ABOUT THE CATALOG
The stamp.
The whole story.
An independent English promo reference: Wizards Black Star, Nintendo Black Star, W-stamped, Southern Islands, Best of Game, prerelease and STAFF cards, checked October 16, 2026.
Coverage
Era and category are independent tags. Choose an era to see its prerelease, STAFF and other promo entries, or combine that era with the Prerelease category. Historical Raichu also appears under Prerelease. The three Best of Game print-combination exceptions also carry the Historical exception tag and a short explanation. Wizards-era English releases are grouped under Wizards of the Coast; EX and later eras retain their own tags.
351 base identities across 104 catalog groups. There are 573 variant pages: 419 prerelease and STAFF pages, 62 Wizards Black Star pages, 52 Nintendo Black Star pages, 7 W-stamped pages, 18 Southern Islands cards and 15 standard-size Best of Game prints. The Nintendo Black Star section covers the 40 numbered identities with separate pages for documented print variants; Jumbo Winner prints, Worlds-04 stamped prints and Worlds Staff/placement prints remain research branches. The Best of Game section has 9 numbered identities, with separate Winner/non-Winner pages only where documented. Other families and Jumbo formats remain research branches; this is not an exhaustive English promo catalog.
There are 192 documented STAFF release identities in this scope, including 16 Sword & Shield cards whose European league distribution was delayed. Twelve base cards across Battle Styles, Chilling Reign and Fusion Strike have distribution-exception notes instead of being counted as ordinary STAFF releases. Cinderace and Houndoom have card-specific exception records; other individual exception identities remain under review.
The staff interruption
Normal STAFF distribution paused after Vivid Voltage and resumed with Silver Tempest in November 2022. Silver Tempest also appears in the later European shipment report; that is separate from being one of the skipped prereleases. Evolving Skies, Brilliant Stars, Astral Radiance and Lost Origin STAFF sets were later reported distributed to European leagues in early 2023. Battle Styles, Chilling Reign and Fusion Strike were excluded from that reported distribution, although later STAFF-stamped copies have been reported. No official sole cause was announced; COVID is not presented as a proven explanation.
Contemporary staff-distribution reporting ↗
Where STAFF began
Diamond & Pearl introduced prerelease STAFF versions in 2007. Its prerelease card was Luxio 52/130, with gold STAFF-stamped copies for event staff. Luxio is the oldest base/STAFF pair in this catalog.
Prerelease history ↗ · Luxio release history ↗
Raichu: the stamp that became a mystery
Base Set Prerelease Raichu is included as a historical exception, not a normal public prerelease handout. In November 2023, CGC announced that it had authenticated two copies. One matched a photograph posted by a former Wizards of the Coast employee on April 1, 2006, a date that helped fuel doubts about the card.
CGC describes an accidental stamping origin involving sheets that also contained Clefable, but does not prove the often-repeated print run of eleven. That explanation and the number of surviving copies should not be treated as settled facts.
CGC authentication and provenance report ↗
Announced, not yet released
Delta Reign prereleases begin October 24, 2026. Masquerain 111, Magmortar 112, Enamorus 113 and Kommo-o 114 are announced; they are not included in the 351 cataloged base identities. Staff counterparts and handout dates are not inferred.
Official Delta Reign announcement ↗
What remains unknown
Some public prerelease dates, all exact staff handout dates, most verified staff scans, card-specific sealed-wrapper evidence, and authentication of unusual reported copies. Unknown fields stay visible. A promo-series start date is never substituted for a card's distribution date.
Image policy
All 15 standard-size Best of Game pages use credited Pokumon reference photos, visually matched to the English name, card number and presence or absence of the Winner stamp. Jumbo images are not substituted. Professor Elm has only the non-Winner standard print; Rocket's Mewtwo and Rocket's Hitmonchan have only the Winner standard print. Lower-resolution references remain references, not scan-grade or physical-authentication evidence.
The 18 English Southern Islands cards use credited, locally cached TCGdex references. Seven W-stamped expansion promos have explicit image gaps: ordinary unstamped expansion images are not substituted. English-language Australian and Hong Kong distributions stay in the English scope. Sources disagree on the exact Brock's Vulpix distribution; its page preserves that uncertainty.
All 53 numbered Wizards Black Star pages use locally cached, source-credited TCGdex references. Nine selected English variant pages show an image gap: Pokemon Center NY Rapidash and Ho-Oh, four inverted WB movie stamps, 1st Edition and Grey Star Pikachu #1, and the English tail-stamped Birthday Pikachu #24. The unstamped Rapidash and Ho-Oh images never stand in for stamped prints. Other World Collection languages are excluded. Grey Star Pikachu is English-language but Japan-distributed.
Selected missing prerelease and STAFF images use owner-supplied PSA cert scans as reference placeholders. These retain visible PSA source credit, have no TCG Promos watermark, and are excluded from the scan-reuse policy. They can be replaced by original owner scans; Raichu is retained as a long-term placeholder unless replaced. Visible identity and stamps are checked, but this is not independent authentication.
Base-card scans are locally cached from TCGdex or Pokemon.com, with source notes on every image. They are not verified STAFF scans. Twenty pre-Diamond & Pearl variant pages show explicit image gaps rather than unstamped stock cards. Raichu uses a supplied PSA reference placeholder. Artwork belongs to its respective rights holders. Reference display is selected for this private prototype; no commercial artwork license or legal fair-use conclusion is claimed.
Image-use terms
Personal and commercial reuse of eligible TCG Promos-provided scans is permitted under the conditions below.
TCG Promos-provided scans
Images expressly labeled "TCG Promos-provided scan" may be reused for personal or commercial purposes without a fee to the extent TCG Promos holds rights in them, provided the TCGPromos.com watermark remains intact and visible and TCGPromos.com is credited as the scan source. Do not imply that TCG Promos endorses your site or product.
Third-party rights and reference images
This permission does not include Pokemon card artwork, characters, logos, trademarks, or other third-party rights. Those remain with their respective rights holders; any permissions required for your intended use are your responsibility. Images credited to TCGdex, Pokemon.com, or other external sources are excluded from this policy. A watermark alone does not establish that an image is covered: look for the express scan-source label.
Current image library
This prototype displays externally sourced reference images. None is offered under the TCG Promos scan-reuse policy at this time.
Low-maintenance reference
Pages are generated from structured source data. There are no price tables or fixed listing IDs to go stale. eBay searches keep regular, staff, raw, sealed and graded choices distinct, but search results are not authentication or a guarantee of matching stock.
Affiliate disclosure
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases through these links, at no extra cost to you. This remains a private, noindex preview, not a public launch.