The classic Pokémon TCG market (1999-2003) is really wild right now. Need help with yours? [Finally cooling down... for now]

[PokémonSpears]

The new stuff is almost MORE of a headache (I'm looking for the 2 new releases today... I wish they didn't have the same SKUs cause it's hard to buy both and most pre-orders are just "assorted")

Relevant here, with talking about the new special cards, was another top post on the Reddit:

Click to shrink...

Oh boy, how things have changed for the Pokémon TCG scene...

 

[Curler]

Resellers have gone insane with Champion's Path. It's impossible to get at any store, and resellers are selling the packages at insane amounts, and all because of that damn Charizard card. Even the Pokémon Company has released a statement saying they'll print more.






But I'm afraid it's gonna have the same results. What they should do is stop making those rare Charizard cards. It's unfair how just because of this card people are missing on all the common cards of the set. Like literally, it's impossible to find any product at stores.


Going back to topic a little bit, I wonder how much all these "rare" cards from newer collections will be in a few years in relation to how the classic cards are 20+ years later.

Click to shrink...

I saw that and I'm super happy! I was so frustrated earlier that PokeCen sold out in seconds, that I vented in a topic about scalpers/bots :/ I even posted the notification on printing more and I'm so happy! Gives us still looking a fighting chance.

As for pricing of how these newer sets will be in the future, I think they will. With the pull rates making it rare, Charizard just being, always a popular character, I can see these prices lasting. I think the old Shining Charizard (e-card series, I think?) still has a high value through the years. Also a secret rare, and a "shiny" on top of it. Not Base Charizard, came out when the cards weren't too popular, but still fetches a high price.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Alright, here we go! Pictures here.

A few notes - the Ledyba had no symbol I could find so included it just in case. Ha.

I know they're not TCG, but I did include some other promos I kept in my binder as well...I thought I saw some non-TCG promo discussion earlier in the thread so I thought what the heck, just in case! Sorry - hope you don't mind :)

Lastly, I doubt there's any demand for them, but I loved keeping my empty packs, condition be damned. I included a few of mine in there. I also have Japanese cards I left out, none rare, so I figure those aren't worth anything. Happy to be wrong though.

Thank you so much!!!

Click to shrink...

All right! Let's see what we've got here...

• You have a broad mix of cards here from numerous sets and multiple generations. That's cool stuff. My expertise pretty much hard stops in 2003 so there's a lot I can't tell you about. But I do know that a lot of Gen III cards are sort of the "forgotten era" or the TCG. Ownership had just transferred back to TPC/Nintendo, the original Pokémon popularity boom had declined, and the trading cards were far less popular than they were previously. This means there's a lot less cards out there and a lot fewer full sets, which can make selling singles easier.

• That Ledbya you mention specifically is a promotional card from a small Gen II promo set called Southern Islands, which have come up a few times already. Southern Islands are hot right now but single cards are relatively inexpensive. If your condition is sublime you could get $15-$20 but it's more approximately $8-$12.

• I love packaging, so I relate to you wanting to keep your packs. Packaging is a niche for collectors but there is definitely a market for people who want to enshrine as much ephemera from the set as possible in their collection. It looks like you opened them pretty carefully to and they're not ripped, is that right? That's great. I don't know how much money you'd ever get for them though. Probably $5-$10 depending on which era they're from. This might not sound like a lot but it's worth keeping in perspective that even if you only got $5 for every package you're still making $60 off of a bunch of empty wrappers!

• Your Neo Genesis Steelix is 1st Edition (see the stamp on the lefhand side?). Depending on condition that's a $50-$80 card. I am currently finishing these sets and they are getting very expensive, especially for graded cards. If that Steelix happens to be, like, pristine you should send it in for grading. Even if you only get back a 9 (out of 10) you'd bump up the value to closer to $200 and it will appreciate more quickly.

• Your Team Rocket Returns Dark Tyranitar caught my attention because even though it's outside my personal familiarity I know Tyranitar is a popular Pokémon and there is probably a market for all its cards. Unfortunately it appears that the version you have (just the regular holo) is fairly inexpensive around $10. If you go looking for yourself, don't be confused by the listings with the set stamp in the card art selling for $100+.

• In better Tyranitar news, your Neo Destiny Tyranitar is about $40.

• Your Neo Genesis Feraligatr is about $40 as well.

The consolation, if you decide to sell, is that you will make money from volume. Almost every rare Pokémon card is worth $5-$10 and you have a lot of $10-$15 cards in there. So if you count them up you're still looking at a few hundred dollars, plus the extra on top from the bigger tickets I described above. I wish I could tell you more about your cards from the later sets but it's not something I've studied enough!

Thanks for coming back and posting your stuff. :)

 

[javac]

I moved houses recently and so all of my old cards have been put away in storage, I found some of my old e series cards however and so I thought that I'd post a few that I found, nothing special and some have seen better days but I like them all the same! My more recent cards are within arms reach but my older stuff is all over the place and stored in boxes, if I get the chance I'll pull some of them out!

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I moved houses recently and so all of my old cards have been put away in storage, I found some of my old e series cards however and so I thought that I'd post a few that I found, nothing special and some have seen better days but I like them all the same! My more recent cards are within arms reach but my older stuff is all over the place and stored in boxes, if I get the chance I'll pull some of them out!

Click to shrink...

These are really beautiful, thanks for coming back and posting them! The e-series cards are a very under-collected and under-appreciated set of cards. They have really beautiful, often painterly or penciled, art. I think the format of the cards themselves with their border codes and narrow real estate is disappointing, but they did a pretty good job stylizing them, I think. The rounded cart art window gives them sort of a high-tech look.

The Jynx VS promo is interesting because it's a card from the interim period of Jynx's redesign. IIRC, Jynx's first purple appearance was in Pokémon Stadium 2 in 2001. In subsequent games, Jynx was always purple. Going forward, Jynx was always purple in the video games. But the TCG was a lot slower to adopt the updated design. I don't know why that is. Jynx was still black in the VS series promos, which preceded Expedition. Then Jynx was purple in Expedition, but then was black again in Aquapolis. Afterward Jynx returned to being proper purple and didn't fluctuate any more.

I don't know what will happen with these cards in the future. They don't have the same installment of nostalgia that the first Generations of sets have. But serious collectors will always want them, and collectors who did grow up with them will have a hard time finding them. They aren't very valuable right now. But they could be.

 

[javac]

These are really beautiful, thanks for coming back and posting them! The e-series cards are a very under-collected and under-appreciated set of cards. They have really beautiful, often painterly or penciled, art. I think the format of the cards themselves with their border codes and narrow real estate is disappointing, but they did a pretty good job stylizing them, I think. The rounded cart art window gives them sort of a high-tech look.

