Should you collect Japanese Pokemon TCG cards?

You might have noticed is that the two most popular languages are English and Japanese.

Simplified Chinese cards are on the up and coming (which are not the same as traditional Chinese cards). I will talk about these briefly below.

For now, you have to decide, do you like to collect English or Japanese cards.

Japanese cards

People say that Japanese cards use a better card stock and have better quality control. This is true.

The card stock is less prone to white spots, which matters if you are particular about the condition or want to send to grading (more on this later).

In terms of quality control, it is also true that Japanese cards have better quality control. The card's centering is more consistent and there are fewer printing errors or misprints.

But that's not all.

Japanese sets follow a different release schedule and sets may contain different cards. They tend to be one or two sets ahead of the International releases.

(Note: for all intents and purposes, Traditional Chinese, Thai and Indonesian languages follow the Japanese release schedule.)

For example, the recent Heat Wave Arena (sv9a) set and Glory of Team Rocket (sv10) set in Japan was combined in the English release Destined Rivals (DRI).

Sometimes there may be slight differences in the cards available in the set, but majority of the cards would be the same in Japanese as in the English, with minor excepts as to where they can be obtained.

Japanese cards also come in booster boxes. For most mainline sets, booster boxes are square and contain 30 packs. Each booster pack contains 5 random game cards.

And for Japanese booster boxes, there are minimum guaranteed hit rates.

For example, Raging Surf (sv3a) has guaranteed 1 main hit Super Rare (SR) or above (Special Art Rare, Ultra Rare), 3 Art Rares (AR), 4 Double Rares (RR), and 7 Holo Rares (R).

Some boxes may come with two main hits, 2 SRs, 1 SAR and 1 SR, 1 UR and 1 SR, etc. But these are rare and may be hard to predict.

For some sets with newer card rarities, like Super Electric Breaker (sv8) which has ACE SPEC (ACE) cards, the guaranteed configurations may differ.

But the bottom line is that Japanese booster boxes have minimum guaranteed hits. This is important to note to avoid getting scammed.

There are also some special "High Class" sets that have different configurations. These typically come in longer booster boxes and have fewer packs (usually 10) and more cards per pack. There are exceptions like the 151 (sv2a) set, which comes in a square booster box, has 2 packs per booster box, and each pack has 7 cards.

High class sets with the longer booster boxes come in 20 boxes per case. Mainline sets or sets with the square booster boxes come in 12 boxes per case. This is important to note because although there are no guaranteed number of SARs or URs per case, there is a predictable variance per case (about 2-3 SARs and 1-2 URs per case for mainline sets), and so sellers may be able to filter them out.

Now, for High Class sets, they are typically reprints of previously released cards with new arts or holo designs.

For example, the Shiny Treasure ex (sv4a) set has 10 packs per booster box. Each box has a guarantee Shiny Super Rare (SSR) and 3 Shiny (S), and every pack has a guaranteed RR card which is a reprint of previously available cards.

There are also Art Rares and Special Art Rares which are the same cards with different arts.

An example of such a card would be the Gardevoir ex.

Gardevoir ex was first released in the Scarlet Base Set (sv1S). There was a RR, SR, and SAR version of the card.

In Shiny Treasure, they reprinted the RR with the new set code (sv4a instead of sv1S). And they reprinted an SSR version, as well as released a new SAR with a new art.

The effects and function of the card in gameplay is the same, but the card was reprinted and re-released in a new set.

High Class Sets also typically have god packs. God packs are single booster packs that contain more hits than the typical pack. A godpack in 151 (sv2a) for example would have all 2 starter evolution lines' AR and SARs. That means of the 7 cards, you will get one regular common or uncommon, and then 2 sets of 2 ARs and 1 SAR of either Bulbasaur, Squirtle or Charmander evolution lines.

Because of the guaranteed pull rates per booster box, better quality control, and the fact they are available earlier on the market, Japanese cards tend to be valued lower on the market compared to their English counterparts.

There are exceptions for specific promo cards which may not be available in English, or only available in other sealed products such as collection boxes or decks. But generally speaking, if you can find the card in a Japanese booster box, it will be valued lower on the market compared to English.

Another thing is that there may be a smaller market for Japanese card collectors due to it only being printed and released in Japan. However, because of the recent popularity, many sellers in Japan have popped up and begun to ship worldwide.

You can find these sellers on Facebook groups. However, please do your due diligence and gather independent reviews before ordering from them. If now, you can find a local supplier who has connections with Japanese suppliers and purchase from them for a little bit more.

Based on my experience, Japanese sets tend to have a very short life cycle. Because of the rapid release schedule of the sets (almost one new set every 1-2 months), people tend to forget about older sets very quickly. And you may not be able to find older products on the market easily.

There are exceptions to this rule for exceptionally popular sets such as V-Star Universe (s12a), 151 (sv2a), and Terastal Festival (sv8a). But for the most part, sets do come and go rather quickly.

This may be a good or bad thing. The good thing is if you wait around 2-3 weeks after release, the prices tend to drop quite a bit. For sets that flop greatly, the prices may not ever recover even after months (sets like Ancient Roar (sv4K) or Night Wanderer (sv6a).

The bad thing is that prices may be incredibly high at the start. Some sellers are able to obtain product 1-2 weeks before the official street date. And they charge a premium for collectors who want to pull hits early. Whether you think that premium is worth it is up to you. If you want to grade and flip cards fast at a high margin, this may be a good strategy. I have no experience in it so I can't say.

Another down side is many older sets tend to be hard to find. For example, Raging Surf (sv3a) is an average performing set, and is almost nonexistent anymore. So even if you wanted to find it, it'll be quite hard to find. But because of the hype, there may be a lot of singles on the market for you to purchase directly instead of trying your luck.

Generally, people who collect Japanese cards do so purely as a collector and it being more wallet-friendly. There are also many Japanese exclusives which are not available in English.

If that sounds like you, you may want to consider collecting Japanese Pokemon cards.

Next: Should you collect English Pokemon TCG cards?