So I purchased a Shadowless 2-Player Starter Deck Display Case (SEALED) a few weeks ago. At the time of purchase I wasn’t 100% as to whether the decks would in-fact be Shadowless, so I had to bust it open to verify the contents! As it turned-out, it was in-fact Shadowless.
I ended-up opening five of the decks and keeping three in my personal collection. It was actually really cool opening such an old product - really put into perspective how new Pokemon was at the time of the Shadowless Printing! Out of the five decks I opened, four of them had some type of “error” - one was missing the “Starter Rules” Booklet, one was missing the “Rules” Booklet, one had two copies of the “Rules” Booklet and no “Starter Rules” Booklet, and one was even missing the package of Damage Counters!
I ended-up opening five of the decks in-hopes to grade the Machamp 8/102. For those that are interested, I just sent the five cards off to PSA this morning - I think it’s going to be 1x PSA 8, 3-4x PSA 9, with Possibly 1x PSA 10 (fingers crossed).
Anyway, what I found REALLY INTERESTING was that of the five decks I opened, four were THICK Stamped and one was THIN Stamped - does that mean the three that I kept in my collection are going to be all THIN? Meaning there would be four of each THICK and THIN / Case? I just found it VERY SURPRISING that out of the same case I’d pull both variations of this card! I was under the assumption that one version was printed and then the other (forget which came first) at a later time.
Does anyone else know of this occurring whether in Booster Boxes and/or Display Cases?
@joetehman I know you were talking about opening a display case - let me know what your results are with the Machamp if you do decide to open! I’d be curious to hear if you experience the same thing.
Happened to open mine last night. I wasn’t paying too much attention to the stamps as I was talking with someone while opening, but if I remember right, they were all the same, and thin, but I will have to confirm when I get back from the office. All boxes had complete contents as well.
After all of the decks i’ve opened over the years, I can’t remember a single one missing the damage counters, crazy. Not sure about your findings, but they are pretty cool.
There’s a funny story about those missing Damage Counters… I wasn’t 100% as to whether my case would be Shadowless - had never seen one of those before. Spent a few minutes comparing that case with my other case (Unl.) and gently shook both of them - the Shadowless had a distinct “rattle” compared to the Unl. So, I opened the case and removed one of the decks to give it another shack - there was no “rattle”! My heart sank for a minute; thinking that I accidentally opened my Unl. Case! After checking to make sure I had in-fact opened the right case, I was so confused! I had already come to far to turn back, so I opened that deck and realized the cards were in-fact Shadowless and it was just the damage counters were missing.
Looking Back, I probably should have checked another deck before opening that one - probably could have sold that one for a small premium to some collector out there! O Well…