The Jynx VS promo is interesting because it's a card from the interim period of Jynx's redesign. IIRC, Jynx's first purple appearance was in Pokémon Stadium 2 in 2001. In subsequent games, Jynx was always purple. Going forward, Jynx was always purple in the video games. But the TCG was a lot slower to adopt the updated design. I don't know why that is. Jynx was still black in the VS series promos, which preceded Expedition. Then Jynx was purple in Expedition, but then was black again in Aquapolis. Afterward Jynx returned to being proper purple and didn't fluctuate any more.

I don't know what will happen with these cards in the future. They don't have the same installment of nostalgia that the first Generations of sets have. But serious collectors will always want them, and collectors who did grow up with them will have a hard time finding them. They aren't very valuable right now. But they could be.

Click to shrink...

Thank you very much for the reply, I love the insight that you have and appreciate the wisdom. I 100% appreciate the fact that this series of cards isn't as sought after as the ones that came came before and after.

EDIT: I pressed post by accident! Damn iPad.

In all honesty in the past I wasn't too interested in this series of cards either, the smaller window was a little off putting to me at first but it's grown on me a lot over the years and I quite like it now!

I'm not as knowledgeable as yourself but in general I always felt that that the early 2000's (2003-2008?) era wasn't as popular and so it kinda went past a lot of people without the ability to garner that nostalgia, especially in the west. I guess by that time the kids my age (the prime target demographic?) that grew up with the initial poke mania we're getting older and fell out for a while, plus the people who tried to make a quick buck off of the early Pokemon cards were left dry and decided to move on, we all know that it took a lot longer for the prices to increase which is why everything is crazy now. You mentioned Pokemon Go being a breaking point, that would make sense.

It's not necessarily the same thing but in the world of video games, GameCube games have skyrocketed in price recently and I never would have guessed that would happen, it seems too recent but I guess that generation of kids are nostalgic now, so maybe once everyone realises that the early Pokemon stuff is getting more and more unobtainable, they might move their attention to later stuff like the e series :p

 

[bloopland33]

All right! Let's see what we've got here...

• You have a broad mix of cards here from numerous sets and multiple generations. That's cool stuff. My expertise pretty much hard stops in 2003 so there's a lot I can't tell you about. But I do know that a lot of Gen III cards are sort of the "forgotten era" or the TCG. Ownership had just transferred back to TPC/Nintendo, the original Pokémon popularity boom had declined, and the trading cards were far less popular than they were previously. This means there's a lot less cards out there and a lot fewer full sets, which can make selling singles easier.

• That Ledbya you mention specifically is a promotional card from a small Gen II promo set called Southern Islands, which have come up a few times already. Southern Islands are hot right now but single cards are relatively inexpensive. If your condition is sublime you could get $15-$20 but it's more approximately $8-$12.

• I love packaging, so I relate to you wanting to keep your packs. Packaging is a niche for collectors but there is definitely a market for people who want to enshrine as much ephemera from the set as possible in their collection. It looks like you opened them pretty carefully to and they're not ripped, is that right? That's great. I don't know how much money you'd ever get for them though. Probably $5-$10 depending on which era they're from. This might not sound like a lot but it's worth keeping in perspective that even if you only got $5 for every package you're still making $60 off of a bunch of empty wrappers!

• Your Neo Genesis Steelix is 1st Edition (see the stamp on the lefhand side?). Depending on condition that's a $50-$80 card. I am currently finishing these sets and they are getting very expensive, especially for graded cards. If that Steelix happens to be, like, pristine you should send it in for grading. Even if you only get back a 9 (out of 10) you'd bump up the value to closer to $200 and it will appreciate more quickly.

• Your Team Rocket Returns Dark Tyranitar caught my attention because even though it's outside my personal familiarity I know Tyranitar is a popular Pokémon and there is probably a market for all its cards. Unfortunately it appears that the version you have (just the regular holo) is fairly inexpensive around $10. If you go looking for yourself, don't be confused by the listings with the set stamp in the card art selling for $100+.

• In better Tyranitar news, your Neo Destiny Tyranitar is about $40.

• Your Neo Genesis Feraligatr is about $40 as well.

The consolation, if you decide to sell, is that you will make money from volume. Almost every rare Pokémon card is worth $5-$10 and you have a lot of $10-$15 cards in there. So if you count them up you're still looking at a few hundred dollars, plus the extra on top from the bigger tickets I described above. I wish I could tell you more about your cards from the later sets but it's not something I've studied enough!

Thanks for coming back and posting your stuff. :)

Click to shrink...

Hey Finale, I'm so sorry to just be getting to your message! My sincere apologies!

Thank you so much for looking over these. Not quite the haul I'd daydreamed about (ha!) but a few hundred bucks off potentially a few cards alone is nothing to sneeze at either! If you don't mind, I have a few last questions/comments after reading your assessment.

• I appreciate that your expertise doesn't really extend into and beyond 2003. If I'm understanding things correctly, it could be worth it to run through my 2003-on rare cards and look up the values of those, since there could be some value there?

• Very exciting news about the Steelix! Sending it in for grading probably isn't as hard as it sounds...and it sounds like it would be worth it. A question on this card and others I may sell - where possible, I might like to buy a non-rare, cheap replacement of the super rare card I sold. If my thinking is right, could I just buy a non-1st edition Steelix after selling mine? Would that go for most rare cards or only ones with 1st- and non-first editions like the Steelix? i.e. there's probably not a more common version of my Neo Genesis Feraligatr, one that looks near identical just not super rare.

• Lastly, regarding volume. If I didn't want to go through the effort of checking the value of each card, listing individually and making many trips to the post office, do you think I'd find success listing 10 cards for $100-150 or 20 for $200, etc.?

Whether or not you're able to answer these, thanks again so much for the time and for the fun conversation.

 

[bloopland33]

Double post, whoops.

 

[Curler]

Just like that, values increased even more :x

Noted anti-suicide advocate Logic (the Twitch streamer) buys Pokemon card for $226,000!

https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/10/logic-226-thousand-dollars-pokemon-card/ RIP Pokemon card market, time to get Capitalism'd.

www.resetera.com

 

[jacket]

I'm a little surprised at how little a card being in Japanese affects the selling price of a card.

EDIT: At least for the particular cards that I have.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Hey Finale, I'm so sorry to just be getting to your message! My sincere apologies!

Thank you so much for looking over these. Not quite the haul I'd daydreamed about (ha!) but a few hundred bucks off potentially a few cards alone is nothing to sneeze at either! If you don't mind, I have a few last questions/comments after reading your assessment.

• I appreciate that your expertise doesn't really extend into and beyond 2003. If I'm understanding things correctly, it could be worth it to run through my 2003-on rare cards and look up the values of those, since there could be some value there?

• Very exciting news about the Steelix! Sending it in for grading probably isn't as hard as it sounds...and it sounds like it would be worth it. A question on this card and others I may sell - where possible, I might like to buy a non-rare, cheap replacement of the super rare card I sold. If my thinking is right, could I just buy a non-1st edition Steelix after selling mine? Would that go for most rare cards or only ones with 1st- and non-first editions like the Steelix? i.e. there's probably not a more common version of my Neo Genesis Feraligatr, one that looks near identical just not super rare.

