Pokémon card glossary

This glossary explains terms and abbreviations that recur in the trading and collecting of Pokémon cards. Many are English trade words that are used unchanged in Norway. Each term has a short answer, and where a full entry exists it is linked.

A–F

1st Edition

Cards printed in the first run of a set, marked with a special stamp. See first edition.

Alt art

Alternate art: a card whose illustration shows the Pokémon in a scene that extends beyond the frame, often across the whole card. See Full art and alternate art.

BGS

Beckett Grading Services, a grading company that uses sub-grades. See BGS (Beckett).

Black Label

A black label at BGS for cards where every sub-grade is the highest possible. Very few cards receive it.

Booster box

A sealed box holding a fixed number of booster packs, also called a booster display. See Booster box.

Centering

How evenly the artwork sits in the card's frame, measured as the ratio between the widths of the borders. See off-center.

Cert number

The unique number on a graded card's label, used to look the card up with the company. See reholder.

CGC

A grading company for trading cards. See CGC.

Chase

Chase cards are the cards in a set that collectors want most, and which are often hard to pull. See Chase cards.

Comps

Comparable sales: recent sales of the same card in the same condition, used as a price basis. See Sold vs listed prices.

Counterfeit

A card made to pass as genuine. See Counterfeit Pokémon cards.

Crossover

Crossover grading: sending a card graded by one company to another for a new grade. See Crossover grading.

DMG

Damaged: a card with clear damage such as creases, tears or water damage. The lowest on the condition scale, see Card condition (NM, LP, MP, HP).

Edge wear

Wear along the card's edges, often visible as white or rough spots. See Anatomy of a card.

ETB

Elite Trainer Box, a sealed box with packs and accessories. See Elite Trainer Box.

Flip

To buy a card or product in order to sell it on. What this involves in costs and grading is discussed in Is grading worth it?.

Full art

A card whose illustration covers the whole face. See Full art and alternate art.

G–M

Gem Mint

A designation for one of the highest grades, for cards without visible flaws. At PSA it is grade 10. See Grading scale.

Graded

A card assessed by an independent company and sealed in a plastic holder with a grade. See Card grading.

Grading

The process in which a company assesses a card's condition and authenticity. See also graded.

Hit

A sought-after card you hope to pull from a pack. Related to chase.

Holo

A card with a shiny foil effect, usually in the artwork. See Holo and reverse holo.

Holo bleed

Holo foil that "bleeds" outside its area and gives a blurry edge or spot, a printing phenomenon that can affect the grade.

HP

Heavily Played: a card with heavy wear, below MP. Not to be confused with the HP value printed on the card. See Card condition (NM, LP, MP, HP).

Liquidity

How easily a card can be sold without cutting the price much. See Liquidity.

LP

Lightly Played: a card with lightly visible wear, one step below NM. See NM.

Market price

An estimate of what a card changes hands for, calculated from sales or listings. See Market price.

Miscut

A card cut crookedly from the sheet, so that the edges or the artwork sit wrongly. See Misprints and error cards.

MP

Moderately Played: a card with noticeable wear, between LP and HP. See LP.

N–S

NM

Near Mint: a card with very little or no visible wear. The reference point for most price data. See Card condition (NM, LP, MP, HP).

Off-center

A card where the artwork is not in the middle of the frame, so one border line is wider than the other. See Centering.

Pack-fresh

A card that looks as if it has just come out of the pack, without wear.

Pop

Population count: how many copies a company has graded at a given grade. See Population report.

Print lines

Thin stripes from the printing process that can be seen on the card, especially on holo foil.

Promo

A card handed out or sold in connection with events and products, often with a stamp or a special number. See Promo cards and stamps.

PSA

Professional Sports Authenticator, the best-known grading company for trading cards. See PSA.

Pull

A card you draw from a pack. "Pull rate" is how often a particular card turns up, see Pull rates.

Raw

An ungraded card, without a grading company's holder. See also ungraded.

Reholder

To take a card out of a slab and place it in a new holder, or a slab that has been opened and closed again. This is a risk when buying graded cards, see Fake slabs.

Resealed

A sealed pack or product that has been opened and closed again. See Resealed and weighed packs.

Reverse holo

A card with a foil pattern on everything except the artwork, so the frame and text shine. See holo.

Sealed

A sealed product that has not been opened. See Sealed products.

Secret rare

A card whose number is higher than the set's stated size. See Secret rare.

Shadowless

An early printing of Base Set without the shadow along the illustration frame. See Shadowless.

Singles

Individual cards, as opposed to sealed products. See Sealed versus singles.

Slab

The rigid plastic holder a graded card sits in. See graded.

Sub-grades

Separate grades for centering, corners, edges and surface, used by BGS and CGC among others.

T–Z

TCGplayer

A US marketplace for trading cards. See TCGplayer.

Ungraded

A card not assessed by a grading company. The same as raw.

Unlimited

The ordinary, unlimited print run of a set, without the stamp of the first edition. See Unlimited.

Whitening

White spots or lines along edges and corners where the color has worn off. A common sign of wear, see Anatomy of a card.

WotC

Wizards of the Coast, the publisher of English-language Pokémon cards from 1999 to 2003. See The Wizards of the Coast era.