GBX Card Series
The GBX Card Series is a set of fan-made Pokemon trading cards done in the style of cards seen in the late 90's ("the Wizards of the Coast era"). They were created by Draco and made available through the Gatorbox Etsy store. The series is referred to as "GBX" as shorthand for "Gatorbox" and in place of a rarity symbol the cards are instead numbered similarly to "Black Star" promotional cards (GBX 1, GBX 2, etc). Originally only a MissingNo card was made available, however due to the residual success of sales of the card Draco decided to start producing more cards in different styles and retconned the original MissingNo card to "GBX 1" and began incrementing the identifier for each successive release.
GBX started as a challenge for Draco to adapt the abilities of the famous "MissingNo" glitch, who is not an official Pokemon and has never seen any official merchandise including cards, into the ecosystem of the original era Pokemon TCG. This idea spread into turning other fictional Pokemon and cards into real life analogues with unique Pokemon Powers never seen before in the TCG. When GBX 2 through 5 were introduced they were based upon the "Legendary" promotional cards from the Game Boy Color game Pokemon Trading Card Game; the Legendaries were not based on real cards and as such they feature Pokemon Powers and attacks that can only exist programmatically, so Draco retooled them just enough to work in a real game while retaining as much of their "randomness" as possible. The sixth card in the GBX series was based on "Charizard 'M", a unique variant of MissingNo with its own glitches and effects specific to it notably the ability to prevent damage and Trainer cards from affecting the player's Bench. Charizard 'M's attack ("--") is a reference to the highly destructive and unpredictable nameless move from Generation 1 and has the ability to deal direct damage, heal or damage Charizard 'M, or cause a Poisoned status effect.
Ideas discussed for future cards include the potential to adapt other glitch Pokemon into cards, such as "Glitchy Nidorino" and other variants of MissingNo ('M, Kabutops/Aerodactyl fossil, and Ghost), or to create unique cards based upon memorable inside jokes from previous Gatorbox streams (Nidoqueen from Pokemon Engrish Green Version, Alakazam from Pokemon Cock Version, and Croconaw who was a stand-in channel mascot before Nessie was introduced). The card planned for 'M in particular has a Pokemon Power that plays on the glitch's known ability to corrupt the player's Hall of Fame; this was translated into the TCG by way of an ability to add one more Prize card to your opponent's play field (only usable once per game at the discretion of the player). Draco has stated that he is not interested in introducing any of the rumored "PokeGods" (Mewthree, Dimonix, Pikablu, etc.) into the GBX series as he says he wants the line of cards to focus only on either real Pokemon or anomalies that can happen within the boundaries of the games; he is also partial to creating cards that compliment the early years of the franchise.
The GBX cards do not have any particular rarity or declared value and are sold as a novelty, however all of the cards were created with the option for buyers to use them in an era-appropriate retro deck as they were designed and tested in the context of the original release and expansions of cards and do provide a fair and competitive edge against other similarly-aged deck themes. They are not official merchandise and thus are ineligible for professional grading (CGC, PSA, and other services will send them back with a score of 0/UG "Ungradable"). Additionally, the GBX cards are not permitted for use in tournament play.
