Neo Revelation Double Foil/Holo Bleed Identification Guide

The Neo Revelation double foil/holo bleed variant (whichever term you prefer) is one of my favorite things to hunt for and collect. Some of these bleeds alter the appearance and luster of the card in such an obvious and appealing way that they’ve become preferable over their normal counterparts. You know the ones; Houndoom, Ho-oh, Misdreavus etc.

But for the rest of the set, I’ve struggled to find ways to discern the double foil variants from ordinary copies. Not every card can get dazzling wings or beaming eyes.

I discovered, though, that there is a way to tell them apart, for every card in the set; even on cards that don’t have parts of the character art altered by the holo bleed.

All of the character arts have faint white borders or outlines surrounding the pokemon themselves, and sometimes other parts of the artwork. It reminds me of the holo shift error cards (which can be viewed in this wonderful thread by @JoshsOddCollection ), as if the gap left in the holo for the artwork to cover has been filled in by the double foil. Just a thought on my end; I don’t know the specifics of the printing process.

Edit: See this awesome video by @pkmnflyingmaster to learn more about the making of Pokemon cards!

I’ve searched eBay for a while to hunt down the easiest-to-spot differences on all the holos. I hope this helps some others who want to complete a full set of these beauties.

Bleeds on top, no bleeds on bottom:

Ampharos


The white outlines under Ampharos’ arms, feet, and tail are filled in.

Blissey

Blissey is one of the harder ones. The white outline is harder to see due to its pink and white color scheme, but I found it easiest to tell the difference by focusing on the right side above the arm.

Celebi


Celebi is typically easy to notice; the darker parts on the lower/right side of the card take on noticeable holo pattern.

Crobat


Crobat is markedly different with the double foil; his eye, the moon, and the overall darkness around him take on the holo pattern.

Delibird


Alright, hear me out. See that thin white line atop the red part of his head in the right photo? That’s the easiest disappearing outline I could find on this guy. The hill and tree in the back lose their outlines as well.

Entei


The outline around his tail, leading up those spike thingies on his side, disappears with the bleed.

Ho-oh


*screams internally*

Houndoom


*scream intensifies*

Jumpluff


The outline around the snowman’s left mitten and branch fills in.

Magneton


This one’s actually pretty easy to spot. The outlines in Magneton’s midsection, as well as those surrounding the magnets, vanish with the double foil.

Misdreavus


:sunglasses:
Porygon2


The outline running from the top of his head down his back fills in.

Raikou


The outlines around the bottoms/tips of his feet, and the right side of his face, fill in with the double foil. The border around his tail does, too.

Suicune


This was easily the hardest one for me to discern, alongside Delibird. Though I’ve captured a difference here in the outlines around his mane/ribbon thing, it’s not as consistent as the outlines on other cards in the set. If anyone can find a better way, I’m all ears.

Shining Gyarados


Another self-explanatory example. Like the other darker cards, the double foil becomes plainly evident to the naked eye.

Shining Magikarp


Similar to Shining Gyarados, the holo bleed really shines through the dark blue background, and is readily visible. The other Magikarp become harder to make out.

I hope this is helpful. If better identification methods are known/found, or if anything I’ve highlighted here turns out to be hogwash, please let me know and I’ll happily edit some things.

Happy hunting friends!

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@shockerb37
Amazing guide, 10+ for sharing your tips especially for legendary beast trio. :blush:

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Great article and comparisons! Nice to see you’ve found ways to identify the other less noticeable Neo Revelations holo bleed cards. :blush: I will add it to the article index with the next update.

This video by @pkmnflyingmaster is recommended to watch in that case, where it talks about the solid white layer for non-holo parts of holofoil cards:

Greetz,
Quuador

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@quuador, what an awesome video! That makes so much sense; thanks for directing me to it. :blush:

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Love these cards! AT one point at had 2 PSA 9 Ho-oh holo bleeds. I have found that the amount of bleed does vary sometimes. I have a houndoom bleed, but it is not as pronounced as the best that I have seen. I need to look over my other cards now. Crazy how hard it is to tell though!

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does neo destiny have bleeds too? I recently came across a dark crobat that has “eye holo” like the rev misdreveous
I know most sets do, just not as pronounced as rev usually but dont see much destiny

I picked up a 1st edition Neo Discovery Scizor which has a holo bleed on the slashes and a slightly different colouration to the normal card. Didn’t even notice until I posted it randomly on here asking about potential grades when some knowledgeable and helpful members pointed it out to me. I didn’t have another to compare it to so never knew I had a holo bleed error.

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Great topic. I’ve seen some of these in passing over the years. I’ve never bought one on purpose but some of them are quite subtle and I wonder if I might have one without knowing. I’ll have to check today.

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Hi - just to be clear, the cards WITH the faint white border are the holo bleed/ double foil? or the other way around?

Looks like no white border = the double foil.

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It’s cool that PSA have started grading these as such now. Don’t think CGC ever officially recognised this double holo variant.

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It’s an interesting choice, that’s for sure!

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I submitted this magikarp with double error in the sub, but it got sent back and graded without the double holo error designation. Am I misinterpreting this double holo based on your guide?

You are correct. PSA is shockingly inconsistent with error identification in these early days.

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Yeah, that’s a double holo.

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Looks like my pack fresh 1st Ed Ampharos has double holo error too!, here is a side by side comparison of the unlimited non error version and the 1st ed error version.


Unfortunately, the psa pop report doesn’t have ampharos listed as a double holo error, so when I submit it, I doubt it will get registered as one, but based on OP’s description it definitely is!

Lastly, I looked at some of my other cards and found this raikou, which based on OP said, looks to be double holo error(can someone help verify?) as well based on the outline on the feet. But I’m debating if its worth getting graded. Its <= 8.

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If you’re looking to sell these, note that the less dramatic holo bleeds have no real premium associated with them and PSA is unlikely to distinguish the error. Celebi, Crobat, Ho-Oh, Houndoom, Misdreavus, Shining Magikarp, and Shining Gyarados are the main cards that command a premium.

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Ah gotcha that makes total sense, thanks for the insight!

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On the other side of the coin, is it well known for “minimal holo” for some of the Neo Revelation Holos? My Celebi and Shining Magikarp barely have any.


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Yep, these cards come in a range from minimal holo to full holo bleed. The minimal holo copies aren’t sold for a premium, and typically serve as an “average” sale to which the other copies are compared to.

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