Since the Prototype Scandal there has been a potential part 2 I am curious where people land; whats up with all the extra trophy cards, specifically Pikachu Illustrators? We know the Pikachu Trophy & illustrator Uncut sheets were proven to be printed in 2024. I am curious what the consensus is for the unprecedented amount of extra trophy cards that went through akabane and his rocket grunts hands.
A quick history for newer collectors, Trophy cards 10+ years ago were almost entirely awarded copies sold by the winners. Naturally they appeared sporadically, because they are the rarest cards. This continued until around 2017 when pkonno hit us with our first hard lesson about extra copies. He was allegedly selling extra trophy cards given to staff, which made sense, as he ultimately had a limited supply.
Today, the amount of Illustrators and other trophy cards that have gone through akabanes agents is probably more than the total from all years prior, including pkonno’s extra copies. I feel like there is a ton of smoke around this situation, as almost every single illustrator within the last few years was not actually awarded. I am curious to see what the theory is on how this is possible, as some of these cards exceed their estimated release numbers.
Highly skeptical that anything Akabane has touched or is associated with isn’t counterfeit at this point.
You’ve also mentioned these are starting to exceed their estimated release numbers. Is there any some what concrete evidence that shows how many extra copies exist for a specifc trophy to get an idea of what a realistic ballpark should be for the unknown ones?
Well, given what happened with the other prototype cards that came from him (for those who don’t know, they are conclusively proven to be fake, and printed recently), my response would be: If it looks like an akabane, and it quacks like an akabane, these novel trophy cards are obviously forgeries.
His reputation is permanently tainted. Anything handled by him, or vouched for by him, or sold by him is immediately suspect.
Almost gonna need to go by PSA cert number to cutoff where the originally awarded copies might end, and where these newer printed copies start. Mid 7xxxxx, or later than that? Seems like the majority of extras have gone through CGC or TAG, although I’m sure PSA has received a few as well.
I don’t think any of the illustrators showing up now were freshly printed, due to their condition. If I had to guess, they just printed as many copies as possible when they were working for the company.
One things for sure, grading companies need to halt the grading of illustrators until an investigation is done & we’re given transparency. It can severely hurt the hobby to find out that the “holy grail” has been mass printed.
I’m thinking about finally pulling the trigger on a University Magikarp and all this nonsense has me looking only at old certs. Probably a little paranoid but the amount of mint trophies popping up has me a little nervous.
I disagree. I’d be looking at any card that had a spike in pop. Non-holos are also the easiest to produce since they don’t require a supply of holo sheets. So the most expensive non-holos are obvious choices
They’d have to be really stupid to do that. Making cards that were never confirmed to exist is one thing. But making perfect copies of pre-existing cards & selling for 4-5 figures a piece is pretty reckless. Don’t think they’d risk copyright infringement & other penalties to sell unikarps, but that’s just my opinion.
Also I know some of the mid grade/authentic only copies that were graded years ago. The strong majority of recent illustrators were all in Near Mint or better condition.
Weird line to draw as the prototypes are also copyright infringement. Also it’s strange argument to make if you think they are not faking non-holos because they could target more expensive trophies.
Popping open photoshop to make up 10 mint beta sets with 1997 artwork and then swapping out the image to make like 5 other variants is also pretty dumb and risky. Dumb and risky (and greedy) is the exact behaviour that should be expected.
Yeah but cgc 8’s are like PSA 5-6 because they don’t knock off as much for dents & surface scratching. I’ve seen cgc 10’s with significant scratching & wear like Pokeradar’s cgc 10 illustrator. If these were freshly printed I’d expect bare minimum a PSA 9 & a few PSA 10s. Unless they’re purposely damaging the cards & replicating the wear & tear that happens over time.