• Lastly, regarding volume. If I didn't want to go through the effort of checking the value of each card, listing individually and making many trips to the post office, do you think I'd find success listing 10 cards for $100-150 or 20 for $200, etc.?

Whether or not you're able to answer these, thanks again so much for the time and for the fun conversation.

Click to shrink...

Let's neither of us be sorry for taking so long to reply. :P

• Yes, it is definitely worth running the same sort of checks on your post-2003 cards to see if there's value there. There are some very expensive cards in contemporary sets especially but unfortunately I just could not tell you what they are. This market is very different than the legacy cards I know the most about. Don't let the limited scope of this thread lead you to think newer cards are not valuable - they are - I just don't know much about them.

• Sending it in for grading is truly very simple. There's a basic form you fill out, you send it to PSA, then you wait. The hardest part is the waiting, especially since they're so backed up at the moment. I know literal kids who've done it so I know you can too. The hardest part is just bringing it to the post office to mail.

• So any 1st Edition card, with the singular exception of Base Set Machamp, will always have a regular print that followed it. These are the "unlimited" printings that have come up before in this topic. 1st Edition cards are often very expensive because of their rarer, limited nature. Unlimited cards are the exact same card without the stamp. So if you sold your 1st Edition Steelix for example, you'd just want to replace it with the unlimited version of the same card. 1st Editions are just initial printings - the first few batches of cards printed for any given set. There are always identical unlimited cards that make up the rest of the lifespan of the set's printing.

• You can definitely sell the cards as a mixed lot. Just be accurate in your listing. Make sure you indicate what is included, what sort of condition it's in, and be willing to sell for less per card. Often it is worth the trade-off. You might not make as much money, but you save so much time in listing and selling and spend so much less money on shipping and trips to the post office. It's a reasonable trade-off I think.

Thanks for participating and coming back to the topic. I will always come back and answer.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Thank you very much for the reply, I love the insight that you have and appreciate the wisdom. I 100% appreciate the fact that this series of cards isn't as sought after as the ones that came came before and after.

EDIT: I pressed post by accident! Damn iPad.

In all honesty in the past I wasn't too interested in this series of cards either, the smaller window was a little off putting to me at first but it's grown on me a lot over the years and I quite like it now!

I'm not as knowledgeable as yourself but in general I always felt that that the early 2000's (2003-2008?) era wasn't as popular and so it kinda went past a lot of people without the ability to garner that nostalgia, especially in the west. I guess by that time the kids my age (the prime target demographic?) that grew up with the initial poke mania we're getting older and fell out for a while, plus the people who tried to make a quick buck off of the early Pokemon cards were left dry and decided to move on, we all know that it took a lot longer for the prices to increase which is why everything is crazy now. You mentioned Pokemon Go being a breaking point, that would make sense.

It's not necessarily the same thing but in the world of video games, GameCube games have skyrocketed in price recently and I never would have guessed that would happen, it seems too recent but I guess that generation of kids are nostalgic now, so maybe once everyone realises that the early Pokemon stuff is getting more and more unobtainable, they might move their attention to later stuff like the e series :p

Click to shrink...

It's definitely a moving target and it's just like you described.

Things usually operate on a 20 year cycle. Something new comes out that children love > it falls out of fashion > children grow up to be in their 30s and want to revisit things from their childhood with their new expendable income > demand increases and toys become collectibles. It's not ironclad or anything, it's not really that simple, but it's very easy to apply it something like Pokémon.

Since Pokémon is a longrunning series, every generation of games (and cards) offers a new entry-point for kids who were the right age at the right time. There are lots of kids whose first games were Ruby & Sapphire, and lots of kids whose first games were Diamond & Pearl, and as all of these kids hit their own 20 year cycles the cards they grew up with will reach their own demand spikes. The thing is though that not every Pokémon generation had the same impact and none yet have reached the fever pitch that were Generations I and II. So while all of these cards might reach new levels of demand as players grow up, it's unlikely they demand will ever be as high.

But I don't really know what to expect. The Pokémon TCG has had hot spots and cold spots in its long history, but right now it seems to be a really intense market. New cards can be very expensive and new sets seem to be produced with limited capacities and longterm collection in mind. It's entirely possible that the sets released from 2016-2020 end up some of the most valuable cards of all when they reach their own peaks.

In my opinion, based just on my own experience with the brand, Pokémon's lowest points of popularity were during Generation III and Generation V. I think both just landed in this zone of kids who played the preceding games growing up. In Gen V they tried to capitalize on that trend after seeing the drop off with Ruby & Sapphire, but I don't know if it really worked. I will say though that this doesn't seem to have been a problem since Gen 6 and XY so cards released from that point on seem like they are all part of this huge block of collectibles modern players like.

 

[Dangerblade]

Great thread, Finale Fireworker :)

So after collecting them for a bit as a teenager from 1999-2000 or so, I fell off the bandwagon for several years. Then, from around 2007-2009 or so, I got addicted to buying Japanese cards on eBay. Mainly promos, some holos and the like. Over the past few years I've bought a few bits here and there (looks like the Munch "scream" set was a good investment a couple of years ago!), but the majority I've been sat on for years and years.

I read what you said about Japanese cards with interest, and whilst I know nothing about the value of English cards, I know for a fact that several cards I have go for hundreds or thousands, as I've done sold listing searches on eBay over the past few months. Some examples of what I have...

Complete Masaki promo set (including the pass card)
Complete ANA Airways promo set (including the gold boarding passes)
Southern/Rainbow/Tropical Islands sets
Most of the /PLAY promo set (going by memory, only missing Umbreon & Espeon)
A lot of the CoroCoro promos (some sealed...I would guess Shining Mew is the most valuable there; beautiful card!)
Grand Party (1999 promo, from memory, pretty sought after)
Neo promo folders (3 of them, not sure if there was a 4th?)
Complete Neo Genesis/Discovery/Revelation/Destiny sets (including some, but not all, of the Shining cards for the latter)
Crystal Charizard (standard holo, first edition, from the Skyridge set I think...?)

...and so many more. Here's a pic of 3 of my faves which I've just dug out; Magikarp, Porygon and Eevee Fan Club promos...

I know I'm sitting on a small fortune. I would only buy NM/M/sealed cards, so I really need to take time to go through and catalogue everything I have, decide what I want to get graded, and go from there. If and when I do this, I'll keep this thread updated!

A general question for you: From experience, what's more valuable...a still sealed card, or a PSA 10? I have many cards which are still sealed or uncut. Presumably, if I were to "release" them I could get a grade 10 for them as they would be mint condition...getting ahead of myself here though. I need to find out what I have!

