The Vintage Dark Pokémon Cards 

You missed the joke on Dark Kadabra's artwork. 'Spoon bending' is usually understood to be an exhibition of psychic power but this one is literally just snapping a spoon in half with its bare hands.

“Dark Pokémon? Like Umbreon?” “No, Dark Pokémon like Gyrados.” “Oh… so Mega Gyrados?” “No, normal Gyrados.” “…I’m confused.”

I still have 17 unopened rocket booster packs, 9 of them are first edition. I had no idea I never opened these as a kid, or maybe my parents lost some presents but they found them the other week when moving

11:34 “Risking the sanity of your own Pokémon” is the greatest thing I’ve heard someone say pertaining to a Pokémon being confused.

I really like that Dark Dragonair and Dark Dragonite have powers that play off each other. Dragonair lets you setup with evo chains, then Dragonite lets you immediately play the base form and get started building your combo.

So the short version of why dark raichu delayed the english release of Team Rocket: This was an original card designed by the americans at WotC, and they fought tooth and nail to get it approved, and nintendo took so long to finally approve it that the set printing was disrupted. This is the first crack in the licensing deal that eventually led to the switch of production to Pokemon Company in 2003.

TCG artwork has always been a great way to show nice sides of Pokémon that may be impossible to showcase otherwise This video reminded me of such

I gotta say, this set has some of my favorite artwork in the entire TCG. Mitsuhiro Arita especially was absolutely on fire here. Of course, a lot of these cards found their way into my decks at the time. In particular, Dark Muk could tear through unprepared opponents, and Rocket Slowpoke (which let you get back trainer cards) alongside Dark Slowbro were an amazing way to recycle cards. I have a lot of nostalgia for this set xD

i was so proud of having a dark raichu back as a kid, even so the card was in a bad shape. I though it was so rare because of it's number 83/82 and were a print error. Nice to finally know some background about that.

I love the more gimmicky cards from the early days of the game. Sure, most dark Pokemon were pretty bad, but I thought they were cool as a kid, and the concept of Pokemon that have low HP, but stronger attacks is a good idea. I know they were introduced a bit later on, but seeing a video on the Light Pokemon at some point would be nice.

I have a PSA 9 Dark Arbok that was owned by the DJ/producer Steve Aoki. Incredible artwork that has a chest pattern that was never replicated, I love it so much.

This video made my day. Not only because it is quality content, but because I got to see awesome nostalgic artwork that I haven't thought of in 20 years.

If I recall the story behind Dark Raichu correctly on why it single handedly caused a massive delay to the rocket set was a mix of the contract WotC had with Nintendo and with the speed of communication at the time. WotC was only allowed to print and distribute the translated cards Nintendo allowed out west, so it was a big deal for them when the WotC execs thought up the Dark Raichu card and appealed to make it, this would be the first pokemon card they'd be allowed to make. Getting permission for this was going to be much slower than it would be if done today. In the 90's, the modes for this communication required a bilingual secretary on both fronts to transcribe and explain the thoughts of both parties, and then they needed to send out a letter with this info to the other company, or an email which would be similarly slow due to the state the tech was at during this time period. They probably delayed the set initially to hear back on their proposal, only to delay the set further because they would have to finalize the design of the card, do some balance checks, and set up another print slot exclusively for it.

Dark Hypno has always been one of my FAVORITE retro Holo cards. Not necessarily a fan of Hypno itself, but that card is just GORGEOUS. ❤

Dark Arbok's English card also had a typo, I think it was the copyright year having an extra digit. I remember seeing it as a kid when I first opened it.

