Japanese 1st edition more common than unlimited?

General
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Hey, I’ve been looking at some early E-Series cards in Japanese recently and I’ve noticed that, at least for some of the rarer cards, the 1st edition versions can be much higher in population than the unlimited variants.

For example the Japanese 1st edition Crystal Celebi has over 5x the population. And this isn’t the only card either:

1st ed: www.psacard.com/cert/24786834/
Unlimited: www.psacard.com/cert/27790921/

So my question is, are these 1st editions actually more common; or is it because of other factors such as people not valuing the unlimited variants as highly meaning they were less likely to be graded or kept in good condition in the first place? Because it seems the 1st edition cards are still going for more money despite the difference in population.

Also quick secondary question, what is the difference between Population, Population W/QUAL and Population Higher on PSA?

Thank you for your time!

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I have no idea about your first question unfortunately…
But to the second part - population with qualifier is if the card gets a MC (miscut) or OC (off center) or whatever other qualifiers that their is. And the population higher is if the card gets a .5; such as 2.5 or an 8.5. Im not sure if these 2 things are grouped in with the “population” slot or not, but obviously population is how many times that card has been graded and what grade it got. I hope this helps! Have a good one and God bless!

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Japanese unlimited eseries 1 is virtually nonexistent. There are a few people with one or two Commons (Which go for upwards of 300$+ ungraded) I’ve seen. As well as one Charizard that was stolen or something, can’t remember very clearly.

I’m not sure about the other sets though.

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For almost all Japanese sets UED is indeed rarer than 1st. For the E-series even way rarer. Expedition Base Set UED cards were only released as promotional releases, given at some events. How the UED Aquapolis and Skyridge sets were released I’m not sure, but those are way rarer than their 1st edition counterparts as well.

Here is a useful thread mentioning sets that were only printed in 1st editions; sets that were only printed in UED; and sets where UED is way rarer than 1st editions for the Japanese sets/decks: www.elitefourum.com/t/1st-edition-timeline-lets-iron-it-out/16054/1

And here a thread about the Expedition Base Set UED promos: www.elitefourum.com/t/japanese-unlimited-e-series-1-cards-base-expansion-pack/16426/1 Only the Ponyta is somewhat easier to find, because the UED came in a magazine. Most, if not all, of the other UED cards were only given at some events.

I’m actually still looking for the UED Expedition Base Pikachu in Japanese for my Pikachu collection (I do have the Skyridge UED one fortunately enough :blush: ). The UED World Championship Pack Seviper and Battle Frontier cards are also the last two cards I still need to complete my Seviper collection… So yeah, UED are usually way rarer than 1st editions for Japanese cards.

Greetz,
Quuador

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Great, thanks for your help with the PSA pop stuff :blush:

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Thanks for the info and links, it’s very interesting and just what I was looking for. I’m still a nooby compared to most people here but I love crystal cards, so I was looking to get a Japanese Crystal card to start as they’re much cheaper which is when I noticed the difference in populations. So if you don’t mind, could I ask if you think one should be more expensive than the other? Because to me it sounds like the UED versions should be more expensive but it looks like the 1st ED cards are still selling for more. Is this just people making uneducated purchases or do you think the 1st edition stamp is still more valuable, to most people, than the card being rarer? I really want to understand what I’m getting before I do something stupid :grin: Thanks again for your help, it’s really appreciated.