 

[rycisko]

This thread makes me sad I devoted most my childhood card time to Star Wars CCG over Pokémon 😢

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Great thread, Finale Fireworker :)

So after collecting them for a bit as a teenager from 1999-2000 or so, I fell off the bandwagon for several years. Then, from around 2007-2009 or so, I got addicted to buying Japanese cards on eBay. Mainly promos, some holos and the like. Over the past few years I've bought a few bits here and there (looks like the Munch "scream" set was a good investment a couple of years ago!), but the majority I've been sat on for years and years.

I read what you said about Japanese cards with interest, and whilst I know nothing about the value of English cards, I know for a fact that several cards I have go for hundreds or thousands, as I've done sold listing searches on eBay over the past few months. Some examples of what I have...

Complete Masaki promo set (including the pass card)
Complete ANA Airways promo set (including the gold boarding passes)
Southern/Rainbow/Tropical Islands sets
Most of the /PLAY promo set (going by memory, only missing Umbreon & Espeon)
A lot of the CoroCoro promos (some sealed...I would guess Shining Mew is the most valuable there; beautiful card!)
Grand Party (1999 promo, from memory, pretty sought after)
Neo promo folders (3 of them, not sure if there was a 4th?)
Complete Neo Genesis/Discovery/Revelation/Destiny sets (including some, but not all, of the Shining cards for the latter)
Crystal Charizard (standard holo, first edition, from the Skyridge set I think...?)

...and so many more. Here's a pic of 3 of my faves which I've just dug out; Magikarp, Porygon and Eevee Fan Club promos...

I know I'm sitting on a small fortune. I would only buy NM/M/sealed cards, so I really need to take time to go through and catalogue everything I have, decide what I want to get graded, and go from there. If and when I do this, I'll keep this thread updated!

A general question for you: From experience, what's more valuable...a still sealed card, or a PSA 10? I have many cards which are still sealed or uncut. Presumably, if I were to "release" them I could get a grade 10 for them as they would be mint condition...getting ahead of myself here though. I need to find out what I have!

Click to shrink...

Loooove this stuff, thanks so much for posting. I love promos and find Japanese promos especially wonderful and cool. I have so much envy surrounding Japanese promos because western promos leave so much to be desired in comparison.

• In regards to "Japanese cards going for less," this is only in the context of the sets we've mostly been discussing. The most valuable Pokémon cards on earth have historically been Japanese promos, like Illustrator Pikachu and Tropical Mega Battle Lucky Stadium. They are exceptionally rare and niche. When it comes to regular card sets, currently Japanese cards trail behind their English counterparts. But that doesn't mean Japanese cards aren't worth money and it is not to erase the very scarce and very precious promos mentioned above.

• I am so jealous of your collection of Japanese promos. Promos are my favorite Pokémon cards because, unlike sets, every card is sort of special. Collecting sets is like collecting 16 valuable cards and 86 cards of filler. But every promo card has a story and is unique. I keep a separate collection of English promos and used to have a much larger collection of sealed bricks of cards from their original distributions. They are the one thing I wish I never sold, but I did keep all my sealed singles. In my prime I helped document how a lot of English promos were sent to leagues and tournaments (often in packs of 25, sometimes upwards of 75). But this kind of collection took up a lot of space and, at the time, was not very valuable. I sold all my sealed packages only to see them all get opened up and sent to PSA for grading in the years that followed. After all, if you are a storefront, why would you sell a pack of 25 Electabuzz #46 when could sell 25 individual PSA 10 of them for much, much more money? I regret selling these very much. I don't know how possible it would be to get them back. Some of them, like the shrink wrapped bricks of the Jigglypuff CD promo, were (at the time) the only ones I ever saw. I guess I should look in to that.

• As for what's worth more - sealed versus graded cards - I hesitate to answer definitively. For the most part, a PSA 10 is always going to command the highest price. People collect mint cards and having a certified mint card is like an insurance policy. There will always be the greatest demand and people will pay the highest amount for a card in this condition. But sealed cards and packages, especially for rare promos, are becoming more and more rare. The market for these is smaller, so demand is lower, but I feel like they have more "value" in being rarer more historical pieces. I think a lot of it depends on what the card is, how they were distributed, and how many are left. In general I would hesitate to open anything just to get it graded. But then again, this is exactly what people do and make a ton of money doing this. I think you'll have to decide for yourself.

Your cards are very special and beautiful. Whether you sell them or not I'd love to see more images. Japanese promo collectors are pretty rare. I've long considered getting in to them but I'm sort of an all-or-nothing completionist. I know there are Japanese promos I will never be able to afford. Or even if I could afford them, will never be for sale. This is the same reason I got out of error cards. I was never going to get the WB Stamp Error Promos or Prerelease Raichu, so why bother?

But Japanese promos are just so beautiful and unique. Maybe someday I'll pick some up.

 

[Dangerblade]

Loooove this stuff, thanks so much for posting. I love promos and find Japanese promos especially wonderful and cool. I have so much envy surrounding Japanese promos because western promos leave so much to be desired in comparison.

• In regards to "Japanese cards going for less," this is only in the context of the sets we've mostly been discussing. The most valuable Pokémon cards on earth have historically been Japanese promos, like Illustrator Pikachu and Tropical Mega Battle Lucky Stadium. They are exceptionally rare and niche. When it comes to regular card sets, currently Japanese cards trail behind their English counterparts. But that doesn't mean Japanese cards aren't worth money and it is not to erase the very scarce and very precious promos mentioned above.

• I am so jealous of your collection of Japanese promos. Promos are my favorite Pokémon cards because, unlike sets, every card is sort of special. Collecting sets is like collecting 16 valuable cards and 86 cards of filler. But every promo card has a story and is unique. I keep a separate collection of English promos and used to have a much larger collection of sealed bricks of cards from their original distributions. They are the one thing I wish I never sold, but I did keep all my sealed singles. In my prime I helped document how a lot of English promos were sent to leagues and tournaments (often in packs of 25, sometimes upwards of 75). But this kind of collection took up a lot of space and, at the time, was not very valuable. I sold all my sealed packages only to see them all get opened up and sent to PSA for grading in the years that followed. After all, if you are a storefront, why would you sell a pack of 25 Electabuzz #46 when could sell 25 individual PSA 10 of them for much, much more money? I regret selling these very much. I don't know how possible it would be to get them back. Some of them, like the shrink wrapped bricks of the Jigglypuff CD promo, were (at the time) the only ones I ever saw. I guess I should look in to that.

• As for what's worth more - sealed versus graded cards - I hesitate to answer definitively. For the most part, a PSA 10 is always going to command the highest price. People collect mint cards and having a certified mint card is like an insurance policy. There will always be the greatest demand and people will pay the highest amount for a card in this condition. But sealed cards and packages, especially for rare promos, are becoming more and more rare. The market for these is smaller, so demand is lower, but I feel like they have more "value" in being rarer more historical pieces. I think a lot of it depends on what the card is, how they were distributed, and how many are left. In general I would hesitate to open anything just to get it graded. But then again, this is exactly what people do and make a ton of money doing this. I think you'll have to decide for yourself.

