So I have a decent amount of experience now looking and determining conditions for pokemon cards when I send them to PSA, but I have almost zero with Yugioh. I lucked into a pair of sealed copies of the first print of Dark duel stories, and debating if I was going to open and send the cards to PSA. Guess my questions are…
Relative to early WOTC sets, how are yugioh cards on average out of packs (terms of QC, centering and wear)?
Anything different in terms of things I might want to look out for on the card in terms of condition?
Easier or harder to get 10s on compared to pokemon, based on experience and clearly opinion.
1/2. Centering is an issue with the cards, but not to the extent Pokemon has. They have squared corners which makes them a lot more difficult to grade. They also have a glossy back which is very prone to scratches.
3. It’s hard to compare. Buying from other peoples collection Pokemon is much easier, even well protected Yugioh cards are super sensitive and easily get damaged. If you’re pulling straight out of the pack it’s easier with Yugioh vs English Pokemon, Yugioh has a higher quality vs Pokemon. Straight out of the pack Yugioh vs Japanese Pokemon, Pokemon is easier.
Things have come to light recently about PSA graded Yugioh cards that should raise a lot of concern. The most alarming thing being that PSA has graded fake 1st Edition Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon cards which are now in the market. A friend of mine also recently bought a PSA 9 1st Ed. Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon which clearly had a dent in it (and would’ve thus knocked it down to a 6 instantly). Based on what I’ve seen, I wouldn’t try grading a Yugioh card unless it was literally pack fresh as they are so easily damaged. NM/M Yugioh card auctions definitely do not have the same standards that Pokemon ones do in general.
Thanks for the info, will probably crack them open and send them in. Not sure how they are packaged in the box, but I don’t doubt they will be nice and mint.
I posted this as a response to the video too, but yeah… to me, this is a disaster. It’s such a huge blow to PSA’s credibility, way more so than arguments regarding card quality vs. grade received which are at least subjective. A card is either authentic, or it’s a fake. No two ways about it.
Has such error ever happened with Pokemon cards? Currently thinking of last 3-4 years and I can’t remember anyone here would’ve complained of graded fake cards.
I have never seen a quality fake of a holo from any WOTC set, let alone even non-holos from 99 to now. I have seen some decent newer fakes, but still nothing that you couldn’t tell from a quick eye test. Not to mention spelling mistakes, easily spotted ink problems & sharpness.
But I do wonder if they have graded any fake 1st edition stamped shadowless cards.
I think your last point is a good one, I do believe some 1st edition stamped cards have ‘fallen through the net’, definitely early stages of Pokemon @ PSA relationship,
Probably the hardest pokemon fraud to spot, if you do not know what your looking for, especially as there are different genuine stamps
I think the reason I always get a bit more for my 1st base holos is because I’ve never bought mint ones then graded and resold. All my mint ones were pack cards. Plus, fake stamps are very easily discernible by BGS, SGC, and PSA graders. There are a couple tricks not advertised.
Interesting on the YuGiOh cards. Strange how someone would go to all the trouble to dupe cheap cards. Plus, the others looked the same to my old eyes. The colors could be explained pretty easily though. Plus, has anybody here had a problem with DCW?
Duplicating cheap cards was probably a bit of a test to work towards duplicating the higher value things @garyis2000.
I have always worried about and wondered about where this hobby and others would be once the counterfeiting tech existed to easily copy some of the very most valuable cards. I think we are at that point in time where the tech exists, we are just fairly lucky only shit shops in China (for the most part) currently waste their time with it. If someone stateside ever has a couple hundred grand to invest in equipment and some contacts with knowledge to set up an operation and we may be in trouble. I hear stories in the coin world of the old US Mint equipment making its way over to China and being used to press out old coinage. The exact equipment originally used to make it in the first place. Scary stuff. I mean the printing process is hi tech, but we have people literally printing guns and fancy hi tech stuff in their living room these days with 3D printers.
@gottaketchumall The other side of the coin with the improvement of technology making great fakes easier to produce is that better technology could also make fakes easier to spot - for example, with regards to things like the age of the ink on the cards. (This technology already exists, it’s just a matter of cost)
