Pokémon card encyclopedia

Anatomy of a card: the parts of a Pokémon card and how to read the set, number, rarity symbol and edition markings.

English and Japanese Pokémon cards: differences in sets, release timing, printing and market, and what to watch when comparing them.

Eras of the Pokémon TCG: an overview of the major periods from Base Set to today's sets, and why era matters to collectors.

Pokémon cards as collectibles: what gives a card value, how collectors and investors think, and why the market is hard to predict.

Storing Pokémon cards: how sleeves, toploaders, binders and storage conditions protect condition and, with it, value.

Time horizon for Pokémon cards: why how long you hold cards affects costs, liquidity and how prices develop over time.

BGS (Beckett Grading Services): the grading company known for subgrades, half grades and the Black Label, and how it differs from PSA.

Condition of Pokémon cards: what NM, LP, MP, HP and DMG mean, how marketplaces use them, and how they differ from grading.

Grading Pokémon cards: what it is, how a company assesses and seals a card, and what the grade means for condition and price.

Centering on Pokémon cards: how the image sits relative to the borders, how it is measured, and why it affects the grade.

CGC (Certified Guaranty Company): the grading company that began with comic books and started grading Pokémon cards around 2020.

Crossover grading: sending a card already graded by one company to another, how it works, and the uncertainties that come with it.

The grading scale from 1 to 10: what the grades mean, how half grades and subgrades work, and why scales differ between companies.

Is grading Pokémon cards worth it? The costs, probabilities and price differences that go into the assessment, with no one-size answer.

Population report: what grading companies' overviews of graded cards show, how to read them, and which pitfalls to keep in mind.

PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator): the grading company behind the most widely traded slabs of Pokémon cards, and how its scale works.

SGC and other grading companies for Pokémon cards: how they differ from PSA, Beckett and CGC, and how the market views them.

First Edition (1st Edition) is the stamp on the earliest English print runs of Pokémon cards from Wizards of the Coast.

Holo and reverse holo are two foil treatments of Pokémon cards: a shiny artwork, or a shiny card surface around it.

Misprints are Pokémon cards with production faults, such as wrong colors, missing elements or crooked cutting.

Promo cards and stamps cover Pokémon cards handed out outside regular packs, often marked with a black star symbol or a stamp.

Reprints are new editions of existing Pokémon cards, either in a new set or as a fresh print run of the same set.

Shadowless is an early printing of English Base Set in which the artwork frame has no shadow along its right edge.

The Wizards of the Coast era is the 1999 to 2003 period when Wizards published Pokémon cards in English, from Base Set to Skyridge.

Unlimited is the standard printing of older Pokémon cards without the 1st Edition stamp, made without a set print limit.

Chase cards are the cards in a set that collectors hunt for most, often because they are rare, beautiful or show a popular Pokémon.

Full art and alternate art are Pokémon cards where the illustration covers the whole card or shows the Pokémon in its own scene.

Illustration Rare is a rarity from the Scarlet & Violet era that puts the artist in focus, with artwork across the whole card.

Pull rates describe how often a particular card or rarity appears in booster packs, most often estimated by collectors.

Rarity symbols are the circle, diamond and stars at the bottom of Pokémon cards showing the card's rarity level within its set.

Secret rare describes Pokémon cards numbered higher than the printed set total, a group counted among the most sought-after rarities.

A booster box, also called a booster display, is a sealed case holding many booster packs from one Pokémon set.

The Elite Trainer Box is a sealed box of booster packs and accessories such as sleeves, energy cards and dice for one Pokémon set.

Print runs and print waves describe how many Pokémon cards or products were printed, and why the figures are rarely public.

Resealed and weighed packs are Pokémon booster packs that were opened, sorted by weight or contents and closed again for sale.

Sealed products are unopened Pokémon products in factory wrapping, such as packs, boxes, Elite Trainer Boxes and collection sets.

Sealed versus singles compares owning unopened Pokémon products with owning specific cards, and what sets the two apart.

Cardmarket is a European marketplace for trading cards. This entry explains its price terms and how to read the prices from Norway.

How exchange rates affect the price of Pokémon cards in Norwegian kroner, and why the dollar and euro rates matter to collectors in Norway.

Which fees and shipping costs affect what a Pokémon card trade actually costs and yields, and where to find the current rates.

What normally applies when Pokémon cards are bought from abroad to Norway: VAT, customs clearance and carrier fees, and where to find the current rules.

What liquidity means for Pokémon cards: how quickly and easily a card can be sold, and why it differs between cards and products.

What market price means for Pokémon cards, how platforms calculate it differently, and why two sources rarely show the same number.

What price history for Pokémon cards shows, how price charts are read, and which sources of error to know before interpreting a curve.

The difference between sold and listed prices for Pokémon cards, and why completed sales are a more reliable basis than asking prices.

TCGplayer is a US marketplace for trading cards. This entry explains how its prices are read and what it means for buyers in Norway.

What volatility means for Pokémon card prices: how much and how fast prices swing, and what makes some cards more volatile than others.

What counterfeit Pokémon cards look like, which features collectors check, and why comparison with a genuine card is the most reliable method.

What fake slabs are, how collectors check a graded Pokémon card against the company's certificate database, and which warning signs to look for.

How hype can drive Pokémon card prices up and down, what a price bubble is, and which features collectors watch for in fast-rising markets.

What reprint risk is for Pokémon cards: that new printings of a card increase supply and can affect the price of older copies.

Common forms of scams when trading Pokémon cards, how to recognize them, and which safety routines collectors use to avoid them.

General information on tax when selling Pokémon cards in Norway: what can decide whether a gain is taxable, documentation, and where to find the rules.

Glossary of terms collectors use for Pokémon cards, from NM and slab to pull rate and secret rare, with links to the full entries.