After looking closely at the card, I am almost 100% certain it is non-glossy (which would mean PSA has graded non-glossy cards as glossy in the past).
Card filmed below: postimg.cc/PNksk55W
streamable.com/ka4r0d
streamable.com/9dsf25
streamable.com/s44a2m
streamable.com/xvhxyh
streamable.com/1xj6b2
Now, I assume it is the 1996 non-glossy print. But from the original post it seems that the 1996 non-glossy print is less dark/more bright (possible 1998 non-glossy print)?
postimg.cc/d72xn8cL
Im not seeing the gloss on the card unfortunately, in hand I would be able to tell right away.
Here’s a video and some photos i just took of my glossy exeggutor to show how easy it is to tell when held at a certain angle.
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That legit looks like Homer Simpson
@prochaos ,
Thank you for posting some photos of your glossy card. I think you are right that it is non-glossy. Glossy cards seem to have quite an apparent ripple effect on the surface that should be visible on the Ivy Pikachu if it were glossy.
Hi having just read your full information regarding these cards, can I ask out of all variants what is the rarest? I have 1 of the 1996 KEN SUGIMARI cards and also a factory sealed Gold gift starter pack that you show, and believe the 1996 KEIJI KINEBUCHI version will be inside this pack. To be honest the Ken Sugimari version does not seem to appear Glossy as you show and describe. Any further information you or anyone else has would be very much appreciated. I am currently going through my vast collection of Pokemon sets (full) and promos including full Meiji and cardass sets, aswell as unpeeled vending sets and factory sealed booster packs UK base and Japanese Neo 2 Discovery. Due to these strange times we live in with the Covid-19 pandemic, it breaks my heart having to part with my collection. So understandably I am hoping for best price possible when selling, but due to me not keeping up with the Pokemon phenomenon for many years I have no idea how to start. My obsession with Pokemon all started way back when it kicked off in the uk and my young son like most kids got hooked on playing games and swapping cards with friends etc. I however got hooked on the art work and ended up becoming obsessed with collecting sets rather than trying to build via booster packs, setting my alarm clock constantly throughout the day and night to place final bids on various auction sites in the US and Japan aswell as the UK. But there is no better feeling, and I think most would agree, than placing that winning bid for a card needed to complete a set.
Hi having just read your full information regarding these cards, can I ask out of all variants what is the rarest? I have 1 of the 1996 KEN SUGIMARI cards and also a factory sealed Gold gift starter pack that you show, and believe the 1996 KEIJI KINEBUCHI version will be inside this pack. To be honest the Ken Sugimari version does not seem to appear Glossy as you show and describe. Any further information you or anyone else has would be very much appreciated. I am currently going through my vast collection of Pokemon sets (full) and promos including full Meiji and cardass sets, aswell as unpeeled vending sets and factory sealed booster packs UK base and Japanese Neo 2 Discovery. Due to these strange times we live in with the Covid-19 pandemic, it breaks my heart having to part with my collection. So understandably I am hoping for best price possible when selling, but due to me not keeping up with the Pokemon phenomenon for many years I have no idea how to start. My obsession with Pokemon all started way back when it kicked off in the uk and my young son like most kids got hooked on playing games and swapping cards with friends etc. I however got hooked on the art work and ended up becoming obsessed with collecting sets rather than trying to build via booster packs, setting my alarm clock constantly throughout the day and night to place final bids on various auction sites in the US and Japan aswell as the UK. But there is no better feeling, and I think most would agree, than placing that winning bid for a card needed to complete a set.
Just updated the first post with a recent graded copy by CGC!
Hey,
Just wanted to check, I have those 2 non-glossy ones but colour is quite different . Any idea if this is just a printing issue or if those are different versions ?
Thanks
@magicrap , it is very common for all these JP promos to have pretty substantial difference in color or saturation. Some copies I have 2 of I find amazing and want to keep both. Not the best example, but the only one off hand:
The lighting is terrible, but the right one is considerably less saturated, and the red pops way more in the art box on the left. Even the border is pale comparatively. The blue is the biggest sign. The right card has clear blue beneath Arcanine. The left has hardly any. Just different runs with different color applications.
Thanks,
Yes that’s what I was thinking as well but while reading this thread I had doubt.
Also I have dozens of this card and only one has a darker colour. Maybe the picture does not capture it well but the difference is very visible.
Wow, nice copy! CGC are quite harsh graders, I wonder if it could get a PSA10. A PSA10 copy would be worth a substantial amount imo. I also do not trust the pop report of PSA on the glossy card, as seen with my copy they may have incorrectly categorized non-glossy as glossy. This would mean 0 PSA10 glossy population.
I am no grading expert, but I would definitely bet on you copy being one of the rarer glossy reprints. As @redsky pointed out, the Corocoro glossy versions have a very recognisable trait outside of their glossiness: the star in the Colorless Energy symbol in their retreat cost is visibly offset top-right. In the non-glossy version, the star in the Energy is cleanly aligned smack in the middle of the circle – it also appears to be smaller relative to the surrounding circle.
The graded copy you shared pictures of clearly has the offset Colorless Energy symbol, which can only mean one of two things:
Until someone can share a non-glossy Ivy Pikachu with offset symbols, I think it’s more likely the former explanation is correct.