There need to be more Dark Pokemon Cards. Not just gen 1 and 2, but given how Team Rocket is becoming a multi gen -> multiversal threat, they should showcase it. And also revive some of the artwork like Dark Dragonair, Dark Charmeleon, Dark Jolteon, and the can make Kadabra's again. I'm not going to write "Dark" everything so, and only using the final stages: Venusaur; Charizard; Blastoise; Beedrill; Raichu; Golem; Alakazam; Machamp; Gengar; Annihilape; Ampharos; Crobat; Arbok; Muk; Weezing; Hypno; Gyarados; Marowak; Slowbro; Slowking; Magnezone; Vileplume; Bellossom; Dragonite; Golduck; Persian; Rapidash; Rhyperior; Aggron; Donphan; Steelix; Feraligatr; Typhlosion; Houndoom; Porygon Z; Tyranitar; Salamence; Yanmega; Malamar; Kabutops; Omastar; Tyrantrum; Aurorus; Scizor; Ariados; Magcargo; Electivire; Magmortar; Ursaluna; Ratticate; Exeggutor; Forretress; Wigglytuff; Celebi; Mewtwo; Jellicent; Amoongus; Vaporeon; Jolteon; Flareon; Sylveon; Espeon; Leafeon; Umbreon; Glaceon; Alolan Ninetales; Staarmie; Gougeist; Lickilicky; Delphox; Greninja; Chesnaught; Electrode; Weavile; Parasect; Honchkrow; Mamoswine; Kingler; Drapion; Farigiraf; Banette; Mightyena; Cloyster; Tentacruel; Granbull; Dusknoir; Drednaw; Scolipede; Nidoking; Lurantis; Armaldo; Cradily; Xatu; Azumarill; Articuno; Zapdos; Moltres; Lugia; Ludicolo; Exploud; Hariyama; Camerupt; Claydol; Luxray; Drifblim; Serperior; Emboar; Samurott; Watchog; Whimsocott; Basculegion; Galarian Darmanitan; Crustle; Scrafty; Garbodor; Reuniclus; Escavalier; Accelgor; Klinklang; Hydreigon; Florgess; Pangoro; Meowstic; Dubwool; Aromatisse; Slurpuff; Crabominable; Toxapex; Mudsdale; Araquanid; Salazzle; Silvally; Greedent; Thievul; Eldegoss; Toxtricity; Grapploct; Hatterene; Runerigus; Kleavor;

I hope we’ll get an analysis of Light Pokémon as well, but those were gen2 cards. Too bad they didn’t continue the tcg game series further… Dark Arbok was my favorite. The Holo one in the Rocket starter deck was such an awesome card. That deck also came with a really shiny meowth coin, which I always associated with the fact that meowths likes hunting for shiny objects. Definitely a highlight in the Pokémon TCG history.

Team Rocket was the first (and only) set I tried to collect in its entirety. Iirc I was only missing Dark Charizard. Ah, fond memories.

9:20 so the reason Dark Raichu delayed the set had nothing to do with it being Pikachu's evolution, but because Media Factory and GameFreak wouldn't allow Wizards to make any cards on their own without approval. In fact any changes they made had to be approved. This caused a lot of issues, for example when they mistranslated Slowking, they couldn't issue Errata to it because that would have contradicted the official translation they were given for it, and thereby have jeopardized their agreement. The Jamboree set (I think it was Jamboree) was supposed to have been a set constructed entirely by Wizards so that it would have been balanced but more over, completely created by Wizards. I think it actually got canned before their contract did though, and while i've asked the Master Trainers if they have any assets for it, they do not. Perhaps another Wizard's employee does. There were occasions like with Dark Vileplume where they accidentally changed a fire type to a fighting type since they start with the two same letters and probably had similar macros, They made that one play as written but were able to correct obvious mistakes like Blaine's Charizard

In terms of humans vs. humans metagame, Dark Vileplume is by far the best of these cards, as early-TCG trainers are extremely powerful and what the game revolves around

As a long time team rocket fan, these were some of my favorite cards along with their light counterparts. The only one I have left is dark gyrados. Maybe I'll get more cards

If Anihilape existed back then the Dark Primeape's power could have been good if it added in a "if Dark Primeape is knocked out by this effect you can place an Anihilape onto the bench from your hand or deck as a basic Pokemon."

I love the dark pokemon cards. To this day Dark Arbok is one of my favorite cards period due to its design. I wish that was its shiny. One day I'd love to have all the original dark cards but I forget which ones I'm missing, I just know I have Dark Charizard, Arbok, Golduck and Primeape at least with Dark Tyranitar and Dragonite from team rocket returns.

Ive only watched the first 12 mins so far, but as you are going thru each card, kinda surprised you don't mention the misprint errors such as on Dark Arbok and Vileplume and Dragonite, etc.

9:46 Wizards of The Coast actually wanted to produce their own cards for quite a while, and Dark Raichu was the first one they had made. They needed to await approval from Nintendo’s Japanese side to add the card to the set. There’s an entire cancelled expansion made by Wizards called Jamboree

I love this set so much. I'm still bitter that my holo Dark Charizard was stolen from me at an event when I was about 10 :(

I think it's kind of neat that Dark Golbat is the only regular holo Golbat card ever made. I also absolutely LOVE the Dark Dragonair, Dark Dugtrio, Dark Magneton, Dark Hypno, and Dark Golduck artwork in this set. Thanks for the video!

The Rocket set was the one set I was able to collect all the first editions of I was so proud of that when I was little… I need to find the binder it was in

I really dig Dark Primeape art. It just looks so exhausted, but still with some fight in it.

