The Giant Deal Thread

The 1st edition stamp on the left is a thick stamp, the 1st edition stamp on the right is a thin stamp. The names refer to the width of the “1” in the black circle.

Some people don’t care at all about the difference in stamps. As of now, I would say a majority of collectors still either don’t know the difference or don’t care that much, although it has been trending towards more and more people caring about the difference between stamps over the years. Among those who do care about the difference in stamps, 99% of the time the preference will be for a thick stamp. Some of those people will only collect thick stamps, while others would take either stamp but would simply prefer a thick stamp if possible.

I personally went out of my way to collect thick stamps for the following reasons:

1 - The thick stamp almost certainly came first (this explains why all subsequent WOTC sets stuck with the thin stamp and the Unlimited “1st edition” Machamp only comes with a thin stamp). So thick stamps are pretty much the first 1st edition Base Set holos.

2 - The thick stamps match the non-holos in Base Set, which are all thick stamp. So thick stamp holos are the only way to have a Base Set that’s completely uniform with regards to the type of stamp.

3 - Thick stamps are unique to Base Set, just another thing that sets Base Set apart. So a thin stamp on a holo takes just a little bit away from the unique flavor of Base Set.

4 - Thick stamp Base holos are a bit rarer than Thin Stamp Base holos (ratio is probably something in the ballpark of 1 thick stamp for every 2 thin stamps). Rarity is good, it’s just one more layer of having something special that not many other people have. It feels like a 1-up over the few other collectors who have complete 1st edition Base Set holos in high grades.

5 - I personally like the look of thick stamps more.

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Thanks a lot!

i always thought that was confusing. we should call the thin stamp BOLD stamp and the thick stamp REGULAR stamp - i am basing on the amount of ink applied and the thickness of the ink, rather than the “1” which is a VOID space. this is how typefaces and fonts are described, and it makes more sense to me.

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You’re not the first person to suggest this, but the names have been around for more than a decade. They’re not changing.

Originally the stamps were called “Thick 1” and “Thin 1” stamps but that got shortened to Thick and Thin stamps.

So as much as I don’t want to say “deal with it” … Yeahhhh.

It depends on whether “stamp” refers to the little icon you see on the card or “stamp” means the physical object used to apply ink. If you’re using stamp to refer to the physical object, then it makes more sense to say the thin “1” has a thick stamp. However I think it makes more sense to use “stamp” to refer to the icon on the card (the image resulting from the physical stamp), and obviously the focus of the stamp is the “1”. So unless you’re imagining the physical stamping process, you should say the thick “1” is the thick stamp.

Even if you insist on imagining the “stamp” in “thick stamp” as referring to the literal physical stamp that puts the ink on the card, the negative space of a stamp is still part of a stamp. The space between the teeth of a cog are still part of the cog.

As for using “bold,” I think you have it backwards. If it were called bold, then surely the thicker “1” should be called bold. That’s what bold means in word processors, you make the letter or number itself thicker. You’re getting caught up on the fact that the 1 is made using negative space, but that’s not really important for the purposes of the terminology.

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Although @hyruleguardian already covered everything regarding your question, you might also want to take a look at the 1st edition stamp variations article for these and more 1st edition stamp differences.

Greetz,
Quuador

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Like all your articles, the depth-of-knowledge in this one is incredible. One of the best posts on E4 ever.

But just so that people don’t miss the forest for the trees, here are my cliff notes:

  • For English 1st ed Base, Thick and Thin stamps are pretty much the only true (non-error) stamp variants.
  • For the most part the Thick and Thin divide only impacts the holos. For the non-holos in the set, a tiny handful of thin stamps exist but they are *incredibly* rare so practically speaking we can say that the non-holos in the set really only come in thick stamp.
  • Pretty much all of the other stamp variants are printing errors to some degree.
  • The most commonly noticed of these “errors” are “grey stamps.” Some stamps are more grey, some stamps are less grey. All are the result of varying degrees of a lack of ink when they were stamped. (I personally think grey stamps are nothing better than a shitty looking printing error and actively avoid them, so I find it funny when some people try to hype them as making a card even more desirable).
  • The other English 1st ed Base stamp variants are extremely rare and/or extremely niche errors, but cool to read about all the same!
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Thanks for the big compliment! :grin: And you’re indeed correct with your summary:

Thick stamps only occur in the full English Base Set. Thin stamps on the English Base Set Holofoil Rares, and all other WotC era sets - including foreign (Base) sets.
Every other stamp variation are misprints, i.e. grey stamps in any set; thin non-Holo Base Set stamps; smudged stamps; 3D Base Set stamp; as well as some which only occur on single cards, like the “d” edition Jungle Butterfree or Ghost/Phantom stamp Shadowless Yellow Cheeks Base Set Pikachu.

Greetz,
Quuador

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correct, its all about the context.

one other confusion is that the “EDITION” is bolded in the thin stamp, but regular in the thick stamp. but obviously the important part of the stamp is the “1”. i get it.

visually, my brain focuses more on the black ink part, which was why i had a hard time.

not sure about your cog analogy.

page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/x732965155
Snap Articuno for 8k.

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It’s an auction, not a buy it now.

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Insider Data: 11K highest so far PSA 10 unlimited Charizard. Watch for 15K to 20K+ break within next 3 months. I would hold if you own one.

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I have a card (I wont mention which one because I am not trying to turn this into a “buy my card post”), but it is relatively high value (5k+) but with an extremely low pop report below 20 total grades. I never sell trophies or promos and don’t really have a huge attachment to this card so I’d like to sell it.

Should I auction it? I’m nervous that since it only appeals to a specific type of collector that it wont get much publicity and go for low. Some other people on ebay are selling the same exact cards (but for ridiculously high prices imo) and have gotten no movement in months. I dont really want to wait months but I also dont want to give this away for free. Should I try PWCC???

Auction

PWCC auction or just try it myself? I dont think its a card being searched by tons of people

What card is it?

I’d say but I have seen people hijack threads trying to sell their own stuff and it doesn’t really go well it seems. Lots of people aren’t interested in it so I feel I shouldn’t take over a thread. Its basically a card that only Nintendo promo collectors would care about

Always pwcc for that value. Most eyeballs.

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Yeah, you don’t need tons of people, just two who really want the card :wink:

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Is it champs arena? Or a tropical wind/ tidal wave staff card? If so you have at
least 1 bid

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