Your cards are very special and beautiful. Whether you sell them or not I'd love to see more images. Japanese promo collectors are pretty rare. I've long considered getting in to them but I'm sort of an all-or-nothing completionist. I know there are Japanese promos I will never be able to afford. Or even if I could afford them, will never be for sale. This is the same reason I got out of error cards. I was never going to get the WB Stamp Error Promos or Prerelease Raichu, so why bother?

But Japanese promos are just so beautiful and unique. Maybe someday I'll pick some up.

Click to shrink...

I came to terms pretty quickly that I would never be able to get the really rare stuff, ha! Although, IIRC, I was offered the parent/child Kangaskhan trophy for a couple of thousand, which, with hindsight, I should have jumped at.. It's also one of my favourite cards, design-wise (I don't think this design has ever been used for an English card, has it?)

There's just something about the Japanese text and overall design that makes them so much more appealing to me over the English cards.

I've dug out all my folders and boxes and I'm going to start going through them tonight. I'll post some more of my own stuff soon. Thanks for the advice :)

 

[Damaniel]

My in-laws are sitting on a couple boxes of sealed first gen card packs (even the boxes themselves are sealed) they bought almost 20 years ago when they weren't too crazy. Perhaps now is the time for them to sell.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

My in-laws are sitting on a couple boxes of sealed first gen card packs (even the boxes themselves are sealed) they bought almost 20 years ago when they weren't too crazy. Perhaps now is the time for them to sell.

Click to shrink...

Those are very very valuable, but can be hard to tell apart. If they're Base Set cards there are a lot of nuance to the packaging but you can still determine what they are.

These boxes are the things people like Logic and Logan Paul are buying up to do unboxing videos. It is painful, but a fact of the matter.

 

[Damaniel]

Those are very very valuable, but can be hard to tell apart. If they're Base Set cards there are a lot of nuance to the packaging but you can still determine what they are.

These boxes are the things people like Logic and Logan Paul are buying up to do unboxing videos. It is painful, but a fact of the matter.

Click to shrink...

I only saw them once many years ago. My wife is going to call them up, let them know, and let them do some research.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I only saw them once many years ago. My wife is going to call them up, let them know, and let them do some research.

Click to shrink...

If you or they need some help, feel free to come back to this thread with pictures or details. You might also find this resource helpful if they are Base Set boxes specifically. Subsequent sets are much more straight forward - basically they're either 1st Edition or they're not.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

My relentless hexing has borne fruit.

 

[Dangerblade]

I still need to go through my Japanese cards, but here are the 6 English cards I've retained over the years...

Spoiler: 2000 - Team Rocket - Dark Dragonite - 5/82 - G - Misprint

Spoiler: 2002 - Neo Destiny - Shining Steelix - 112/105 - M - 1st Edition

Spoiler: 2003 - EX Dragon - Charmander - 98/97 - M - City Championships 2004; also Charmander and Charizard

Spoiler: 2004 - Promo - Prof. Oak's Research - M - 98/112 - Professor Program 2004-2005

There's some wear on the Dragonite misprint, sadly! Can't even find the latter card listed on eBay, so I'm guessing either super rare or I'm just having a moment of madness with my searching, ha...

 

[MiTYH]

This thread is great, love it. I should hopefully get my cards this weekend, excited to see what shape they're in

 

[iori9999]

I have a Topps Derek Jeter rookie card and it ain't worth jack compared to TCG Pokemon cards. Amazing

 

[SinCityAssassin]

My relentless hexing has borne fruit.

Click to shrink...

wh-

 

[Dukie85]

I found a book of cards years ago, but a lot were waterlogged somehow. Still have it years later, though.

 

[bloopland33]

Let's neither of us be sorry for taking so long to reply. :P

• Yes, it is definitely worth running the same sort of checks on your post-2003 cards to see if there's value there. There are some very expensive cards in contemporary sets especially but unfortunately I just could not tell you what they are. This market is very different than the legacy cards I know the most about. Don't let the limited scope of this thread lead you to think newer cards are not valuable - they are - I just don't know much about them.

• Sending it in for grading is truly very simple. There's a basic form you fill out, you send it to PSA, then you wait. The hardest part is the waiting, especially since they're so backed up at the moment. I know literal kids who've done it so I know you can too. The hardest part is just bringing it to the post office to mail.

• So any 1st Edition card, with the singular exception of Base Set Machamp, will always have a regular print that followed it. These are the "unlimited" printings that have come up before in this topic. 1st Edition cards are often very expensive because of their rarer, limited nature. Unlimited cards are the exact same card without the stamp. So if you sold your 1st Edition Steelix for example, you'd just want to replace it with the unlimited version of the same card. 1st Editions are just initial printings - the first few batches of cards printed for any given set. There are always identical unlimited cards that make up the rest of the lifespan of the set's printing.

• You can definitely sell the cards as a mixed lot. Just be accurate in your listing. Make sure you indicate what is included, what sort of condition it's in, and be willing to sell for less per card. Often it is worth the trade-off. You might not make as much money, but you save so much time in listing and selling and spend so much less money on shipping and trips to the post office. It's a reasonable trade-off I think.

Thanks for participating and coming back to the topic. I will always come back and answer.

Click to shrink...

Thanks, that's all so helpful! So regarding replacing reprints, that only holds true for 1st editions, right? I couldn't replace my Neo Genesis Feraligatr with a cheaper one, because no cheaper one exists? All the prints are the same.

So does the majority of your interest with Pokémon these days lie in the trading cards, or do you still play the games or enjoy other parts of the franchise?

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I still need to go through my Japanese cards, but here are the 6 English cards I've retained over the years...

Spoiler: 2000 - Team Rocket - Dark Dragonite - 5/82 - G - Misprint

Spoiler: 2002 - Neo Destiny - Shining Steelix - 112/105 - M - 1st Edition

Spoiler: 2003 - EX Dragon - Charmander - 98/97 - M - City Championships 2004; also Charmander and Charizard

Spoiler: 2004 - Promo - Prof. Oak's Research - M - 98/112 - Professor Program 2004-2005

There's some wear on the Dragonite misprint, sadly! Can't even find the latter card listed on eBay, so I'm guessing either super rare or I'm just having a moment of madness with my searching, ha...

Click to shrink...

Thanks for posting these! Cool!

• Dark Dragonite is a cool error. For those reading along, Dark Dragonite 5/82 from the Rocket expansion is intended to be a holographic card. But due to a manufacturing error, a number of them were printed without the foil. This is not to be confused with Dark Dragonite 22/82 from the same set, which is the intended non-holo variant. This error is fun because lots of people have it without realizing it. They also sell it without realizing it because they assume it's the regular non-holo variant. You can still sometimes find the 5/82 error card mistakenly listed as the ordinary 22/82 non-holo variant. Back when I collected errors this was predictably an $80 card, one of the more expensive ones like no-HP Dark Persian. It seems to be around $100-$200 now, which is a huge window, but I guess it depends on who's looking at the time.

