I’ve probably said it a lot of times before on your reddit and IG posts, but your collection is amazing!
Probably the grey Pokéball one. Still on the lookout for a semi-affordable one, but not too actively tbh.
One I would rather own/find however, my second favorite, is of course the Pikachu V-Union filler.
This is a strange baby shiny slowpoke from Paldean Fates. I am calling it a “dirty” slowpoke. What appears to be extra black ink is only on the Pokémon itself. Under my hand microscope it looks like the white and pink ink are on top of the black spots, but it is hard to tell. It is only on the Pokémon itself, not on the background, and it can only be seen head on, not on an angle.
Cards since the ending quarter of SWSH era sets have been appearing from the factory with splotchy ink marks on them. Usually its most apparent on FA trainers but it also happens on pretty much any textured card. Im not sure what they are called or how many have been graded by CGC, usually it seems to negatively influence the appeal the card because of visually appearing dirty.
Since Darkness Ablaze, there are 3 types of cardboard used for stock:
Smooth (high quality)
Glossy (mid quality)
Rough (poor quality)
The rough stock is most commonly found in for Chilling Reign, Fusion Strike and Astral Radiance, although it does appear in other sets. If there is anyone out there with smooth Astral Radiance reverses I am definitely looking for those.
I wonder if there’s something chemical going on. Perhaps something was on the underlying layers when they applied the ink. Or perhaps the ink was absorbed into the cardstock in an odd way. WotC has had multiple different types of printing inconsistencies lately too… though I’ve not seen this exact kind of issue. Most of WotC’s issues revolve around faded foil, low-contrast ink, and heavy warping, but I’ve also seen a few with texture issues - clearly a paper quality issue.
I appreciate your insight, as well as lyleberr’s. I think I will end up sending it to CGC as an extra ink error and decide what to do when I get it back. I have a few magic cards I want to encapsulate and I like how the CGC slabs look for MTG better than PSA.
Nice artist proof! Usually these are provided to the MTG artists (20-50 copies per card), which they often sign/sketch and sell. It looks like one was accidentally added to a pack.
You’re right. For set cards, they typically don’t have the stamp. I don’t know if it’s different for Secret Lair cards. If it’s the same as with set cards, then you have a neat error.