Illustrator Promo Poliwrath Question

General
1

Hello Everyone, first time poster and long time lurker. I was recently browsing on ebay and found the following card

www.ebay.com/itm/Pokemon-Poliwrath-Corocoro-Illustrator-Contest-Trophy-1997-PSA-10/283848886883?hash=item4216b64a63:g:grwAAOSwD-5el2~u

I read the buyers description and read the article on bulbapedia.

bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Illustration_contests

I then looked up the Vending Series Poliwrath and it does not have the Japanese text next to the Artist Name.

I am wondering how rare that card actually is. I can’t find much else about it. I also ask because a few years back I purchased about 2000 japanese cards in bulk from the card shop and this card was sitting in there. It was the only promo card and I always thought it was the vending series one until today.

I hope you all can help me out and thank you!

2

Dont buy that, its *most likely* not the actual 1/20 copies
Edit: Its from the reprint in Quick starter gift set

3

Then why’s it in a PSA holder?

4

I have no intentions on buying it. I am just trying to find more information on it because no vending series card I see has that extra text except for the original 1/20 copies. I just happened to find one.

5

Psa makes mistakes

1 Like
6

You are confused. There is literally no difference between this Poliwrath and the one that was available in the Red/Green Quick Starter art. In fact, it is known that this Poliwrath was from the Quick Starter gift set (a mass produced card) and not an original - not that it would be possible to prove it was an original either way since the cards are identical.

This discussion recently came up on the forum. Read here, it starts in the middle of this page:

www.elitefourum.com/t/the-giant-auction-thread/22028/1

7

Thank you for posting this. That helped a lot!

8

Ouch. Do they offer a buyback guarantee its authentic or do they have no repercussions for grading fake pokemon cards and the buyer of this item SOL? Unfortunate.

9

It’s authentic. Just mislabel, so there’s no guarantee

10

PSA could probably claim this card isn’t mislabeled (and they certainly will to cover their asses). It’s an authentic card and it’s identical to the 20 cards that were the winner.

The lesson here is to never spend a lot of money on a card without doing your due diligence on it.

11

page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g442447388

A real illustration contest prize card just sold. Basing it off this sold listing, here’s all 3 versions and how to differentiate them.

  1. Vending Series - Has Rarity symbol and card stock is glossy.

  2. Red/Green Starter Gift Set - Card does not have rarity symbol at the bottom and features the corocoro text line next to the illustrator of the card at the bottom left.

  3. Illustration Prize - Card is similar to vending series except its non-glossy.

To summarize, the Poliwrath in question is the Red/Green Starter Gift Set. A real illustration prize copy would be non-glossy and has the rarity symbol.

3 Likes