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Pokémon Error Guide

1999 BASE SET

Beedrill “D.Efending” Error

  • Error: Beedrill’s Poison Sting attack misplaces a period in “Defending,” causing it to appear as “D.efending”

  • Location: Attack description

Blastoise-Holo “Illus.” Error

  • Error: Artist credit for Ken Sugimori shows “Illus.” as partially faded or completely missing due to insufficient ink application

  • Location: Bottom left corner

Blastoise-Holo “Stage” Error

  • Error: Instructions for how to play Blastoise noticeably omit the word “Stage

  • Location: Top right corner

Diglett Fight Symbol Error

  • Error: Fighting Energy symbol for Diglett’s Dig attack is rotated by 90 degrees, appearing sideways instead of upright

  • Location: Attack Energy symbol

Wartortle Evolution Box Error

  • Error: This graphical error shows a picture of Wartortle instead of Squirtle

  • ocation: Evolution box

1999 Base Set Shadowless

Ninetales-Holo Missing Attack

  • Error: Ninetales’ Fire Blast attack is missing the 80 attack damage number

  • Location: Right side, attack damage

Pikachu Ghost Stamp Error

  • Error: This Pikachu error displays an incomplete 1st Edition symbol, missing several letters in “Edition” and the circle—with remaining outlines of the letters appearing light and ghost-like instead of solid black

  • Location: Left side, 1st Edition symbol

1999 Jungle

  • Error: On this particular print run of the Unlimited Jungle set, all 16 holofoil cards are missing the flower set symbol

  • Location: Below lower right corner of card artwork

1999 Jungle 1st Edition

Butterfree “d” Edition Error

  • Error: The “1” inside the 1st Edition symbol has an additional loop and looks like a lowercase “d”

  • Location: Left side, 1st Edition symbol

Pinsir-Holo 1st Edition Scratch Error

  • Error: A holo-like scratch appears above and across the 1st Edition symbol

  • Location: Left side, 1st Edition symbol

Venonat 1st Edition Line Error

  • Error: This printing error displays a dark line where the yellow border meets the green background of the card

  • Location: Top half, left side

1999 Fossil

Hitmonlee-Holo Stain Error

  • Error: Yellow-orange vertical streaks appear across the card on Unlimited and 1st Edition printings

  • Location: Left side

Haunter-Holo Stain Error

  • Error: Splotchy blue ink stains ooze out from the artwork, giving a haunting effect on Unlimited and 1st Edition printings

  • Location: Right side

Krabby Slash Error

  • Error: The Fossil set “skeleton claw” symbol appears to be slashed in half by a curved blue line that continues into the shadow of the artwork frame

  • Location: Below lower right corner of card artwork

Zapdos-Holo Corrected Foil

  • Error: Although Zapdos is a Basic Pokémon, a space was erroneously created to accommodate an evolution box, causing all 1st Edition and most Unlimited copies to have this missing foil error. In a later Unlimited print run, this was corrected with a foil fill in, referred to as the “Corrected Foil” version—PSA recognizes both variations.

  • Location: Top left corner of illustration

2000 Japanese Neo

Corrected and Uncorrected

  • Error: A number of cards feature typos—Donphan is missing “10x” in its first attack box, Typhlosion’s attack damage was printed as “60” rather than “60+,” and Pichu’s card description was originally printed in Kanji. These typos were later corrected — with Pichu’s description changing to Hiragana to improve comprehension for younger players — and PSA recognizes both variations.

  • Location: Various locations

2000 Team Rocket

Dark Dragonite No Holo

  • Error: Unlimited and 1st Edition versions of Dark Dragonite #5 are missing the cosmos holofoil treatment, rendering them nearly identical to the non-holo Dark Dragonite #22 in the same set (the differentiator being the card number)

  • Location: Card artwork

2000 Gym Challenge

Blaine’s Charizard

  • Error: On both 1st Edition and Unlimited prints, the Roaring Flames attack on Blaine’s Charizard uses a Fighting Energy symbol instead of a Fire Energy symbol. Later print runs were updated with the correct symbol, which PSA also acknowledges.

  • Location: Attack description

2001 Neo Revelation

Double Holo Errors

  • Error: Several cards in the Neo Revelation set have this “double holo” error, where the holofoil extends outside the normal areas of where foil should be relegated

  • Example: In this example, notice how the foil extends into Ho-Oh’s wings, rather than remaining in the background

  • Location: Card artwork

Tropical Mega Battle (2001-2002)

Clair’s Mantine Resistance Symbol Error

  • Error: On Clair’s Mantine, resistance displays a Psychic Energy symbol instead of Fighting Energy. This was corrected in later print runs, which PSA also recognizes.

