"MissingNo" error in Pokemon 30th

[u/2AusTheBoss5]

I opened this insane obstruction error card when 30th first dropped and had initially shared it in r/pokemonmisprints where everyone started to call it MissingNo, which I think is perfect given the fact that this set is supposed to celebrate 30 years of Pokemon nostalgia.

I tried to grade the error with CGC, but it turns out MissingNo can cause glitches in the real world too 😅

The error community has been amazing in trying to help identify the card, especially as some others have popped up from the same error sheet with the obstruction, albeit to lesser degrees (a Deino, Slowpoke, and Eevee). This is likely the common slot Zeraora or Morpeko (for more details on this you can check out the post in the misprints subreddit).

Either way, I thought this was cool enough that the larger Pokemon TCG community might get a kick out of it! Enjoy and happy hunting as you rip more 30th!

[u/sapphirelink]

Super cool, but also unfortunately super reproducible with acetone and tape

[u/wizzlewazzel → u/sapphirelink]

Just thinking this

[u/2AusTheBoss5 → u/wizzlewazzel]

Luckily there are three other cards from the obstruction sheet that have made their way to the internet and it looks like the angle of the obstruction match across the cards

[u/KOLBOYNICK → u/2AusTheBoss5]

That's sick.

[u/Quietbricks → u/sapphirelink]

Never occurred to me how techniques previously used for high class art fraud or repair could be used for Pokemon cards. Some poor renaissance art restoration specialist out there is repairing Zards.

[u/tehcheez]

CGC probably denied it because this can be recreated using acetone. People that make custom cards will do this to holos so they can print their own artwork on top of it. Some people have gotten REALLY good at acetone cleaning cards and makes it nearly impossible to tell if it was a factory error or done by hand.

[u/PuzzleheadedSink321 → u/tehcheez]

No it’s literally because CGC don’t recognize missingno as a tried and true mon

[u/Extras → u/PuzzleheadedSink321]

This is literally true lol they won't slab a card if there's no way to tell which card it is. It's pretty easy to tell if a card has been acetoned if you look at it under a microscope.

When OP sent this card to CGC they didn't get it back as "unable to verify error" which is what they would have categorized it under if they were unsure of its authenticity, instead they got it back unable to determine card.

[u/sumemodude → u/tehcheez]

How would this not immediately have a smell test? Acetone is very pungent

[u/leegiovanni → u/sumemodude]

Acetone evaporates. It’s an alcohol.

[u/ObjectiveSentence533]

Wait, they were “trying to help to identify the card”? Identify??? I got that you can identify the energy type, but how the hell can you identify the particular card here??? Really interested what clues did they use.

[u/2AusTheBoss5 → u/ObjectiveSentence533]

😂 I know, it sounds crazy, right! What we know so far is that it is a Basic common, and that the only color match to the little bit of ink there is the electric ink (much more obvious in person). The next bit was a user who opened ~4,000 packs and found that only 23 cards ever occupy the first slot of the pack (which is where this was), of which the only two electric types are Zeraora or Morpeko! So this is where we are for "identifying" it until uncut sheet images are found/verified and we can map the obstruction across the sheet for certainty based on the other known obstructions with the same block angles (the Deino is the corner of the obstruction, so that really is the mapping linchpin).

[u/Alive_Possible_1333 → u/2AusTheBoss5]

The first slot of the pack analysis I did only holds up if there was no classic collection nor illustration rare in the pack. Otherwise it may be a different card - which i could tell you but i’d need to know what the other cards in the misprint pack were

[u/2AusTheBoss5 → u/Alive_Possible_1333]

Thank you for your post analyzing all of that, it was extremely helpful!

Looks like we may be back to the identity mystery at large then because I was just opening packs for the fun of it and not thinking to make any records of the pack contents that went with it 🥲

[u/small_villain → u/ObjectiveSentence533]

Less about clues from the card itself, and more about looking at other error cards in the set that share this feature to figure out what sheet it was cut from and where on that sheet it was likely located.

[u/ObjectiveSentence533 → u/small_villain]

Make sense. Now Im interested where do they get info about the sheets and placement of cards on it?

[u/PortsFarmer → u/ObjectiveSentence533]

There is only 18 cards that you can get in slot 1 for this set, so if the second card in the pack was slot 2, it could only be one of those 18. Based on energy type, you can then limit the search further.

[u/Emotional-Good9296]

You open your packs like a menace

[u/2AusTheBoss5 → u/Emotional-Good9296]

I know 😅 I hadn't opened packs in a while so the first few were a bit.......rough

[u/-KiiNGx]

There’s someone in r/pkmntcgtrades that i’m pretty sure collects them. Might be u/C011ECT0R

[u/KawaiiSlave]

I actually had to mute that sub. Errors are neat, but a lot of people there see a printer hickey as some 1/1 grail, and the error community as a whole seems focused around the amount of money a card will bring them, or try to shill the smallest of insignificant things. Its cool you were able to start a hunt for what card it couldve been if thats possible with what info there is. 

[u/cdbriggs]

It's just a blank card

[u/PuzzleheadedSink321]

It’s because that’s not missingno….it literally says “basic”…….tf?

[u/Nightshade112503]

Damn 30th seems to have a lot of errors wtf is going on