Lamincards

Pokémon Lamincards were a set of plastic cards, about the size of the TCG cards, with a mostly transparent background (hence the name "laminated cards"). They were created by the Italian company Edibas Collections S.r.l, beginning in 2004 and released in various languages through Europe (in order of release: Italian, Spanish, French, English, German). Though primarily a Europe-only product, one English-only set was released for the North American market.

The company was founded in 1991, and did numerous sets of Lamincards for other properties, including Dragonball Z.

The 2004 sets (titled 2004 Pokémon Lamincards Collection and 2004 Pokémon Advanced Lamincards Collection) covered the available Gens 1-3 Pokémon, and would be reprinted in 2006 as Pokémon Lamincards with a adjusted half-background. In comparison the 2005 set, 2005 Pokémon Lamincards Collection, focused on Gen-1 only. A squared version of this set would be released in North America in 2006 under the title Pokémon New Collection. This would be the final release for the Pokémon franchise.

By all accounts, the various Lamincards were incredibly popular with kids in Europe, particularly Italy, and according to the Edibas Art Director at the time, they began to outsell the Pokémon TCG and Tops cards: "Invece le lamincards dei Pokémon vendevano da Dio! Ogni serie vendeva più della precedente" ("Instead, the Pokémon Lamincards sold like God! Each series outsold the last."). This was seen as unwelcome competition and Edibas' licensing contract with Pokémon was canceled in 2006 as a result before they could fully catch on in North America.

The company would continue to make Lamincards for other franchises until 2015, when they went bankrupt.

The 7 Pokémon sets are as follows:

2004	Pokémon Lamincards Collection
2004	Pokémon Advanced Lamincards Collection	Gens 1-3, with a vertical background on the left side (e.g. water texture for water types)
2005	Pokémon Lamincards Collection	Focuses on Gen 1, with horizontal background on the bottom
2006	Pokémon Lamincards Collection	Reprint of the 2004 Pokémon Advanced Lamincards Collection, focusing mostly on Gen 3, but with a horizontal background at the bottom
2006	Pokémon Lamincards Special Edition	Total of 386 cards, Gen 1-3, different art than the 2005 Pokémon Lamincards Collection, bottom horizontal background rounded off around the top edges (compared to other lamincards, which has a hard edge)
2006	Pokémon New Collection (square edition)	Reprint of the 2005 Pokémon Lamincards Collection, the one English-only set, sold in the US, Canada, UK, and Scandanavia (which is why the stats are still listed in meters and kilograms)
2006	Pokémon New Collection (transparent edition)	The only horizontal card, with no background and limited text (fit on the back of the Pokémon's silhouette), features new art compared to the other sets