The Neo Revelation double foil/holo bleed variant (whichever term you prefer) is one of my favorite things to hunt for and collect. Some of these bleeds alter the appearance and luster of the card in such an obvious and appealing way that they’ve become preferable over their normal counterparts. You know the ones; Houndoom, Ho-oh, Misdreavus etc.
But for the rest of the set, I’ve struggled to find ways to discern the double foil variants from ordinary copies. Not every card can get dazzling wings or beaming eyes.
I discovered, though, that there is a way to tell them apart, for every card in the set; even on cards that don’t have parts of the character art altered by the holo bleed.
All of the character arts have faint white borders or outlines surrounding the pokemon themselves, and sometimes other parts of the artwork. It reminds me of the holo shift error cards (which can be viewed in this wonderful thread by @JoshsOddCollection ), as if the gap left in the holo for the artwork to cover has been filled in by the double foil. Just a thought on my end; I don’t know the specifics of the printing process.
Edit: See this awesome video by @pkmnflyingmaster to learn more about the making of Pokemon cards!
I’ve searched eBay for a while to hunt down the easiest-to-spot differences on all the holos. I hope this helps some others who want to complete a full set of these beauties.
Bleeds on top, no bleeds on bottom:
Ampharos
The white outlines under Ampharos’ arms, feet, and tail are filled in.
Blissey
Blissey is one of the harder ones. The white outline is harder to see due to its pink and white color scheme, but I found it easiest to tell the difference by focusing on the right side above the arm.
Celebi
Celebi is typically easy to notice; the darker parts on the lower/right side of the card take on noticeable holo pattern.
Crobat
Crobat is markedly different with the double foil; his eye, the moon, and the overall darkness around him take on the holo pattern.
Delibird
Alright, hear me out. See that thin white line atop the red part of his head in the right photo? That’s the easiest disappearing outline I could find on this guy. The hill and tree in the back lose their outlines as well.
Entei
The outline around his tail, leading up those spike thingies on his side, disappears with the bleed.
Ho-oh
*screams internally*
Houndoom
*scream intensifies*
Jumpluff
The outline around the snowman’s left mitten and branch fills in.
Magneton
This one’s actually pretty easy to spot. The outlines in Magneton’s midsection, as well as those surrounding the magnets, vanish with the double foil.
Misdreavus
Porygon2
The outline running from the top of his head down his back fills in.
Raikou
The outlines around the bottoms/tips of his feet, and the right side of his face, fill in with the double foil. The border around his tail does, too.
Suicune
This was easily the hardest one for me to discern, alongside Delibird. Though I’ve captured a difference here in the outlines around his mane/ribbon thing, it’s not as consistent as the outlines on other cards in the set. If anyone can find a better way, I’m all ears.
Shining Gyarados
Another self-explanatory example. Like the other darker cards, the double foil becomes plainly evident to the naked eye.
Shining Magikarp
Similar to Shining Gyarados, the holo bleed really shines through the dark blue background, and is readily visible. The other Magikarp become harder to make out.
I hope this is helpful. If better identification methods are known/found, or if anything I’ve highlighted here turns out to be hogwash, please let me know and I’ll happily edit some things.
Happy hunting friends!
I will add it to the article index with the next update.
