It’s defiantly a strange one, I don’t own anything from that series. Only from 1996 and all have ‘made in japan’ and seemingly all 97,98,99 I’ve looked at also have ‘made in japan’
It would be interesting if you sent both variations to PSA at the same time, as that’s not really an option currently. I’d say throw them both at CGC just to see if they reject one?
As it could easily just be an error of some sort as @japanime mentioned
We will have to wait and see if any big time carddass collectors chime in
Those are fake. Those were counterfeits produce in the USA around 1999 when Pokemon was crazy. You could usually find them in those sticker dispensers you used to see everywhere around that time. Those products were never sold in japan and that’s why everything you see from Japanese sellers are authentic. You only find those cards from American sellers if you haven’t noticed. Also another little side info the only sets that are part of the counterfeit group is series 4 and 5. I have yet to see any other set that was counterfeited.
Thanks for this info. Odd that the counterfeiters would eliminate the year when they replicated everything else. Probably just scanned the entire card, front and back, and masked the date.
It seems a toss-up if the Japanese or the English card are more valuable but for the SR I find that Japanese is usually more expensive. So I wouldn’t get into the mindset that Japanese cards are always cheaper. Many Japanese alternate arts end up being prize/contest cards while just a box promo in English. However just looking at the standard set cards you’ll find that alternate arts, FA trainers, shinings (shining legends), vv amazing rares, EX FA etc are generally more expensive in Japanese, especially considering that you’re likely paying for international shipping. This is just from my personal experience. Obviously this is not always the case because sometimes a chase card (think normal Charizard Vmax) was just a deck card in Japanese but a set card in English. And sometimes the English set card is more popular than the corresponding Japanese set card. For example the Tyranitar V alt art (though it might have flipped since I last checked).
I don’t buy cards to flip so I can’t give advice on what cards to buy. For record I bought the normal blaziken vmax and the snorlax gold card because I found them appealing. So you might be able to resell to a buyer like me (obviously not while cards are still in print and easily accessible). I’ve been buying EX FAs from XY era lately and I’m definitely paying the premium for waiting so long but you’ll have these cards for 4-5 or more years.
If you want to flip I would not buy right after release, unless you are explicitly hoping to sell before the cards come out in English, though I would caution that the people who collect Japanese modern singles will be more familiar with buying direct from Japan. Still a good arbitrage opportunity as I resort to eBay now and then when cards are sold out. But not readily worth it unless you have a large amount to throw around on what you hope will be most popular.
I purchased the singles I wanted shortly after release and prices tend to drop about 25% in the weeks following. I don’t really mind since they were for my binder and I personally prefer to “lock-in” cards I want than to wait for deals, but for resale I would have waited a bit.
I bought a few boxes from AMIAMI a few months ago. I got both Silver White Lance and Jet-black Geist. Do they normally add the promo cards to the order?
Haven’t bought yet any Sword & Shield related products but that Celebi is really tempting one…
Perfect time for spoiler/release when nature is starting to bloom everywhere after harsh winter.
This link has some more info. It seems you have to buy two of one box to get either the celebi or the sandaconda. Also, it looks like it has to be in-store purchases.
Usually promos like this where you receive the promo for a certain purchase (certain number of booster packs, or in this case, buying 2 boxes of the S6K Jet Black Poltergeist set), they’re usually cheaper just after release. We don’t know exactly how long the promo will run from release on April 23rd and forward. There could be several weeks worth of supply or just a few days. I would say likely the price will go down at release and will stay pretty stable until the promo ends, then will climb back up.
I hope they have enough stock of the promo card and boxes to last more than a day. Who exactly has the time to stand outside a card shop or Pokémon Center on a Friday morning? The earliest I can get to any participating shop is after I finish work.
It’s only the cards which are actively being discussed which tend to rise in value - that’s always been the case, though now it’s greatly amplified. The same applies to English cards, too. WotC cards have seen such a massive boost because that’s all everyone was talking about for most of last year.
Some examples from my own recent experience of Japanese cards going down in value:
I recently picked up a Chosen Entry Prize Illusion’s Zorua for just over $900 and this time last year two of those sold for $2,500 - that’s a 65% or so drop in 12 months;
The hype has completely died down on the recently discovered corrected Neo 1 ‘Dengeki’ Pichu - those were over $500 at the end of January and I’ve recently picked up 3 minty copies for under $100 - that’s an 80% drop in 2 months.