Those playtest cards on Heritage definitely went higher on avg. than lots on Alt and Fanatics. It may be due to that auction block being so small (13 cards total) so there’s a lot more focus on the playtest cards. I’m sure target audience on Heritage could also play a factor.
Right now it appears that the next block on alt and Fanatics are the last ones (for now). Maybe this current wave is just drying up. There are probably more sets coming in the near future though.
Not sure if it was mentioned already, but I’m currently in Tokyo for vacation and there’s a store in Akihabara that had a full display case worth of beta prototypes. Seemed like most were selling for 1-2 million yen.
Thats crazy did you happen to take any pictures ? Is the set graded or raw?
1 mil yen each sounds insane can’t imagine they sell many at those prices
That is some good insight. We have seen a few being sold by Japanese sellers dotted around on Mercari and ebay (sometimes loose). I suppose it is more difficult/more time consuming for them to get them graded with CGC, leaving off the pop reports. the real test of the market would be cards emerging from Japan that originate from a source other than the remaining 5 or so sets still to be sold by akabane.
Was it the Fukufuku display room?
They were all raw, presumably due to the fact that PSA refuses to grade and CGC doesn’t have presence here in Japan as others in the thread have commented.
It was カードショップラフテル [Card Shop Raftel (laugh tale…?)], in New Akihabara Center, next to the Magi in akihabara that goes underground if anyone knows what I’m talking about.
They appear to have newly relocated / reopened (since October 5, 2024), primarily as a shop that deals with one piece, but the buyback section (located separate to the main store) was where I stumbled across the prototypes along with a little bit of other vintage pokemon.
I’ll try and see if I’m able to sneak a picture or two within the next couple of days, but they were the only store open in that mall section and the multiple staff immediately gave me their full attention the moment I walked in, kind of like as if I was at a LV store, which was incredibly awkward to say the least…
Thank you for the clarification.
Are photos disallowed?
Card shops in Japan typically don’t like people filming inside their store (doubly so if you’re a foreigner) unless you have express permission from the store. Many places simply consider it rude and inconsiderate to the other guests in the store.
do ppl actually spend 10-20k on raw cards? lol
Sorry to clarify, the shop is called カードショップロータス (Card Shop Lotus), the raftel buyback is further down in the mall.
Please see the attached photos, it appears they do have some slabs but a majority are raw
Interesting to see there’s more trainers out there that we haven’t seen yet, I wonder what else has yet to be revealed
Love those trainer cards! So cool to see!
Is anyone in tune with Japanese collectors? What’s the sentiment of the prototype cards outside of our sphere?
I feel like if these showed up overnight you’d almost have to take a train down to visit the shop!
Same as outside of Japan. Some are sceptical, some are into them
Might be one of the few times we really get to see the full beta set together
Thanks for posting this. I wonder if these are from Akabane. Also interesting that the CGC ones are mostly graded AU and therefore not on the pop report.
“non card mounted”
Even rarer
shops do that with expensive cards to prevent theft. You can ask to see the card from behind the counter
Thank you for explaining
