Reports of major printing errors have some Pokemon card collectors concerned about the quality of the new TCG expansion Brilliant Stars.
Ever since the Pokemon Trading Card Game launched in North America in 1998, the hobby has had its fair share of misprints and collectible oddities. In many instances, these damaged products actually become even more valuable.
Several collectors have reported receiving Pokemon cards from the Brilliant Stars expansion with printing and packaging errors. This has some fans worried about the quality of production.
Pokemon card printing errors worry TCG collectors
The latest Pokemon TCG set Brilliant Stars is set to hit stores on February 25. The release is the ninth Sword & Shield expansion and introduced the new V Star variant cards.
A handful of collectors who managed to get their hands on the release early have reported receiving cards with an unusual printing error. The first example of the error popped up when TCG commentator OmniJoe tweeted about his misprinted Flareon card.
“Imagine being a content creator that actually pays for their own product and when you open it, you get scammed. not a crease btw the back is fine, printing defect,” he wrote alongside a photo of the warped collectible.
Following the unusual crease print line discovery, another user on the r/PokemonTCG forum reported receiving Brilliant Stars Pokemon cards with similar problems, despite being from sealed packs. The user uploaded photos of their rare Arceus VSTAR cards which both had creases.
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Other TCG players claimed to have opened packs and pulled cards with the same kind of damage in similar locations. “Same thing happened on a VSTAR I opened. Same exact spot,” one said in reaction.
Another wrote, “Critical hit from the printing machine.”
Other collectors worried whether it was a common occurrence. “Wow hope this ain’t a thing where we have to worry about it every time we open a pack of this set,” one comment read.
It should be pointed out, errors happen in any mass-produced item. When considering the millions of products made, they are actually pretty rare.
Still, the print lines and creases are what have some Pokemon card collectors worried when opening up new packs.