• I love that Shining Steelix. Steelix is one of my favorite Pokémon actually! As I've mentioned I'm still filling in the gaps of my own Gen II Neo sets and these Shining cards are the most expensive to acquire. I only have Raichu and Celebi so far. Shining Steelix is a very valuable 1st Edition, especially if the condition is good. I'd offer to buy it but probably couldn't afford it! You'd get a few hundred dollars for that ungraded (probably $400 pretty easily right now) but could easily double that if you managed to get even a PSA 8.

• The other cards are awesome, but not within my scope of expertise. But I did go looking for Oak's Research from the Professor Program for you. This is very hard to find! I did manage to locate a PSA 10 auction that sold for about $450. This auction alleges there are only two PSA 10 grades of this card in the entire PSA database, so it's a very rarely graded card. Probably a niche for collectors but a very rare one where you could possibly set your price if you ever went to sell it. Troll & Toad has a live auction for $364 but they are super hit or miss (usually miss) and their cards are in bad shape.

Awesome stuff. Thanks for posting them! :)

 

[Finale Fireworker]

This thread is great, love it. I should hopefully get my cards this weekend, excited to see what shape they're in

Click to shrink...

Come back and post them! I love to see people's cards. I'm happy to help identify or price any of them too if you're interested in appraisal.

I found a book of cards years ago, but a lot were waterlogged somehow. Still have it years later, though.

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This is always a bummer. I've known plenty of people excited to pull their cards out of storage only to discover time has been cruel to them. This also reminds me of when I was a little boy and used to carry my cards around in my pocket with a rubber band around them, which is already disgraceful. But I threw my jeans in the washing machine only to realize in total horror that I'd forgotten to take my cards out of the pocket. I seem to remember them all being okay though. We must have caught them fast enough.

You might still look them over. Might only take one or two really rare cards to make digging it out worth it.

Thanks, that's all so helpful! So regarding replacing reprints, that only holds true for 1st editions, right? I couldn't replace my Neo Genesis Feraligatr with a cheaper one, because no cheaper one exists? All the prints are the same.

So does the majority of your interest with Pokémon these days lie in the trading cards, or do you still play the games or enjoy other parts of the franchise?

Click to shrink...

Yes, that advice only refers to 1st Editions and their associated 1st Editions. There are no "cheaper version" as you are inquiring, they are indeed all the same. Pokémon cards do occasionally receive reprints in later sets but they are numbered and differently and part of different sets. When Base Set and Jungle Cards were reprinted in Base Set 2 for example they were (at the time) cheaper and more available versions of those earlier cards, but they were technically different cards. This is uncommon though and not something you'd find for Neo Genesis or anything.

As for my interest in Pokémon, I am still interested and invested in the series. I play the mainline games still. But I don't love them the way I used to. Pokémon as a brand is very different in 2020 than it was in 2000. I will probably always keep up on the mainline games because they already own me for life, but my primary interest and attachment is definitely these first two generations specifically.

 

[tadaima]

Are there any good sites for logging your collection? I can't really find anything reliable for Japanese cards. I have a lot (50,000+).

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I have a Topps Derek Jeter rookie card and it ain't worth jack compared to TCG Pokemon cards. Amazing

Click to shrink...

I broke this off separately because I wanted to threadmark it. This popped up in my Google recommendations this week. It's about sports cards specifically (like yours!) but I thought it was really interesting to read as a digest on trading cards as a whole right now.

'It has been absolutely insane': Trading card industry has boomed during pandemic | Sporting News

How the trading card industry has boomed during the pandemic

www.sportingnews.com

So what happened between the end of April and the beginning of October to more than double the prices of those boxes? [...]

You know the answer to that question, obviously: The coronavirus pandemic happened. People across the country — and the world — stayed home for days, weeks and months, and they looked for ways to pass the time without physically interacting with the outside world. There's only so much Netflix a person can watch.

Old passions were rediscovered as people rummaged through basements or attics and dove headfirst into nostalgia, searching for happiness. A sizable segment of the population found its baseball/trading cards, and after thumbing through and sorting old collections, the fire ignited once again — and people looked to add.

And with that sudden influx of interest — and money — the trading card market exploded.

"Sales numbers are the best that they have been in the past decade," said Emily Kless, communications manager for Topps, who declined to offer specifics because Topps is a privately owned company. "It's been an upward trend.

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It's actually quite a long article with testimonies from collectors and shopkeepers as well. It was very interesting. I know that Pokémon is going through all the same changes right now.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Are there any good sites for logging your collection? I can't really find anything reliable for Japanese cards. I have a lot (50,000+).

Click to shrink...

You know, I'm actually not sure. I've always just used my own spreadsheets and documents I made myself. I'd think there must be something.

 

[tadaima]

You know, I'm actually not sure. I've always just used my own spreadsheets and documents I made myself. I'd think there must be something.

Click to shrink...

I've been looking and there are some good places for English cards, but Japanese lists always seem to be incomplete. Thinking of building my own system of cataloguing cards, focused on getting a complete list of the early era (old card backs) to begin with, and possibly making it public.

Would anybody be interested in using it?

 

[Dominic Decoco]

This thread is blowing my mind. I'll have to post a few one of these days. I lived in Japan during gen 1 & 2 and have a lot of Japanese cards. Sadly, no Charizards

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I've been looking and there are some good places for English cards, but Japanese lists always seem to be incomplete. Thinking of building my own system of cataloguing cards, focused on getting a complete list of the early era (old card backs) to begin with, and possibly making it public.

Would anybody be interested in using it?

Click to shrink...

I would be interested, but admittedly I don't have any Japanese cards to catalog. But I'd be interested in its creation as a resource for western collectors of Japanese cards, which right now there are not a lot of. It's a lot harder to parse Japanese cards than English ones and the documentation in the west is not as good.

This thread is blowing my mind. I'll have to post a few one of these days. I lived in Japan during gen 1 & 2 and have a lot of Japanese cards. Sadly, no Charizards

Click to shrink...

Please post some pics some time!

 

[MiTYH]

Got my cards today! There's... a lot to look through. I've got some Magic, YGO, and random things, but pokemon will take some time. Take a gander as I stroll through memory lane...

It seems as if I collected heavy from the beginning (I was the right age), then into Fossil/Jungle, and tapered off by Rocket/Gym Leaders. I also have... a lot more Japanese cards than I remembered.

