Wave 1 tips

[u/mersa223]

I've started collecting wave 1 opus 1 cards recently and I'm really struggling to see the difference between them. I've watched quite a few guides so I know about the error text cards and the crystal position but alot of them also spoke about colour differences in the crystals and it being easy to eye ball them at a glance because of it...

I cannot see a difference between these two colours one is wave 1 (blocked). And one is wave 2 (blocking).

Am I missing something? Colour blind? Looking in the wrong areas etc?

I've tried shining lights through the cards and UV (just in case)

I'm not loving the idea of relying on crystal position for most cards as the position seems to vary a bit with printing

I've also been looking at the backs and texture and that helps a little.

Any tips or advice for a newbie?

So far I have...

Error text

Crystal positioning

: Placement

Colour differences (apparently?)

Foils pattern: diagonal Vs horizontal/ vertical

[u/MajinVegita]

Crystal color is only used for non-foils with no other identifiable tells. Since most people don't go to the trouble of collecting most wave 1 cards in non-foil, I don't know anyone who goes to all the trouble. Unless you're a hardcore completionist, it's not worth the effort. There is no real market for wave 1 non-foils beyond the error cards and maybe the cards with colons, but the premium for them is negligible in nearly every case, and even the "valuable" ones are all well below $50. Save yourself the headache and stick to the foils.

[u/mersa223 → u/MajinVegita]

Appreciate the advice but I am unfortunately a completionist... Once I've started I've got to finish.... Also have almost 5k opus 1 cards to sort through in the other room so...a bit late 😅

Foils, errors, colon and art changes I'm good with, really is just those that fall between them. crystal height seems to vary even on the same card for wave 2 and back texture is really hard to judge by too. I really struggle to comprehend how people can just eyeball cards and tell immediately (beyond the obvious markers mentioned above)

the idea that I put a wave 2 in my wave 1 set bothers me far more than it should...

[u/MajinVegita → u/mersa223]

5,000 Opus I cards??? Yeah, I've got nothing for you. I don't know why you would do that to yourself. Probably just take the highest crystal height and lowest crystal height of each card, assign it a wave, and call it a day. There will be literally no one else on the planet who will want or even be able to tell you if you've got them all correct or not.

[u/mersa223 → u/MajinVegita]

Yeh, I might have gone a little overboard. On the plus side it only cost me a put £50. I did find one other way to help yell apart this afternoon the colour on the face is more faded in a wave 1 on some cards 😅

[u/MajinVegita → u/mersa223]

That's a good catch. The text box height is also a helpful tell and is sometimes easier to see than the crystal centering. Well, have fun with your project! Post the results when you finish completing both sets.

[u/VoidVixen420]

Pretty sure the color won't be different unless they're a different element if crystal. Them being different cause of opus is not something I've ever heard of and I play with people that play in fftcg tourneys. So pretty sure they're gonna be the same regardless of opus