Why does there seem to be a greater population of first edition gold star cards than the unlimited according to PSA? Wouldn’t the first edition prints have more exclusivity than the “unlimited” prints?
Population is only an indication of popularity. More people like 1st ed so more 1st ed gets graded.
Not sure if it applies to the Japanese ex era but there’s also no guarantee that 1st ed is more ‘exclusive’ than unlimited. There are a few Japanese sets where we definitively know that the unlimited run is a lot smaller.
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@pkmnflyingmaster,Oh okay I gotcha. I figured the first editions would be more popular but, I wasn’t expecting such a drastic difference in population. I also didn’t know if some Japanese sets definitely had smaller unlimited runs but, if that’s the case then it makes sense. I’m trying to collect a set of first edition 9’s but, of course the ones that usually pop up are the unlimiteds lol. Thanks for the info!
For most of the japanese ex era sets unlimited is alot more scarce than 1st edition.
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Not just ex era sets. The same applies to Japanese E-series sets (E1 in particular, but all of them tbh); ex era sets; DP era sets; HGSS era sets; Platinum era sets; XY era sets (some unlimited XY sets were printed briefly two years after their 1st edition sets were released); etc.
Tbh, I can’t think of a single Japanese set which has both a 1st and unlimited edition print run, for which their 1st editions were printed less than unlimited editions, with the exception of the No Rarity Base Set. And for some sets the unlimited edition versions are close to impossible to find, especially for particular singles, like E1, L1, WCP, (and E2-E5, L2, L3 to some extend), etc. If it weren’t for those unlimited edition sets, my Seviper collection would have already been complete, and my Pikachu collection would have been closer to ‘completion’ as well.
Only with some Japanese Decks the 1st editions are sometimes less printed than their unlimited edition counterparts, but for sets I personally don’t know any where the same applies as the English and non-Japanese foreign sets. In general, Japanese unlimited edition sets are rarer (they aren’t always more valuable though, since the average collector still prefers 1st editions of course).
Greetz,
Quuador
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I think for clash of the blue sky and quite possibly golden sky silvery ocean that 1st is harder to find.
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Ah, that’s indeed plausible. If I look at the distribution of my own collection for those two sets I have:
- Clash of the Blue Sky: 17 1st editions and 9 unlimited editions
- Golden Sky Silvery Ocean: 14 1st editions and 31 unlimited editions
Not too familiar with either of these two sets since there aren’t any Pikachus nor Sevipers in them. 
But I believe you if you say so. Thanks for giving a counter example, always nice to learn something new. 
Greetz,
Quuador