Is it cheaper to buy Pokémon singles or booster boxes?

If you want one card, buy the card. Across the Mega Evolution sets a Special Illustration Rare turns up about once per box, often less, and it is rarely the one you wanted. Buy singles for specific cards or to complete a set; buy sealed when you want to open packs or collect the sealed product itself.

How can I tell if a Pokémon card is fake?

The tells are a texture that is wrong to the touch, colours too dark or too bright, a flat even holo, a font slightly off, a back that is the wrong blue, and a price that is too good. The light test, a torch behind the card, shows a fake as a bright glow where a real card stays dim because of the black layer in the card stock.

Guides

Buying Pokémon singles

If you want one card, buy the card. A booster box is a great evening, but across the Mega Evolution sets a Special Illustration Rare turns up about once per box, often less, and it is rarely the one you wanted. Singles are how set collectors finish sets and how players get the deck they need without the gamble. Here is what you need to know to buy them well.

Reading a listing

Card number. "057/086" means card 57 of a main set of 86; a number above the main count ("116/086") is a secret rare. The number plus the set is how a card is identified; two cards with the same name and number from different sets are different cards.

Rarity. Common and Uncommon (most of the set), Rare, Double Rare (the ex cards), Illustration Rare (full-art artwork, numbered just above the main set), Ultra Rare (full-art ex and Trainers), Special Illustration Rare (the chase cards, painted scenes), Mega Hyper Rare (gold). 30th Celebration adds Futuristic Rare and the three RGB Mew.

Finish. Normal, reverse holo (the foil background), holo (foil artwork, on Rares). Some sets, Ascended Heroes among them, print two foil versions of every common, uncommon and rare: an energy-symbol pattern and a Ball pattern (Poké Ball, Friend Ball and so on). They are listed separately because collectors want them separately.

Condition. NM, LP, MP, HP or DMG, with any specific flaw named. See the condition guide. For a card you will sleeve and play, LP or MP is usually the sensible buy.

Singles or sealed?

Buy singles when you want specific cards, when you are completing a set, or when the chase card costs less than a box, which it usually does. Buy sealed when you want to open packs, when you are collecting the sealed product itself, or when a set has a flat pull structure and cheap chases. Sealed product keeps its value better over years; opened packs lose it the moment the foil comes off.

Japanese or English?

Japanese cards of the same artwork are often cheaper, better printed and released two months earlier; English cards are what most UK collectors and all UK tournament players want. Pick one language per set if you are building a master set, or the numbers will never line up.

Spotting a fake

Fakes are common on marketplaces and rare from shops that open their own product. The tells: a texture that is wrong to the touch, colours that are too dark or too bright, a holo that is flat and even rather than patterned, a font that is slightly off, a back that is the wrong blue, and prices that are too good. The light test, a torch behind the card, shows a fake as a bright glow where a real card stays dim because of the black layer in the card stock. If a card from us ever worries you, send a photo and we will look at it.

Storing them

Penny sleeve then toploader for anything of value, binder pages (side-loading) for sets, away from sunlight and damp. The all-foil anniversary cards curl in humidity; a sleeved card in a closed binder stays flat.