A new year, a new plan! Well, my plans aren’t very NEW… but what is new is the fact that I’m actually gonna start fulfilling it! I’m basically done with my move, and so now I’ve got the time to actually start work on the BIG tasks, like finishing up my “Neo Redux” blanks, making fakes for my “Space World” Fake Card sets, and—most importantly—actually starting work on my YouTube series! I’m still trying to figure out WHICH one of my many video ideas I’d like to work on first, but I might just work on one idea that the following post inspired me on. Wanna find out what it might be? Then keep reading!
Anyways, I hope everyone’s 2021 is as good was their 2020 wasn’t! Huzzah!!
The Actual News:
As I’m sure you all remember, I used to have the largest database of Pokémon TCG error cards, up until I quit playing the TCG around EX: FireRed/LeafGreen. This list, in turn, formed the foundation of the Bulbapedia article about Error cards, as well as TheJWittz’s video about it, which uses some of the graphics I made for it to boot! (It’s OK Mr. TheJWittz, just gimme some of that sweet, sweet YouTube ad revenue! j/k) … However, despite all the hard work I put into finding all of even the most insignificant errors found on Pokémon TCG cards, I was told that there was one error I had missed. Huh WHA???
So quick flashback to 2002 at the Pokémon TCG Worlds Qualifiers in San Diego, and I had a quick chat with the one and only Dark Master Trainer Mike (DMTM), and he had mentioned to me that he knew about my list of errors, but that there was actually one error that I had missed. Now, he could’ve just been messin’ with me, but I did wonder after all these years, just what error was I missing? Well, while working on the Fire-type blank for my custom “Neo Redux” blanks, I think I encountered that elusive error: Base Set Ponyta. Take a look, see if you can spot the error too!
Did you see it?
It’s OK if you didn’t, I didn’t catch it for some 20-ish years anyways! But while I was trying to blank out this card, what I’ll do is manually erase the Energy symbols as close to their edge as possible, while leaving as much of the blank behind as possible. As it turns out, with the size I’m working at, Attack Energy symbols are about 180 pixels in diameter, while Weakness/Resistance/Retreat (WRR) Energy symbols are 165 pixels. But it appears as if the designer for this particular card used the smaller WRR Energy symbols for Ponyta’s “Smash Kick” attack! If you can’t eyeball the difference, I’ve provided a comparison graphic below.
Yeah yeah, kinda anti-climatic… but that’s the name of the game with these error cards! In fact, this error kinda reminds me of the Promo Meowth #10 error, where the attack cost symbols are much smaller than they should be.
With all this said, this has inspired me to make a video about WHY these kinds of errors happened. Like, what was the method to the madness behind some of these error cards? Like, how come we saw a lot of 
Fighting Energy symbols instead of what should’ve been 
Fire Energy? Well, a lot of it has to do with how the cards themselves are designed by the actual artists, and the common mistakes that can occur when you’re trying to layout graphics on some 100-ish cards every few months. So keep an eye out for that video in the near future.
Now was this the mysterious error card that DMTM said was one that I had missed? Maybe…. but maybe he said that so he could get some free Product Quality Assurance help from me, lol. Still tho, it’s great to get some catharsis out of this and to find a brand new error on a Base Set card! Huzzah, good times.