The Pokémon Card That Traveled Around the World #
What started as a simple idea on Elite Fourum in March 2024 turned into a long-running Pokémon community event.
The E4 Chain Letter Across the World began with a single Grass Energy card. Forum member joponnes wrote their username and country on the card and mailed it to the first person who volunteered. The recipient would then add their own username and country, share a photo of the card on the forum, and send it onward to the next participant.
The rules were simple: no real names or exact locations, addresses were exchanged privately, and participants were encouraged to keep shipping costs low. The goal wasn’t to send expensive collectibles but to create a physical record of the E4 community.
As the card moved from collector to collector, members around the world waited for their chance to claim the next spot. Small gifts, artwork, Pokémon cards, and other surprises gradually became part of the tradition.
Eventually, the project grew beyond the original card. Additional Energy cards were introduced, and completed cards began being archived so that the history of the journey wouldn’t disappear if something went wrong in the mail.
Every signature represents a person who took part, and every photograph posted along the way becomes another chapter in the journey.
These Energy cards are a community time capsule and years later, the chain is still going strong.
My Participation #
Recently i managed to snag next in line, which is becoming increasingly harder to do on this popular thread with many people hoping to participate! E4 member BANKS currently had the card, so i exchanged information and eagerly awaited the delivery!
BANKS is an enjoyable presence on the Elite Fourum, bringing knowledgeable and thoughtful interaction to the community. As a self-described trio collector with an impressive collection, their passion for Pokémon collecting is easy to see. They regularly contribute to discussions with interesting observations, questions, collection shares, and helpful comments.
Yesterday i had received a letter all the way from Germany! It was the chain letter across the world i had been looking forward to. Inside was a re-sealed proxy Team Rocket Booster Pack, BANKS had clearly done their research and knew about my favorites in the TCG. Team Rocket being my favorite set, Raichu being one of my favorite Pokemon, and Kagemaru Himeno being one of my favorite illustrators as well as my interest in unique promo cards as you will see later on.
Opening the booster pack revealed the current Chain Letter Water Energy card, last signed by BANKS, along with the printed copies of the other 2 energys that had been archived. It was interesting to see where the cards had traveled together all around the world and back!
Next up were some more awesome personalized goodies from BANKS.
We’ve got:
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A custom Snap Mew, captured by BANKS themselves inside Pokémon Snap
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A sick hand-painted Raichu extended-art card
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A custom hand-drawn Dark Raichu card
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A proxy Dark Raichu, which I assume came from the pack
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A limited-edition S-Chinese ID.3 Chinchou promo
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And a Himeno Raichu Reverse Holo!
On the back of the hand-drawn Dark Raichu was a thoughtful handwritten message from BANKS appreciating our friendship together on efour.
Thank you BANKS, for going above and beyond and making this event a memorable one. The cards will hold a special place in my collection.
Next up #
The next person to claim the Energy card was member eeveeteam. As you may be able to tell from the username, they love all things Eevee! They even started the dedicated Eevee & Eeveelution Thread for new card releases and general discussion. Eeveeteam is also often tagged for their knowledge and advice on eevee/eeveelutions, and they’re always happy to help out around the forum.
I took a look through their post history to see if I could put together something a little more personal and unique for them. I bundled together a few Eevee cards, including a reverse holo illustrated by Atsuko Nishida. I’d heard that they particularly love the Flareon artwork she illustrated for the PokéKyun Collection, so I thought this would be a nice addition. I also included a Korean mirror-foil Eevee from GX Ultra Shiny, hoping they didn’t already have this more niche language variant in their collection.
I also saw that they named the Jungle set as one of their sets that if they could only collect one vintage set, So i drew the Jungle eeveelutions Jolteon, Flareon, Vaporeon each on there own reverse holo energy type card as a gift for something to remember the event by. I also included a holo eevee coin from the Primastic Evolutions Surprise Box as well as a booster pack of Primsatic Evolutions for them to open! Good luck eeveeteam!
Lastly, I sent them a foam cutout of the E4 logo that I had specially manufactured using a water-jet cutting machine. I added self-adhesive tape to the back so they can stick it wherever they like!
I doubt anyone actually reads my blog but just incase - eevveeteam has not yet received this yet, as it will have to travel from the UK to the USA, so if you are reading this, Keep it just between me and you ;)