Thanks for including the TCG2 exclusives! Made the video feel complete and I enjoyed rewatching it :)

Dude that opening was really cool. Really dig the production on these vids

I would love to see a video on the light cards and shining cards as well

Paraspecter, Thank you for giving these dark pokemon cards some love. I absolutely adore the offbeat art style of the rocket set. My sister and I are big enthusiasts of the older cards and have a "kanto cup" box filled with decks themed off kanto trainers, places etc. One of our decks is the "Rocket Grunt" deck with primary dark pokemon and rocket trainer cards, such a fun set of cards!

When i got into pokemon the first 3 sets were already out so Team rocket was my first new release as a collector. Very cool set, love the artwork. The gym series that came after have the best art of any set and i wish modern cards looked as good! I own an almost complete set of team rocket :)

I really love the Rainbow in the Dark rendition in the background

loved this video! maybe more deep dives from other vintage line subsets?

Love the graboid reference. Tremors is my favorite movie series that nobody talks about.

Can I just say, I love your choice of background. That tiny pixelated 😮 pikachu is too cute!

I'm getting back into vintage Pokemon card collecting. This video was a happy surprise for me today! Working to collect the entire Base Set right now.

Great video. Hopefully you'll cover the light Pokemon cards next!

Yes it would’ve been nice to see Dark Gengar and Dark Ninetales get released. When I played GB2, I would usually just keep Dark Gengar on my Bench to use its awesome pokemon power. Dark Ninetales of course would be fantastic in any deck flipping 9 coins as vintage pokemon all had very little HP. As for the released ones, without a doubt the best ones were Dark Blastoise, Dark Venusaur, Dark Vileplume, Dark Slowbro, and Dark Dragonair. For Dark Vileplume, Dark Slowbro, and Dark Dragonair, I would only keep them on the bench for their pokemon power. Keep in mind that combos using Dark Slowbro/Dark Dragonair’s PPower, master ball, pokemon trader, pokemon breeder were all excellent ways to bring out all of your evolution Pokemon really quickly in the old meta.

Cool thing tonote about Dark Machamp: he isn't wearing a belt! No wonder he basically has an insta-kill move. His super strength isn't being limited by the restraining belt like it normally would!

I love collecting the Dark Pokémons. The art is so amazing!

I loved those cards. The art was great

Many of these card artworks look so wonky, but I kind of love it. Off-model pokemon can look very interesting in their own right, but with many of these you can really see behind the scenes what materials and techniques they used. Primeape looks like it was drawn with simple coloring pencils and then scanned, while Arbok gives me the vibe that it was cut out from paper and then pasted into its new home. I later also had some cards that had pokemon modeled from play dough. I never had many cards or anyone to play, but I love how varied techniques were back then. Do they still do this nowadays? I don't know. My favorite artwork has to be that ridiculous Dugtrio. It's a clean artwork with power behind it, and the setting is just funny. In terms of effect, that Alakazam is my favorite. I love bench damage and poison as well, but with how frail the Rocket mons are, a hit and run Alakazam seems much more feasible. I also like U-Turn in the video games a lot, and that's basically that.

The artwork is bringing me back to my elementary memories and I’m loving it

Ive always been a big fan of dark gloom, especially in tcg2. I always ran him on a puppet master Hypno team,. Clefairy dolls cannot be confused, so its just a free chance to cause mayhem. It also synergizes with Snorlax for the same reason.

I got a box of random Pokemon card packs as a kid including a Japanese pokemon card pack. I ended up getting a Japanese Light Dragonite from the japanese card pack. I always new it was a Dragonite but I didn't learn that it was Light Dragonite until years later since I don't speak Japanese. I like the Team Rocket and Dark and Light Pokemon cards. I also like that Pokemon Go implemented Dark and Light Pokemon as well as I have a Light Dragonite in that also.

IIRC the reason Dark Raichu had to be approved by Nintendo is that it was designed by Wizards of the Coast, who at the time handled the distribution of Pokemon TCG outside Japan, as a special bonus card. That's also why it got a western release before a Japanese one. Since it wasn't designed by the people normally responsible for designing the cards they had to get an OK from Nintendo/the Pokemon Company to do it.

Not sure if it’s just my speaker setup but man the intro was much louder than your voice, with the exception of when it peaks during sentences. Fantastic video, regardless of sound issues

This Team Rocket/Dark Set is my favorite, just got Dark Marowak and Dark Celebi both with swirls!!! Gonna put this cards in black border toploaders, gonna look cool af!

Great video! Would love to see you take on Neo Destiny”s Light and Dark mons too!

I remember a card shop at the old Greengate Mall (which has been closed for over 20 years) in Greensburg PA that displayed baseball and Pokemon cards. They Had Team Rockets Dark Slowbro on display and i thought it was the coolest looking card ever.

