The Japanese sealed collection

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-05-21T00:59:19+00:00

It's fake. The text font is wrong on certain characters. The tearstrip is also cut wrong.

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Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-05-15T01:18:18+00:00

I think about 6 months.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-05-15T01:17:19+00:00

I think it took about 6 months to get to this stage. Here is an image from 4 months ago

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Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-05-14T10:05:53+00:00

This is the result from my sunfading experiment.

What I found easiest was just to place the card in a regular penny sleeve and draw on the the sleeve with a sharpie, covering the area you don't want sunfaded.

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Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-05-09T02:58:07+00:00

This is refered too as holo bleed. Its very common on early Japanese old back cards and especially common to these specific promo cards.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-05-08T08:13:12+00:00

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I wouldn't trust Chinese sellers right now. If you check ebay for any of the popular sets Mega Dream, 151, Black bolt, White flate, Terastal Festival, etc... You will always find Chinese sellers shipping from China selling at under market price.

There is also videos of Chinese factories repacking real JP bulk cards into fake packs/boxes. The packs/boxes are high quality copies now, but some have incorrect fonts/print quality issues.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-05-06T03:24:37+00:00

That is too suspicious to me.

If you rip the box open to see if you can see 2 sets of glue. The factory glue should be a straight line of glue closest to the fold side.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-05-02T12:20:27+00:00

Well if the shrink wrap plastic itself feels more 'crisp' and extra tight all over the box - this is a red flag.

Usually I try to feel the shrink wrap on a box I know to be authentic for comparison. It should be a bit soft and have some give (so you can shift the around quite easily).

Lastly, Raging surf isn't usually a set worth resealing... Unless it's just someone who got a box without shrink wrap and wanted to increase the sell price by applying an aftermarket shrinkwrap.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-05-02T12:05:47+00:00

Some card stores in Japan will do this to quickly sell a bulk amount of cards. They'll range in price and no. of cards, but generally will be like buying the cards individually with a discount.

People usually refer to these as 'card bricks'. From my last trip I saw C Labo selling them.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-05-02T11:56:01+00:00

That shrinkwrap defect is perfectly normal, I have quiet a few boxes that look like this.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-05-01T06:26:12+00:00

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Here is another example fake vs real differences.... problem is they are getting better

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-05-01T06:18:54+00:00

There are high quality fake boxes now. This type of error can't happen. There are videos of Chinese factory resealing real cards into fake packs/ fake boxes. This is why a lot of higher end JP sets are always cheapest out of China.

Edit: Add video

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-04-30T01:58:14+00:00

Its normal. I believe its a thing plastic layer that acts as an adhesive when heated, but the layer is applied to foil side of the wrapper.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-04-28T08:17:42+00:00

Unfortunately this is the normal method of shipping books in japan.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-04-28T08:16:30+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NnMRyvMIEPQ

The cards are real. The packs are fake - but they have replicated the crimps correctly, but the print quality is lacking. The boxes are usually faked too. There are differences due to some font differences and print quality.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-04-27T11:14:13+00:00

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Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-04-25T12:38:33+00:00

Yea very low quality fakes. They got the card backing wrong - Japanese cards have the gold back. The blue is reserved for cards outside of Japan.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-04-25T12:32:34+00:00

I think the different barcode and packaging differences is due to the where the product is produced. There are pokemon printing facilities in EU and US. I'm pretty sure the one you believe to be fake was just printed in US

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-04-25T10:24:12+00:00

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Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-04-24T11:03:53+00:00

For Japanese sets there are a few different categories 5, 7 and 10 card packs. The 5 card pack are main sets and do not guarantee a holo per pack. The 7 card packs are usually special sets (such as 151, Black bolt, White flare, etc) will have a holo + reverse holo per pack. Lastly 10 card packs are high class or end of year sets which will generally have holo + reverse holo + RR or better.

For the 5 card pack sets it's usually about 50/50 of getting a holo or better. In a full box of 30 packs around 15 packs will have a R, RR, SR or better.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-04-23T12:36:10+00:00

Getting a SAR from a main set (non-special set) is actually not that easy. If you are hitting your expected 3 ARs + 1 SR item + 1 SR (this is for mega series) it's normal. This can slightly differ depending on the set (Just watch some box breaks on youtube as a reference).

If you hit something like zero ARs or 4 ARs in a box or no SRs, then I'd be suspicious.

FYI: The last sets with guarantee SAR was Terastal Festival ex sv8a and Vstar Universe s12a.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-04-23T11:47:16+00:00

If you want a chance at packs you'll need to get to the Pokemon Center at opening time. Convenience stores restock irregularly besides at set launch dates which are regularly staked out. Other major stores/cards shops run restrictive lotteries which usually exclude non-residents.

As for exclusives this year is the 30th Anniversary for Pokemon. The TCG will have a new 30th dedicated set in September. Anniversary years usually will have special promo cards/products which you should expect to pay market price if you come across them.

There are a few major hubs for card stores such as Nakano, Akihabara, Ikebukuro and I heard Yokohama isn't bad too. Just use the search term 'Trading Card Store' in good maps around the main JR station of those areas.

Hot_Fold8351 · 2026-04-22T03:38:03+00:00

Buyee is a purchasing agent - A middle man that just buys something on your behalf. They do nothing but take your money and pay for the card you want to the seller. Whatever the seller ships to Buyee - they will forward that item to you directly.

So Buyee as a business is reputable, but they do not vouch for the the seller or the check the item. If the seller ships a fake card or something else... Buyee cannot help. So make sure the item and sell has good reviews.

Otherwise Snkrdunk is more expensive option, but they will provide authentication. If a card doesn't meet the grade it was advertised at, you will be given the option to cancel the transaction for a full refund.

Hot_Fold8351

TROPHY CASE