Amada’s 1997 Mewtwo Sticker From Before Pokemon Went Global

Mewtwo No.353: An Amada Collectible Sticker From 1997 Japan

An Amada Pokemon Sticker From Japan’s Collecting Scene

This sticker is one entry in Amada’s line of licensed Pokemon collectibles, produced around 1997 for the Japanese domestic market. Rectangular in format, with a white border and a blue energy-charged background, it carries serial number 353 — placing it within what must have been a substantial numbered series. The face shows Mewtwo alongside Japanese text reading “Mewtwo LV.59” and a set of printed figures: 269 inside a shield graphic, 413 inside a starburst, a skull icon marked “X2,” and an eye symbol in a red rectangle. These numbers do not correspond to Mewtwo’s statistics from the Game Boy titles. They appear to be parameters specific to Amada’s own sticker battle system, separate from any official game data.

Mewtwo at the Height of Pokemon’s First Wave

Pokemon launched in Japan on February 27, 1996, when Nintendo and Game Freak released Pocket Monsters Red and Green for Game Boy. By 1997 the franchise was moving at full speed: the anime series debuted on TV Tokyo on April 1st of that year, and the licensed merchandise market was expanding in every direction. Within that landscape, Mewtwo held a distinctive place. Classified as Pokemon No.150 — a Psychic-type Legendary — Mewtwo is defined by the franchise’s creation lore: a creature engineered from the DNA of the mythical Mew by scientists who pushed beyond natural limits. In the original Game Boy games, only a single Mewtwo could be encountered in the entire playthrough, making it especially sought after by players. The first Pokemon theatrical film, “Mewtwo Strikes Back,” arrived in July 1998, with Mewtwo as its central figure. This sticker dates to 1997, the year that film was in production, when the character’s profile was already building toward that moment.

Amada, Sticker Battles, and Japan’s Collecting Tradition

Amada was a well-established presence in Japan’s licensed character sticker market through the 1990s, producing goods for major properties including Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon alongside Pokemon. Their stickers were sold through candy stores, stationery shops, and mass retailers — inexpensive items positioned as everyday collectibles for children. The numerical values printed on stickers like this one connect to a specific tradition in Japanese youth culture: using printed figures to play informal battle games, an idea rooted in menko, the traditional card-flipping game. Collecting and competing were closely intertwined, and the shield, starburst, and skull icons on this sticker fit neatly into that format.

For collectors outside Japan, a few specific details stand out. The 1997 manufacture date places this item firmly in Pokemon’s pre-North American period — the franchise did not reach the United States until 1998 — making it an original Japanese domestic product rather than an export. The Japanese-language text on the sticker, “Pocket Monsters” and “Mewtwo LV.59,” reflects that original domestic branding. Mewtwo’s recognition also extends well beyond Japan: the character is a fixture in first-generation Pokemon culture on both sides of the Pacific, which means the context behind a piece like this carries genuine weight for fans who encountered the franchise in any country.