  • Location: Resistance symbol

2007 Diamond & Pearl

Empoleon Lv.X Poké-BODY Error

  • Error: Some prints show a Poké-BODY designation, rather than the Poké-POWER designation for Empoleon’s Supreme Command ability. PSA recognizes both variations.

  • Location: Poké-POWER designation

2011 Call of Legends

Phanpy Incorrect Spelling Error

  • Error: Phanpy’s name is misspelled as “Phanphy” twice in the Poké-BODY description of its Ultra-Thick Skin ability on both base and Reverse Foil versions. The corrected version is also recognized by PSA.

  • Location: Poké-BODY description

2013 Black & White Plasma Blast

Blastoise-Holo Cosmos-Error 2012

  • Error: Despite being a 2013 release, this card’s legal line reads "©2012 Pokémon.” This error was corrected, which PSA recognizes separately.

  • Location: Lower left corner

Promo Cards (1999-Present)

1999 Japanese Promo Ancient Mew I "Nintedo" Error

  • Error: The legal line misspells Nintendo as “Nintedo.” PSA separately recognizes the corrected version of this card.

  • Location: Bottom of card

1999 Movie Promos-Inverted Stamp Error

  • Error: An orientation error has been found on all four Pokémon The First Movie promos — Dragonite, Electabuzz, Mewtwo, and Pikachu — displaying a gold foil “Kids WB Presents Pokémon The First Movie'' stamp upside down and on the bottom left corner, rather than the top right corner

  • Location: Bottom left corner

2000 Black Star Promos-Aoki Error

  • Error: An error crediting illustrator Toshinao Aoki instead of Naoyo Kimura has been found on all three Pokémon the Movie 2000 promos—Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. The mixup was likely caused by carrying over the cards’ text from the original Japanese printing (illustrated by Aoki) and was later corrected, which PSA also recognizes.

  • Location: Lower left corner

2000 Game Promo Dark Persian-Holo Nintendo Magazine-No 60 HP

  • Error: This error is completely missing Dark Persian’s “60 HP.” PSA also recognizes the later corrected version

  • Location: Top right corner

2021 Japanese S Promo Full Art/Victini V Champion’s League 2022

  • Error: A version of this card was printed with incorrect attacks and other card information, identified by the one Energy retreat cost rather than the correct cost of two. Corrected versions were printed later, which PSA also recognizes.

  • Location: Bottom right corner

Errors Found in Multiple Sets (1999-Present)

Dot Errors

  • Error: Dot errors are displayed as extraneous ink dots or smudges in various colors created during the printing process—PSA only attributes these errors if the dots are consistently found in the same location and shape across multiple documented copies

  • Examples:

    • Black dots: Can appear on Base Set Chansey, Charizard and Clefairy cards

    • Blue dots: Can be seen on 1st Edition or Shadowless Vulpix cards

    • Red dots: May be found on Unlimited Blastoise cards, and a Base Set Clefairy may sport a “red heart” error

Location: Varies

Inverted Back Errors

  • Error: Numerous cards between 1999 and present were printed with upside down card backs, and inverted backs on modern releases are commonly found to be miscut

  • Location: Card back

Incomplete Holo/Foil Error

  • Error: Incomplete holos don’t touch all the areas of the card that it normally should

  • Example: In the Black & White Next Destinies set, the horizontal foil pattern abruptly stops toward the bottom of the card artwork

  • Location: Card artwork

Missing Holo/Foil

  • Error: “Missing Foil Error” is designated on PSA labels when normal holo or foil treatments are completely missing 

  • Location: Card artwork

Missing Texture Error

  • Error: Primarily affecting Full Art cards from modern releases, “Missing Texture Error” cards appear smooth, missing the well-known grooves, lines, and other surface textures—PSA only recognizes this error if the texture is completely missing from the entire card. Various examples can be found across Sun & Moon, Sword & Shield, and Scarlet & Violet eras.

  • Location: Card surface

NOTE FROM PROFESSOR OAK:

Keep an eye on this page—new entries will be added as PSA recognizes new error variations. Have an error not listed below? Submit a research request so our team of experts can evaluate.