Personally, it looks like someone screwed up on cutting a sheet and threw this down as a “misprint”.
Thoughts?
Edit: Note that he says “Mewtwo on the bottom” without any other indication except that it’s Psychic colored. Anyone know if Mewtwo is below Gyarados on the sheet?
Edit2: I should really look at this stuff more carefully but didn’t want to miss an opportunity on a real “misprint”. Further lurking shows he’s selling several “square cuts” and a “misprint mewtwo” with the top missing.
So I asked the guy about it and this is what he said.
“no there from the factory, when it closed down i was working there taking equipment away and found some in the dumpster that were supposed to be thrown out.”
Ah yes, “the dumpster”. The place where all of the uncut sheets are apparently found. You know how those companies are, just throwing away ridiculously rare/specific items in mint condition in public dumpsters. I should purchase a dumpster and put it in my driveway and see if an uncut sheet appears in it the next morning.
Hey! That was my card they were called out on. I’m new to this whole idea of misprints/sheets of cards, so I’m really interested in learning all I can about them!
Honestly, I wouldn’t trust any square cut that are from a common sheet. If you don’t mind the fact that these were most likely hand cut by the seller/someone outside of the factory, then you can buy whatever you prefer. However, if you are concerned with square cut origins, you should stay away from the common variants on ebay.
If you think about it, square cut cards are counter intuitive to pokemon. They were cut with rounded edges. Either way, there is no way to distinguish square cuts, which is why most serious collectors do not even bother.
I think that’s rather short sighted. I will admit I do plan on getting rid of my personal Square Cut cards, but it’s not because I don’t consider them collectible or beneath my collection. Simply put, I just don’t find it fits in with my current trend of a collection.
With that said I know there’s plenty of people who have interest in these cards and to dismiss them as not serious is quite a slap in the face. There’s a reason it’s profitable to create these cards, albeit not necessarily ethical.
I think they’re perfect and a must have for any error card collector, they’re a serious consideration for anyone collecting Pre 2000 cards, they’re also great for people who want to collect their favorite pokemon.
Heck, we currently have a tread going on right now about the “test” sheet, even though there’s a lot of evidence that they’re not authentic many people would be hard pressed to turn one down if given the right opportunity. I do see how it’s a bit of an apples to oranges comparison, but it’s close enough to at least shed some light that Wizards doesn’t have to do everything in the card making process to consider something wanted.
The lack of authenticity is a huge concern for most, not all, most. That is what I was trying to highlight.
As you mentioned with the “test” sheet, with what we have at the moment, it was most likely not printed by WOTC, but people still would want it. I agree that people can collect whatever they desire, which I would ultimately encourage. However, I want to make sure they are informed about the reality, and most importantly, the authenticity of their purchases.
The Base Set holos currently listed on ebay are from one of the most common sheets.
The problem you are going to run into with collecting square cuts is that there is no way to know for sure the origin of what you are purchasing. You have to accept this reality if you want to collect square cuts. I don’t want to discourage you if this is something you are after, but it needs to be said that there is no way to authenticate them.
