Why are my cards darkened?

[Chrmndr]

Hey guys I hope you can help me out here. I bought 2 japanese 151 sets from 2 different vendors.

How come the cards look so different? There is clear color differences, especially at borders.

I am 95% sure they aren’t fake because they feel the same and when I cut them open they look the same aswell, 3 layers blue color

So no idea whats going on. Appreciate any help!

[Nightvulture]

Likely printed in a different location or printer. Prob a little heavier on ink too

[Chrmndr]

So are these differences in print quite common?

[Nightvulture]

Im not as well versed in japanese stuff but ive seen it alot in the american cards. Usually varies between printers depending on plates, ink, card stock, print runs etc.

[Chrmndr]

Could it also be heat and humidity? I come from a very hot and humid country and the jp set had to be imported. Maybe one vendor stored it wrong or is that less likely to cause this?

[Nightvulture]

Likely not

[Chrmndr]

Thanks! Does this stuff matter for high end cards and grading? Would the darker cards grade better, worse or the same?

[Nightvulture]

It wouldnt be taken into consideration at all when someone is grading condition.

[Quuador]

Color variations are pretty normal. It’s more common with English cards, but happens in any language.

Here some examples:

@Quuador

Orange-ish vs yellow Reverse Holo Pikachus:

@Quuador

Base Set also had a lot of variants across the different print runs and languages. Here an example of the Latin American (©1999) vs European (©1999-2000) Spanish Pikachu cards, where you can see a pretty clear difference in the saturation of yellow:

@Quuador

Here also an image I saved for an example of Japanese color variations:

These above are from Vending Series 1, but the Vending Series 3 is actually known for having both a dark and light print run. Here the Ooyama’s Pikachu from both print runs, where you can see a pretty clear difference:

@Quuador

Top two are two minor purple color variants. Bottom two are the Blue and Maroon misprints (technically also ‘just’ a color variant, though ).

Greetz,
Quuador

[xliveandplay]

Nice! It makes me realize I prefer the darker variants. They look deeper to me, while the lighter prints seem overexposed But I guess it’s all about personal preferences (I love that blue and pink Pikachu !)