Neo Destiny Shinings, English or Japanese?

[hezoyam]

Hey!

Neo Destiny Shinings, English or Japanese?

Since i got into collecting i noticed how alot of Japanese modern cards fetch a higher price, due to higher card quality. Better texture. More vibrant colors. Rarity.

But these factors does not seem to apply to some vintage cards like the Shinings from Neo Destiny. PSA population:

English 1st Edition Shining Charizard
PSA 10 - 261 pop
PSA 9 - 377 pop

Neo 4 Japanese Shining Charizard
PSA 10 - 61 pop
PSA 9 - 231 pop

The Japanese zard in PSA 10 does realy well the few times it hits the market, and always sell for a hefty price. Far far more then the 1st edition English version. Which is understandable, as its such a low pop card. I will mostly focus on the PSA 9 copys in this post.

PWCC sold listings / Ebay from 2024:

Neo 4 Japanese Shining Charizard PSA 9 :
$3,720 w/ Buyers Premium Jan 21, 2024
$2,520 w/ Buyers Premium Apr 21, 2024
$2,520 w/ Buyers Premium May 26, 2024
$2,370 w/ Buyers Premium Jun 23, 2024

1st Edition Shining Charizard PSA 9 :
$3,720 Mar 03, 2024
$3,600 Jun 02, 2024
$4,350 Jun 18 2024 (Ebay)
$3,950 Juli 25 (Ebay)

You got the same same factors with these cards and maybe even a few more. Japanese shinings has very vibrant colors compared to English. It has more texture on the surface of the shining pokemon. More scarce then English 1st Edition. Harder to grade the English copys.

When it comes sealed product, i have found / know of 2 sealed Neo 4 Booster boxes. The Neo Destiny 1st Edition is also extremely scarce, but i see them pop up every now and then.

Pull rates. I cant say these are 100% correct but what i can find it seems to be:

English 1st Ed Neo Destiny (36 packs) - 2-5 Shinings per box
Japanese Neo 4 (60 packs) 0-3 Shinings per box

Now, i do own the Japanese version of the Shining Charizard myself so i dont want to glaze it to much hehe. My biased opinion is the market is wrong about the Japanese Shinings in PSA 9.

I understand people are more nostalgic about the english cards… What do you guys think?

[tidaldreams]

the japanese versions will be more expensive since they have way lower pop and there are available for sale way less. there also might be remnants of price history from the japanese pump last summer that is affecting them. this is for psa 10 no idea about lower grades.

[tidaldreams]

i think that actually might be around the same price in japanese as in english now it has taken quite a plunge

whoops guess the comment i was replying to disappeared

[pikagermz]

A goal of mine would be to own a neo revelation shining gyarados in japanese. Looks ways better compared to the english one. I would say the same for other shining’s like mewtwo or ttar.

[papafrankgod]

Japanese, period.

[ShinPorygon]

Japaneseeee

[charizardespana]

My personal opinion is Japanese NEO 3/4.

They are lower pop and look better, and should command higher prices than English…

…but, it depends on the card.

Sadly there is often not much of a difference in card condition between a PSA 8 and a PSA 10 of these, due to the infamous “top right front corner whitening” which seems to be a factory issue + centering issues.

This means there are swings in pricing on anything below a 10.

Sidenote - PSA is TERRIBLE with consistency grading Japanese NEO 4. BGS is far more consistent (but most get 8-8.5 grades, lol).

In this case, stronger copies sell for much more of a premium.

This is especially nowadays as people know what they are looking at in terms of condition, and want the strongest copies possible within their budget. Most people who are short term collectors are out of the hobby, only true nerds remain.

PSA 10 Japanese are also almost always way overpriced on Buy It Now listings (like 50-100% more than last auction prices) but rarely come up for auction. So again, it is more difficult to price them for most people.

Overall though, Japanese cards are less desirable for most collectors for 99% of other set cards. Look at Gold stars that for the most part command 50% or more less than English equivalent.

At some point the market will correct, I do see more and more people start paying attention to these in recent months.

I so far have - Zard, Rai, Kabutops in PSA 9, Ttar (super clean just OC in PSA 8) (NEO4) and just graded a Magikarp (NEO 3) PSA 9 (athough I have graded 2x BGS 9 magikarp and one 9.5 in the past!).

One of my fave sets.

(Honestly Ttar is cleaner than most 10s, shame its OC!)

[kpod]

That Charizard is my old copy I graded back in early 2022!!

[charizardespana]

Very good! It’s in good hands

[sartzcharz]

Either one is a great addition to your collection. Some people prefer English because its more nostalgic to them and others japanese for the texture.

[smpratte]

I agree with @sartzcharz that you can’t go wrong with both, but imo the japanese just look so clean!

[Arctic]

i mostly go with japanese version for vintage

[dragon1te]

By default I collect the English because of my Neo Destiny 1st edition English binder set. Only the Shining Charizard left to go

[c0ll3ct0r]

The Neo Destiny Shinings are the only old back set cards where I would consider going japanese over english.

[Arctic]

may i know why pls? thx

[c0ll3ct0r]

I’m strictly an english set card collector. A card needs some significant mojo for me to consider breaking from that pattern. Superior looks, rarity, a certain mystique or allure, something. Japanese Crystals have that, BW Shiny secret rares have that. With old backs, only the Neo 4 Shining’s get close to that.

I would say in general I have an appreciation for Neo 3 and especially Neo 4 that I don’t have for most of the other japanese counterparts. That whole time period really, Neo 3 through early ADV.

[charizardespana]

Crystals
Goldstars
Shinings

All of those are way more juicy in Japanese (and less expensive )

[Fefu]

BTW, my boy could be a 10, but I still love him.