In 2014, a collector posted a few of these on Elite Fourum.

His question: What are these and are these even licensed?

Over ten years later, I had the exact same question.

Bandai is known for making collectibles for big licenses like Pokémon. One of my favourite Pokémon sets ever was also released by Bandai: Carddass 1997 (Part 3 & 4).

But in 1997 they released something else as well, and not a regular card this time.

It's a card you fold, push and slide, until a Pokémon pops out of a Poké Ball and stands on its own.

It's called a Slide-Up Pocket Monsters card. Back in the day you would get 2 cards for ¥100 from vending machines in Japan.

Turns out, it was a game too. Each card has a type icon, and the rules on the back are simple: hold 6 cards, play them one by one, and whoever has the most winning Pokémon wins.

Part 1 came out in 1997, with 54 cards. It must have done well, because Part 2 (54 cards) and Part 3 (45 cards) followed in 1998.

Part 2 added gold foil cards, like Mewtwo, and a Surfing Pikachu. Part 3 added six more gold cards, including Charizard, Mew and Venusaur, plus a Flying Pikachu.

There are 12 gold cards in total. And they don't have a normal version, so the gold one is the only version of that specific Pokémon.

About the question from 2014. Yes, they're official.

The answer was printed on every card. On the back: "BANDAI 1997 MADE IN JAPAN" and the full Nintendo, Creatures and Game Freak copyright line.

It's just really, really small.

I first saw one on eBay. But no mention of Bandai, so I had no clue if it was real and quickly forgot about it.

Then a streamer I trust showed one on Whatnot and said it was official and released by Bandai. Since I like the Bandai Pokémon cards, I was intrigued. His card wasn't of a Pokémon I liked, so I went looking online.

With the name "slide-up cards" I found plenty. But most were in Japan or the US, and shipping plus import fees to Europe (the Netherlands) are too much for a card worth 5 to 20 euros.

Then I saw a Bulbasaur on Vinted and I bought it for €15.

I love the vintage watercolour art, the blue design of the card, and how the front and back of the card form the front and back of the Poké Ball.

Fun detail: many evolution lines are spread over the different parts. For example, my Bulbasaur is from Part 1, Ivysaur is in Part 2, and Venusaur is in Part 3, in gold.

Maybe I'll hunt those down someday. But for now, the Bulbasaur is more than enough.

I just like owning this little piece of Pokémon history. It's such a unique collectible. And I love that Pokémon and Bandai tried something different this time.

That’s it for this week!

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Talk to you next week!