7 cards
Toyota has given out two Pokémon cards, in a single campaign: from October to December 1997, visitors to Toyota Auto dealerships in Japan were given a card holder with a Pikachu and an Arcanine, both illustrated by Ken Sugimori, while stocks lasted. No purchase was needed. Both cards came out again later, the Arcanine unchanged, so the details below are what identify a Toyota copy.
| Pikachu | Arcanine | |
|---|---|---|
| Level and HP | LV.16, 60 HP | LV.34, 70 HP |
| Attacks | Growl (なきごえ), ThunderShock (でんきショック) 20 | Quick Attack (でんこうせっか) 10+, Flames of Rage (いかりのほのお) 40+ |
| What to check | no circled number at the bottom right | the name printed ウィンディ, with a small ィ (the CD copy has it too) |
| Same card, later | Intro Pack Bulbasaur Deck 40 (July 30, 1999), with a circled 40 | Pokémon Song Best Collection CD (January 1, 1999), identical |
| In English | same text: Wizards Black Star Promo 1, other art; same drawing: Wizards Black Star Promo 4, other text | Wizards Black Star Promo 6 (March 2000) |
How the campaign ran
The holder is printed 「トヨタオート店ご来場記念。スペシャルカード・トヨタオートバージョン」, "commemorating your visit to a Toyota Auto dealership: special card, Toyota Auto version", with an "officially certified" (公式認定) seal. Demand was high: the Ichikawa dealership, in Chiba, had queues every weekend afternoon, and the giveaway there reportedly ended before December, its planned end. No print run is known for either card.
Is it a Toyota Pikachu?
The Toyota Pikachu repeats the game text of the first Pikachu card, given with CoroCoro in 1996 (level 16, 60 HP, Growl and ThunderShock for 20), with a new illustration: Ken Sugimori's leaping Pikachu on a green background. Other prints come close.
- Intro Pack Pikachu 40 (Bulbasaur Deck, July 30, 1999): the same illustration and the same attacks, with a white 40 in a black circle at the bottom right and slightly reworded attack text. It is the one to rule out first.
- The World Hobby Fair expansion sheet Pikachu (Japan, sold from December 7, 1997, and reprinted in the Quick Starter Gift Set of December 4, 1998) and its English print, Wizards Black Star Promo 4 (one of four cards given with Mewtwo Strikes Back tickets from November 10, 1999): the same Pikachu drawing on a dark background with lightning, but level 13, 50 HP, Recharge and Thunderbolt.
- Wizards Black Star Promo 1, in English: the same game text with the 1996 illustration by Keiji Kinebuchi.
The expansion sheet was sold at that winter's World Hobby Fair dome tour (December 7, 1997 to February 15, 1998), billed as the Toyota Auto National Dome Cup, but it was a paid sheet with Mew and Mewtwo, not the dealership gift.
The Arcanine and its misprint
Arcanine's Japanese name is ウインディ, with a full-size イ. The Toyota card prints ウィンディ, with a small ィ, and the holder repeats that spelling; the Japanese versions of the Game Boy Trading Card Game and its sequel carry the same error.
On January 1, 1999, the same Arcanine came again among the cards packed with the Pokémon Song Best Collection CD. A loose Arcanine therefore cannot be traced to the Toyota holder, and it is most likely the more common of the two, while a Pikachu without the circled 40 points to Toyota. English players got the Arcanine as Wizards Black Star Promo 6, through the Pokémon League from March 2000.
Finding them today
The two cards trade loose or still sealed in their holder, which is the surest proof of a Toyota pair. The site does not track their sales yet (September 24, 2026), so this page quotes no price.
Toyota's later Pokémon links came with no card of their own: the Pikachu cars built on Toyota models from 2005, the POKÉMON with YOU wagon, a Toyota HiAce van that toured Tōhoku from 2012, and the working life-size Miraidon that Toyota engineers built with The Pokémon Company in 2023. The 2014 Pikachu card that shows the wagon was given by The Pokémon Company's relief program, not by Toyota; it is in our JR catalog.
FAQ
What Pokémon cards did Toyota give away?
Two, in Japan: a Pikachu (level 16, 60 HP) and an Arcanine (level 34, 70 HP), both unnumbered and both by Ken Sugimori, in a holder given to visitors of Toyota Auto dealerships from October to December 1997.
How can I tell a Toyota Pikachu from the Intro Pack one?
Look at the bottom right corner: the Intro Pack Pikachu of 1999 has a white 40 in a black circle, and the Toyota Pikachu has none.
Is there an English Toyota card?
No Toyota card was given outside Japan, but both designs reached English players: the Arcanine as Wizards Black Star Promo 6, and the Pikachu's drawing on Wizards Black Star Promo 4, with other attacks.
More brand promo series: Domino's Pizza, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Uniqlo, Meiji and, for the railway rally of the same year, JR.