Bad: Paraspectre uploaded 18hrs ago and I didn't know despite being subscribed and ringing that bell Good: I have a chill video to watch after a hard day at work

Great video! One on Gym Challenge would be awesome.

I actually have the Legendary Collection reverse holo Dark Blastoise. No idea where I got it, and I don't have any other Legendary Collection card nor did I ever get any LC packs as a kid. The LC reverse holo looks amazing, even if it's not super readable. Ended up getting the Base Set Rattata reverse holo during the 2020 TCG craze. The whole Pokemon having different fates based on their Trainer is really cool, and I'm sad that they really haven't explored it since Neo Destinies.

More trivia about the dark series: 1. Dark Kadabra was the biggest offense to Uri Geller banning the Pokémon’s merch distribution. Kadabra’s Japanese name is a nod to the illusionist, so adding “Dark/Bad” to the title offended and thought it defamed him. That’s why we haven’t seen a Kadabra card for about 20 years with Uri apologizing and Pokémon releasing the 151 card set afterwards. 2. Dark Dragonite actually has a sought-after error card where it’s the non-holo version with the holo numbering in the card set. Sells for a pretty penny if you have any!

one of my best friends back in the day used a rain dance deck that had the dark dragonaire and dragonnight and dark gyarados. that was a strong deck

The dark dugtrio design reminds me of the rocket grunt that you find in celadon behind the house that is ramshackleled

Dark Gloom is by far the most epic version of Gloom I have ever seen.

I have an OG dark muk/dark golbat+dark crobat deck and it’s really cool.

Dark Clefable and Dark Dragonite alone made Dark pokemons broken in TCG 2. It didn’t matter that they had bad stats, being close to invulnerable to damage was ridiculous.

these were some pretty interesting ideas

I like the version of rainbo iin the dark playing in the background at the beginning of the video.

DARK CHARIZARD HAS MY FAVORITE CARD ART OF ALL TIME AND IT WAS IN THE PACK I HAVE EVER OPENED AND CHARIZARD IS MY FAVORITE POKEMON 🔥🔥🔥🔥

We need part 2 of the dark cards loool. Do more!

My sister had a lot of the dark/light and gym leader cards! They were so cool!

Cool looking cards, made me wanna buy a card even tho I have never collected stuff

We had a load of old Gen 1 cards with a few Unowns thrown in for good measureat my grandparents. Those stupid cards made me start calling the party the bench in my original copy of SoulSilver (which I still hadn't beaten; who knew only using Typhlosion and keeping Flame Wheel until the bitter end wouldn't end well). One of those cards was Dark Machoke, and Drag Off seemed like a really interesting move. Kinda like Dragon Tail, but it hits the one who gets switched in. I liked to imagine that Machoke was literally hitting the opponent using the active Pokemon. I wonder what would happen if it was in the main series - I like to see it as a 60 Base Power Dark-type move, and I can already imagine all sorts of cruel strats involving Drag Off and Stealth Rocks.

You are such a good youtuber! Keep this going brother!

I have a dark Wartortle i got as a hand me down and its not in great shape but ive held onto it for about 15 years now and ill never get rid of it.

19:15 Keep in mind you don't have to discard the energy card (as it says "you may"). If you don't, it just does 30 damage for 2 energy. Not a bad trade back then.

YOOOOO THE DIO RAINBOW IN THE DARK PIANO BACKGROUND MUSIC IS CRAZY

Some of my all-time favorite card art come from _Team Rocket,_ so many absolutely incredible illustrations, so many just look so powerful, ominous, and dangerous, but one that I didn't notice being particularly important as a kid but see now for what it is, is Dark Magneton, which we see is the implied abuse and mistreatment turning it "dark" from the simple strokes giving it a mean and angry expression with the shadow of it's abuser smiling, as though it's enjoying the inhumane acts they're carrying out and their awful results. 😢 Also, Dark Alakazam & Dark Machamp reminded me of the time one of my friends tried to convince another friend that trading Kadabra cards will evolve them into Alakazam cards because Psychic Pokémon cards were special and that's how they evolved in-game 😂

Whats the piano cover playing in the background? Its really good

Have some great nostalgia from this time period and the 2nd TCG game is worth checking out translated rom.

18:22 As a kid I compared the rock machoke is lifting to the one that base set machop is lifting with it's one arm. The dark machoke doesn't seem as strong.

