Widely distributed, free of charge, and omnipresent in noughties Japan. For years, Pokémon Scoop was hot stuff. Yet despite this, the onetime periodical has sunk into such obscurity that online mentions of it are rarer than an eh, Daisuki Magikarp. To borrow a popular term: We might even consider Scoop lost media.
So, what was Pokémon Scoop? A Daisuki Club publication printed twice or thrice yearly, Scoop (ポケモンスクープ) was effectively a Pokémon-themed pocket infozine. Each issue counted no more than thirty-ish, 40 pages tops, and these easily digestible mini-mags were given out readily at PokeCenters, in-life events such as Festa (see here and here) and even at McDonalds. Invariably jam-packed with eye-catching information on the latest developments in the world of Pokémon, Scoop covered franchise pillars such as the video games, films, anime, manga, and TCG, but also gave updates about PokeCenters, the Daisuki Club, and in-life events.
On top of that, it included puzzles to solve, contests to participate in, and giveaways to enter for rare and exclusive Pokémon merchandise. Goodies would occasionally be enclosed with the magazine, such as a CD filled with Daisuki Club minigames (Winter 2004), the flashy Shadow Lugia TCG card (Summer 2005 Festa issue) or now-rare and desirable Pokemon Colosseum e-Cards (Collector Hidehiko and Cool Trainer Yufu in the Summer 2003 issue, and Hunter Bit in Winter 2004). To summarise, in its heyday, Pokémon Scoop was a pocket-sized paper bundle of joy. Nowadays, to us archivists, it is a splendid window into the Pokeverse of ages past.
Scoop’s reign lasted from 2002 (issue #1) to sometime around 2012, by which time it had well and truly been overtaken by the blistering pace of the information age and devolved into no more than a flyer.
Now that you’ve had a crash-course introduction to Scoop, you might be wondering, where can I read these little gems? Well, you couldn’t. Although Scoop issues come up occasionally on Japanese auction site Mercari, no digital archive existed. Until now.
With the combined efforts purchasing frenzy of myself (PokemonHistorian), ICanSnake, and Coconut LaCroix, the majority of Scoop’s issues are now available in full on the internet for the first time, right here on PokémonHistorian. Enjoy!
POKÉMON SCOOP ISSUES
Press hyperlink to read.
2002 (Groudon / Kyogre cover) – UNAVAILABLE
Winter 2003 (Ash & Pikachu cover) – UNAVAILABLE
Summer 2003
Autumn 2003
Winter 2004
Summer Festa 2004 (6/19/2004) [Wayback]
Summer 2004 (07/17/2004)
Winter 2005 (12/10/2004)
Summer 2005 (06/25/2005)
Summer Extra 2005 (06/25/2005)
Autumn 2005
Winter 2006 (11/25/2006)
Spring 2006 (CD-ROM) – UNAVAILABLE
Summer 2006
Summer 2007
Spring 2008 (Pokémon Ranger cover) – UNAVAILABLE
Summer 2008
Summer 2009
McDonalds 2010
Unova Book 2010
McDonalds New Year 2010/11
Print dates given in parentheses.
Special thanks to ICanSnake for providing scans of the following issues: Summer 2004 Festa, Summer 2004, Winter 2005, Summer 2005, Winter 2006, Unova Book 2010.
Special thanks to Coconut LaCroix for providing scans of the following issues: Summer 2003, Autumn 2003, Autumn 2005, Summer 2007.
Issues Winter 2004, Summer Extra 2005, Summer 2008, McDonalds 2010, McDonalds New Year 2010/11 from PokemonHistorian‘s collection.
Summer 2009 via the blog of pokemonemperorenvoy.
Due to file size magazine covers may load in slowly – tap or press an (un)loaded image to browse the corresponding flipbook pdf.
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