Jungle was opened and played by children, so PSA 10 copies of the 1st Edition holofoils carry a very wide premium over PSA 9 and raw. The non holofoil rares and the commons are cheap and complete a 64 card set easily, while the No Symbol and 1st Edition variants are collected separately.

Sealed Jungle is among the most expensive Wizards of the Coast era product, and the sealed table above tracks what 1st Edition and Unlimited boxes, packs, blisters and Theme Decks trade for today.