Cards in Series
| Number | Card | Type | HP | Attack 1 | Attack 2 | Weakness | Resistance | Retreat Cost | Artist | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GBX 1 | MissingNo. | Colorless | 10 HP | Pokemon Power, Item Duplication: Whenever a Trainer card requiring the discarding of Energy, modification of damage, removal of damage counters, or the drawing of cards is played, its effect is applied twice. This power stops working if MissingNo. is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed. | Water Gun (20+): Does 20 damage plus 10 more damage for each Water Energy attached to MissingNo. but not used to pay for this attack's Energy cost. You can't add more than 20 damage in this way. (1W 1C) | N/A | N/A | 1 | André Bardin | June 20131 January 2024 |
| GBX 2 | Articuno2 | Water | 100 HP | Pokemon Power, Quickfreeze: When you put Articuno into play during your turn (not during set-up), flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokemon is now Paralyzed. | Ice Breath: Roll one die. Starting from your opponent's Active Pokemon, count until you reach the number shown on the die. This attack does 40 damage to that Pokemon. Don't apply Weakness and Resistance for this attack. (3W) | N/A | Fighting (30) | 2 | Ken Sugimori | April 2026 |
| GBX 3 | Zapdos2 | Electric | 100 HP | Pokemon Power, Peal of Thunder: When you put Zapdos into play during your turn (not during set-up), flip a coin. If heads, target your opponent. If tails, yourself. Roll one die. Starting from the Active Pokemon, count until you reach the number shown on the die. Do 30 damage to that Pokemon. (Don't apply Weakness and Resistance.) | Big Thunder: Flip a coin. If heads, target your opponent. If tails, yourself. Roll one die. Starting from the Active Pokemon, count until you reach the number shown on the die. This attack does 70 damage to that Pokemon. The Pokémon who used this attack cannot target itself. Don't apply Weakness and Resistance for this attack. (3E) | N/A | Fighting (30) | 2 | Ken Sugimori | April 2026 |
| GBX 4 | Moltres2 | Fire | 100 HP | Pokemon Power, Firegiver: When you put Moltres into play during your turn (not during set-up), roll 1d4. Put that many Fire Energy cards from your deck into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward. | Dive Bomb (70): Flip a coin. If tails, this attack does nothing. (3F) | N/A | Fighting (30) | 2 | Ken Sugimori | April 2026 |
| GBX 5 | Dragonite2 | Colorless | 100 HP | Pokemon Power, Healing Wind: When you put Dragonite into play, remove 2 damage counters from each of your Pokemon. If a Pokemon has fewer damage counters than that, removal all of them from that Pokemon. | Slam (30x): Flip 2 coins. This attack does 30 damage times the number of heads. (3C) | N/A | Fighting (30) | 2 | Ken Sugimori | April 2026 |
| GBX 6 | Charizard 'M | Fire | 60 HP | Pokemon Power, Borrowed Code: As long as Charizard 'M is your Active Pokemon, prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to your Benched Pokemon. Your opponent's Trainer cards and your own Trainer cards have no effect on your Benched Pokemon. This power stops working while Charizard 'M is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed. | --: Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 40 damage and removes 1 damage counter from Charizard 'M. If tails, this attack does 20 damage to Charizard 'M and the Defending Pokemon is now Poisoned. (1F 1C) | N/A | N/A | 3 | Louis Kohn3 | TBD4 |
1 Originally designed as a commission for a San Antonio, Texas business who opted not to purchase the card. It was reprinted in January 2024.
2 Based on the cards from Pokemon Trading Card Game for Game Boy Color and use the game's sprite art.
3 Revenue split with The Furry Comic Preservation Project, who also contributed the card art.
4 A preview of this card using placeholder art was revealed to the Gatorbox community in March 2026, before the card was released.
Limited & First Editions, and Misprints
Some of the cards in the GBX series are "rarer" than others either due to an intentional limited run or due to mistakes during the production process resulting in "misprint" cards.
- MissingNo. (GBX 1): A single proof of this card from 2013 exists and was stamped with an embossing tool bearing the logo of the original commissioner.
- MissingNo. (GBX 1): The first three runs of cards are marked "GB 1" instead of "GBX 1", as the naming convention wasn't yet established.
- MissingNo. (GBX 1): Some of the second run of cards have slight alignment issues and as a result were sold at a heavily discounted "at-cost" rate.
- MissingNo. (GBX 1): The first three runs of cards (~500 cards) all have a misspelling of "requiring" in the Pokemon Power description. This was corrected in the fourth (GBX) print onward.
- Charizard 'M (GBX 6): Signed proofs of this card were donated to several Corpus Christi, Texas businesses including Tronix and Toy & Comic Junkie.
- Charizard 'M (GBX 6): A variant of the card using 2013 promotional art for an unreleased graphic novel was created for The Furry Comic Preservation Project to give out at their discretion.