With regards to them not grading languages outside of base set i think that is understandable being as the foreign language variants, i would guess, are maybe more prone to being counterfeit? As far as what i feel is a solid argument for it being recognised by PSA is this is the only Chinese set after base set, as far as i’m aware, which i personally feel means that it kind of deserves to be recognised to be graded being as its not like if they grade this Chinese set then they are gonna have to compromise and accept a load of other Chinese sets. Though saying that i also feel they should do the languages that never made it past the fossil release also.
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The thing is, we are paying PSA to not only determine condition, but also determine authenticity.
If they are not grading foreign languages because they can’t determine authenticity, that makes me nervous they can’t differentiate a real and fake English/Japanese card.
Honestly the fact that someone could cut a card from a sheet is what keeps me away from square cuts in general. Are there legitimate square cuts? Sure, but I’m not just going to take someone’s word for it considering the premium they go for.
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I think the problem is that foreign language cards aren’t as easily obtained in the US these days, as they were when Pokémon first released. I remember going into Walmart back in the day, and they would have those blister packs that contained a random assortment of packs, usually with a foreign language pack or two. Today, all you’ll find here in major retailers is exclusively English. Alot of people buy Japanese cards from overseas, so those aren’t difficult to obtain either. So English and Japanese Japanese cards are easy to obtain and be verified as authentic. With foreign cards, they don’t have easy access to product that they can compare to, so it makes the authentication process more difficult.
Yes, unfortunately you can’t take anybody’s word for it because BGS doesn’t differentiate between the two.
There are some very subtle ways to tell though but generally you can go by the subgrades they receive. Many of the ones I got directly from WOTC received all 9.5s and 10s. The other joker who cut and cello packed his got mostly 9s with a couple gem mint but those gem mints got a 9 subgrade. And remember, he picked the best ones to grade out of 20 or 30 per number in some cases. Here’s a couple of mine that aren’t listed but look how nice they are:)
Most serious collectors echo this approach. I personally would only purchase one from a Pokemon Staff member. Outside of that, there is no guarantee whatsoever.
If you consider how under documented foreign pokemon cards are, it makes perfect sense that a company seeking to verify authenticity wouldn’t want to grade them.
Consider how much documentation it takes to get a new card graded. There is a legitimate interest for them in finding outside information about cards before adding them to their list of cards they grade. Things can get understandably dubious when you begin to tackle Pokémon cards outside of English and Japanese.
It’s easy to see it as silly with the familiarity and comfort we have within the hobby, but I can understand the other side of it. Even if I personally wish we could have more stuff graded. I wouldn’t question their ability to authenticate overall because they don’t want to tackle some additional risk.
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Their role as authenticators surely means that is their job to authenticate cards? Not have us authenticate them on their behalf. Never mind eh, BGS to the rescue.
In order to properly authenticate an item, it requires documentation. If they don’t have that, they shouldn’t “authenticate” an item. As frustrating as it is for collectors, myself included at times, it is the best procedure.
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Good point, well made.
Anyway - an update - a friend took these back to the states yesterday, and posted them off to BGS. 10 day return, so watch this space!
Unfortunately, I forgot that the ten day service is ten working days, from the date they receive them. Which means my mate won’t be there long enough to bring them back! D’oh!
I got one of each holo graded, except the Flygon ex, as that one still eludes me. Will be cool to see these slabbed, whatever the grade.
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