Hello e4
My first edition base set holos are all thick stamp. I’m going sell my lower grade ones and replace them with better grades.
I’m not looking to sell my collection in the near future but eventually I will.
I’ve seen some of the cards I want but they are the thin stamp.
Questions:
Is mixing thick and thin a good idea value wise and/or from the collector point of view. In other words… would all thick or all thin be be more attractive/valuable than a completed mixed of the both?
And ultimately which of the both is more desirable/valuable?
Is it the thick stamp that was printed first and thus more desirable?
Thanks
I did choose to collect my psa9 set as thick stamps, I did prefer thick because non holos are thick and that stamp variation feels more unique since the Base set is only set wich have that variation. Being picky made my collecting progress more difficult and sure I did spend more money because of that aswell. I believe not everyone or most people care, but those who care, are usually after thick. So thick variation should have some premium I guess. I don’t know wich is first or less printed but
I would have complete my set faster by choosing thin stamp set or mixed set.
1 Like
thick stamp was likely 1st as after the thin stamp was created every wotc set was made with the thin stamp from there on out. in relation to which is rarer I’d say thick seems to have less supply altbough there is no official statistics to confirm this only my personal experience over the last 4 years of tracking the market avaibily its seems there’s around 2/3x the amount of thin to thick on a general level
Too many new Pikachus here. Thick stamp is worth a premium cos it’s considered to be the first one (not many proof) but still it’s just taste and I saw people paying premium for thin stamps too. I personally would only pick thick stamps and not mix them.
But I like my Pikachu avatar!
2 Likes
tbf I have a charizard avatar but I messaged on my partners account, woops thats always happening haha I will get her to pjc an avater 
Long run i don’t it’ll make a huge difference.
Also have you considered keeping your lower grades and just adding the higher grades you want? Fiscally this would be much smarter if you can manage the cost without needing to sell the lower grades.
2 Likes
Keep in mind when it does come time to sell, you will want to sell each holo individually vs a large lot. With each card up for sale individually it doesn’t make a big difference if it’s thick or thin as buyers will be targeting specific cards rather than looking at the entire collection. If you were selling all 16 holos in a lot, then I can see a potential buyer being turned off by the mixed bag of stamps.
Would you get a premium for a thick stamp? Most likely, but it will also cost you more up front now so it could be a wash.
1 Like
If I wasn’t on mobile I would direct you to many other similar discussion threads. But basically the main points have already been said.
In my experience, some people specifically collect thick stamps (the number has increased over time). A lot of people also have a preference for thick stamps but it doesn’t matter that much to them. A lot of people also truly don’t care about the type of stamp. In my experience, it is very rare for someone to specifically go after thin stamps. For all these reasons, plus the fact that thick stamp holos are somewhat rarer than thin stamp holos, thick stamps should be expected to get a bit of a premium. It’s very hard to measure exactly what this premium is in the current market because sales data fluctuates so much from one individual sale to another. It wouldn’t surprise me if the market is currently placing as much as a 10% premium on thick stamps, but I don’t have the actual data to show this.
As for why some people prefer thick stamps - as others have said, they were most likely stamped first (although there’s no proof of this, it’s just using the logic that the thick stamp is exclusive to base set and all subsequent sets had the thin stamp). Some people also like the look of the thick stamp better and how it matches the non-holos in the set and the fact that the stamp is exclusive to base set. Although I have heard some people say they prefer the look of the thin stamp too and other people who just don’t really care. It’s not one-size-fits-all.
And @kpod is absolutely right. You don’t want to sell complete holo sets anyway. Selling cards individually will fetch you a significantly greater sum.
1 Like
Thick stamp all the way. It’s unique only to Base set and like others stated, most likely printed first.
Why are people saying there’s no proof they’re first? There’s proof is in the logic, if they were second which means WOTC changed the stamp twice to go from thin to thick then back the tin for every print onward (doesn’t make sense), there’s proof in promotional material and deck boxes using thick stamps not thin, and there’s proof in the lack of thin stamps for the non holos.
We even have a WOTC rep who said they came from a second stamp run where the pressure was changed.
2 Likes
I just say that there’s no official proof to cover my bases, but I agree that for these reasons it’s almost certain that thick stamps came first.
You should slightly change it (perhaps make it brighter yellow and/or black text instead of grey). That way you still have your new Pikachu avatar, yet it’s still unique. 
Greetz,
Quuador
The “1” looks cleaner and sharper on thick stamps making them more appealing, as far as which came first I don’t know.