Volume 1 - Issue 7
Collection
My Pokémon Collection - Part 2
Sharing some of my favourite items from the many items in my Pokémon collection!
My Pokémon Mini and collection of games, including Pokémon Zany Cards, Pokémon Puzzle Collection, Pokémon Pinball Mini (sealed), and Pokémon Tetris
Welcome back for another issue of Johto Times! This week, I am sharing some more cool items from my personal Pokémon collection. Everything in this feature will have been purchasable between the years of 1999 and 2001. They include electronic toys, a tabletop game, and a Pokémon card that means a lot to me for very personal reasons. I received some really nice feedback from the last collection feature I shared, so I hope that this one will be equally enjoyable.
News
I want to take a moment to highlight some other members of the Johto Times team: Roy, Josh and Dragonfree, who are being incredibly helpful by proofreading all the content I write before it is published here on Johto Times. Roy initially offered to help in the early stages of the newsletter when I didn’t have a second pair of eyes to check the content, and supported me to get the initial bulk of content in good shape and ready for publication, much of which has still yet to be published. Josh has been on board for around a month, and he has been super helpful by checking everything over and offering his support. Dragonfree joined the team within the past week, and got straight to work looking over everything that will be published in the immediate future.
This will also be the final reminder from us that the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U eShop will be closing on March 27th 2023. If there are any Pokémon titles you have been interested in buying for these platforms that you can’t buy at retail, then your time is almost up. If you made any last-minute purchases, let us know in the comments below!
Feature: My Pokémon Collection - Part 2
I’ve taken another dive into my vast collection of Pokémon items and retrieved a further five items I hold dear. The choices today are classic items that were available in the late 1990’s and the early 2000’s, where my love for the franchise was at its peak. Do you remember them? Or maybe you own them too? Be sure to let me know in the comments below!
My boxed European Pokémon Pikachu Color, faded due to sunlight
Pocket Pikachu Color
This little device played an important role in my Pokémon Crystal days. As a pretty active kid, this pedometer racked up about 32,000 steps on a good day. It would generate 'watts', which would be transferred to Pokémon Crystal via the infrared port to obtain cool items. I bought it from my local Gamestation (a gaming store in the UK that has since closed down), I think it's the only one I've ever seen at retail, and I rarely see a box online.
My boxed copy of Pokémon Mini Wooper Blue version, with a copy of Pokémon Party Mini included
Pokémon Mini
Another niche product I bought back in 2001 is the Pokémon Mini (Wooper blue edition), the smallest Nintendo console ever. Only a handful of games released for it, and I remember being the only one in my group of friends to own it. It came with Pokémon Party Mini and was purchased at a UK store called Woolworths. I also bought the games Pokémon Zany Cards and Pokémon Puzzle Collection at the same time. Years later, I managed to obtain a factory sealed copy of Pokémon Pinball Mini from a gaming event and a copy of Pokémon Tetris on eBay.
My Pokémon Mini and collection of games, including Pokémon Zany Cards, Pokémon Puzzle Collection, Pokémon Pinball Mini (sealed), and Pokémon Tetris
Pokémon Mini English language games (complete)
You can’t have a Pokémon Mini without some games, right? Well, here’s all English released Pokémon Mini games, including the very rare Pokémon Mini Tetris, which I was able to import from Portugal. I had a lot of fun with all of these games throughout the years, especially the mini-game compilation title that came with the system (Pokémon Party Mini). Several Pokémon Mini titles were only ever released in Japan, but it would be outside my budget to purchase them.
Fifteen Pokémon Battling Coins from my collection, featuring a variety of Pokémon characters found in Kanto
Pokémon Battling Coin Game
Here's my coins from the Pokémon Battling Coin Game, released in 1999, but I believe I picked these up later from a pound shop, likely sold on to the store in an attempt to clear old stock. The coins are made of brass and originally came inside a plastic case, very similar to a CD. I also have some Pokéball Pouches that I bought separately that were meant to hold six of the coins.
My shadowless base set Blastoise trading card, given to me by my late friend Jesse
Blastoise trading card (Base set)
As I mentioned in my previous collection post, I have a huge number of classic Pokémon cards, but this one is rather special. Blastoise belonged to an online friend called Jesse, who sadly passed away a few years ago. He would sometimes send me cool Pokémon related gifts from the US, or I would buy items from him. Years later, after inspecting my cards more closely, I realised it was a shadowless Blastoise from an early print of the base set, without the usual shadows present in later print runs. While this may make the card more desirable, I would never betray Jesse's memories by parting with it.
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