Reverse holos in Japanese sets

So I’m working on completing JP sets right now, but I’m having trouble identifying the sets containing reverse holos.

I know they appear in L1, L2, and L3, but are there any other sets that have them (including mini-sets). As well, in L1, L2, and L3 are there reverse holos for every card? Or did they only create them for cards with certain rarities? Similarily, did they create them for energy cards?

Better yet, does anyone have a checklist for JP sets that they would like to share? The only JP checklist that I can find is the one by @nullifidian , but unfortunately that one only covers the vintage era sets. :slightly_frowning_face:

Thanks for any help!

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I’m personally only aware of those three Japanese sets. I know a few other Japanese sets with Reverse Holos, but in those cases the entire set is RH and non-Holos aren’t available (the GX Battle Boost or Great Detective Pikachu sets for example). The L1, L2, and L3 are the only Japanese sets I’m aware of with both non-Holo and RH variations. (PS: And Korean sets started added RHs halfway through the Sun & Moon era, which in the past were only non-Holo as well.)

As for your second question if all cards in the L1/L2/L3 cards have Reverse Holos, I think they do. Unlike English, this also includes Ultra Rare Prime Pokémon, since I know @tonysandlin is currently looking for the unlimited edition L2 Electrode Prime card to finish his Voltorb/Electrode collection. I’m not sure about the Secret Rares and Energy cards, though. And I think the Ultra Rare LEGEND cards also aren’t available as RH.

Greetz,
Quuador

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There’s a few sets that have come out in the last couple of years that have have reverse holos in addition to the regular set (excluding EXs, breaks, megas, GXs, FAs & prism stars).

The best of XY, which has a reverse starlight holo pattern. GX Ultra Shiny, which has a reverse cracked ice holo pattern & the recent Tag All Stars that has normal mirror reverse holo.

As @quuador mentioned there are a few sets that only have rev holos; in addition to the ones he’s mentioned I can also think of Ultra force, premium champion pack & Strength Expansion Pack Sun & Moon.

These, in addition to the L’s are the only ones I’m aware or but there could be more :blush:

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Ah, completely forgot about the first two… I actually have a Pikachu from the Best of XY set in both non-Holo and RH, as well as a Seviper from the GX Ultra Shiny set in non-Holo and Cracked Ice RH (never even realized these Sevipers were from the same set tbh, haha)… I didn’t knew about the RHs of the Tag All Stars, though.

Greetz,
Quuador

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Thanks for the great info guys. :blush:

Can anyone confirm whether L1 was released as unlimited via retail/hobbies? Or was it similar to E1 in that it was only distributed via promotions? Also, it seems that there has only been one L2/L3 unlimited reverse holo card graded by PSA. Fair to say that becoming an astronaut might be more realistic than finishing a master set of L1/L2/L3?

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If you include unlimited editions, then without any doubts becoming an astronaut is way more realistic. I’ve only seen two unlimited edition L1 cards to begin with, which can be found here in this thread (which also contains some discussions about how those UED L1 cards might have been released). Before that I and many other collectors who’ve been on the lookout for these cards on a daily basis for multiple years haven’t seen a single unlimited edition L1 card.

I’ve said a few months back that I most likely would be able to add the SNAP Photo Contest 1999 card, of which only 20 exists, and the last one sold (a.f.a.i.k.) was in 2005 for 8,500 USD - in today’s market I wouldn’t be surprised if it would be able to fetch 35-55k USD (which I don’t even have), before getting an unlimited edition L1 Pikachu in Reverse Holo. The unlimited edition L1 Pikachus, E1 Pikachu, and WCP Seviper and Battle Frontier cards are a few of the last cards to complete my collections…

As for unlimited edition L2 and L3, that is possible, but also very hard. I have a few of them myself, and I know @supersaiyanampharos used to collect them since I sold him my duplicated copies once (although he isn’t very active anymore, so I doubt he still collects). (I just checked his collection thread, but the pictures seem to be broken at the L2 unlimited edition posts unfortunately… :confused: ).

