Are Pokémon Misprints Worth Anything?

Introduction

You may have heard about Pokémon misprints selling for thousands, and wonder, do I have one somewhere in my garage or at my parent’s house?

Or you are simply wondering what in the world is a misprint Pokémon card and why collectors love them so much!

As an example, a red-cheeked first edition Pikachu sold for more than $10,000 in an auction. In this article, we will cover all topics of Pokémon Misprint cards.

What is a misprint Pokémon card?

A misprint Pokémon card is an error card, sometimes TCG releases cards with errors, incorrect placement or coloring incorrect text, or miscuts. Usually, TCG is extremely fast to correct their mistakes, which makes the misprints Pokémon cards extremely rare and sought after by collectors in the world. When TCG does not correct a misprint, it is evidently way less valuable and rare.

Are Pokémon Card Misprints Worth Anything?

Pokémon Misprints cards are usually worth double the market price of the actual card. But it depends a lot on what kind of misprints, what sets, and what Pokémon. For example, if you have a misprint with a card that says “Eevee” but Pikachu is on it, it is going to be worth some money, holo bleeds are usually worth double what the original card sells for. And triple or more when it is a vintage set. Miscuts and misaligned holo are also valuable. But it really all depends on the Pokémon and the set.

How much are misprinted Pokémon cards worth?

If you want to know how much exactly a Pokémon misprint card is worth, it depends on a few important factors:

• The card condition, near mint, mint, lightly played, played, damaged, or highly damaged
• The card rarity: common, uncommon, rare and ultra-rare
• How much the Pokémon on the card is sought after, a Charizard, Pikachu Snorlax or Eevee misprints will for sure bring the value up
• The set it actually comes from; If it comes from an earlier set (vintage set like Base set, Base set 2, Team Rocket, Skyridge) it will be valuable.

A good option if you’re not sure what to do with your misprint is to check the latest sales on eBay of the same error card you have and to put it up for auction. The market fluctuates year to year so you could sell it for more or for less depending on the market condition.

Do misprints go for more?

Pokémon misprints, or error cards, usually go for more than the correct original version, that is because a misprint is only printed for a very short time before TCG corrects the error. It makes it valuable to collectors but the market is very specific.

A rule of thumb is that they usually go for twice the original price of the card on a modern set and could be triple or more for a vintage set. But there are some exceptions, the Stage Error Blastoise from Base Set, usually sells for about $2,000 when the error-free version can sell up to $20,000!

Are error Pokémon cards worth anything?

Error Pokémon cards and misprints are usually sought after by a nice audience of collectors. A misprint will never be cheaper than the original correct card because it was printed much less than the correct card, which makes it rarer. They are valuable especially if they have a popular Pokémon on them like Charizard, Blastoise, or Pikachu, and can be expensive.

How much are Pokémon cards with typos worth?

Usually, Pokémon cards with typos are the least valuable misprints that exist. TCG almost never have typos on their cards and when they do, they are printed for a long time, resulting in the card being printed a lot more than a holo bleed or a miscut card. A lot of times Pokémon cards with typos are actually fake!

What Pokémon Cards with Misprints Are Worth the Most Money?

The Pokémon misprints that are worth the most money are usually from vintage sets like the First edition Base set, the shadowless Red Cheek Pikachu is one of the most sought after and was recently sold in an auction for $10,000. 1st edition Dark Dragonite from the vintage set Team Rocket was supposed to be holographic but on the first editions a few of them got printed without the holofoil layer. It sold recently in an auction for a little less than $10,000!

A very valuable misprint too is Mewtwo from the promo for the Pokémon Movie. When the first Pokémon movie came out in 2000, promo cards were given to people going to see the movie. In these special promo cards, there was a misprint: A Mewtwo with the Pokémon logo flipped in the bottom left instead.

The error card was not printed for long and thus became a must-have to collectors and is worth up to $900 to $1,000 on eBay.

Another interesting misprint error is the Dark Persian Black Star with missing HP! It is believed that this error card was only printed for two weeks before being corrected and is worth around $600.

Base set unlimited also had an error card with a Ninetales card that shows no damage next to the attacks. It is to this day highly valuable and can be sold 7-10 times more than the error-free version!

What Does Holo Bleed Mean?

A Pokémon holo bleed is a card where the holofoil does not appear strictly on the rectangular artwork area of the card. Because it was not intended as such by the manufacturer it is considered a misprint.

What is the Wartortle Error?

This one is quite hard to spot on the actual card and is highly sought after by collectors throughout the world. The Wartortle error is that instead of putting Squirtle in the evolution box they accidentally did put Wartortle, and he does not evolve from itself! If you look at the evolution box in the top left corner, you can see the error. It was quickly rectified and only a few of these cards exist from the Unlimited Base Set.

Are Misprints Tournament Legal?

Misprints are tournament legal as long as it is not used as an advantage to mislead your opponent. The only TCG rule that directly mentions the use of misprint states it clearly “Players may use otherwise-legal non-English and/or misprinted cards provided they are not using them to create an advantage by using misleading text or pictures” it is usually fine and widely accepted but it also depends on the judge itself.

In the past, a few judges decided to not allow the misprints to be played in the tournament. It is at the judge’s discretion and you may want to ask the head judge about it first.

What are some of your favorite misprint Pokémon cards? Tell us in the comments below!

Happy hunting!