Latest news with #PokéBeach
Express Tribune
03-06-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Pokémon TCG N's Plot special illustration rare card expected to be hardest to find in 2025
A newly unveiled Special Illustration Rare card featuring Pokémon's beloved character N is already drawing major attention among collectors and fans. The card, titled N's Plot, will debut as part of the upcoming Pokémon TCG sets Black Bolt and White Flare, which are set to release in Japan on June 6, 2025, with an English-language launch scheduled for July 18, 2025. First revealed by PokéBeach, N's Plot features a visually striking image of N gazing at the sky with a Ferris wheel softly blurred in the background. The card instantly sparked buzz in online forums, with players predicting it will be another 'impossibly hard' card to acquire—echoing the difficulty of obtaining previous Special Illustration Rare cards of N from the Journey Together set released in March. In addition to N's Plot, the Black Bolt and White Flare sets will include an Illustration Rare of the Pokémon Unfezant. This card showcases a tender moment between a male and female Unfezant nesting together. While it's been praised for its artistry, it hasn't generated the same fervor as the N-themed card. This heightened demand is compounded by the increasing challenges of the Pokémon TCG secondary market. Special Illustration Rares already have low pull rates, and characters like N—one of the franchise's most iconic antagonists—only increase the competition. Scalpers frequently target premium sets, driving up prices and making it harder for average players to find or afford unopened packs.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Vintage Pokémon Card Collecting World Rocked By A Possible Flood Of Fakes
Last year, hundreds of vintage prototype, test, and presentation Pokémon cards believed to date back to the creation of the game in the 1990s sold for auction to various collectors for hundreds of thousands of dollars collectively. Now, one of those collectors has investigated the prototype cards they bought more thoroughly and made a terrible discovery: they were seemingly printed only just last year. 'I will lose thousands,' they told fellow fans. The collector in question, as first reported by PokéBeach, is a user who goes by pfm on the Elite Forum discussion boards where people facilitate trades, analyze market trends, and scrutinize auction prices for the rarest cards. In 2024, that included hundreds of cards printed during the creation phase of the Pokémon trading card game that were authenticated using the personal collection of Takumi Akabane, one of Pokémon TCG's original creators. 'CGC Cards utilized all the tools at our disposal to help document and authenticate these cards, compiling vast resources for comparison with future submissions,' the grading house wrote last year in a press release. 'A very thorough process is in place for the authentication and grading of these cards using ones verified by Mr. Akabane.' Now, however, at least some of the cards authenticated by CGC and later sold at auction for anywhere from $1,000 to over $200,000 are being questioned as fakes. On January 26, user pfm shared several examples of early test cards that displayed printer metadata suggesting they were actually created in 2024, including even some signed by Akabane. The alleged discovery has made the entire collection suspect in some collectors' eyes, as fans speculate about how a possible scam might have been orchestrated, including the potential use of high-quality original art leaked in the past. 'It was really disheartening to find this out,' pfm told PokeBeach. 'More than the financial aspect, I thought it was cool to own a piece of history and it's unfortunate it turned out this way.' It's still unclear how many of the hundreds of cards sold may indeed be fakes, and if Akabane was aware or just duped like everyone else. Collectors who were already unsure about test card auctions last year are now being extra critical of grading house CGC as well. 'We're aware of recent claims regarding CGC graded Pokémon Prototype and Playtest cards that have been sold across various platforms,' one of the sellers, Alt auction house, told PokéBeach in a statement. 'CGC has assured us they are taking these allegations seriously and are conducting a thorough review. We're staying in close communication with CGC and will share updates as they become available.' . For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
