Sandshrew 1st Edition Base Set: The 'This Attack' Error
Reviewed by Caleb Stapel · Collector · Updated September 2026
Sandshrew #62/102 is a humble Common, yet it carries one of the cleanest stories in 1999 Base Set. It is a genuine 1st Edition error card, drawn by Ken Sugimori, and it hides a pre-release secret: prototype Pokémon Leagues received it four times over in Trainer Deck A. Its armored, curl-into-a-ball design traces back to the pangolin. A raw near-mint copy runs about $34, while a PSA 10 sells for around $580.
This page covers the 1st Edition printing specifically — the stamped, shadowless-stock version from the original January 1999 run. If you are unsure which of the Base Set Sandshrew printings you own, the 3-second test below settles it before you read any further.
| Grade | Market Price | Share of graded copies |
|---|---|---|
| Ungraded (raw) | $34 | — |
| PSA 7 (NM) | $44 | 8.9% |
| PSA 8 (NM-MT) | $56 | 21.7% |
| PSA 9 (Mint) | $90 | 36.2% |
| PSA 10 (Gem Mint) | $580 | 25.7% |
| Grade 6 or below | — | 7.5% |
Prices and population shares: the Cards Worth Chasing ranking, PSA only, September 2026. Shares are of all PSA-graded copies of this card, so they sum to 100% with the grade-6-and-below row. Grading cost basis $59.99 (PSA Standard). Comps move — verify current sold prices before transacting.
Live Now on eBay: 1st Edition Sandshrew
What the card is actually being offered for right now. Every listing below is filtered to the genuine 1st Edition card — no repacks, mystery slabs, card skins, or multi-card lots. These are asking prices, not sold comps, so treat them as the top of the market rather than what copies are changing hands for. Buying through these links supports the site at no extra cost to you.
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Which One Do You Have? The 3-Second Test
Most people who say “I have a 1st Edition Sandshrew” don’t. Retail packs in 1999–2000 were overwhelmingly Unlimited printing — and that’s fine, it’s the same iconic card. The fast check, in order:
- Right edge of the art box: a dark drop shadow = Unlimited or 4th Print. No shadow = keep going.
- Left of the art box: a black “Edition 1” stamp = 1st Edition. No stamp + no shadow = Shadowless.
- Bottom copyright line: ©1999-2000 = 4th Print. The font weight is the tiebreaker — thin text means an early print.
Sandshrew is a Basic Fighting with 40 HP, illustrated by Ken Sugimori. Tilt the card under light and read the Sand-attack clause: a real 1st Edition ends with 'this attack does nothing,' and the low-ink 'gray stamp' can replace the black Edition-1 mark — two tells unique to early Sandshrew.
The four printings of Base Set each have their own price and history: 1st Edition · Shadowless · Unlimited · 4th Print.
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PSA 8 prices from PriceCharting sold-comp data, September 2026. Unlimited and 4th Print look nearly identical — the copyright year is the difference. Each printing is its own card with its own price and history; see every printing: 1st Edition · Shadowless · Unlimited · 4th Print.
About This Card and Set
Sandshrew #62/102 is a Common from the 1999 English Base Set, illustrated by Ken Sugimori, the Game Freak artist who drew the original 151. Before the set reached North American shops, Wizards of the Coast sent prototype Pokémon Leagues a Trainer Deck A — Brock's Deck — that packed four copies of this card, printed with a red border and 'Trainer Deck A' on the back. Only a handful of leagues received one, and sealed copies are far scarcer than its Trainer Deck B sibling, turning a modest common into a genuine slice of pre-release history.
The design origin is zoological rather than literal. Despite a Pokédex species of 'Mouse Pokémon,' Sandshrew's plated, roll-up body is modelled on the pangolin — the only scaled mammal, whose name comes from the Malay pengguling, 'something that rolls up.' Western fans long assumed armadillo; Sandslash's Japanese name, Sandpan, quietly enshrines the pangolin instead. On screen, Sandshrew belonged to A.J. in Indigo League episode 8, 'The Path to the Pokémon League,' where it trains in a swimming pool and beats Team Rocket — a nostalgia touchstone for anyone who grew up on the anime. The card itself was later reprinted in Base Set 2 (91/130) and Legendary Collection (91/110).
