I bought a sealed case of 4th print UK theme decks (2 of each deck inside, zap, blackout, brushfire, overgrowth) and because the case was kinda beat up i decided to crack it and open the 1 of each of the theme decks to grade the 1999-2000 holos and nonholos for my personal collection.
I tried to do as much research as i could because i know that not all 4th print booster packs have the 1999-2000 holos inside. i found a ludkins vid on the exact subject and that was posted this last September. they explicitly state that the only way to 100% guarantee a 1999-2000 holo is in the theme decks. so i opened them with confidence. and of course i found this to not be 100%.
i opened the zap, then brushfire, then blackout. all of them were in normal theme deck wotc shape with knicks and white spots and print lines…but they each said 1999-2000 on the bottom so i was very happy at least to have them to add to my collection. but then i opened the last theme deck and found an absolutely great looking gyarados. very excited at my chances for 9’s and possibly the 10. went through the rest of the deck to check the non holos for quality and was feeling pretty good. then i did a recap of the holos and discovered that the gary was just the normal 1999 unlimited holo version.
now while i am disappointed in this i knew that there’s some people out there that are looking to collect these too and so i thought i’d offer up this info to anyone interested and i do have video proof of the opening of the case itself and each of the theme decks. i am debating opening the other 4 theme decks to see if they have this issue or not.
@styluspt - the foremost authority on this matter (so I’m pleased he posted) spoke of not being guaranteed to pull a Base 1999-2000 Holographic Machamp from the U.K variant of the 2 Player Starter Sets, but the Theme Decks guaranteeing 100% 1999-2000 holos. If this is true - then that means we may have to add the Theme Decks with both the 2 Player Starter Sets and the Base Boxes.
Could it be that this is just a possibility with the Overgrowth pack?
Very intriguing stuff - furthermore, hinting as to the possibility of why these holographic cards (particularly from the booster-boxes) are potentially rarer than Shadowless or, dare I say it, 1st edition base.
@bartallen2, though I appreciate your words I have to say that I am not the foremost authority on this matter nor any other matter that I am aware off.
I doubt it would only be from Overgrowth Theme Decks if it is the case that the opened deck was a Base 2000 deck.
@habby, When you opened the deck, the plastic wrap binding all the cards together had a pull stripe? Did you get the “Contact Wizards” white insert card as well?
hey sorry for the late response, works been crazy. i do in fact have full video evidence of me cracking the theme deck case and then subsequently opening one of each theme deck. if you’d like the video i put it up on my youtube strictly for this purpose. tca gaming watched it also after i emailed him a few questions about it. can i link youtube videos here? @styluspt
You can just link the certain video here in the tread once it is uploaded for us all to see. I’d like to see it as well! Also on your profile you can add your youtube link in the personal or website sections for people to find you.
thanks but my youtube has nothing special. i think this is even my only pokemon vid. but for those interested, heres the video! www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqD6fgslwtY it’s 20 minutes long if you want to watch the whole thing but if you just want to see the overgrowth opening skip to the 16 minute mark and then you can see me realize it wasnt a 1999-2000 holo at the about 19:15 mark
and please excuse the vertical. i did it on instagram live without ever having the intention of actually posting it to youtube. tca gaming wanted to see the vid so that was the only reason i uploaded it
This is indeed extremely odd, even more when the other decks within the same deck box have the Base 2000 copyright. Wotc sure is full of inconsistencies… I don’t know if we should consider this an outlier or a norm actually.
all 4 of the other theme decks are still sealed. i was hoping to keep them sealed for my collection but i may open the overgrowth box just to see honestly. i dont know if this should be considered norm though. just because it seems like this may be one of the only recorded times this has happened. i just think it should be stated that these cases are 99% chance of having them with extreme odds of not. just wanted to warn others like me who are looking for these holos specifically to collect that things like this could happen. thank you for your time!
