Throughout their occupation of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Wizards of the Coast produced many exclusive cards for promotional events such as tournaments, special events or through Pokémon-related merchandise. These all had a black star with the word "PROMO" written across it where the expansion symbol would normally occur, giving them their name as Black Star Promos.
Information
Wizards produced a total of 53 numbered Promotional cards before they lost their license. Had they kept their rights to produce the cards longer, it is likely more Promotional cards would have been produced, as the Vending Machine cards were a collection Wizards certainly planned to bring into English. Most of these cards were speculated to have been released in Jamboree with the remainder as promotional cards. All cards were previously released as promotional cards or in special promotional sets in Japan, with the exception of Mew (#8 and #9), which appeared in the Japanese Fossil expansion.
Trivia
The promotional cards released in connection with Mewtwo Strikes Back in cinemas have a gold foil stamp with "Kids WB Presents: Pokémon: The First Movie" on the card art.
The promotional cards Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos released in connection with The Power of One in cinemas have different card art to their Japanese All Nippon Airways promotional counterparts. The Pokémon Center promotional card also has English-exclusive artwork.
