1997 TOMY Pokemon Cards
(Updated April of 2025)
Possibly the scarcest set in all of Pokémon, 1997 TOMY Pokémon Scratch cards are seriously cool. Gameplay required the scratching off of boxes to reveal moves in battle.
As a result, most were degraded and many thrown away, so they’re TOUGH to find in “unscratched” condition, especially mint.
Heck, even the scratched ones are tough. PSA grades these as either ‘scratched’ or ‘unscratched’ in the pop report.
There are six “prisms” / holo cards. One in every five packs has a prism card, on average. Since there are 15 packs in a booster box, a sealed box will contain three prism cards. On average, it would take 30 packs to pull a Charizard!
Tomy Scratch cards were released in May of 1997, just after Japanese Base, Carddass & TopSun, to become the 4th major Pokémon set and the 2nd playable trading card game (TCG). Amazing OG Sugimori art, too.
1997 Tomy Pokémon Scratch Series 1 & 2
Series 1 (Blue Packs) has Six Prism (holofoil) cards:
Charizard, Pikachu, Blastoise, Venusaur, Mewtwo & Moltres.
Series 2 (Red Packs) has six more prisms:
Mew, Dragonite, Raichu, Scyther, Articuno & Zapdos
Prism Odds: 1 in 5 packs
“When it comes to rare Pokemon cards, these are at the top”
1997 TOMY Facts
These cards put 1999 1st Edition Base Pokemon cards to shame (in terms of scarcity).
Think your PSA 10 shadowless Charizard pop is limited? Red Cheeks Pikachu?..
Ha! Pops of these amazing TOMY cards (in all grades) are often in the single digits. PSA and BGS both grade these cards.
With original Ken Sugimori artwork (some of which would later appear on other sets), Pokémon character and Japanese vintage Pokémon collectors covet this set.
See the chart below for comparison to other ‘rare’ sets
Tomy Scratch Setlist
Series 1 has 36 total cards, including six holos (Charizard, Pikachu & more). Click here to view them all.
Pop Report & Grading
Most Tomy Scratch cards have single digit graded populations, if any graded at all. View pop reports here.
Where to Buy?
I’ll show you how to search for these cards, whether domestic or from Japanese platforms and proxy buyers.
Tomy Scratch FAQ / details
Released in May of 1997 in Japan, view the historical ads and details of Pokemon Scratch cards here.
Series 2 Pokemon Scratch
You thought series 1 of Tomy Scratch was scarce. Series2 is even tougher, with another 36 characters w/ 6 different holos.
Comparing 1997 TOMY to other Pokémon sets
Let’s take a look at how the two most graded 1997 TOMY holo cards (Charizard & Pikachu) stack up when compared to some other PSA graded sets in terms of population reports.
| Charizard | |||
| Card | Total Graded | 9s | 10s |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 1st Edition Base Charizard | 74,077 | 8169 | 489 |
| 1996 Carddass Charizard (Prism) | 1569 | 473 | 108 |
| 1996 Base Charizard | 14,831 | 3280 | 916 |
| 1996 Base (no rarity) Charizard | 865 | 56 | 10 |
| 1995 Topsun (holo) Charizard | 1136 | 309 | 36 |
| 1995 Topsun (no #) Charizard | 243 | 38 | 6 |
| 1997 TOMY (unscratched) Charizard | 75 | 20 | 1 |
| -- | |||
| Pikachu | |||
| Card | Total Graded | 9s | 10s |
| 1999 1st Edition Base Pikachu | 500 | 123 | 73 |
| 1996 Carddass Pikachu | 3706 | 1488 | 853 |
| 1996 Base Pikachu | 1152 | 324 | 82 |
| 1995 Topsun (holo) Pikachu | 232 | 25 | 15 |
| 1995 Topsun (no #) Pikachu | 126 | 28 | 4 |
| 1997 TOMY (unscratched) Pikachu | 53 | 15 | 1 |
Notes
- This is current as of April 29th, 2025
- 1997 TOMY only started to be graded in early 2021 and pop will increase as supply comes out, but I’ve been collecting these cards for three years and truly feel that even the raw supply of ‘unscratched” Tomy is limited.
- 12 of the 20 Charizards and 12 of the 15 Pikachus were graded by me, most also pack pulled by me and immediately sleeved.
Notable Sales of 1997 TOMY Pokémon Scratch Cards
One TOMY Charizard (PSA 8) sold at Goldin Auctions for $8,400 USD
– September 2021 (link)
Notes
- I’ve been collecting these cards for three years and truly feel that even the raw supply of ‘unscratched” Tomy is limited
(and the series 2 holo cards like Dragonite, Scyther, Mew, etc.. are grail-level scarce)
Selling 1997 TOMY Pokemon?
I am always buying collections, cards and sealed packs or boxes of 1997 Pokemon / Tomy Scratch cards. If you have any for sale, especially unscratched cards and holos, please get in touch. Send photos and a brief description to me via email by clicking the button below!
More Pre-99 Japanese Pokemon
I collect pretty much all of the “FIRST FOUR” of Pokemon cards, including 1996 Carddass, 1996 Japanese Base and 1997 TopSun. These are the true “vintage” cards of Pokemon, the Honus Wagners, Mickey Mantles and Babe Ruths of the hobby.
1999 1st Edition Shadowless Pokemon
Hey, I’m not too good for the USA cards. The first US release comes long after the “First Four” out of Japan, including 97 Tomy Scratch, 96 Japanese Base, 96 Carddass and 97 TopSun (blue backs, green backs and no number) cards. I collect vintage US cards, too!
Questions? Cards to sell?
Get in touch!