1st edition L1/L2/L3 shouldn’t be too hard, but if you’re going for unlimited as well, I wish you the best of luck with the L2 and L3; and I doubt you’ll be able to find more than 5 cards in 5 years time for the L1. :wink: But if you find even a single UED L1 card, make sure to share it here on the forum. And if it’s a Pikachu, I will buy it from you by any means necessary, haha.

Greetz,
Quuador

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So the main reason I’ve started collecting JP sets is because I have a trip to Japan next year and I figure I could use that opportunity to tie up any loose ends I might have. I had no idea that I would run into the wall called unlimited prints so early into my collection.

Now I’m not sure if you or anyone would be able to answer this, but would it be safe to say that Japanese collectors are aware of how scarce these cards are in unlimited? Let’s say I wanted to drop by a few hobby stores, I’m wondering if it would be worth my time to look through bulk binders/bins in search of E1/L1/L2/L3 unlimited cards… or maybe they’d be on display?

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@burpies , I’ve never been to Japan myself, so I honestly don’t know. I think in general most probably don’t know the unlimited E1 and L1 cards are worth more, with a few exceptions here and there. Similar as a lot of people don’t know about the 1st edition stamp differences and how Thin 1st edition stamps on non-Holos are worth more; or about the ©1999-2000 Fossil cards; etc. So maybe you’ll indeed find some. Although I doubt many of them would just be lying around in shops. (Just like the ©1999-2000 Fossil cards and Thin 1st edition non-Holos are hard to find here.)

To also put it into a bit more perspective: I once bought a lot of 7,000 Japanese cards. All of them were non-Holos from the DP, HGSS, BW, and XY eras. It contained well over 400 L1 cards, of which all were 1st edition. It also contained about 150-175 L2 and L3 cards combined, of which about 15-20 were unlimited edition.

But again, I’ve never been to Japan myself, so I honestly don’t know. Although I kinda doubt it, since I know some Japanese collectors are also active on the forum here. Some of them most likely know these cards are worth a lot and also know what I’m willing to give for an unlimited edition L1 or E1 Pikachu if one pops up, so if these would be available in stores in Japan, I would think people already checked those, and sold them to us collectors for a nice profit.

And if by a small chance they do have them for sale, the store owners probably will know their value. The chances of finding a 1st edition Base Set Charizard just lying around in a store for less than 200 bucks would be slim to none as well for example. I think it’s no different in Japan, where Pokémon is probably even more active and part of their culture than in our continents.

Greetz,
Quuador

Really appreciate the insight @quuador!

If I ever happen to stumble upon one of those Pikachu cards I’ll give it to you at cost. :blush:

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Hi @quuador, is the unlimited L1 L2 L3 two pieces LEGEND cards rare too?
Like the lugia, hooh, sucine raikou enter combinations, groudon kyogre, and deoxys rayquaza, palkia dialga

Tbh, I’m not sure. I have seen the unlimited edition LEGEND pieces a few times, but I cannot remember if it was only the L2/L3 LEGENDs or also the L1. I did have the feeling I saw the LEGEND pieces in unlimited edition more often than most other cards of the set, but maybe that’s also due to the higher popularity of the cards being Ultra/Secret Rares.

They’re definitely rarer than their 1st edition counterparts, though. But I’m not entirely sure how rare the unlimited edition LEGEND pieces are.

Greetz,
Quuador

I actually know the answer to this one! They aren’t nearly as rare, I see L1 ones specifically all the time on eBay or yahoo japan, they are probably the most common L1 unlimited cards to get. I’ve been trying to look up (with little success) if they came out in a promotional box because the abundance of them is insane. There are probably 1/8 are unlimited which seems like small odds until you consider how many legend cards are out there.

Mjisaacs

Thank you for your response, both @quuador and @mjisaacs.
I’m actually browsing through my old cards recently, then stumble upon this thread.
Thinking to start collect some pretty cards.