Youtube vid like that would be titled “The new metaldetector trick without the detector? 
in 10 seconds?! You won’t believe it”
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True, nothing is definite. Except, as @dwah86 pointed out, opening them!
The ex packs that can vary by up to a gram I always assume were from different card stock. If that difference comes from pack foil material, that is the only issue I could see with this method. But even then it is limited to just a few sets
also would like to see how it works on sets that have different holo patterns like delta species. And early ex sets that have more metallic reverses than others, plus sets with holo energies or Unown subsets
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“Want to know how i pulled this Megazard EX lvl 69420 ultra rare?! 
Click the link in my bio 
to find the detector I use, with 0,0018 procent off!! What a deal 
”
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It is less of a concern now that multiple holos and styles can be included per pack but as someone already brought up, this tentatively can work on blisters which changes many aspects of values for what is considered untampered, and thats from literally minutes of brainstorming possibilities. I dont think it helps the hobby to make it easy to find information on how packs can be definitively determined to be with or without holos all the way up to maybe SV era.
People have been using this or similar methods for a long time even at retail stores, its out there, but once it starts spreading and influencers make videos then it makes it harder to determine authentic secondary sellers beforehand. For me, the chance and possibility of a big hit hiding in packs that have variability is what is fun and that would be lost if people begin to revisit metal detectors and find that it is more definitive than weight.
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I don’t know, but I assume it is simply the amount of foil material. Or rather the number of cards with foil. If there’s always a consistent number of foil cards, regardless if they’re reverse or holo etc. it wouldn’t work?
I see your points and perhaps I have opened a can of worms…
I was genuinely just a bit curious, since I’d only seen a handful of videos.
If it is very divisive and people feel strongly about it, I certainly wouldn’t object to this topic being deleted.
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In my opinion, having a more definitive way of determining if a pack has a holo is a net possible. Especially for old and expensive packs. Since it maximizes transparency about what is being bought/sold. We had similar discussions here in the past on pack weighing.
Imagine trying to buy a 1st edition base pack today without having weighing as a tool.
This is also a situation where the information landscape should not be tilted. This is a physical reality of packs that can’t be changed. It’s not fair to leep it a secret that the most knowledgeable sellers can leverage and not disclose while the casual collector suffers the consequences.
Just like pack weighing, when everyone knows about it and knows it’s happening, everyone can make better informed decisions
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I can see both sides and apprecite that e4 is a safehaven for data regardless.
The benefits are the same as @wisewailmer said in the weight database post,
“2 years after the database was revamped we have had 7.7k people use the info to avoid wasting their money!
That’s a huge achievement! It’s all free data and not meant to gatekeep anyone. I don’t sell loose packs and gain nothing from doing this it just baffled me to see people happily open guaranteed light packs.”
The detriments are that it could be picked up by sellers who dont know what their doing and copied by everyone else so the information is not useful. Literally the first comments to someone finding packs now are “weigh them”. No nuances for what weights should be, how it can vary, but straight to figuring out if there is more value in them. I expect we will eventually see some sellers like the ones who are weighing literally everything… i can see it now, a sleeved pack on a metal trayed scale with a detector also on it, sellers listing has 3 diamonds and 2 flames, “ULTRAHEAVY EVOLVING SKIES PACK!! DETECTED! Charizard Moonbreon?!” 235.7g on scale including detector weight, signifying nothing to a collector but someone gullible will buy it.
Back in the day, pack weighing was seen as unsavory and for good reason. Then it became a common practice and many learned to accept it. It got so bad that until packs were changed in modern times with the inclusion of reverse holos - some folks would bring weights to stores and leave only light packs. My feelings on this topic haven’t changed. I just know I can’t persuade a large population to stop what has essentially become a common practice. I can easily see this being the case as well if it works for modern.
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It would be great to see this in action, and definitely being able to mark packs as holo or non holo would be fantastic.
Even with weighing its a guess
Given its putative legitimacy, I think transparency about the method is a good thing. The more knowledgable people are on both sides (buyer and seller), the more understanding there is when it comes to buying and selling and the risks. It’s largely a complement to pack weighing, as far as I see it. Though it could see particular use in areas pack weighing is not effective (i.e. blister packs and light Neo Destiny packs, for shining pokemon).
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Well regardless of the results, using metal detectors was a common thing in Japan several years ago 
Like you can just do a quick search on Amazon which will bring up things like:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00AUL6LAW/
It was so popular that at one time Pokémon Centers had to post signs in store warning people not to use those.
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I rather use a metal detector to detect gold coins and jewellery at the beach! 
I would simply use the detector to separate the foil packs from the non-foils before opening, so I can get the annoying non-foils out of the way. If this were to become a problem, it’s not hard to overcome, AND I imagine, consistent reverse foils would cause a problem for this method.
So, using a metal detector definitely works for finding hits. I used it from around 2018-2022, I would get only at minimum holos from the packs. Now that pokemon puts three holos per pack, the metal detector method is patched.
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If you dont mind me asking, which metal detector were you using?
Me just taking notes because I feel like a kindergarden in a science class with PHD students:
Where did you get your metal detector?
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