You probably forgot this was a thing, didn't you?
After almost two decades, a legal hurdle that kept an entire species out of the Pokemon TCG is apparently over.
Illusionary performer Uri Gellar filed injunctions against Creatures and Nintendo in the early 2000s preventing cards of Kadabra from being produced - essentially locking out its prior evolution Abra and further evolution Alakazam from the game as well. The point of contention was Kadabra's pose which focused on using psychic powers to bend a spoon, a trademark of Gellar's act.
I am truly sorry for what I did 20 years ago. Kids and grownups I am releasing the ban. It’s now all up to #Nintendo to bring my #kadabra #pokemon card back.
— Uri Geller (@TheUriGeller) November 28, 2020
It will probably be one of the rarest cards now! Much energy and love to all!https://t.co/Rv1aJFlIKS pic.twitter.com/5zDMX5S8WA
The Pokemon Company have not commented on Gellar's announcement, though the last Kadabra card was produced as part of the Skyridge expansion series (2002 Japan, 2003 rest of the world) which was also the last set produced by Wizards of the Coast before TPC brought the series in-house.
Why did Nintendo never fight him? He had no case, he was far from the first magician to "bend" spoons. Nintendo could have easily defeated him in courts.
Why did Nintendo never fight him? He had no case, he was far from the first magician to "bend" spoons. Nintendo could have easily defeated him in courts.
No special insider knowledge, just speculation: in 2000, when the injunction was filed, Pokémon was an absolute juggernaut at its arguable cultural peak worldwide. The 2nd movie was out that year, as where the game sequels which also carried much of the Game Boy Color sales.
So here comes a famous Jewish celebrity from Israel, claiming the lightning bolts on the Kadabra character (whose Japanese name sounds similar to the guy, and who shares a stage magician gimmick) are a reference to Nazi Germany's Waffen SS logo(see source from 2000 here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1003454.stm)).
That's a really bad assertion against your children's franchise if it makes headlines, even if it's a spurious lawsuit. It's probably just easier to take 1 card out of print rotation and maybe settle things out of court, behind closed doors.
Back in the day Uri Geller was an influential celebrity, and he never stopped being good at grabbing headlines (recently he claimed to use his psychic powers to stop Theresa May from completing Brexit (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/22/uri-geller-promises-to-stop-brexit-using-telepathy), which I suppose in a way did occur? lol).
The Pokémon Company were very protective of that brand already back then. In 2000 Jynx's design came under fire for blackface (https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/question/2009/september.htm) & a voodoo name, and she was changed quickly.
When ~700 kids got seizures after the 1997 Porygon episode (https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/18/world/tv-cartoon-s-flashes-send-700-japanese-into-seizures.html) they made sure the episode would never air outside of Japan, and Porygon was never seen in the anime again. They also pulled the Safari Zone episode for implied gun violence, and post-9/11 the Tentacruel episode was taken out of syndication. Heck they cut the opening to the first movie because they thought "cloning" would offend Christian audiences.
So yeah I think the company had a pattern of playing it safe, and dropping 1 card was probably easier than a potentially protracted lawsuit (even if they would eventually win it).
That's a really interesting speculation. Is it your own?