How Rare Is This Card?
Start with the number that describes the whole card: roughly 2,523 graded copies exist in total, and ~649 of those are PSA 10s. That is a gem rate of about 25.7% — and the gem rate, not the raw population, is what a collector should actually be reading. High-grade supply is what the market pays for.
| Card | PSA 10s | Total graded | Gem rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sandshrew 1st Edition (1999) | ~649 | ~2,523 | ~25.7% |
| Charizard ex #199, S&V 151 (2023) | 29,679 | 102,490 | ~29% |
PriceCharting population data, September 2026. The modern row is a combined PSA + CGC count; the 1999 row is PSA, the way it is normally quoted.
Sandshrew grades at a modest rate for a 1999 common, and its graded population is small enough that clean examples stand out.
Because every 1st Edition and Shadowless copy carries the ‘this attack’ text slip, collectors judge these on condition and stamp quality rather than hunting a rarer variant.For scale, a comparable modern chase card converts to a gem grade at roughly 29%. Modern cards grade far better than vintage ones — not because they are better cards, but because a 1999 card was printed before grading was mainstream and then spent two decades in a binder.
Source: the PSA-only figures behind the Cards Worth Chasing ranking, September 2026. Two caveats stay attached to every population figure on this site. Graded counts are submission tallies, not unique cards — resubmissions inflate the total. And the census is a floor, not a final number.
Known Error Cards
Sandshrew carries a well-documented text error specific to the first two English printings. On 1st Edition and Shadowless copies, the Sand-attack clause reads 'this attack does nothing' where it should read 'that attack does nothing.' Bulbapedia records the slip, and the PokeBeach and Elite Fourum error resources treat it as a print-wide design flaw rather than a chance misprint. It was corrected for the Unlimited print, so a standard Unlimited Sandshrew reads correctly and is not the collectible error — a common mix-up. A separate 1st Edition-only quirk is the 'gray stamp,' a low-ink First Edition mark documented by Bulbapedia as a 1st Edition Base Set error and confirmed on Sandshrew listings. Every 1st Edition and Shadowless copy carries the text slip; only some carry a gray stamp.
What Makes This Card Collectible?
A Base Set common with a genuine 1st Edition error and a prototype-league backstory is rarer than its low price suggests.
- Genuine 1st Edition error. The 'this attack does nothing' text slip appears on all 1st Edition and Shadowless copies, corrected only for Unlimited.
- Trainer Deck A pedigree. Four Sandshrews shipped in Brock's prototype League deck, red-bordered and distributed before the set's official North American launch.
- Pangolin design origin. The armored, roll-up body is modelled on the pangolin, not the armadillo most fans assumed for decades.
For a set-builder, it is the affordable error that gives a Base Set shelf a story worth telling.
The Artist: Ken Sugimori
Ken Sugimori is one of the illustrators who defined the look of the original English Pokémon TCG, and Sandshrew is one of their Base Set contributions. This section will carry their full numbers when the artist guide lands.
Caleb's Collector Verdict
A quirky, story-rich common whose 1st Edition error makes it more than filler.
People Also Ask
Is my 1st Edition Sandshrew real or fake?
The 1999 Base Set cards are the most counterfeited in the hobby, and for a raw copy worth real money you cannot settle it from a photo. The checks that catch most fakes: the light test (a genuine card is essentially opaque — a faint dark core line between the layers; cheap fakes glow through), the stamp rule (a real 1st Edition stamp is crisp and sits under the ink, and counterfeiters add stamps to Unlimited cards — read it with the drop shadow and the 1995-99 copyright line, never alone), and the back (fakes perfect the front and neglect the Poké Ball, the blue tone and the repeated text). Above a few hundred dollars, a raw copy should get professional pre-authentication. The full fake-detection walkthrough covers all of it.
Should I grade this card?
Grading makes sense mainly for a clean 1st Edition copy. Raw near-mint examples trade near $34, while 1st Edition gems grade around 24.6% of submissions, so the odds of a 10 are real but not certain. If your copy is crisp and centred, submitting is worthwhile; if it already shows edge wear, the grading fee will likely outrun the upside.