Pocket Monsters Carddass Trading Cards

The first Pokemon Carddass sets were released in September 1996 by the Japanese toy making company Bandai. They were sold in sets of 5 cards for ¥100 or one card for ¥20.^{[citation needed]}

The Pokémon Trading Card Game was released one month later in October 1996 by the company Media Factory, so the first set of Bandai Carddass cards are widely regarded as the first Pokémon cards ever released. The official name given to the two initial batches of cards were were "Carddass 100 Pocket Monster Green Part 1" and "Carddass 100 Pocket Monster Red Part 2".^{[citation needed]}

Part 1 & 2 have 309 cards in total and more varieties than other Carddass sets. In Part 3 & 4 (1997), the total amount of cards was reduced, but it has two secret cards. These secret cards are promotional cards that were distributed at Ito-Yokado department stores.

The front of the standard cards of Part 1 & Part 2 were primitive in their appearance, as the artwork was early in its creation, and feature the words "Monsters Collection" emblazoned along the base of the card and "Pocket Monster" and card number at the top front of the card. The back of the cards provide information about the Pokemon Statistics, and also details the 1995 copyright, along with 1996 Made in Japan, Bandai. 12 Prism (Holo) cards were available in this set, including Mew & Mewtwo.

Part 3 & 4 (1997) depict a Pokémon using a move it can learn by leveling up, such as a signature move or a move that it is particularly associated with (Images available below). Much of the artwork featured is exclusive to this series. The backs of the cards provide simple information about the featured Pokémon, usually their evolution families and what level they evolve at. A few cards also have Holofoil backgrounds on the front, as opposed to the usual non-holofoil, pixelated background.

In April 1997 a promotional, rainbow-framed card featuring Red with the four starter Pokémon (including Pikachu) was released in Ito-Yokado stores in Japan. A second rainbow-framed card featuring both Red and Blue was released two months later in June 1997 exclusive to vending machines at Ito-Yokado stores.

Later, a special promotional set of six "jumbo" cards were released that each contain removable stickers on one side, and contain Pokémon Trainer facts printed on the other side. Once all of the stickers are peeled from the front side, a single, large piece of artwork is revealed underneath on that side of the card.