If PSA recognise these eventually then you have a “niche” product - which not a lot of people know about - that is suddenly thrown into a market sought after by collectors and/or those who wish to complete their Base sets ~
As @styluspt said in the past: In Magic the Gathering, PSA distinguishes Alpha and Beta; with the only difference on the corner cut on the cards - not on the card layout/text/image.
It took PSA over a decade to correctly distinguish between Shadowless and Unlimited. Even large retailers didn’t distinguish between the two, and you would get a mixture of shadowless cards in Unlimited orders.
Base 2000 was first discovered around 2010. It wasn’t something people really paid attention to beforehand. While PSA was/is ignorant to Shadowless, Shadowless was known by collectors from the beginning. Therefore Shadowless is more ubiquitous than Base 2000, but neither as established as 1st Edition.
Similar to mtg, the big 3 base sets will always be: 1st, shadowless, unlimited. Base 2000 might echo 4th or revised, but as in mtg, 4th and revised are a far cry from abu.
The Unlimited set offers beautiful and nostalgic cards at an affordable price. I have this set completed in a 9, but considering that some of PSA 10 versions of the non-charizard cards are sub $150, it might be good to start upgrading some.
The Unlimited 2000 set are the same cards, but with a different copyright date. It’s a niche that is getting more popular. If you like a little bit more of a chase without the high price tags, this might be for you.
Shadowless has a slight variation of colors and style from Unlimited. Currently under-valued? Maybe. Start with the Charizard and work your way from there. 9’s are pretty pricey IMO, but the PSA 6-8 range offer great value.
1st Edition - best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be. Don’t be discouraged to start collecting these. Unless you are a big time player with some F U money, 10’s are likely out of the question. Lots of options and price ranges from PSA 1 to 9 depending on how much you are looking to spend.
My 2 cents would be to buy the card and not the grade (cliche). I have no qualms with getting cards in different grades for the same set. Set a budget and buy what you can afford. You can always upgrade later, and if not, you still have the card anyway.
The general agreed upon consensus is to start with the most expensive or hard to get cards. This will save you money in the long run as their prices are likely to keep rising.
Base 2000 aren’t the same cards with a different copyright date; the differences are also lighter in colour shades on the cards (a la Shadowless), Vulpix HP is corrected and the Charizard background stripes, as well as the actual feel-of-the-cards in weight and texture.
Many have speculated that Base 2000’s print was the shortest of them all - including 1st Edition, Shadowless and Unlimited; even in the United Kingdom, they’re still very uncommon. You’re right about the fact that these go unnoticed, and I remember what @pichufan said about never coming across any of them in his childhood - despite trading thousands within London and looking at his collection rather recently.
@mikes360 , I know I’m late to this thread, and I don’t know exactly what your budget is, but if I were looking to buy Base Set at an “affordable” price (affordable obviously being a subjective term), I would probably go for PSA 9 Shadowless.
Shadowless cards are distinguished and historic cards that check many boxes from a collector’s standpoint. Will it increase in value over time? I have no idea. But if I were starting to collect base set today and wanted to avoid breaking my bank account, I think it would be the option I would go for.
Looking at eBay sold listings, you can get the Charizard/Blastoise/Venusaur for something slightly north of $2k and you can get most of the other holos for around $100 each. And then the non-holos are very cheap… like maybe $15 per card on average? Add that all up, and you should be able to get a complete PSA 9 Shadowless Base Set for about $5,000.
That compares to something like ~$2,000-ish that you would pay for a complete PSA 9 Unlimited set (the holos sell for about $1000 and you’re still paying at least $10 for the PSA 9s because that’s the cost of grading).
Obviously, that’s not a small amount of money for Pokemon cards. But you’re really getting something significant for that money. Even without the 1st edition stamp, Shadowless cards are still special for being part of the very first print run and having that distinguished look compared to the Unlimited cards. They’re never going to be 1st edition cards, but they’re like a little brother to 1st edition cards. I would rather pay the extra $3k and get the far more distinguished Shadowless set.
And PSA 9s are great. Those are pack fresh cards that are just slightly off-center or have a couple of specs of whitening or the tiniest print line that you can only see at certain angles. Still beautiful.
So when you consider that a complete PSA 10 1st edition base set sells for $100k+ and that you can get a PSA 9 Shadowless set for about $5k when the only difference is 1st edition stamps and very minor flaws in condition, I think that’s a good buy.
@hyruleguardian I know your thought process and I do actually agree with you. However I don’t have that amount of money to spend (Notice the word spend not invest!) on these cards.
I have decided to buy an unlimited 9 set at this stage for the holos. I am going to be putting a binder together for the rest of the set.
Depends on the definition of affordable. I have been searching for a PSA 9 shadowless chansey, but it’s up there with shadowless blastoise or higher. Same deal with Raichu on occasion. Some are just more difficult to grade I suppose.
