What are “special grades”?

Sometimes a production accident is sufficiently notable or singular to constitute what is sometimes called an “error card” or “misprint card”, sometimes making the evaluation of certain characteristics unsatisfactory with regard to the usual grading criteria. This type of card may be given a special grade rather than an overall grade, depending on your wishes, and in any case will only receive numerical sub-grades in the categories not affected by the particularity of production that affects it (e.g. no centring numerical sub-grade for an “Off-centered” card (“N/A”: Not Applicable instead) but the other three numerical sub-grades will be maintained). As for the classic rating, the attribution of this grade will depend on the successive appreciation of several of our specialists to determine whether the card in question is eligible or not.

On the other hand, marked or inked cards will also be given a special grade (MK: Marked) but will not receive an overall grade.

Nota Bene: When a production “oddity” directly concerns the design of a card, the latter will sometimes be considered as a “variant” (e.g. Red Cheeks Pikachu – Base Set 1st Edition) or a “variant error” (Wartortle Evolution Box Error – Base Set 1st Edition) and will thus be given a regular grade but with a specific additional mention. The mention of a design error on a box label will depend on its importance and the frequency of its occurrence.