I posted about some cards I have and reddit recommended me to post it on here:
Back in the late 90s, I lived in Lily Lake IL and my neighbor’s dad worked at some factory where he got his hands on some Pokemon cards that he ended up giving my sister and I. They’re square cut and factory sealed in this plastic. I have this Charizard, a Nidoking, and a Clefairy. I have no idea the value of them. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Very cool square cut cards. They do show up on occasion. I would consider getting them graded. BGS and CGC have graded them previously. PSA may consider grading it, but they haven’t as readily in the past.
Some might want it kept sealed.
Some people on Reddit were saying that these companies don’t grade square cut cards anymore, but I’m not sure how to validate that.
You should just be able to send them an email and ask. Might take a few days but they’ll eventually get back to you with an answer
This is such a super cool card. Grading will probably be the right way to go if you want to maximize the value of the card if you want to sell. I personally would just keep it sealed because of its history and the story behind it. Good luck with whatever you decide to do, it will be the right choice regardless.
Cheers!
CGC would definitely grade it; you can mail them before or reach through instagram (believe it or not they are pretty active there and usually reply fast)
I just messaged CGC about it, thanks for the recommendation!
I personally would keep sealed but that is me and my goals. I do know when I went down the square cut hole ( no pun intended) there were a few key elements a raw opened card had to pass when I looked into it to confirm not hand cut. I believe a printer dot, evenness or boarders(?) trying to recall now. At any rate jmo and awesome card.
Not to be a downer, but the origin of wrapped charizard square cuts isn’t 100%: Fishy ebay listing - #2 by KingPokemon
Echoing @KingPokemon comment, I remember these being regularly on ebay during that period. Obviously do and value these how you want, just sharing that thread for context in relation to the wrap.
Is the printer dot/cut balance theory still a valid way to confirm either way? It has been a while since I looked into this.
Thank you so much for sending this! I just looked up Packaging Advantage and they had a location in Chicago so it could have been where my neighbor worked. I found a few email addresses for him online and sent a message out hoping to get a response, so we’ll see what he has to say
Where is the printer dot located on the card?
Adding a link to a video of the card as well:
That is the dot top left I believe based on the video. Which from what I recall (been a while) is a positive sign. Unless others have experience seeing the dot and still being a hand cut example? Also I am no expert on packaging so someone else may be able to help with how the wrap looks.
I’m going to post the other two card videos too because they both have the dot you’re referring to as well on them:
Nidoking- https://imgur.com/a/uUbs6HC
Clefairy- https://imgur.com/a/X8SmzM7
As far as I know, the wrap would not be factory. These were acquired by employees and were just cut from the sheet. I have a lot of square cut WOTC. 5 square cut Charizards, let me know if you need any information.
CGC will not grade WOtC square cuts without them coming directly from a WOtC source, sorry.
Paul
Do you know what the dot explanation is all about in reference to whether or not it was cut by a random person or not?
Here, validation, Reddit, poo poo nation.
Are you referring to the alignment dot? The cut looks very clean, consistent with wizards of the coast employee cards. It is possible that they could have sealed it to give as a promotional item at an event, I have heard of that happening. Sometimes they were used as trophies or gifts.