Man these were so cool. Can you do the Light pokemon with the attacks that have chance to do less damage? Cheers

The thing about the TR dark persian is that's it supposed to be frail from being abused, which is really saddening :(

The guy in Dark Magneton's art is so loyal to Team Rocket that he carved an R straight through his body

ONe of the sets I got all the cards for! I was really into Team Rocket for some reason (I think it was just because I liked Jessie and James so much lol). I remember reading in one of those unoffical guides that you could get back then that one of the trainer cards (Here Comes Team Rocket!) was super rare in Japanese and the first card to be given that rairity.

Dark and Light Pokemon are my favorite special Pokemon card types. EX and TagTeam are the best as far as newer designs go, but I like the simplicity of Dark and Light; they are unique enough and do different things while not just being "It goes more damage and/or has a bunch more HP so you get extra prizes." I wish it was a design space they went back to rather then just upping the stats and +1ing the prize you get for KOing it.

I love the dark pokemon. I have a framed set of PSA 10 HOLO Dark Arbok, Dark Weezing and Here Comes Team Rocket!

I think I used to have a Dark Muk. I still have Dark Arbok. It has the wizards of the coast logo in the bottom right corner of the picture.

Christmas 1999. My american ass was visiting my aunt and uncle in the UK for the holidays. My uncle was working in Japan regularly in finance at the time and my aunt was pregnant with their first kids at the time. Uncle Chris brought me back a pack or two of japanese pokemon cards he happened to grab at probably the airport in tokyo. He knew i liked pokemon.... i was 7, it was 1999 - this was more important than anything else to us back then. I pulled a japanese holofoil dark blastoise from that pack and lost my mind so hard i think my uncle was concerned. Still have that card. Probably would grade a 10 because it went straight into safe keeping that very day. Thanks Uncle Chris

Golduck is one of my favorite Gen 1 Pokemon and it's Dark's version is my favorite TR card with Dark Hypno coming in second and Dark Rapidask coming in third.

I have 9 old school packs 2 of which are rocket. I got them out of those mystery power box things and because im not stupid i didn't open them, i know they are far more valuable sealed

Dark Vileplume is baller even in conjunction with trainer cards, considering you can use as many as you want and *then* gate off your opponent. My favorite deck for TCG2 combos Hay Fever and Neutral Damage Mr. Mime with Muk's Toxic Gas so I can revert my own abilities when it benefits me most, making them much less of a double-edged sword.

These are some of my fav vintage cards, had to click this vid

They remind me a bit of shadow pokemon from Pokemon Coliseum, which are just corrupted versions of normal pokemon, but would often be much stronger than ordinary pokemon of that type.

Hi! New to your channel as of making this comment, but im about 4 videos in and im loving them all! Im currently on your middle evolution vid and im so glad theres someone else that appreciates Charmeleon! I like Charizard a lot, but I've honestly always gave a slight edge to Blastoise in terms of favoritism all time, but yeah Charmeleon is just soooo underrated. I wonder how itd be if they kept Charizard with the darker red skin that Charmeleon has 🤔 which also makes me agree with the point in this video from the Team Rocket set, that Charmeleons card art is definitely more badass than Charizards.

WHEN I SEE LIGHTNING YOU KNOW IT ALWAYS BRINGS ME DOWN 'CAUSE IT'S FREE AND I SEE THAT IT'S ME WHO'S LOST AND NEVER FOUND!

It was a mistake not making Dark Clefable a real Pokémon card(33:21). Clefairy, its pre-evolved form, is one of the Pokémon available at the Celadon Game Corner which is run by Team Rocket.

My favorite set and the one I am working on

I always loved dark psyduck artwork low key best dark art style

I still have a Dark Wigglytuff that I sleeved back to back with a Light Machamp because I enjoyed the juxtaposition ☯️

I made three runs on tcg 2 and my best deck was fire for sure! My Rapidash s were ma main! No retreat! Deals damage while cheap shots those Chanseys and Kangaskahn to gust of wind them to switch on base Charmeleon to do 50 damage easy!

It did have some really powerful trainer, but other than Dark Vileplume there isn't any playable Pokémon.

I always liked "dark" pokemon but their low hp was always a liability. That was until they released rocket support with e Later sets. I used an electric dark mon deck with the stadium that increased their hp by 20 and dark energies to buff their attacks

I really loved the "evil team" card gimmick when they were still making them. They were some of my favorite sets to collect from when I was a kid. It's a shame the last non-celebrations set to have them was Plasma Blast back in 2013. While the other teams after Plasma got a little silly story wise, it would have been so cool if they continued with Flare pokemon, Skull pokemon, Aether pokemon, Yell pokemon, and Macro Cosmo pokemon. We can still hold out hope that they may give us some more in future releases like another celebration set or even Star's pokemon, but I'm not going to hold out for too much.