Hey all, first post here.
Recently got back into collecting and found I had some Korean “ex era” cards I got during a trip there in the early 2000’s as a kid. I have a handful of holos like the Blaziken pictured I got from opening booster packs there, and after doing some digging I cannot find any ex era Korean cards for sale anywhere. Are they really scarce? I would love some more info.
Thank you!
Hello! Korean ADV Expansion Pack cards are incredibly unique. They were the only Korean pokémon cards (Along with the Treecko, Torchic and Mudkip Starter Decks) released in the gap between Base and DP eras, and are the only Korean cards to feature a japanese back! I am hesitant to label them scarce simply because Korean cards specifically seem to be hard to track down from any year or set. The inability to find them likely stems from the fact that South Korea doesn’t have similar large auction sites like eBay and PWCC the way that we do in the West. I graded the very first Korean ADV cards at CGC in late 2021 and have seen several pop up since then, but I highly doubt they will ever be readily available on any marketplaces in the near future.
Thank you for the information! Have you ever seen a holo border ex that’s Korean from that single ADV set come up anywhere?
I’m also going to Korea again next year, so I am hoping to find some there.
Honestly your posting the Blaziken was the first time I’ve seen a holo from the set at all! I’ve seen the Constructed Deck holos but never a holo from the actual set. ex’s have evaded me completely, haha
You can find sealed packs easily, but never singles for some reason
Hey,
I’ve been working on completing this set myself !
Currently 38/55 cards, a few holos but no ex’s…
However, a friend of mine @swissorican (on here and on IG) has pulled (and graded) the Korean Mewtwo ex… check out his IG if you want to see a photo of it !
Packs come up on ebay from time to time, singles less commonly but has happened… but tends to be the commons more than anything.
I’ve got plenty of common/uncommon spares if you’re going for the full set, drop me a message if you’d like 
I’ll check it out! Thanks for the information.
Do you have any information on the availability of the ADV cards if you are actually in Korea? I’ll be going there next year and will be hunting for some of the holo border ex cards with no idea how easy or hard it will be.
Will be fun either way!
For any vintage sets (D/P, ADV, Base) you’re not very likely to find them in stores, only modern sets. Most of the sales of older cards is done online in forums, but even there they’re not very common and it’s mostly modern… the collector/investor mentality is quite new in Korea. BUT, not impossible… I have heard stories of people finding sealed boxes of ADV in little independent stores out in the country, clearly stocked back in the day but never sold and been gathering dust since till they were saved !