Here are the Holo Pages I have:
Holo Page 1
Holo Page 2-3
Holo Page 4 and some promos

Not too bad of a collection. I remembered some of them and was happy to see them but egads, some of the quality...
Close up of Venusaur

At least these three seem in great condition. Clearly played (wouldn't get a 10) but I think they're my rarest holos. Especially the shadowless Machamp and Gyarados.
Close up of 3 Rare holos

Looking for rares, I did find a Red Cheek Pikachu! (that's a hair not a scratch). I also have the HP error Vulpix, if that was an error or everyone, can't remember

I do have a fairly decent amount of first editions scattered throughout this collection. Here's another almost full page of them, and also some more from later sets. I remember seeing the Rocket set and really thinking they looked cool. All the "Dark" looked so edgy

Here you see some of the Japanese cards. I took one out to show the original backing of them. Also shown is one of like 5 shadowless Charmanders I saw.


I can post more if people want to see, and after I sort through all this. A bunch of weird promo cards (one says Kids WB for Pokemon the movie), bunch more japanese ones, but basically what I've posted is the highlights I think. Originally I was thinking of selling most, and still am, but have no idea how to price track the japanese cards. Still gutted at how the Venusaur looks though. Stupid me being a stupid kid, didn't I know anything about market value?!

Still, good times ahead going through all this nostalgia. Thanks for the thread!

 

[Dangerblade]

I've been looking and there are some good places for English cards, but Japanese lists always seem to be incomplete. Thinking of building my own system of cataloguing cards, focused on getting a complete list of the early era (old card backs) to begin with, and possibly making it public.

Would anybody be interested in using it?

Click to shrink...

I'd be interested in seeing it! I'm currently sorting through my Japanese collection and just using a spreadsheet for now.

I don't suppose anybody can help me narrow down what these sealed cards/magazines are? I'd rather not open them just yet, if I can find out with what little information I have here...

Spoiler: RAYQUAZA MAGAZINE/CD/CARD COMBO

Spoiler: PIKACHU/DIGLETT MAGAZINE/CARD COMBO

I've done some googling on the former but can't find it anywhere. I'm guessing the latter is a Pokemon Trainer magazine, as I have similar ones where I can actually see the cards (Bellossom and Dunsparce)

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Got my cards today!

[...]

Still, good times ahead going through all this nostalgia. Thanks for the thread!

Click to shrink...

Awesome! Thanks so much for coming back and posting. And sorry it took me a bit to reply. Let's see what I can tell you about your stuff!

• First Page (Machamp): While it's true that every Base Set Machamp was printed as 1st Edition (sort of as a novelty to promote the Starter Deck), not all 1st Edition stamps are created equal. This card can also be Shadowless, which yours is! Even further, Shadowless Machamps can have either a "thick" or "thin" 1st Edition stamp. Cards with a bold-face "1" (aka thick stamp) are the earliest 1st Editions printed. These are the earliest or "true" 1st edition Base Set cards. Your Machamp is a "true" First Edition - something that is often overlooked. A lot of collectors don't distinguish between thick and thin 1st Edition stamps - either because they're not aware of the difference or it's just too much nuance to be bothered with. But you could advertise this feature in an auction and leverage a higher sale from people who do care. This is at least a $100 card.

• First Page (Shadowless Cards): Both Gyarados and Magneton are Shadowless Base Set cards! Condition depending, these can go for $70-$100. A bit on the lower end for the Magneton and a bit on the higher end for the Gyarados. Personally, I think Shadowless cards are undervalued and foresee them becoming more expensive in the future. They are at least as rare as 1st Editions, possibly even rarer, but are not valued as highly because demand for 1st Edition and Unlimited cards is pretty binary.

• Second & Third Page: Awesome variety on these two pages. Magneton is 1st Edition here, which is about ~$70 card if it's in top condition. But these cards are more available in worse condition so price really drops down if it's subpar. I love your Japanese cards on Page 3, but I unfortunately can't tell you too much about them. But even from the pictures you can tell how much higher the print quality is. Look at how much darker and more vibrant the card colors are compared to their English counterparts. You can do the "$10" rule and count all your unlimited holos as $10 and get a good sense of what you'd get if you sold them all individually. This is a general rule, and some cards sell for more, but $10 is a good way to set expectations.

• Third Page (Meowth Promo): There's nothing special about this card but I wanted to point it out because it's actually my favorite card of all time. This was a card made for the Pokémon Trading Card Game for the Game Boy Color and appeared both in-game and was distributed in the game box. This card refers to Meowth as a "Scratch Cat" even though elsewhere it is always written as "scratchcat." Anyway, this isn't too valuable of a card or anything, but I love it and wanted to point it out.

• Page Four & Five: More beautiful Japanese cards. ;_; Really lovely. I know from my own collection that the top row of Page Four especially showcases how much better the contrast is in the holofoil cards. They really stand out compared to their English prints. Skarmory especially stands out to me. Your Rapidash and Ho-oh Promos are cards that saw two releases - one as a set in Nintendo Power and one as a set at the Pokémon Center in NYC. Yours are the Nintendo Power variants.

• Venusaur Close-Up: Oof. This poor guy is in rough shape. I couldn't tell you what it would sell for. In this condition not very much. However, I noticed something odd. Are those holofoil sparkles on the card face near the text for Solarbeam and Resistance? That's highly irregular. I can't even tell what I'm looking at there.

• Red Cheek Pikachu: This is a good find! The story behind this is that the artist (who also drew Charizard in the Base Set) made Pikachu's cheeks yellow to show them being full of electricity. However, once WotC got the art, they thought it was an art error and that the Pikachu was off-model. So they quickly edited the cheeks to be red because they did not want the only Pikachu card to be inaccurate. The artist eventually got word to Wizards that this was a stylistic choice and the color was changed back to yellow in subsequent prints. You'll notice the Red Cheeks Pikachu is Shadowless, indicating the early print. There are other Shadowless cards on this page as well, but nothing rare beyond them being an uncommon print run.

• Vulpix: You pointed out the Vulpix with the inverted HP error, which you are correct was how everyone received it. Metapod also had this error in the earlier print runs. Base Set, in general, is full of mistakes... Weirdly, despite being so widely known, Vulpix was not corrected in the Unlimited print. Most Americans never saw the corrected card. The corrected card was finally printed in the regional "Base 2000" print run, which was printed for the UK and AUS. This card features an updated copyright at the bottom, slightly different color quality, and finally a corrected Vulpix. To my knowledge, Base 2000 corrects every error in the Base Set except for how Gyrados's set number is misaligned by one space. Wizards never got anything perfect.

Thanks so much for coming back and posting these. :) If you have any questions about specific cards or want to talk about them at all I'd be happy to!

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I'd be interested in seeing it! I'm currently sorting through my Japanese collection and just using a spreadsheet for now.

I don't suppose anybody can help me narrow down what these sealed cards/magazines are? I'd rather not open them just yet, if I can find out with what little information I have here...

