Victory Cup is my favorite modern trophy. I played the TCG from 2009-2012 and it is the only special card I ever managed to win (in English… Much easier lmao). I did not write it down but I am 90% sure the deck I used was either Magneboar (Magnezone Prime and Emboar) or ZPS (Zekrom + Pachirisu + Shaymim) combo. I love that a Pokemon I used was on the Victory Cup card. I also appreciate how the number of Pokemon increase per placing similar to the Neo No. 1/2/3.
Flash forward and after selling some set cards last year I had unforeseen opportunities to expand my collection (outside of Chanseys) with rare cards that had previously been out of my price range. I immediately went for Victory Cup! There was no time to waste as approximately 40 of each placing were awarded from 2011-2013 at regional battle roads. Poor 4th place winners did not receive one. Furthermore, the 2011 Battle Road did not give out trophy cases for the 6 of each awarded. So there are only 34 cases for 40 cards.
There were also personalized copies with the winner’s name in gold for the 2012 Japan Nationals! Again a parallel to Neo No. 1/2/3. I do not know the exact quantity but have never seen any for sale.
My First Place cup arrived today and the family is all together. I wish pictures did these cards justice & that my cat was a bit less nosy! Hopefully I’ll get a display cabinet of sorts in the future. Seeing how the cases and cards sparkle in the sun it is no wonder winners were willing to let the cards fade to enjoy the display. It really feels surreal to see them together.
Completing a set of gold/silver/bronze trophy cards in their respective trophy cases is never an easy feat. Not many can say they achieve that. Congrats man, you deserve it
Big congrats! So you did manage to buy that first place copy on eBay that was mentioned on Discord. Happy you were able to get the funds ready for transfer before someone else bought it, considering how few of these pop up. Big congrats on completing the trio! They look amazing in their original cases.
Damn dude. You’re really knocking it out of the park with your additions lately.
But you definitely earned it, staying true to the hobby for so many years.
Congrats!
I personally think grading is done for one or multiple of the following three:
Protection
Increase in value if you ever decide to sell it
If you collect graded cards
In the case of these cards in their original trophy cases, I’d say 1 is already covered; 2 is probably higher like this unless it grades a 10; 3 let’s ignore consistency for the sake of amazing trophy cases; and 4, they’ve way cooler in their original cases like that. So I definitely would keep them like this as well.
One thing I’ve been wondering though: why is the logo, “Congratulations!” font, and background pattern different on the No. 2 in comparison? Does this depend on where the event took place? Just something I noticed.
@quuador in terms of value, I had to pay more for my second place cup shown here, than I did for a PSA 10 Second Place cup (pop 1) purchased earlier that did not have the plaque. I had decided when I received the PSA 10 cup that it was not the same without the case and I wanted all three with the case. But to each their own; to help cover the costs of the First Place cup, I sold my PSA 10 to someone who wanted the PSA 10 grade.
Regarding the cases - yes, they are different styles based on the tournament! The second place is Spring 2012 and the third and first are Spring 2013. There is a third style case for Autumn 2012. Up until recently I had wanted matching cases for all three placings. However when I received the First Place cup and photographed them all together I actually really liked how the Second Place had a different design. So now I want a third or first place cup in an Autumn 2012 case so I can take pictures of all three styles. Lmao.
