CGC "Inadvertent Early Release" English Shining Fates Cards

[Llyrwenne]

I stumbled upon this pair of Reddit posts showing off several CGC-graded “Inadvertent Early Release” English Shining Fates cards;

www.reddit.com/r/PokemonTCG/comments/kmgmt0/been_holding_onto_this_card_for_a_while_in/
www.reddit.com/r/PokemonTCG/comments/kmkg0n/a_continuation_to_my_latest_post_these_are_the/

The Reddit user claims they bought the cards some time during or before September from a single seller on OfferUp who would only accept payment through PayPal’s friend and family option. The user goes on to claim CGC authenticated and graded the cards for free and that they were in direct communication with CGC’s head director during the process. In response to questions about the cards’ origins, they claimed that the original seller would not give them a straight answer, and that they suspected the cards to have been ‘obtained by an employee’.

Sooo, idk how well versed you are in Pokémon current events, but these were purchased from the guy who originally posted it on OfferUp, “Brad McFarland”. He kept denying my payments over offerup and DMed to purchase them from him for PayPal F&F. I paid a large amount of money, more than I should have for a transaction with no buyer protection, and he actually shipped them. Arrived in late September. Everyone was saying they were proxies, but CGC authenticated them and graded them for free (did not have to pay the increased fee for more expensive cards, paid bulk rate and they graded them at walkthrough), as I was in communication with the head director Paul Sandler, who runs their Instagram account. Graded on 11/13 and haven’t seen the light of day since.

The guy wouldn’t give me a straight answer and only sent me low quality pics, so I had to take a chance. I assume it’s a test run, that was obtained by an employee.

I have not seen any reports of Shining Fates cards being pulled from other product, and everything about the original seller (being the singular source for all of these cards, not answering where the cards came from, and only accepting payment through a method without buyer protection) would indicate that these cards were stolen from the factory by an employee looking to sell them for a quick buck.

I have no doubt that these are real cards, and I similarly do not doubt the condition grades CGC bestowed upon them, but … this is stolen product, right? Something feels very awfully wrong about CGC euphemistically labeling what by all appearances look to be stolen goods as ‘inadvertently released early’ - and not only that, but authenticating and grading the cards for free with direct involvement from the head director despite the cards’ extremely dubious origins. The whole thing strikes me as entirely inappropriate on the part of CGC.

Am I overreacting?

[fourthstartcg]

This reddit user is a banned member on the forum, so we will not be discussing or promoting their cards.

That being said, for the sake of information, the story with regards to the card acquisition is pretty much correct. The cards were listed early for sale, they are certainly stolen product. Many people saw the listings.

As for CGC, this fits with their pattern of being a bit more risky than PSA or BGS. They authenticate things based on whether they fit with card production histories (i.e. they are manufactured correctly) not whether they have been officially released. We have seen CGC do this with the early release 25th anniversary promos as well. Whether you agree with it or not, that’s how they do this.

I can’t speak to whether CGC authenticated them for free, but this individual was extremely paranoid. He believed that CGC was lying to him when they told him they would grade the cards, and that CGC was planning to keep the cards and report him to Pokemon once he sent them in. So I’m skeptical on that part of the story.