Rocket Rips

Advantages of Japanese Pokémon TCG Cards: One of the biggest selling points of Japanese Pokémon TCG cards lies in the fact that some of them bear unique designs and artwork. Many of these cards are of the Special Art Rare (SAR) rarity—they are never reprinted in English and thus solely exist in Japanese. This also makes them more marketable to non-Japanese buyers because unless those buyers actually travel to Japan themselves, buying those Japanese cards from an online seller would be the only way to obtain cards with one-of-a-kind art. For those trying to make money by selling Pokémon TCG cards, Japanese cards are far more profitable than English ones. This is because Japanese cards have a greater degree of immunity to price fluctuations. Reprints are far more common in English than they are in Japanese. When a reprint of a previously rare card occurs, its value declines rapidly. Those who attempt to financially profit by selling English cards run a much greater risk of holding on to their “assets” for too long and ultimately failing to make money—or on some occasions, break even at all. Individual Japanese cards are often more coveted by completionists than are individual English cards. Individual Japanese cards are less frequently sold and thus less common, making the cards necessary for the completion of a full set just that much more desired when they’re in Japanese. Making availability even more of a challenge is the reduced duration of Japanese cards’ print runs.