It is kind of intriguing that Corocoro’s reprint from 1998 fixed the Illustrator name but kept the offset Energy symbol, while the non-glossy version from 1996 had already fixed both the name and symbol. I assume there were different image files for the Corocoro version and the Gift Pack version, and the Corocoro reprint was based on the original Corocoro file, only fixing the obvious error and leaving the less obvious one.
So although this is just my personal deduction mostly based on what I’ve learned from @prochaos 's amazingly thorough explanation, I’m tempted to congratulate you on your PSA 10 copy of a 2000-only card from over two decades ago 
Don’t spoil all the secrets, I’m still searching for this Pikachu card myself! 
I did indeed noticed the same thing as you: both glossy variants (from October 1996 and the lottery reprint from 1998) have the black parts of the Resistance Colorless Energy symbol off-set towards the top-left, and black parts of the Weakness Fighting Energy symbol correctly centered; whereas the non-Glossy November 1996 version has the Colorless Energy well-centered and Fighting Energy symbol off-set downwards.
I’ve been looking at the illustrator and both these Energy symbols for every Ivy Pikachu promo that pops up on eBay, YJ, and Mercari, but have yet to see it available for sale. 
If anyone has one they’re willing to sell, or sees it available for sale somewhere, please lmk asap. 
But I do agree: @jim7’s PSA-10 copy is the 1998 Glossy reprint based on the illustrator and those Energy symbols, so congrats (if you’re willing to sell it, please PM me, although I can understand if you’d like to keep it 
).
Greetz,
Quuador
@quuador, sorry for spoiling your secrets :<
I don’t post here often, but I feel like about half the time I do I end up with someone telling me not to share some well-kept secrets. This is a place meant for sharing info, right? 
@prochaos shared so much useful knowledge in this thread, it just wouldn’t feel right not contributing a bit too when I could.
Plus, I’m pretty sure your most serious rivals had already picked up on the difference 
Don’t worry, I’ll let you know if I run into a forgotten copy in some Japanese shop 
I was just kidding. 
You’re indeed right that this is a place for sharing, and I share a lot of stuff myself. And I indeed know I wasn’t the only one that noticed it.
Thanks, that’s appreciated.
Greetz,
Quuador
Thank you very much, I was very interested to read your analysis. I am leaning on mine not being glossy which would leave option 2 if my thinking were to be correct. Just a thought, I know there was a TMB associated Imakuni variant discovered within the last few years. Perhaps there are also some further unknown prints of the Ivy Pikachu yet to be discovered. With mine, if it is not glossy, perhaps the energy symbol was enough to throw off the grader and have them categorize it as glossy. Another factor that could have added to this potential error is that Japanese card stock is generally more glossy than English card stock(?). Another interesting factor is that PSA have removed my card certificate number from their database, perhaps they have recognized they made grading errors with these cards and removed the population at a certain point in time. It looks like my card was graded a long time ago due to low certificate number.
Thanks, perhaps it is glossy. At the moment I am leaning non-glossy. Thank you for your interest also, I did have interest from pretty much the top guy in Pokemon collecting but after some research he concluded it was non-glossy (illustrator etc). Not looking to sell it currently.
Best wishes.
Hi guys I’m new here and I just wanted to share something.
A store in Japan recently tweeted that they found a new version of this Ivy Pikachu.
At first they tweeted a picture of an Ivy pikachu saying that it’s the 1998 Kenji Kinebuchi corocoro glossy Ivy Pikachu. But after some customers commented on how weird it looked, they did some research and concluded that it’s actually not from corocoro and is a completely new version based on the fact that it has a slightly different alignment of artwork and energy symbols.
I first doubted them until I actually compared it to the 1998 Kenji Kinebuchi corocoro glossy version from this thread and noticed that theirs indeed look different.
Here’s their tweet.
Here’s the pics of Ivy Pikachus from this thread
Yeah, we’ve indeed been discussing this on Discord. @prochaos is aware of it, but most likely hasn’t updated this thread yet since he’s still looking for a copy himself. @subf does have one of these newly discovered versions in addition to the 1998 reprint.
I personally am still looking for the 1998 Glossy Keiji Kinebuchi reprint, but it’s cool even another variation of this Japanese Ivy Pikachu is discovered now, considering this card is originally from 1996. Pretty crazy how long something like this remains unnoticed, since it might even be a proof version from BEFORE the October 15th, 1996 release (this is just a theory/speculation though, so don’t quote me on it).
For anyone who want a TL;DR about this newly discovered version: it’s also Glossy; it also has the correct Keiji Kinebuchi as illustrator name; but the Pikachu in the artwork is off-set towards the left. The artwork of the Glossy Keiji Kinebuchi reprint from 1998 is properly centeres, centered just like the two 1996 and all other version (English, German, Portuguese).
Here the newly discovered version of unknown origin on the left, and the 1998 lottery reprint on the right, where you can actually see a pretty substantial difference at the portions marked in red in the artwork:
Greetz,
Quuador
With the scarcity of any glossy corrected illustrator version in general, this new discovery somehow feels so redundant in reality. 
Really interesting regardless.