Spoiler: RAYQUAZA MAGAZINE/CD/CARD COMBO

Spoiler: PIKACHU/DIGLETT MAGAZINE/CARD COMBO

I've done some googling on the former but can't find it anywhere. I'm guessing the latter is a Pokemon Trainer magazine, as I have similar ones where I can actually see the cards (Bellossom and Dunsparce)

Click to shrink...

Let me do some research on these and ask one of my retailer friends. Between the two of us we might be able to figure it out. English documentation of Japanese stuff is so poor, so no promises. :(

 

[tadaima]

I'd be interested in seeing it! I'm currently sorting through my Japanese collection and just using a spreadsheet for now.

I don't suppose anybody can help me narrow down what these sealed cards/magazines are? I'd rather not open them just yet, if I can find out with what little information I have here...

Spoiler: RAYQUAZA MAGAZINE/CD/CARD COMBO

Spoiler: PIKACHU/DIGLETT MAGAZINE/CARD COMBO

I've done some googling on the former but can't find it anywhere. I'm guessing the latter is a Pokemon Trainer magazine, as I have similar ones where I can actually see the cards (Bellossom and Dunsparce)

Click to shrink...

Cool. In that case, I'll finish up the database and put it out here for Resetera members first :) Thanks.

BTW, I checked my database and your Dugtrio card booklet is "すぐわかるポケモンカードの遊びかた 最新版ver.2" – "Easily Understand How to Play Pokémon Cards Latest Edition (version 2)" – which was released in 1998 on November 13.

The card inside of that is Level 40 Dugtrio, which was rereleased in 2001 in Pokémon Card Web. The card itself is pretty hard to come by compared to other promo cards. It is more valuable when left sealed inside of the booklet.

The Rayquaza book is called "ポケモンカードスクープ" – "Pokémon Card Scoop" – and includes (obviously) a CD and trading card. The card contained is this Deoxys. This promo card seems to be more common (or less sought after). As with Dugtrio, sealed inside the booklet it is worth slightly more as a set.

 

[tadaima]

Great thread, Finale Fireworker :)

So after collecting them for a bit as a teenager from 1999-2000 or so, I fell off the bandwagon for several years. Then, from around 2007-2009 or so, I got addicted to buying Japanese cards on eBay. Mainly promos, some holos and the like. Over the past few years I've bought a few bits here and there (looks like the Munch "scream" set was a good investment a couple of years ago!), but the majority I've been sat on for years and years.

I read what you said about Japanese cards with interest, and whilst I know nothing about the value of English cards, I know for a fact that several cards I have go for hundreds or thousands, as I've done sold listing searches on eBay over the past few months. Some examples of what I have...

Complete Masaki promo set (including the pass card)
Complete ANA Airways promo set (including the gold boarding passes)
Southern/Rainbow/Tropical Islands sets
Most of the /PLAY promo set (going by memory, only missing Umbreon & Espeon)
A lot of the CoroCoro promos (some sealed...I would guess Shining Mew is the most valuable there; beautiful card!)
Grand Party (1999 promo, from memory, pretty sought after)
Neo promo folders (3 of them, not sure if there was a 4th?)
Complete Neo Genesis/Discovery/Revelation/Destiny sets (including some, but not all, of the Shining cards for the latter)
Crystal Charizard (standard holo, first edition, from the Skyridge set I think...?)

...and so many more. Here's a pic of 3 of my faves which I've just dug out; Magikarp, Porygon and Eevee Fan Club promos...

I know I'm sitting on a small fortune. I would only buy NM/M/sealed cards, so I really need to take time to go through and catalogue everything I have, decide what I want to get graded, and go from there. If and when I do this, I'll keep this thread updated!

A general question for you: From experience, what's more valuable...a still sealed card, or a PSA 10? I have many cards which are still sealed or uncut. Presumably, if I were to "release" them I could get a grade 10 for them as they would be mint condition...getting ahead of myself here though. I need to find out what I have!

Click to shrink...

I am very envious of you owning all three of these cards! Good job, their value has indeed increased substantially since you bought them originally. Definitely get these graded if you can.

 

[MiTYH]

• Venusaur Close-Up: Oof. This poor guy is in rough shape. I couldn't tell you what it would sell for. In this condition not very much. However, I noticed something odd. Are those holofoil sparkles on the card face near the text for Solarbeam and Resistance? That's highly irregular. I can't even tell what I'm looking at there.

Thanks so much for coming back and posting these. :) If you have any questions about specific cards or want to talk about them at all I'd be happy to!

Click to shrink...

First off, thanks for the writeup! That matches with some of what I've done in my research (Machamp info). Also good to know where I got some of those promos, that mewoth from the game, man, I enjoyed the hell out of that game. Always a bit salty we never got the second one here globally...

But speaking of the Venusaur. I have no shame in admitting I spent ten or so minutes trying to get a picture of these, because it is not visible AT ALL normally. I wound up having to take a video with one phone while using a second as a light and just move it around until I got some pictures. But got them I did.

Weird Venusaur shines?

In total I count 5 random shines on the base portion of the card. But it's invisible to the naked eye completely. Obviously there's the scratch in the Power Power but these are just... random. I checked some other base set holos I had, none of them have it. Any thoughts?

 

[ZeroCDR]

Loving all these cards to look at! I'm finishing up a deep dive into my binder and will post the pictures soon.

Weird Venusaur shines?

In total I count 5 random shines on the base portion of the card. But it's invisible to the naked eye completely. Obviously there's the scratch in the Power Power but these are just... random. I checked some other base set holos I had, none of them have it. Any thoughts?

Click to shrink...

I do think this is just card damage, I have a few holo cards in rough shape that have similar shininess around the edges.

I imagine holo cards have a special base between the backing and the artwork to help with the effect.

 

[Stencil]

Man, I don't think I have any Pokemon cards left (wish I did, lol) but reading through this topic is a blast. I just want to say, OP you've created a space for some really good vibes. You know what, maybe my old card folder is still in my parents attic after all 🤔

 

[QisTopTier]

I never understood why charizard was worth so much, the card sucked ass

 

[SinCityAssassin]

The game store I attend has had a recent boom in vintage and standard cards to go through from trade ins and we can't keep up from the purchases. Prices have surged for a lot of them and we already had to send in many to grade.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

what about digimon cards (._.)

 

[SinCityAssassin]

what about digimon cards (._.)

Click to shrink...

Not a lot, but they're rebooting the card game this year so there's that.

 

[darkNemisiScloud]

I have all first gen and second gen Japanese cards, the gym cards, team rocket cards and dark cards and quite alot of the promos, such amazing cards as the Japanese cards are better quality overall then other regions.

 

[kirby_fox]

So I decided to take a look and realized I have hundreds of cards if not over 1000. All throughout the years up until Sun and Moon. I decided to see if any are first edition stamped and only found Machamp. I've got no complete sets. Just random ones that have the leaf thing on, the number 2, and the team rocket R.

I've no idea where to even go from here. There's too many and so many variations. But it was fun to look at them, so appreciate that OP.