Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago

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Sealed Japanese Pokémon Card Gum, opened at the Goldin booth on the floor of the 46th National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago. Two cards, one stick of gum, 60 yen off a Japanese shelf in the late 90s. The gum was still individually wrapped inside the pack after almost 30 years.

We pulled No.028 Sandslash (サンドパン) and a Weedle. No prism holo, which is the real chase in these.

Shot live at The National 2026, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont IL, July 30th, 2026

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WHAT TOPSUN ACTUALLY IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT

Topsun cards were made by Top Seika, a Japanese confectionery company founded in 1956. These are candy cards sold with gum, not Pokémon TCG cards, and they were never playable and never released outside Japan.

Retail production started in March 1997, after Top Seika licensed Pokémon through Shogakukan. The company rebranded from Topsun to Top in fall 1998, which is the logo you see on this anime-version box.

They are not the first Pokémon cards. Bandai Carddass printed in September 1996, roughly six months earlier. The "1995" people cite comes from the copyright line on the card back, which belongs to Nintendo, Creatures Inc. and Game Freak as the property holders and has nothing to do with when the card was printed. PSA updated its own labels from 1995 to 1997 in March 2024.

Variants worth knowing: blue backs came first and carry a premium, green backs came later, and the 50 no-number blue backs are the true chase. Prism holos run 16 cards across three patterns, Cracked Ice, Block and Checkered, seeded around one per two boxes. Every original 151 was printed except Mew.

TOPSUN IS NOT SOUTHERN ISLANDS

These get confused constantly because both lean on tropical artwork. Southern Islands released in Japan on July 17, 1999 and in English on July 31, 2001. It is an official TCG promo set of 18 cards split into Tropical Island, illustrated by Naoyo Kimura, and Rainbow Island, illustrated by Keiko Fukuyama. All 18 cards connect into one continuous piece of art, and it was distributed in promo folders and binders rather than gum packs. Different company, different decade, different product entirely.

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CHAPTERS
0:00 Sealed anime version box at the Goldin booth
0:20 Opening the pack
0:40 The gum is still individually wrapped
1:00 The pulls, Sandslash and Weedle

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